The talk of the town this past weekend was the lame job that McIntosh staff did with the sound at the 2006 graduation ceremony: 20 minutes late starting and most of the people who spoke could not be heard up in the stands. The P.A. system that was used was Mickey Mouse and there were no sound techs anywhere in sight. Anyone who has been exposed to the music business at all knows that what you hear on the field may be quite different from what you hear on the stage and in the stands. That is why we have what is commonly known as a “sound check.” Unfortunately, this has been going on for years at this ceremony and it never seems to dawn on anyone to get someone in who actually knows something about sound production to handle this important event. There are people out there that do this for a living; you guys may want to give them a call. How about a bit more effort next year? There were a lot of grandparents in those stands who had come from great distances to see and hear their grandchildren graduate not to mention the various people who spoke at the podium. This really should not be that difficult of a job. Better luck next year and don’t wait until the night before to study. That is what you tell your students, right? The proof will be in the planning; hopefully you guys will get it right next year.

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A student that brings weapons to school gets a slap on the wrist and is treated very kindly by Starr’s Mill teachers who do not require him to make up the work missed on the 10 days he was out of school. He is permitted to graduate with his class. Students don’t pass the state tests required by Georgia, yet they are given an attendance certificate and allowed to graduate with their class. A student that has overcome many trials, including meningitis and the death of his grandmother and his only brother, fails a half semester of Spanish and is not only denied participation in commencement, but is told he may not attend baccalaureate with his class. I fail to see the fairness.

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Re: Landmark student charged with bringing a bomb to school. I know this is a scary world for our children and for us these days. However, I think it is so unfair to assume a 15-year-old guilty of a so-called “joke” and bringing a bomb to school. Yes, the incident was unfortunate. Was it a bomb? No. Was it a joke? No. Who said we should believe what was said by the headmaster? This story has been spread wide, but they are the words from a school trying to protect their reputation. What about the feelings of the family and the 15-year-old child? Did anyone think to protect them from the false allegations? Why must we put people through hell on earth before the real truth is known? How would you feel if this was your child? Does anyone care about the truth anymore?

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Oh. no. Please don’t tell me a “Christian private school” isn’t immune from “non-Christian” activities! Oh, that’s right, the big difference is “you’re forgiven” for doing stupid things.

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What is happening in Peachtree City? The city council is acting like they’re out of their minds. Cease fire on the expansionism, how about it. Stop giving in to the development crowd.

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Note to the PTC Mayor and City Council: If you want to increase the property values and quality of life here, here’s a tip. Put a moratorium on any new construction, residential and commercial, until you can fix the problems you already have with mismanaged growth. Limit and restrict growth. Pull your heads out of the sand and look around you. Fix what’s wrong before creating new big boxes and traffic nightmares. Most people moved here because it’s NOT Gwinnett. Don’t allow any new building permits until you fix the mess you inherited. Peachtree City is special. Don’t ruin what most of us moved here for: a clean and safe city with good schools, and a city that was not overcrowded. Bottom line: manage what you have before you put more on your already crowded plate, and do it NOW.

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I cannot believe the City Council and their latest fiasco with the railroad. Over 400 of our families now have fully-loaded toxic rail tankers parked less than 100 feet from our homes. The blasted railroad project has been in the works since late January and the mentally bankrupt council waits until now to tell them to kill the project. Duh, after the railroad has spent $700,000 on the project, it’s probably too late. I used to think we had a good deal in CedarCroft and Centennial before a rail yard was added as our latest amenity. Not only do I have to worry about my family’s safety, but try selling a house with railroad cars parked next door. It also looks like we lost the additional entrance at South Kedron that Mayor Logsdon guaranteed us. At one time, my biggest worry was getting overrun by the thousands of cars from the new homes the City Council wants to build north of us. That now pales in significance to the danger and nuisance of the rail tankers and losing the South Kedron entrance. The inept City Council needs to grow up fast and start looking out for our homeowners.

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Give us all a break. Sneaky government officials are afoot and their goal is developer profit over the public good. A lot of us in Tyrone were bowled over to read Town Manager Barry Amos say that Tyrone Elementary school is in danger because they need sewer and Tyrone is running out of capacity. What a fraud. Apparently Amos, Mayor Sheryl Lee and Councilman Mike Smola think we’re a bunch of illiterate boobs. One of the reasons Mayor Lee justified bringing Fairburn’s sewer to Tyrone in the first place was to hook the local schools onto the sewer. We need to hold the mayor accountable. Instead of rescuing our children’s school, Mayor Lee decided to double the housing density of the Wieland property that she promised not to touch prior to the election. Our children lost because our elected officials got some developer profit in their eyes and couldn’t see. But don’t kid yourself; the plan all along was to use the elementary school as the excuse to justify increasing the sewage capacity from Fairburn so that the mayor and some of the councilmen could ramp up more development, placing pressure on our schools and roads. For failing to protect the important school site upfront as promised, Mayor Lee was negligent [and] should resign. As for Manager Amos, many of us are surprised that he’s been around this long; get rid of him.

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A note to the Peeples Elementary PTO: Usually when an explanation is given before a question is asked, it means the people offering the explanation have something to hide. I was perplexed when my child brought home a paper concerning the PTO expenditures. On the bottom of the note they discussed a project that they did not get involved with. Odd? I called a friend who I know was a contributor to the new activity field project and got the real scoop. The PTO did not want to get involved with raising funds to provide an activity field for the students. So private donations were given and over $15,000 was raised through parents and businesses. The PTO became so bitter, they would not help facilitate the administrative acceptance of donations. That’s right, the PTO would not help accept money that was already promised by donors. I found out this project is not about putting sod in various parts of the playfield (as the PTO note suggested). But rather, Peeples Elementary will have a brand new activity field for the kids. I’ve never heard of a PTO unwilling to accept funds for a project that will benefit the school. Must be politics at play,instead of the best interest of the children.

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Some of those who died in the attack on the World Trade Center jumped to their deaths on the unforgiving cement below. Here is a data point to remember about that: The man who helped the 9/11 killers obtain the driver’s licenses they used to board those planes was an illegal alien from Mexico. Just earning a better life for his family, right?

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Knowing how busy our glorious leaders are, let’s help them schedule the next congressional amnesty debate for the summer of 2026. The 1986 amnesty was for 3 million people. 2006 amnesty for 12 million people. 2026 amnesty for 40 million people. Now that they’ve got the drill down, the debates for future comprehensive worthless legislation shouldn’t take over two days at the max. The only difference is that the 2026 debates will be in Spanish.

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The more they talk, the more things stay the same. Angry rants to senators who cobble together a “comprehensive” immigration reform bill that will protect employers whose jobs are the magnet that draws illegal aliens. Buried in the more than 600 pages of legislation is ”Employer Protections,” which states: “Employers of aliens applying for adjustment of status under this section shall not be subject to civil and criminal tax liability relating directly to the employment of such alien.” So, illegals who broke the law must pay a $2000 fine, but employers who have broken the law by hiring them will get a pass.

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If you have a leak in the roof, you repair it before the rainy season. Ditto for repairing border security and employer sanctions before giving a guest-to-citizenship party for between 11 and 20 million illegals.

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I am a retired Chicago police officer so I have a police scanner that I listen to quite frequently. I heard one of our Fayette County deputies get called out to a home because the home owner wanted to complain about getting junk mail in their mailbox. People, get a life. Police have much more important things to do than listen to you whine about getting junk mail. Had a resident in Chicago called and asked for one of us to come out, our dispatchers would have told them that they need to take it up either with the post office or the company that sent the mail. And if that’s too difficult for you to handle, throw it in the trash; it’s that simple.

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On April 18, BellSouth disconnected my phone and DSL. It took me three hours to convince them I did not request a disconnect. It took 18 days to get DSL back, a month to get my phone number back. And now, I cannot get anyone to correct the intermittent DSL connection (off line for up to eight hours at a time, everyday) and take a temporary line off my main line. The next thing, the CEO or CFO will take a big bonus as Bellsouth posts a big loss.