Monday will begin the third week of school in Fayette County, [and] it will also mark the third week of school at Sandy Creek High School without a gym. The gym at Sandy Creek High School has been rendered useless since June. In fact, the school officials were told in June that the installation of air conditioning in the gym would only take a few weeks. (By the way, this is the only high school in Fayette County without air conditioning and it looks like it’s going to stay that way for some time to come.) Well, guess what? There’s plywood on the floor and every now and then someone comes and looks around. Still no air conditioning, still no date of completion has been given. The Fayette County Board of Education is well aware of this as many parents have called and let their voices be heard on the matter. Any student who has PE scheduled as a class this semester has had to do book work in the cafeteria. This is an outrage. Currently the high school is having to trade off sports team practices with Flat Rock in the use of their gym. The high temperatures have made this even more difficult for all teams to get in a full practice. Home games for volleyball have been cancelled or rescheduled to other schools. Just how long is this going to last? Why wasn’t it finished before school started as planned? When will the real work even begin? When can the PE students actually dress out and have PE? This reminds me of last year’s rubberized track — they started the week before school started and got it completed just in time for spring track season. Oops, they must have forgotten all about cross country season using the track in the fall or PE classes. Why is it that our school always gets the short end of the stick? Come on, Board of Education, do something now.

- - - - - - - - - -

To John DeCotis and the Fayette County School Board: We need to look into air conditioned buses if we are going to continue starting school in mid-summer for our children. Also, why is it a state law to have seat belts on the road but not on our school buses to save the lives of our children? These are items that need to be looked into. About the school supplies, all the problems could be made better if it were mandatory for the school board/individual schools to post the school supply list in the summer for parents to get a head start on purchasing items. This would stop the scarcity of items and higher pricing at the start of school that parents have to deal with.

- - - - - - - - - -

FCBOE, please know that you all cannot hide the machines that are supposed to remove the mold from your local PTC school. As a parent at that school on Aug. 23 it was very hard to miss the machine on the back hallway of my child’s school. Over half of the classrooms on that hall smells like mold. Well, do you wait for someone to get ill or do you fix the problem? Along with that, the plumbing is messed up. The toilets are not working properly, sinks are leaking and making loud noises. I forgot Fayette schools are all top-notch.

- - - - - - - - - -

I can’t believe anyone would criticize a salary increase for John DeCotis, our school superintendent. First of all, his salary is not that much compared to big deal CEOs of local companies and John DeCotis works a lot harder then most people around this county. He’s awesome. The best at what he does and he cares. Fayette County School System is one of the best because he is our leader. He deserves his little yearly salary and more.

- - - - - - - - - -

So John DeCotis wants an enormous raise to $180,000 a year. Are you serious? Did he not hire an assistant superintendent (Sam Sweat) a couple of years ago to help him with his “workload”? Or was he just hired to take the heat for some of the questionable decisions his department has made lately? The timing of this arrogant raise request is interesting, to say the least. Not only has the economy taken a downturn, but the beginning of the school year brought the usual deluge of donation and monetary requests from the various schools for everything from paper towels to clinic supplies. I have three children in our school system, so I know what I’m talking about. Some may not even know that each high schooler is asked for a $10 donation for the school’s clinic, because its supplies are not paid for by the state or our county. In fact, anytime requests such as these are explained to parents, it is noted that the state does not pay for this or that. If the state won’t pay for classroom paper towels, why can’t the county pay for them? Why not buy paper towels and tissues when you buy toilet paper? No, they’d rather save for big-ticket items, like hiring an out-of-town consultant for $5,000 a day to draw up our school boundary lines, or raising DeCotis’ salary to a mind-boggling $180,000 a year. Last week’s Free-Speecher had a better idea: Give the teachers a raise, not Sir John.

- - - - - - - - - -

It is hard to get employed by the Fayette County School System. It should be a rule or law on how far can they go back on the backgrounds. Surely for miscellaneous charges you should be given a second chance.

- - - - - - - - - -

For the people posting messages on The Citizen website and who will probably be writing in to Free Speech, let me tell you some things the media did not. First of all, Mr. Carey is not being paid $5,000 a day. Second, the information from the meetings will be coming to each school via your community representative appointed by your school PTO. This person will have all the info you need as the process is going on. There are no “secrets.” It will take weeks to get this figured out, so the information could change as it goes. Third of all, this redistricting is for elementary only, not high school. I wish the media would get all the facts out when they report, not just write enough to get people in an uproar.

- - - - - - - - - -

Fayette County, pay attention. Don’t be fooled by the half-truths and sensationalized journalism you are being fed by John Thompson regarding the elementary attendance boundary work being done. Here are the facts: This process is being led by a highly experienced subject matter expert who does school planning for a living. And guess what, he’s an independent with no ties to Fayette County administration. Kelley Carey does not make $5,000 a day as previously reported by J. Thompson. He makes less than $200 an hour, and has tremendous credentials that make him worth every penny. Google him and you’ll find abundantly sane articles on how this work should be done. Our Fayette county BOE does not have expertise in redistricting. That’s why they hired an independent subject matter expert. Thank you, Sam Sweat, for having the wisdom to acknowledge this and hire someone independent. Contrary to what you’ve been fed, you ARE represented in these closed-door sessions. Every school has a parent representative on the committee who is actively participating in the creation of the map. Sam Sweat has NEVER said that there would be no public review meetings, only that the map drawing was going to be in closed session. Much better than last time when the public had no direct involvement. We asked for this process, a subject matter expert and direct community involvement in map creation. Guess what? That’s happening. Let them do this work. Our children deserve the best resources we can get.

- - - - - - - - - -

I would like to know why the Fayette County Board of Ed allows Mr. Stillions, principal of Whitewater High School, to send emails out asking his staff and students to no longer endorse the local Chick-Fil-A Towne Center and to now endorse the Fayetteville Dwarf House. Chick-Fil-A Towne Center has been very supportive of the Whitewater school district and now, for reasons unknown, emails are being sent out from Mr. Stillions and his staff saying that “they are not telling us where to eat, but they would like us to now patronize the Fayetteville Dwarf House instead of Chick-Fil-A Towne Center.” This is not a way to thank a local merchant who has supported Whitewater High School. Besides, the Dwarf House is farther away and logistically speaking, should serve the center and north end of Fayetteville, not the south end where the Chick-Fil-A Towne Center is located. How is it that Mr. Stillions is spending his time on these types of issues when there are greater issues at hand, such as why are his teachers skipping out of teaching classes to go to meetings to support more money for athletics. You have to wonder what his priorities are.

- - - - - - - - - -

I cannot believe that Principal Stillions has cut ties with Chick-fil-A Town Center just because he is not getting his way. Who died and made him God? He has bigger fish to fry. His assistant principal who was arrested for a DUI was walking around open house with her tattoo on her right leg showing. What kind of message is this sending to our kids. Hey, look at me, I not only got away with drinking and driving but I also have a tattoo. Wake up, school board. Is this type of person the one you really want around our children? When she took this position she knew she would be living in a glass house. Please clean house and get this kind of person out and away from our impressionable children.

- - - - - - - - - -

Oh, happy day, another Smola seeking higher office. Having Mike as mayor of Tyrone in charge of zoning would be like school board member Janet Smola in charge of family values curriculum. His comment that he is proud to have taken Tyrone from hillbilly heaven to a thriving suburb speaks volumes. Yankee, go home.

- - - - - - - - - -

My prayer: Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my property to keep. If Barry Amos and the Tyrone Council take it before I wake, I pray the Lord their jobs to take! Amen.

- - - - - - - - - -

I see Ken Steele and his cronies are probably going right back in office. Why doesn’t someone run against them? I wish I could, but I am disabled. Hovey-King, who lost to Mr. Oddo, is going back in and it will be the same crew (except for Mr. Oddo) that approved the crime-infested Pavilion, and everything else that has ruined Fayetteville. Is there anyone out there that cares?

- - - - - - - - - -

I guess the fear of “The Card” being played and what the Rev. Als and Jesses would stir up has again influenced our justice system. Let’s review, shall we? Mike “violent” Vick could face a max of 18 months in federal prison for torturing and killing dogs by hanging, electrocuting and drowning them. He lied about it when first confronted and then the truth was revealed. He not only tortured and killed them, he bet and gambled on dog-fighting events he helped fund. An NBA official who happens to be white and who admitted the first time he was confronted that he was guilty of betting and gambling only on NBA games could face a 25-year sentence. Makes sense to me; after all, this is play “The Card” as much as you can culture.

- - - - - - - - - -

Who does Mrs. Judith Moore think she is? How dare she come to our county meeting and hurl the slander of racism? I am sick and tired of these insults on all of us who voted in our county officials. It is the same old game, accusing conservative Republicans of being prejudiced. Well, get a clue, Mrs. Moore. It’s not about race; it’s about ideology. Conservative Christian (mostly Methodist and Baptists) Republicans created policies and designed cities to achieve what we have today. We don’t like the way Clayton County is, not because of its racial make-up, but rather its quality of life. And guess what, that is why you like it here too. Are you volunteering for higher violent crime rates? For poor performing schools? Horrible traffic? Or maybe you simply want less green space in Fayette County? Well, if you want those things, you can move. Most of us who elected our county commissioners don’t want this garbage, and truthfully I’ll bet you don’t either. Many Fayette Countians like myself voted for Herman Cain for U.S. Senate in the Republican Primary over Johnny Isackson. Why? Because of his policies and lack of Washington insider connections, not his race. We judge by using our intelligence, not by looking at someone’s skin color. If you want to hurl insults, I’ll hurl one back at you: Perhaps you are the one with racist policies. You want special allotments and privileges for people just because of their color. Why don’t you try using your brain instead of your eyes?

- - - - - - - - - -

If anyone who bought a Blues Traveler CD at the show, the artist who painted the image on the CD is Frenchy of New Orleans. He paints events and is a wonderful guy. If you want to see more of his work, his website is www.frenchylive.com. Enjoy.

- - - - - - - - - -

Does anyone know who the blithering idiot is in the Gold Section at The Fred on Saturday nights is? He is right in the middle in front of the entertainers, and, as they say in the ‘hood, “acting the fool.”

- - - - - - - - - -

To all the people who love the golf cart path as much as I do: When you ride a bike, make sure you wear a helmet. I always thought I was safe as long as I was careful. Last week I got a reality check. As I was riding my bike I was hit head-on by a teenage driver. He got a citation, I got head injury, a broken foot, cuts and abrasions. It seemed that he never even slowed down. I flew through his windshield head-first and there has never been a time I wished for a helmet more. To all the golf cart drivers, especially the teens, please slow down and pay attention to what you’re doing. And especially to the parents of the teen drivers, make sure you have liability insurance so after your kid runs somebody over, you, as a parent and a teacher, can show your kid to do the right thing and help the victim the best you can. Don’t turn your back on the victim that your kid already sent to the hospital, like what is happening to me right now.

- - - - - - - - - -

Another million dollar fumble by PTC: the police station rework. Then there was the several million dollar [problem] with the tennis center. And, don’t forget the rusty colored bridge that has been useless for a long time. We must be rich around here. How much are we spending to try and salvage the Buckhead Brewery building area? What are those barracks behind the liquor store and ice cream parlor? Aren’t developers ever held to quality development here? Does anyone yet have a story to tell about our local banking situation in Fayette as to the credit crunch now going on in the whole USA? How many repossessions? How many unsold? Have any actually sold at the asking price lately? Stuff like that. I don’t suppose the Chamber, the developers, and the banks will want such information out to us peons. We can just make our decisions with the NO information that we have.

- - - - - - - - - -

The police station flop is an atrocious disgrace. The crooked dealings in Peachtree City is costing us a small fortune.

- - - - - - - - - -

The wastefulness of tax dollars in Peachtree City is appalling. The situation with the police station is a joke. This is another one of those things where Steve Brown, Steve Rapson and Murray Weed kept shouting we’re being cheated and no one paid attention. Now we end up paying dearly for another Bob Lenox nightmare.

- - - - - - - - - -

When he ran for mayor, Dar Thompson said he would commit to being a good public servant without the annual salary. He also said Logsdon was a phony and would never be able to keep his promises. Obviously, Dar didn’t have the slightest chance in the world of landing the vacant council seat with his commitment to doing the right thing.

- - - - - - - - - -

Congratulations to Terry Garlock who, for the first time ever, wrote an insightful column. His review of the sub-prime mortgage problem was coherent and logical. However, he may be forced to turn in his Ditto Head Club membership for failing to blame Jimmy Carter for every ill of the late 1970s and 1980s. The column was marred only by Garlock’s curious condemnation of the Democratic senators from New York when, by his own reckoning, the mortgage problem arose while the current President and a decidedly Republican Congress were in full control of two branches of government. It was gratifying to see Mr. Garlock write about something he actually knows. His treatises on topics such as parenting and Middle Eastern problems show a man hopelessly over his head. I’m sure he will soon return to penning wisdom from Rush Limbaugh with all of Rush’s “intelligence on loan from OxyContin,” but it was nice to see that Mr. Garlock understands at least one thing in the world. Thank you, Terry.

- - - - - - - - - -

To the person having a bad experience with Fayetteville soccer: You can be on the team you want to be on with your friends if you are cozy with those “good old boys” who run the youth soccer in Fayetteville. Otherwise, do what I did. My son quit Fayetteville soccer and has played in Peachtree City for years now. It has been nothing short of a wonderful experience with great coaches and lovely people. I hate to admit it, but they really do have it better in PTC.

- - - - - - - - - -

After the item regarding the vehicles running over property and even out on the roads appeared, it has spawned some discussions. What recourse do tax-paying property owners have? We are entitled to equal protection under the law, right? Whom can we turn to? The children and possibly adults are still riding as if nothing has changed. It is a wide-ranging area from Ga. Highway 85, up Seay Road and Harp Road to Ga. Highway 92. There just has to be an answer to this problem.

- - - - - - - - - -

Roland Haas says he expects there will be skeptics concerning his book detailing a life as a CIA assassin. I’m afraid I am one of those skeptics. I retired from a 40-year career as an undercover agent for the federal government in 1999. During my long career, I worked for several different agencies in Washington, D.C., and in American embassies all over the world. There were no officially sanctioned assassins in our government during that time. In my opinion, we should have such agents to deal with people like Saddam Hussein and other terrorists rather than committing our armed forces to a war that cannot be won on the battle field.

- - - - - - - - - -

Hello, this is in response to the author of the abortion/Giuliani comment. It is your choice to get pregnant, not to kill a baby. Secondly, you are doing just that, murdering babies and there is no way around that. Since 1973 (when abortion became legal) we have killed over 48 million babies, way more deaths than the war in Iraq, but that’s okay, it’s only like hundreds of generations of people being aborted. You never know, one of those kids could have been a legitimate candidate for president who could have shaped the course of history. It’s not a religious view; it is a moral issue.

- - - - - - - - - -

I will soon be 80 years old and I cannot remember one hurricane season in which the Gulf Coast and the east coast of the USA was not hit by one or more hurricanes. I rode out a hurricane in Galveston, Texas once that devastated the city and then bounced up the coast to wipe out Beaumont, Texas. These are two of the prime gasoline-producing areas on the Gulf Coast. Again I rode out a strong hurricane on the Florida east coast that did extensive damage from Miami to Norfolk, Va. Not once in my lifetime before Katrina did gasoline prices go up because of a hurricane. Now they start raising prices as soon as a hurricane forms out in the Caribbean. Just another excuse to gouge the American people some more. Of course we never had Bush and Cheney in the White House before either.

- - - - - - - - - -

Talk about a study in contrasts. Last week we saw hundreds if not thousands of Hindus parading in Atlanta, joyously celebrating the consecration of their new temple. They were all excited about spreading their message of love and understanding of their fellow man. Contrast that with the letter to the editor last week from one of the local Christian Taliban, who was once again attempting to conflate those who don’t subscribe to their extremist religious beliefs as somehow being the moral equivalent of dog-fighting Michael Vick.

- - - - - - - - - -

If Jesus showed up in Peachtree CIty today, would he be considered an illegal immigrant?

- - - - - - - - - -

What are “G-D fearing people”? Do they come from New York?