We have had Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, Ivan and now Jeanne, so is LULU next? If so, it is likely to be very local in nature with the eye of the storm squarely on Christ Our Shepherd Lutheran Church at the very heart of Peachtree City. Since Hurricane LULU would be a “Locally Unwanted Land Use” the after-effect could be even more devastating than a storm. It could easily set a precedent that spawns a LULU 2 Commercial re-zoning, LULU 3, LULU 4. Prevention charts the best course. Chicago-based Windy Walgreens’ commercial re-zoning request should be denied.

Thank you for the article about the book used by the school system that does not reflect the true contributions of African Americans to Georgia. One would have to ask who is the author, and where have they been for last several decades? Congratulations to the parent who challenged the textbook. Hope it is eventually banned because it will do more damage than good to all of our children regardless of ethnicity.

I’m tired of contrived alterations of the truth presented to our students as history. I agree with that parent, the whole truth should be presented to our children, not anyone’s version of an historical period. If it’s the truth, it should be told!

A sitting [Fayetteville police officer] is not directing. The one I saw sitting in his car was talking on a cellphone, so I don’t think he was “baby-sitting.” And there was a [patrol] car down the street running radar. The lights on Ga. Highway 54 eastbound were flashing yellow, and folks were stopping. You only treat a light that is not working as a four-way stop, not one that is flashing red/yellow. A little traffic directing could have eliminated a big back-up on such a busy road instead of relying on “good drivers/bad drivers.” Courtesy and lack of road rules make dangerous bedfellows.

I’m so glad that Grace Caldwell is taking a stand to lower taxes in Tyrone. The town needs someone well-educated on this matter to help us out. Kudos to Lyn Redwood for supporting her request. Too bad the rest of the panel doesn’t seem to mind that Tyrone has the highest taxes in the county. I’ll certainly remember this when I’m at the polls voting in November.

Too bad for Lake Pendleton that Mayor Lee is a “good buddy” to every developer in town. Wonder who’ll pay for all the problems at the lake? I’m sure the taxpayers will, since nothing is ever the developers’ fault in Tyrone. I urge all citizens of Tyrone to vote “developer friendly” town officials out of office.

Tyrone Founder’s Day: What a big mess! Why was it moved to Handley “wetland” Park? Maybe because town officials want a new town hall sitting on Shamrock Park! I bet Grace Caldwell will keep our youth playing at Shamrock Park and move Founder’s Day back to where it belongs. I heard the current leader loved it being at Handley Park.

The doctor’s office in the renovated old house at the intersection of Ga. Highway 74 and Redwine Road has been occupied and open for months. Yet, the contractor’s sign is still out front getting free publicity. And we thought Fayette County’s sign ordinance was so tough!

There’s a new tongue twister in PTC. Peter Pfeifer picked the pockets of the poor pitiful patrons living in Peachtree City. How many problems did Peter Pfeifer pose upon the Peachtree City patrons by not preparing a fair SPLOST proposal? The commissioner’s letter to the editor was a complete joke about how Peachtree City’s money is everybody’s money. Oh, how deceitful!

Commissioner Pfeifer is a blasted hypocrite. His “we need to thank Greg Dunn” made me want to scream. Perhaps Pfeifer can explain why he voted against the county recreation plan because it excluded Tyrone and Peachtree City and for some reason it’s okay to do the exact same thing with $120 million of road funds. I am glad someone is rattling their cage because the county government’s shifting reactions are proving to me that they are afraid to tell the truth.

Why are people with no names such as the Duchess and the Bard being printed in the paper and not using a name as the paper claims you must do? These people are using pseudonyms and not real names and one individual has been printed four consecutive times in this paper.

I noted with amusement the letter writing campaign from Democrats in last week’s paper blaming President Bush for the health care crisis, global warming, and the path of hurricanes. What a busy guy. He’s probably also responsible for the fleas on my dog and the leak in my basement. How desperate can they get? Most Democrats don’t mind the war in Iraq, they just hate that Bush thought of it first. Most Democrats just can’t stand that Bush won the election no matter how many recounts were made showing he did. And Dr. Doom (John Kerry) going around acting like everything in the country is a failure just doesn’t cut it.

To the parents spending “quality time” driving their children to school, while taxpayer-funded buses go around half-empty, you are caving in to your children’s perception there is something “low-class” about riding the school buses. They would be better socialized by riding with their peers to and from school, learning to get along with others instead of being insulated from the give-and-take that is part of everyday life in the real world.

Some things can’t be sent as letters to the editor with identification. That is why there are hot lines, drug lines, free speech, etc. I don’t really know who Mr. Robert Peterson is. He called our mayor immoral for doing due diligence about the bank loan that the bank made illegally. They messed up, not the town. Banks make bad loans all of the time and have to eat them. Just because the money was used to cover authority expenses doesn’t make it right. Just don’t let the lawyers get all of the money.

I hate to see Fayette Music Merchants close for business. The shop was the most interesting in the area, as they stocked the best vintage and high-quality used instruments in the area. The deals that I have received over the past few years have been unbeatable. But, most importantly, the proprietors have become my friends. Mitch and Susan, I wish you the best as you move on.

“Mission Accomplished” in Iraq? I don’t think so! If President Bush actually believes that then he must be living in some alternate universe that I thought only existed on an episode of “Star Trek.” Mr. Bush, here’s a dose of reality for you: Americans are dying. They are dying every day on your watch. Forty-two Americans died in Iraq in June, 54 in July, 66 in August, and 54 soldiers have already died in September. No, explaining this away as the “fuzzy math” you debated with Al Gore. Let’s not forget the civilians that are dying simply because they couldn’t find a job here in the good ol’ USA. They got their $300 tax checks and then had their jobs outsourced or downsized. To feed and clothe their families, they took dangerous jobs in a dangerous place. For that, they were beheaded. Thank you, Mr. Bush. Nor should we forget the 1,100 Americans who were injured in Iraq in August. Mr. President, “staying the course” in the face of certain disaster is the very epitome of hardheadedness and stupidity. Making a “flip-flop” to a better plan and a smart course correction is called wisdom. I’ll be making the wise choice on Nov. 2, when I cast my vote for a stronger, safer America and for John Kerry as president.

Fayette County hasn’t quite got there yet, (total polarization due to religion) but it now appears that the Republican candidate for president will win the next election in spite of nearly everything else being wrong. Now, I’m for family values and religion, whatever that means. Different for many, but religion alone cannot dictate the outcome of an election. Separation of church and state (government) is essential and we are losing it.

To Ms. LeGay Saul, your letter concerning your grandson Jacob’s fight with cancer and your seeking answers was very touching. I’d like to give you my opinion based on difficulties and tragedies in my own life. I wouldn’t give you the fundamentalist religious answer that God needs more angels and Jacob is next in line, but that is told to comfort you. We are not the diseased sick body we drag around. We are an eternal soul who has lived before and will live again. We come to earth to experience life, show love, learn lessons and to teach others on a polluted, materialistic, often violent unhealthy planet. A far wiser person than I once said, “The earth is a bad camping trip and the food sucks too.” Our bodies are designed to age and die and return to the source, some earlier than others. I believe we make plans and commitments before we come to earth of what we plan to accomplish while here. This doesn’t always indicate that we’ll have or need a long life span to do it in. Your grandson sounds like one of the Indigo Children as written about by Lee Carroll and Jan Toler, who are highly advanced children who come here to help others and the planet in difficult times (now) and to reveal higher truths and wisdom. It looks as if Jacob has already taught you and others and been an inspiration and a blessing in his short life. Maybe this was his goal on earth and he may or may not (only God knows) have accomplished it. As for the girls who committed the murder of one’s grandparents who are talking, living on and will have a future life. I don’t think they’ll have a happy life or future but guilt and mental pain will predominate. But their soul is on a path too even though we don’t understand it. Man always has the free will to take a wrong turn. God always gives man that. And I commend you for bringing up a sensitive serious subject. This paper is so heavily into printing political issues, even from anonymous humorous people with pseudonyms.

Sept. 22, 2004

Why weren’t Fayetteville police directing traffic at Ga. Highway 54 and Jeff Davis Boulevard when the lights were out instead of sitting in their car a quarter of a mile down the road waiting for someone doing 36 in a 35?

Thank you for finally recognizing high school football in Fayette County as it should be. Your sports section has gone from boring to a major highlight of my newspaper reading since you have enhanced this section. You have great pictures and intelligently written articles, something other newspapers in the county have been unable to accomplish. Keep up the great coverage!

PTC is a great place to live, but it is sad that kids given many opportunities still find time to vandalize. I post this because I found someone’s frog statue in our back yard last week. I am assuming that kids on a golf cart removed it from someone’s yard and placed it in our backyard. Maybe I am too quick to blame teens, but I think it is unlikely that families or senior citizens would get such a thrill from a meaningless act such as this. You may publish my e-mail address so that this statue may be returned to the proper owner: dougwest@qwestinternet.net.

PTC tree rules: This is just another example of government getting in where they don’t belong. A $25 permit from the city just for taking down a tree? Let’s see, I need a permit, purchased from the city, if I want to put up a fence. And now, maybe a permit, again purchased from the city, if I want to take down a tree that might be threatening to fall on my house? If my neighbor wants to take down all his trees, that’s his business. As long as he doesn’t touch the city’s greenbelt, of course. We don’t need government for this stuff.

I was quite concerned to see the proposed changes to the tree ordinance in Peachtree City. As I read the rhetoric Sept. 8, I was to gather that Councilwoman Judi-ann Rutherford was the only person present with genuine concerns for the people who live here. Nobody is speaking of the fact that pine trees destroy the natural environment, forget about the pine beetles. How many of the trees being taken down are due to residential and commercial development? Are they subjected to the same restrictions (watering) and ordinances as the residents? After all, who has more of a vested interest in this city, homeowners, or big businesses? Restaurants and retail businesses moving in to take advantage of the revenue to be made here seem to be able to slash as many trees as necessary to build these establishments. After this we are left with the traffic problems and that means more slashing of trees to relieve traffic problems. In just four years I have seen more traffic lights installed than I can count on my hands and toes together. These businesses are not creating jobs for the residents in our town. The average income of a household in Peachtree City exceeds $59,000 annually. I don’t know of any of these businesses that are paying these amounts to its employees. When are limits going to be placed on the industrial and commercial businesses putting up shop here? I love this city, but the city must trust that its residents live here for the unspoken reason of property value protection and country club amenities along with the beautiful landscapes. Why are so many businesses being allowed to destroy the tranquility that once resided here? Hey, I have an idea, let’s kick some of the businesses out and plant trees in the vacant lots, then allow our residents to enhance “their” property as they see fit.

School start dates: In 2005 school begins on Aug. 8? Ridiculous!

Regarding the Fayetteville vs. Riverdale comparison using the Captain D’s picture, I think that if certain people were not involved in the planning of Fayetteville, we would definitely be an extension of Riverdale. Unfortunately, with the growing number of chicken-wing joints and dollar stores from the courthouse going north on Ga. Highway 85, we are not too far from it. I think the same people who have maintained a conservative approach by keeping out the better restaurants and retail have potentially caused more damage in the long term. We need growth as a city that parallels modern business. This means no more dollar stores, gas stations, chicken-wing joints, fast food joints, or craft shops. Somebody needs to wake up or we will be like Riverdale.

Over the last several months, I have noticed a low-flying (500 feet maximum) helicopter flying over my neighborhood in south central Fayette. It is colored red and I believe it is a medical transit helicopter. It takes the same vector (most of the time) north and south twice a day at least. I would like someone to confirm the purpose of the helicopter. Also, I would like to know why it must fly so low over residential homes. There must be a better vector to take or can it fly a little higher so as to minimize the noise? Can anything be done regarding this? Should it be taken up with the transport company or county officials? I would have never thought living in Fayette County, Ga., would be similar to living in LA.

Sept. 8, 2004

Notorious for its self-serving exaggeration, the Weather Channel has at last met its match in the form of an honest resident of “somewhere” Florida. A typically over-zealous correspondent was standing in someone’s backyard, staggering around and screeching about how nasty the conditions actually are. Suddenly a local resident appeared unexpectedly near the camera and proceeded to say in total defiance, “No problem, no leaks, no damage, all is good,” and strolled casually back into his home. No wonder people don’t leave when the weather really is bad!

It was an absolute joy to read in the newspaper that Mayor Lee of Tyrone has a challenger in the upcoming election. The conflict she has as a county employee and being our mayor has left our town on the short end of the stick. When the newspapers reported that our town was being shortchanged on recreation funding from the Fayette County government and Mayor Lee didn’t speak up on the issue, I lost all faith in her. We elected Mike Smola to the Town Council because he said that he would stand up for us and he didn’t do anything either.

Why wasn’t there any truthful news reports about the 7,500 gallon sewage spill a few weeks ago that went into the creek, here in city Of Fayetteville? Vandalism? Yeah, right! The only alarm that was sounded was a report from a concerned citizen who saw all the dead fish. Where are the signs posted warning citizens about sewage in the creek? I have seen kids playing in this creek numerous times. With hundreds of fish killed, I pray it won’t be a child next time.

I bet if a developer wants to gut a field of every tree to build houses, Peachtree City will let them.

Hey, Cal, let’s start balancing your Republican rag a little more by publishing some “Free Speech” from either centrists like myself, or the left. Who knows, you might even pick up a few more readers by doing so.

“North Fayette bank held up Monday.” Why did this story appear on page A10 and not on the front page?

I condemn President Bush for politicizing the unfortunate events of 9/11, but it’s my guess is that his people told him, “You have nothing else to use as a platform for reelection.”

Free Speech for 9-01-04

Regarding the comment about a more “gentler and sensitive” U.S. anthem at the Olympics: I am glad to hear it as it should be, with respect and reverence, instead of someone singing it as though they were auditioning for “American Idol.”

Hey, Wal-Mart! Who approved your “No Overnight Parking” signs? A simple check shows most Fayette County branches, and one in Newnan, stay open 24 hours. Are you now providing valet and other transportation services for your night-side employees? Even MARTA got this one right; their signs state “No 24-Hour Parking.” Is this this the product of poor translation from cheap outsourced sign work? Not impressive for an organization that takes such pride in supporting local school systems.

Hey, Peachtree City athletes: A bike race is fine, a wonderful thing. But, it might be a great service to the citizenry to place notice around in convenience stores, gas stations, grocery stores, as well as the newspaper. There are a lot of business travelers in this area who don’t get the paper regularly, and if it was announced only there, the info was missed. There are people who have to go to work Saturday mornings.

Sunday’s Aug. 29 Atlanta Journal-Constitution has an advertising section for Walgreens which shows their Atlanta store locations on a map. Very prominent is a red star labeled Peachtree City, open 24 hours a day. Has a deal been made before it even goes to the PTC planning committee and city council? Walgreens is a big enough company to know where their stores are located. Something looks criminal to me but does anybody care?

A spokesman from Christ Our Shepherd recently told local homeowners that Walgreens’ offer of $3.5 million for the church property was the answer to a prayer. I must be missing something. The church building is worth at least $3 million, and the land has been appraised at almost $2 million, giving a total property value of about $5 million. It just doesn’t compute that selling for over a million dollars less than its equity value is the answer to a prayer. Assuming a family’s average weekly church offering is $25 ($1,300 per year), it would seem that the church, in its willingness to sell, would be sacrificing the weekly offerings of 700 families for a year to make up for its equity loss, and at the same time be giving up perhaps the prime church location in PTC. Go figure.

Sounds like a lynch mob is arisin’ in Peachtree City: Let’s get those Christ Our Shepherd folks! Shame on them for wanting a place for their kids to play other than the parking lot. How dare they even think of leaving a space they’ve have obviously outgrown even if they were to build additional buildings on that little corner. And, hey, maybe they can build a parking deck on top of the steeple. Now that would look great! The church folks aren’t looking to get rich. The only people that get rich are the developers when a rezoning takes place. I don’t think anyone should begrudge COS from making some profit so they can use it to put into their new church. When we sell our homes, isn’t that we all hope to do, better ourselves?

Thank God that Mayor Brown, Emperor of Peachtree City, has initiated his war on kudzu. Now that the summer is over, it should be a much easier battle to win. Mr. Mayor, could you start the war in the spring next year, before it has had a chance to spread?

Let me get this straight: More than 200 Vietnam Swift Boat veterans come forward with specific details that contradict John Kerry’s recollections of his four-month tour of duty, and the media attacks them incessantly as pawns of George W. Bush. Max Cleland, in a made-for-election-year photo op, makes the outrageous and unfounded claim that the Swift Boat Vets for Truth have been paid by the President to attack the Democratic candidate. Cleland gets nationwide, live coverage. Democratic backer George Soros spends more than $3 million of his money for attack ads against Bush on Moveon.org. Also, attorney Joe Sandler is employed by both Moveon.org AND the Democratic National Committee, advising both groups on strategy and plans of attack. Meanwhile, John Kerry, while decrying ads questioning aspects of his service, has multiple links on his campaign website suggesting that Bush is a coward, a deserter, and that he paid someone off to stay out of Vietnam. What is the media’s “balanced” reporting on all of this? President Bush is vilified on a daily basis, baseless accusations made against him are reported as gospel truth, and Democrats demand that First Amendment rights of American citizens be trampled. The Democrats get a walk. What is wrong with this picture?

If you were a bank, would you lend Peachtree City any money ever again?

Is anyone else out there aware that it is perfectly legal, in the state of Georgia, for one to marry their own first cousin? Yet we are constantly receiving anti-same-sex marriage propaganda in the mail. Am I to assume, then, that the objections to certain couples wishing to tie the knot rest solely on the fact that they have similar reproductive organs? If we are entitled to denying certain people the privilege of holy matrimony perhaps we ought to just take the next step and insist that every couple wishing to marry must first make an appearance before a jury. That way maybe we can prevent people from getting hitched if we are opposed to interracial wedlock, or do not believe that a Christian ought to marry a Jew, or simply because we feel that the couple “looks stupid” together. By what (and whose) standards do we, as a society, deem a union acceptable or unacceptable? And should we be afforded the right to keep a couple in love from marrying if our particular religion states that it is an insult to the sanctity of marriage? Where do you draw the line?

Something positive about education: Special thanks to Coach Scott Schmitt for his fine work with our state champion ladies soccer team. His efforts with our football team is also appreciated. Coach Schmitt epitomizes the titles “Coach” and “Teacher.” Thank you for all you have done and do for our children at McIntosh High.

All the ridiculous free-rent deals, short-term leases, and other incentives offered by the apartment complexes in Fayette County (Fayetteville and, yes, Peachtree City) are inviting a transient population who will move from one place to the next, with no pride of ownership, and wreak havoc with property values of the homeowners. Wake up!

Is there nothing to be printed about the November election or county tax questions, or lawyers? If not, I won’t waste my time.

After reading what cat owners, who release their cats upon the neighbors, are saying about the right to turn them loose at will, I guess I just haven’t been getting their logic. These people consider these cats in the same category as bald eagles and fish: They have a right to make messes, kill birds, scratch car hoods trying to get warm, even eat rabbits. I just didn’t understand that right. However, if a dog is seen in the street playing with children, the dog catcher is called immediately. He is a dead dog if he touches a privileged cat. Litter boxes are the things you people need: clean up your own mess.

Has anyone yet seen the plan that was formalized to go in a different direction at the PTC airport when it was decided to terminate a manager in order to hire a new manager to implement a new plan? Now, maybe the old manager needed to retire, I don’t have any idea, but I thought by now we would be informed as to the grand plan for the airport. Sure would be prudent for the public to know the grand, interlocking, plans for the airport, new sewer system, rebuilt safer cart paths, four laning of the North Parkway, four-laning of South Hwy. 74, extension to Coweta County at TDK, a large children’s recreational and arts facility in PTC, the payoff of the million bucks to the bank for the tennis facility, and many other obvious things that prudent planners usually enumerate for the citizens.

The Atlanta area is fortunate that we have some of the cheapest gasoline in the country, in spite of Fayette being one of the highest in the area. About two years or so ago we had 75-cent gasoline here. However every time the price of crude oil went up a dime per drum, the price at the pump jumped immediately, if not sooner (on anticipation), a proportional amount until we reached the $1.80 per gallon level in this area. Now that there are about two months until the presidential election in November, I have noticed that a jump from $40 per barrel to about $50 per barrel has actually caused gasoline at the pump to decrease 10 to 15 cents per gallon. In my opinion this difference will be made up later at or near the election. I do hope an investigation will be made before we elect these kind of people for four more years.

If a $275,000 home in Peachtree City now has to pay approximately $3,100 tax each and every year, does it make sense to assume that the apartment or condo complexes pay anywhere near that much tax for each unit on those properties? If they did, a tax bill for a 250-unit complex might be $775,000, that is if every taxpayer were being required to pay their share. I’m willing to assume that they should only pay 75 percent as much tax as a homeowner, which would bring their bill to $581,250. Or, if there were only half that many homes in a complex (125), then the bill might be $296,625. If this is not true, and you know it isn’t, then we are taking advantage of people who sacrifice in order to buy their home instead of renting. This is the same unfairness that is built in to the collections made from Fayette businesses for their inventories each year. Ever try to figure out how, say, a jewelry store or auto lot pays so little taxes on Jan. 1 inventory value, yet show enormous sales for the year?

Smoking is OK in bars because the bar might lose money to another county who allows smoking in bars. Is this what I am reading? Is drinking in a bar so intrusive, so invasive in one’s life now, that we even consider allowing the existence of a proven health hazard for everyone near the smoke? If religion is the opiate of the masses, as Marx said, then whiskey in bars must be its replacement. Too much whiskey is bad enough, and most do drink too much in a bar in order to lose their inhibitions and become friendly, but to add smoke to this recipe by law seems unreasonable. I’m sure all who are in favor of smoking in bars only have one drink and one cigarette, but the rest there do not.

OK, folks, let’s have a little refresher on this beautiful, beloved, beguiled little Southern town of Plum-nilly. Forgot about that, didn’t you, because so many are not from around here? Plum out of Coweta and nilly out of Fayette. Hence, the problem: We must not look to Fayetteville to cure our problems and never look to Coweta for help. First, Coweta people only want to drive through our town causing our traffic problems by not knowing what to do with two lanes to drive in (so ride in the left Democratic lane), non-tipping at our restaurants, standing and scratching during our concerts and wondering why no one understands what they are saying. Fayette looks at PTC as the upstart. So what if we were only created in the last century; that does not mean we don’t what is going on. No one knows who the first mayor of Fayetteville was either. I have suggested so many changes for our town for improvement, but alas only a few have been adopted, so let’s run these by again in hopes the mayor in the last years of his political career might try to do something good for our town for a change: Re-elect no one; a 50-cent toll for using Ga. Highway 54 eastbound 5-11 a.m. and westbound 3-8 p.m. at Line Creek bridge; don’t use the gym for a temporary library when you can use the Kmart after Target runs them out of town; plant tomatoes in the dog park; have Coweta County annex Planterra Ridge (half our problems would complain somewhere else); increase speed limits in all neighborhoods (the police are only ticketing Hispanics); if you can’t drive on the street by yourself, you can’t drive a golf cart on a path.