The city of Kennesaw in Cobb County requires citizens to have a gun for protection. It was on the local and national news several years ago. Might be Pike County too.

I agree, I know all of the crime here is not reported.

All of us should support our law enforcement officers.

I hope to move before Randall retires.

Happy New Year and God Bless

Anything less is, well, 'pidly' as we say down hea.

I have a .38, a .22, a shotgun, a mean dog and a security system.

I know how to use the guns.

Do you think I'll be okay until I sell my home?

The .38 and the .22 will just piss 'em off. The 12 gauge will back 'em up a bit. One fellow in Coweta blasted a guy with his shotgun as he was entering the home, hanging half in the window. His accomplice on the porch was caught, tried and convicted of attempted burglary and a bunch of other stuff. In just a little time, we'll have more folks worried about the rights of the criminal. A dog is good. Security alarm is good. Lighting is good. I know Git Real likes the country dark (and so do I) but burglars hate security lights. Those old timey ones up on a 4x4 pole are great. Unless your neighbor shoots em out with a pellet rifle.

Will you be okay until you sell? Depends on where you live. How long you planning on staying. Do you live near a cart path. Do you live near the Pavilion. Houses in Fayette will be broken into with increasing frequency because things are sliding a bit and we gots lots of stuff in our houses to steal. How many houses in College Park have all the IPods, cash and stuff we have? With things getting softer, burglars are gonna look at us like the Fayette Cash 'N Carry.

Your response was funny, thanks for the laugh. (I have a security light)
I don't want to reveal exactly where I live. I don't live near the Pavilion crime pit, and I don't live on a cart path. I live in a very nice neighborhood that is changing fast. We have had some problems with burglaries.

My husband and I were making plans to sell our home in 2002 when he suddenly passed away. The past few years have been very hard trying to carry on.

The housing market is in the pits right now. Hopefully, that will change in the spring.

Hope you and yours have a great 2007!

The best crime prevention tool is to support your sheriff's dept. and police dept.

Stop b#@$%*## about a one hundred dollar increase in your taxes. We need these people more than they need us. The cops here need a cost of living raise and we need to hire more of them to be safe.
If they move out of this county we are done.

You really have a "thing" with Whitewater, don't you? The two buffoons from Clayton county that showed up at Whitewater to pick up that girl were unarmed and did not threaten anybody. They were trying to pick up a girl who knew them socially (and perhaps Biblically). Their friend was waiting in a car, and they had a gun in the car. When the buffoons failed to leave as directed to by the front office, the school resource officer arrested them, and searched the car, and only then finding the gun. I'm not sure if it was loaded or not, but it was not used in any way during this incident. Calling this an armed "school invasion" is a bit of a stretch.

I generally agree with you in regards to the undesirable influx of low-lifes from Clayton county, but your trying to tie that in with Whitewater HS is totally absurd. You have an obsessive fixation with that one Whitewater football player living in Clayton county. I don't know what your personal issues are, nor do I need to. I would point out that your mention of the "minority female from Atlanta that has already harrassed (sic) some of our successful long time employees that are white males that work in our county" sounds pretty racist to me, and also sounds like slander. (or is it "libel"?) What evidence do you have to justify your allegations? I'm a white male who works for a minority female, and I haven't been harassed yet. By the way, the racial mix in FCBOE faculty is still very predominantly white, so you are somewhat premature in assuming that we are already going the way of Clayton county. (...where there has indeed been some racism going on.)

In all honesty, I AM considering moving further south, away from Tyrone, but the sky is not yet falling. Frankly, I'm much more worried about the increases in traffic, and the excess development that seems to be ruining PTC. Over-development will be a serious problem in this area long before racial diversity creates another Clayton county here.

You take one statement of dozens in my article because it is about Whitewater High School - who I have no quarrel with - that is squarely on the subject being discussed - and you try to make it in to a "there you go again"? Okay Alan – let’s see how honest you are.

Here is what YOU have said:

"I generally agree with you in regards to the undesirable influx of low-lifes from Clayton county (sic), but your (sic) trying to tie that in with Whitewater HS is totally absurd."

Then what did you mean when you said: "They were trying to pick up a girl who knew them socially (and perhaps Biblically)."

Not only do YOU make the same assertion, you insinuate that she is has had sexual relations with them. Isn’t that slander – or is it liable?

Gee Alan - seems you are talking out of both sides of your face.

I actually own a nice piece of property in Brooks (which is located in Whitewater's district) so I selfishly want what's right for them. Do you want people from Clayton county coming to visit friends at WHS or any other school in Fayette County Alan?

You appear to have serious defensive issues Alan - a Napoleon complex of sorts.

As for any other statements you appear to be asking about - I suggest you re-read what I wrote. Again, I have been told by people who work in the school system about the new 'minority female' and her apparent contempt for white males.

That, of course, has no relevance whatsoever to whom you work for...unless you work for the personnel director of the Fayette County Schools (a public position). Nor does this statement attempt to refer to all minority females as racist bigots. The point was made to assure you that, if what I am told is accurate, she will bring in her friends and they won't be white males. (But you of course don’t care- you are above all of that.)

I fully expected to be told by some ‘PC wannabe’ that my comments smack of racism. I am not a racist and do not intend them to be taken as such. I am however willing to comment on the blog in an honest and open fashion.

When we are talking about ‘undesirable elements what are we are typically referring to Alan? Are we referring to Social deviants? Say what you wish Alan. I told you the truth and I can take your hollow accusations of libel, slander, or racism. But you know what Alan, people in glass houses shouldn't throw rocks.

Enigma, I tried to agree with most of what you said, rather than taking one single statement out of context. I'm not the one with defensive issues here. (Napoleon complex??) The minority female you are referring to is Renee Ellis, PhD. If you go to www.fcboe.org you will see that many of the key staff, including her boss, are white and male. I'm not a personal friend of Dr. Ellis, but I think your allegations are false, from what I've experienced first-hand in this school system.

You are misinterpreting my remarks about the two buffoons that showed up at Whitewater. Of course they showed up because they knew the girl that they were trying to check out. My point is that that particular incident has nothing to do with the overall influx of undesirables into Fayette county. I thought it was silly for you to tie that incident at Whitewater into the discussion of crime in Fayette county. If it had been someone else besides you, I probably wouldn't have taken offense, but you seem to have such a chip on your shoulder about Whitewater that you just had to make the connection. Or so it seemed, from your first post. I'm glad to hear you "have no quarrel" with Whitewater. As I tried to say a couple of months ago, we are all neighbors, and we need to not lose sight of that.

As for what I was talking about being undesirable, I think that urban black culture is destructive. Take Clayton county for instance. Thirty years ago, Riverdale used to be where the Delta employees lived. Now it's a combat zone. It's not the skin color, it's the culture of gangs, drugs, and failure. If that culture moves into Peachtree City, I'm out of here. Where I disagree with you is in assuming that just because Dr. Ellis is black, she will start replacing white males with her cronies. If that makes me a "PC wannabe", so be it. I just don't think you should be throwing stones without any evidence.

I shouldn't have made any reference to the girl's possible relationship to the two guys. All I know is that they knew each other. Anyway, I do agree that crime does seem to be on the increase around here, and it does seem to be aggravated by the excessive rate of business development. All we need now is a new set of cheap apartments and maybe a sex shop or two.

One last thing--I'm not here to spar with you. If my reply came across like a personal attack, then it was poorly communicated. I agree with most of what you said, but disagreed on a couple of points. Have a nice night.

You stated that "The minority female you are referring to is Renee Ellis, PhD. If you go to www.fcboe.org you will see that many of the key staff, including her boss, are white and male.

This information is incorrect.

First of all, her name is Reaneé Ellis, not Renee Ellis. Secondly, her boss is Fred Oliver, a black male not a white male as you reported. FYI: Fred's nephew is Oatha Mann. Oatha is the Principal of Flat Rock Middle School. Fred is a fine man and has been in the county since Dave Brotherton brought him here about 12 years ago. Dave remains a friend of mine to this day.

And finally, a rumor is a rumor. You may wish to ask your Sandy Creek High School Principal (you know Roy, isn't that your district?) about her if you would like some accurate information so that you can stop speculating. Heck, ask any Principal (ask Greg at WHS if that's your district). Of the five high school principals in the county I have broken bread with four that have had negative comments to make about several of the 'new' county office employees, including her and Mr. Cambell specifically without solicitation.

I can further assure you that I have been told by more than one person that she has disdain for some the well 'established' and highly regarded Principals in the county. Maybe it's just a bunch of bull that shouldn't be repeated. Consider the source, that's what I do. You can believe it or not- it really has nothing to do with the topic other than to reiterate that changes have been coming and continue to do so - mostly from out of town.

This was supposed to be about change and where it is coming from... about Clayton County coming to a house near you. I submit that one of the change agents is the school system. Bringing in people from outside of the system tells me either we don't have good people to promote here - in what was the top system in the state, or we are changing at an exponential rate and moving Clayton County and Fulton County employees, their friends and family,and all that goes along with it here to Fayetteville.

What say you?

Regardless, I pretty much agree with Mark but I must admit - he seems a bit more edgy these days than I do. Mark - indeed thanks- but I got this one.

I know Roy and hold him in very high esteem. His faculty also--they are among the best in the state, in my opinion. If that's his opinion, then maybe I'm uninformed. I'll stay out of the conversation until I know more about the particulars.

Meanwhile, sorry for jumping to conclusions about your original intent. And have a nice night--for real. I'm done for now.

I have seen you twice take what Enigma said out of context. You have done the same to others on here. Allow me to tell you what I see:

Enigma CLEARLY states (twice) that "...if what I have been told is accurate..." in reference to "the woman" you so crassly name in your blog. Did it even ONCE occur to you that he didn't want to name her? Who cares, right? You took the topic and made it personal. Tell you what - be consistent - you accused the teenage girl of having sex with those thugs...put her name on here.... I didn't think you would. You are just a hypocrite and a chicken S$#^%!

If indeed, "what he was told" is that she is a 'racist' then it makes sense to me that she will not be hiring middle aged white guys....duh. If what he is told is incorrect - maybe that's all she will hire - maybe she will only hire white guys and Enigma was lied to (somehow I doubt it - seems like 'racial diversity' would be her forte' to me).

Regardless, the guy said CLEARLY, "if what he was told is accurate". Geez, it's good you work for a minority female.... because that's exactly where you should be...working for someone else. Try thinking for yourself and stop taking things out of context. You attacked the guy - he clarified - you're an idiot - get over it.

As far as him using your words out of context...I read what you said. He quoted you! You just got caught with your mouth in two places at once. I would have thought you would be used to that.

As for WHS, if you don't think having players living in Clayton County, or girls that befriend Clayton County kids increases the odds of them coming to Fayette? Oh my...that's a sad lack of common sense there Alan. Let's just let the readers decide.

As for me- I'm sick of hypocrites like you pointing fingers at people who have the guts to say what they feel and then calling them 'racists'. You specialize in playing the race card by taking statements out of context and then name calling in self-righteous indignation. You use euphemisms to make yourself feel immune and represent yourself as immune from human error when in reality you are just cowardly and pathetic. Enigma is right. I think you must have one or more of the following short comings, you are short, bald, fat, ugly, or simply never got picked to’ be on the team’ because you Alan, have serious identity, security, and honesty issues.

You can thank me later Enigma- it was my pleasure!

Silly me--I didn't realize it was okay to hide behind a anonymous pseudonym and slander a public official as long as you don't mention them by name. Oh, and of course it's not YOU doing the slandering if you "heard it somewhere", you're just repeating what you heard. Well, I was trying to answer that I didn't believe the allegations, based on what I've seen firsthand. Now just to be extra clear, I COULD BE WRONG, and I wasn't calling Enigma a liar, just disagreeing with that point. Maybe we will start seeing racial hiring practices sometime in the future, and then I'll eat my words. But I'm not seeing it at the present.

You call me a chicken s___t and a hypocrite, and in the same breath, you say that I accused that girl of having sex with those young men. First of all, I don't even know who she was. Secondly, my second post said that I shouldn't have said anything, since I didn't know. It was just speculation on my part, and I already admitted that, so why did you pile on about it. Sort of cowardly to jump into a fight when one party has already conceded a point.

I tried changing the tone of the discourse to a more civil tone, but you perceive that as weakness on my part and try to pile on. Brave man!! I've noticed that dogs will sometimes do the same thing when they pack up at night.

Well you were right about one thing--I'm bald. But the rest is wrong, and if I really had not gotten "picked up to be on the team", as you say, then I would have hours and hours every day to spend online, posting anonymous, hateful c**p like you do. Buh-Bye!

I noticed you are critical of "... a anonymous pseudonym(sic)". Does that mean after you do the research to find out who the girl you slandered was, you are going to post your name as well? Great.

By the way, most of us relay hearsay in one form or another. Typically they are called 'rumors'. Typically, we attempt to weed through the speculation and opinion in hopes of gleaning the truth or some insight. However, in this case, you missed the caveat, it looked like this " if what I have been told is accurate". Regardless, I don't know you so if I now say you are bald.... would that be hearsay, rumor, innuendo, gossip, an assumption, or what?

By the way Alan, if you know so much about the school system, why didn’t you know who Fred Oliver was and that he was black?

As for you admitting you werte way out of bounds for slandering a teenage girl, that is supposed to somehow make her family feel better? You really should just stay on topic Alan.

We're even Mark...you old dog you!

I've been giving my name all along. And I never said she had had sex with anybody, I just implied that I thought it was a possibility. That was bad form on my part, so you've got me there. The boss I was referring to was Dr. DeCotis. Fred works for him, as I'm now sure you know.

Anyway, how can I keep my promise to stay out of this if you keep referring me back to it?

"Pseudonym" is the correct spelling, according to Merriam-Webster.

We can agree that Sandy Creek may well do the best job of any Administration in Fayette County. They certainly have the most diverse population.

The (sic) is in reference to the 'a' as opposed to an 'an' preceding a word that begins with a vowel ("a anonymous" should be written "an anonymous").

The original intent was to point out that bringing in 'outside' people (Campbell is a white male from the Clayton County School System, Ellis a black female from the Atlanta area) rather than promoting from within accelerates changes in the system - for better or worse - and helps to further blur the lines with neighboring counties.

If you add to that the comments I have heard about both - it's really not very flattering or promising.

Campbell worked on re-districting here in Fayette after being a transportation director in Clayton County and Ellis hires our new employees. These are key positions that I, personally, would like to see filled by local Administrators, like Roy, who know the personnel and the community. I for one am in no hurry to look like, sound like, perform like, or resemble in any way, either Clayton County or the Altanta/DeKalb/Fulton County community.

In my personal opinion of course.

You win!

I think you said pretty much everything I was going to say after reading his comments- nuff said.

There has been more than one home invasion in that area. Your dad used to be a cop, ride along with a deputy one night. You said you used to ride along with your dad, I think you would enjoy it, but also it will be an eye opener.