It was 68 degrees in Philadelphia, according to Thomas Jefferson, the morning of July 4, 1776. Jefferson was there, along with 55 other patriots, to sign a document he had largely penned. All the men and thousands more were about to take a leap of faith. A leap toward independence, and quite possibly, a leap to certain death.
A recent news report proclaims that half of Americans believe that U.S. schools are doing only a fair or poor job. The poll released June 27 by the Associated Press says that education ranks only behind the economy and gas prices as Americans' primary concern. Coincidentally, in the same edition of the newspaper, James Dobson's "Focus on the Family" column, speaking of the challenges of parenthood, observes that the task is made more difficult today by a culture that undermines and contradicts most...
Most gun owners are fine, upstanding citizens who wouldn't harm a fly, however, it is the likes of John Monroe, the attorney for Georgia Carry.org and state Rep. Tim Bearden, R-Villa Rica, who give those law-abiding gun owners a moniker they don't deserve: Gun nuts.
The Bibb County Commission voted unanimously to roll back property taxes 2 mills. Later this month the commission will officially set the tax levy. The rollback will save owners of a $100,000 home about $80. Is Bibb County so flushed with cash that it can afford to give back almost $8 million? Was all the blood on the floor, the cutting of agencies, including the Bibb transit system, just last month necessary?
Gov. Sonny Perdue is troubled. It seems to the governor that counties are revaluing property with increasing frequency and blaming it on state requirements. By law, counties have to keep property assessed at 40 percent of fair market value or face state fines. What's worse, if a county, like Bibb, allows property to get out of whack there are all sorts of repercussions.
No one in his or her right mind wants Georgia's public threatened by sexual predators. There must be a law to protect residents and their children from those depraved persons who rape or sexually assault victims vulnerable to such attack. There are factors though, that the General Assembly has repeatedly ignored as it enacted and then was forced to retool what is considered one of the nation's toughest sexual offender laws.
