I also am a parent of three teenagers that has had an issue with other parents allowing my children to drink in their homes without my permission. (These are probably the same parents that let their 16-year-olds break the six-month, no-passenger law. I’ll save that for another time!) I am not an expert on the law, but I do know that underage drinking is against the law. It is also against the law to provide or serve alcohol to a minor. Many parents (my ex-husband included) think that they are teaching these teens to “drink responsibly,” by supervising them and/or not allowing them to drive. In my eyes, there is no such thing as responsible drinking. That term is an oxymoron. What are they teaching these kids? That it’s OK to break the law and that in order to have fun, one must drink. I don’t buy into the theory that teens are going to drink anyway, so might as well let them drink at home. Of course teenagers are going to drink – I’m not naive about this fact. Parents need to step up to the plate and get a backbone. If your child is caught drinking, there needs to be tough consequences. Underage drinking is against the law. What part of this statement do you parents not understand? Our legislators need to toughen up the punishments for MIP and providing alcohol to a minor. I have alcoholism in my family, as well as an ex-husband who is an alcoholic. With this kind of a history, my children are playing Russian roulette when it comes to alcohol. When there is a genetic component, crossing the line becomes a slippery slope. One minute you are fine and the next you have a drinking problem. I don’t want to take any chance here; the cards are stacked against us from the start. I have talked to my children on numerous occasions about the seriousness of alcohol and plan to take them to a counselor that specializes in addictions before they leave for college. I know my children will drink; that’s probably a given. But I am not going to make it easy for them, or any other teen, and I am not going to allow them or any other teen to break the law in my home. And I won’t tolerate others who are trying to be “cool parents” by allowing kids to drink. I am the mom (and teacher) that teenagers think is cool – not because I allow them to drink, but because I treat these teens nicely and with respect. Oh, and if I find out you have a group of kids at your house drinking, I will be forced to call the cops.

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A word of thanks for the great baseball season. From a lover of baseball and a NG supporter, I am compelled to say a word of thanks to the local Fayette County teams. First and foremost, thank you, Starr’s Mill. Without you playing the game to the end, like a true champion, NG would not be fortunate enough to host the first round. Next, McIntosh. Wow, your program has come a long way and you have a quality team, parents and coaching staff. You are no longer viewed as just a soccer powerhouse. Whitewater, you are as tough a competitor as they come. We truly wish you much luck this week. Sandy Creek, good luck to your squad as well. Would it not be the best if the state championship was played in the Coweta/Fayette community? Good luck this week to all our boys of summer.

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Does anyone else feel like they are 4-wheeling on the golf cart path by the lake? I thought the path was to be finished by May 5. It’s now May 13. Come on, PTC, let’s get things together.

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I am appalled at the amount of trash that is on the golf cart paths, even after the city has installed many more trash barrels. What kind of training do these slobs have? It is disgusting. Another disturbing thing I have noticed is the graffiti in the path tunnels, most notably the one by McDonald’s and Gables Court Apartments. There is also vulgar graffiti on private property, namely fences that border on the paths. If I wanted to live in the Bronx and view gang-related graffiti, then I wouldn’t have chosen to live in Peachtree City. Parents, do you know what your teens are up to, and who they are associating with? Or do you have blinders on that your darlings can’t be involved in such behavior? Graffiti is symptomatic of bad changes on the way. Call the police if you see these perpetrators in action. Let’s clean up Peachtree City of trash, human and otherwise.

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Beware, PTC Soccer, over-40 gang hangs out there. I thought there were no gangs in PTC. Well, let me tell you, there are. I even know where they hang out. It is the Soccer Complex. I was attending a soccer game this past Sunday. It was a Lightning vs. Lasers game. Keep in mind these were U12 girls (girls under 12). As I was watching the game, there were about five or six men in a gang, [all] about 40 to 65 years old. They were hollering to the girls things like, “Bully them around and push them down.” There were other things said but I won’t repeat them. It was getting out of hand. A bunch of old daddy thugs. I was embarrassed for them. I’m sure their kids were. None of them would act like this alone. Some did look like they had a little much to drink, like the two little fat men standing there yelling behind the rest of them. I think those were the two that almost got in a fight with each other. Finally a lady came over there and asked them to calm down and they started ranting to her that she was just a glorified timekeeper. I have to hand it to her, after two of them almost got into a fight, they finally settled down. I went up to the lady and thanked her for what she did. Her statement was, “Yeah, they did the same thing Friday night also.” I was only 20 feet away; I heard it all. Shame on you, old men. PTC’s finest. Remember it is only a game, gang members.

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I was listening to the news this morning and heard the story of the young football player who picked up another 15-year-old football player and beat him by ramming his head continuously into the ground. That 15-year-old child is not expected to live because of his injuries. I wonder if the student who lost his temper and did the beating had had an energy drink that day. I have seen my own 17-year-old grandson after taking one or two of these drinks in a day (you are only supposed to have one of these a day, as it says on the can) have a complete personality change. He at one point became very violent towards another student and could have hurt him severely. It was pure luck this child wasn’t hurt. The teachers told me they were very surprised that my grandchild could do such a thing and my friends say, “Not him; he is such a good, level-headed child.” I have heard of other people concerned with these energy drinks. First of all it is very difficult to keep a teenager or younger child who has spending money to buy or drink only one of these energy drinks. It is a legal high for children. I think a behavioral study should be done of children who drink these energy drinks. They should not be sold to anyone under the age of 18 or better still they should be sold only in LCBO outlets so that young children cannot get a hold of them. Hopefully other parents will notice how their children behave after taking these drinks.

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This is a great big thank you to the biology teachers who refuse to dissect. Using pull-apart plastic models is cheaper and a better teaching tool. You’re also showing kids it’s not cool to rip apart creatures just because they’re smaller than you.

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The overpaid, out of touch bureaucrats of this country are pushing for even higher gasoline prices ostensibly to reduce the use of gasoline. What these fat cats don’t understand is that the majority of Americans are already living hand to mouth because of the astronomical gasoline prices. The higher the price goes the more people are being plunged into poverty. Only a handful of people living in the urban areas of big cities have public transportation at their disposal. The rest of us have no choice but to buy gasoline or quit work, one or the other. Children of once middle class families are startling to go hungry as a result of this situation and it will get worse, much worse.

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You can’t trust politicians at any level because you can buy them at a low price. As a good-natured Republican, Sen. Mitch Seabaugh tried to assure us everything is working just fine under the gold dome. Unfortunately, he forgot to mention the reason Gov. Perdue vetoed the amended budget is because the Republican majority legislature packed it full of pork barrel projects. The real question should be why is a state senator representing Coweta County, knee deep in TDK developer money, writing to Fayette County in the first place? Isn’t our state senator Ronnie Chance? As Seabaugh’s former coworker, U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, learned, the Fayette developer crowd can be mighty generous if you do things their way. How sad that the Republicans do no better than the Democrats when they’re in charge.

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Is Logsdon and his crew trying to bring us down to our knees? Cal Beverly nailed it — the standards have been thrown out the window. When Bob Lenox and Steve Brown agree the West Village annex could have been a lot better, it had to be a terrible plan. What are they doing? I agree with the Free Speech poster who said the Centennial school children should be forced to go to out of city schools and leave the children be.

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I have to agree with Cal Beverly’s emotional column on Harold Logsdon and his council signaling a sad turning point in Peachtree City’s history. The out-and-out lack of effort on the annexation was embarrassing, not to mention disastrous. Why they still want to pursue extending TDK is beyond comprehension too. There has got to be some way to stop the mayor before it’s too late and things cannot be turned back. It’s pretty obvious Mayor Logsdon has a side agenda working as he refuses any suggestions to control the large developments. If they won’t heed the cry of the citizens, we need to force them out.

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Harold Logsdon: The best mayor Coweta County ever had!

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The mayor was given a list of important items from a group of homeowners associations to work out on the West Village annexation and he couldn’t be bothered with it. Mayor Logsdon has the gall to complain about what he says is an unreasonable level of anxiety and apprehension in the city, but he has no one to blame but himself. His insolence with saying the official city survey (only 7 percent of the respondents said annexation was a good idea) doesn’t count is a personal insult to every homeowner in Peachtree City. There is no city comprehensive plan any longer because the city council has violated it into oblivion. What a shame when only one councilman has the smarts to see that things are flying in the wrong direction. They need to fall in line or get out.

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The telephone lineman mayor climbed up the wrong pole with this last annexation. Mr. Logsdon’s annexation was so poorly orchestrated we are left wondering if it can possibly get any worse. You would think the staff could try to steer them in the right direction. It was ugly. The mayor and council need to resign.

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There are two news stories in today’s Citizen (May 9). One is about having to cut back home lawn watering in Fayette County to fewer days and a more narrow window of watering hours. The other story concerns development of the West Village and the additional 900 plus homes. Let’s connect the dots here, and see what this is telling us. Is anyone in authority concerned, or are we just going to let land owners and developers keep plodding away to leave us high and dry?

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After Pearl Harbor the battle cry was “Remember the Arizona!” At the next city council election may it be “Remember the Bypass!” I know I certainly will.

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Coweta County, isn’t it time to stand up to Peachtree City? Every week in the paper there is an article that Peachtree City has denied some sort of road improvement because it may benefit Coweta County. Is that a criterion for PTC? If it benefits Coweta County, deny, deny, deny. Amazingly, PTC was up in arms over the McIntosh Village that will benefit Coweta County and PTC. During PTC rants over the traffic increase on PTC roads from McIntosh Village, they approve a large-density development in their own city. Come on, PTC, do you realize how much money you receive from Coweta County residents? I am confident that if Coweta County citizens had other options than to drive through PTC, they would be more than happy to do so.

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Mayor Harold, you had better be careful disagreeing with Chief Murray. Surely you haven’t forgotten what happened to the city manager after he wanted to make a few changes. The chief says that he can’t keep people because of salaries. I say, bull. The truth is, that a lot of good officers leave because they can’t deal with the arrogance of Murray. I know that a lot of people think they know what MLK stands for. Down here in Peachy City it stands for Murray’s Little Kingdom. The chief and his sidekick should seek employment elsewhere and be replaced by Capt. Ernst and Lt. Hill.

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I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for either Sheryl Lee or that Harold Logsdon. They don’t care about their people and they are always up to no good. It’s kind of funny watching Sheryl Lee come up with more excuses about we need more sewer in Tyrone. But come election time she swears to your face that she’s not pushing bigger growth plans on Tyrone. They are as dishonest as the day is long and I can’t wait to see them go.

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Life’s lesson #13: Never accept advice from anyone who has a tattoo or piercing since they have already demonstrated they lack good judgment.

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Dogma of the Left holds that you can negotiate every problem away. Their logo is a smiley face on a white flag.

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How stupid is it to say that this latest batch of terrorists “entered the nation legally”! If they intended terrorism instead of vacation or schooling, they gained entry through fraud. That means they did not enter “legally,” they just abused a slack legal system.

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When Mike Wallace asked one presidential candidate if he had pre-marital sex with his wife, he lowered the standards another notch.