Greensboro AL News Commentary and Reading Recommendations

I really enjoyed this article, even though it took me several paragraphs to realize that this was not about a contemporary couple, but the author of the song Amazing Grace.
 
I realized it was not set in modern times when "John" gave up his cruel business shipping slaves.

From http://www.andalusiastarnews.com/article...bors/news02.txt:
 
Survival looked hopeless. John was attempting to steer the ship, trying to hold it on course.
His thoughts turned to Christ, and he cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us!" (...) The wretched man was saved and began seeking the Lord in prayer and reading the Scriptures. Mary saw the change in her childhood friend, and the two were married and spent the next forty years together. He wrote that their love "equaled all that the writers of romance have imagined."(...)

Today, we can read a two-volume collection of John's letters to Mary. He said, "I am led to think of the goodness of God, who has made you mine, and given me a heart to value you. Thus my love to you, and my gratitude to him, cannot be separated...All other love, that is not connected with a dependence on God, must be precarious."
John Newton never ceased to be amazed at God's work in his life. He began writing hymns for Sunday night services at his church. We still sing his words, "Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see."

Very interesting. Make sure to check out the whole article about John Newton.
 
How nice of the Andalusia Star News to add a bit of history to their daily reporting. God knows that inspiring stories like that are more uplifting than most stuff you find in the news these days.

06:05 AM   

The allegations involve anticompetitive practices by the nation's number one dairy cooperative.

From http://www.al.com/newsflash/regional/ind...ist=alabamanews:
 
The Department of Justice announced in August an antitrust investigation into the Kansas City-based Dairy Farmers of America Incorporated in connection with its expansion in the South. The cooperative, commonly referred to as DFA, has been accused by farmers across the country of unlawfully trying to monopolize the nation's production and distribution of milk.

Right now, the company controls about a third of the milk supply in the USA. Yale University has been commissioned to look into how the cooperative could be split up.

08:14 AM   

It seems there was no intention of wrongdoing. Rules and regulations can get complicated...

From http://www.demopolistimes.com/articles/2...ry/topstory.txt:
 
A member of the Hale County Water Authority board of directors has been ordered to repay funds he received as compensation as acting director of the water system.
The move came after the Alabama Ethics Commission decided Rev. Robert Shepherd was guilty of "10 minor violations of the ethics law," said Hugh Evans, the commission's general counsel.
Evans was unsure of the exact amount Sheppard agreed to repay, but said it was between $9,000 and $10,000.
"The allegations were that, as a member of the board, he was also receiving pay as an employee of the water authority," Evans said. "As a member of the board, he cannot be an employee."

Interesting. But in the end, not major news. There've been much more egrarious examples of mingling of interests in other counties and cities recently.

07:23 AM   

Here's hope that if the parents find out, the students will get severe punishment. These incidents are just unacceptable and reflect badly on the whole community.

From http://www.demopolistimes.com/articles/2...news/news05.txt:
 
In a span of only two days, May 18-19 there were three separate crimes committed against the teachers' automobiles of Greensboro East.
The first of these three incidents happened on May 18, (...) Poole reported to the Greensboro Police Department that some students had damaged her red Ford Expedition. She filed a report with the police and they are charging the damage done to her vehicle as second degree Criminal Mischief. (...)
Hamilton said to have three separate incidents of vandalizing a teacher's car in two days is just inexcusable.

Hey kids: You are pathetic losers for damaging the property of people who don't earn much in the first place, for their efforts in trying to prepare you for a successful life. May karma come back and bite you in the butt when you own your very first car.

08:18 AM   

This is a very informative and thought-provoking article from the Birmingham News, about a subject that is practically always overlooked during discussions of the 'bigger picture'.

From http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews...82724231220.xml:
 
for this discussion we'll consider as urban the 22 Alabama counties classified as Metropolitan Statistical Areas, and the remaining 45 rural. These 45 counties are home to 1.3 million of our 4.4 million residents.
(...) The Alabama Department of Industrial Relations says we lost 56,500 manufacturing jobs from 1990 to 2002.
(...) Where were these jobs? Buildings that once housed sewing plants are as common in rural Alabama as kudzu.
(...) People like Jerry Boothe, the mayor of Opp, where Opp & Micolas Mills closed last summer after decades of operation, leaving 600-plus people unemployed. With his budget $250,000 in the red, the mayor is trying to figure out what to do.

Boothe, half-jokingly, points out that Opp even lost the McDonald's. He said he had thought about writing to Dear Abby.
 
The article goes on to describe how Georgia had made more efforts in economic development of rural counties. The OneGeorgia Authority has more than 20 million dollars at their disposal.
 
We've seen it on our travels, too. The small towns in South Georgia tend to be more lively than their Alabama counterparts. If you travel Highway 84 from Valdosta westward, you experience hustling and bustling little towns like Quitman, Thomasville, Cairo, and Bainbridge, with antique shopping and sightseeing. Once you get into Alabama, it gets more drab. Cities like Andalusia, Opp, and Ozark don't present themselves as well as they could. Brewton is the light at the other end of the tunne.
 
Creating local opportunities is about making the most of what you have. Fortunately, it seems that towns like Andalusia are starting now to revitalize their downtowns now.

09:10 AM