By Tim Enloe; Accessmilton.com
There is a great story coming and it is taking place in Milton. It is a story that should inspire all citizens to unite and make this city the best place to live on Earth. It is a story that will build bridges and create unity among differences.
Keep an eye on Accessmilton.com in the coming days as we share this story with you and the individual that made it reality.
Double Click To Enlarge Screen & Turn Volume Up.
Double Click To Enlarge Screen & Turn Volume Up.
By Accessmilton.com
MILTON, GA., May 27, 2011 - Don't forget that the City of Milton's fourth annual
Memorial Day Ceremony is scheduled for this Monday, May 30 at 10 a.m. at Milton City Hall, 13000 Deerfield Parkway Suite 107.
This year's ceremony includes performances by local songstress Kennedy Taylor and Cara McDermott, principal trumpet of the Milton High School Band, the reading of a Memorial Day Essay by Hopewell Middle School student Madison Landis, and featured speaker Col. Murphy Neal Jones, who spent nearly seven years in a Hanoi, Vietnam prisoner of war camp and continued his military service after being released.
The ceremony will conclude with a roll call of local living and fallen veterans, punctuated by a military aircraft flyover at 11 a.m. Friends and families of local fallen veterans are then invited to reflect upon the handmade markers created to remember their legacy and placed along Deerfield Parkway by Councilman Bill Lusk.
Please join the City of Milton this Memorial Day and give thanks to the brave servicemen and women who sacrificed their lives for the cause of freedom.
SHIFTY DIED JAN 17, 2011..........rest in peace.
Shifty volunteered for the airborne in WWII and served with Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of the 101st Airborne Infantry. If you've seen Band of Brothers on HBO or the History Channel, you know Shifty. His character appears in all 10 Episodes, and Shifty himself is interviewed in several of them.
I met Shifty in the Philadelphia airport several years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time. I just saw an elderly gentleman having Trouble reading his ticket. I offered to help, assured him that he was at the right gate, and noticed the "Screaming Eagle," the symbol of The 101st Airborne, on his hat.
Making conversation, I asked him if he d been in the 101st Airborne Or if his son was serving. He said quietly that he had been in the 101st. I thanked him for his service, then asked him when he served, and how many jumps he made. Quietly and humbly, he said "Well, I guess I signed up in 1941 or so, and was in until sometime in 1945 ... " at which point my heart skipped.
At that point, again, very humbly, he said "I made the 5 training Jumps at Toccoa, and then jumped into Normandy .. Do you know where Normandy is?" At this point my heart stopped. I told him "Yes, I know exactly where Normandy is, and I know what D-Day was." At that point he said "I also made a second jump into Holland , into Arnhem ."
I was standing with a genuine war hero .... And then I realized that it was June, just after the anniversary of D-Day. I asked Shifty if he was on his way back from France , and he said "Yes... And it ' s real sad because, these days, so few of the guys are left, and those that are, lots of them can't make the trip." My heart was in my throat and I didn't know what to say.
I helped Shifty get onto the plane and then realized he was back in Coach while I was in First Class. I sent the flight attendant back to get him and said that I wanted to switch seats. When Shifty came forward, I got up out of the seat and told him I wanted him to have it, that I'd take his in coach.
He said "No, son, you enjoy that seat. Just knowing that there are still some who remember what we did and who still care is enough to make an old man very happy." His eyes were filling up as he said it. And mine are brimming up now as I write this.
Shifty died on Jan. 17 after fighting cancer.
There was no parade.
No big event in Staples Center ..
No wall to wall back to back 24x7 news coverage.
No weeping fans on television.
And that's not right!!
Let's give Shifty his own Memorial Service in our own quiet way.
Rest in peace, Shifty.
Chuck Yeager, Maj Gen. [ret.]
In light of the upcoming Memorial Day Holiday, we thought the following information regarding fire works in Milton would be of interest. Many thanks to the Milton Police Department for sharing this information with Accessmilton.com.----
For more information, please reach out to the Milton Police Department at 678 242 2500.
By Patrick Fox
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Building on tradition is tough in a city too young to have one.
Enlarge photo Brant Sanderlin, bsanderlin@ajc.com Milton resident and City Council member Bill Lusk places a freshly stenciled cross in a rack to dry Friday May 20, 2011. Lusk created the tradition of making crosses to honor deceased veterans four years ago with only a handful of crosses. This year 190 crosses are displayed along Deerfield Parkway in Milton.
But at four years and counting, Bill Lusk has established a trend, if not an institution.
The Milton local businessman and City Council member spent May 22 doing what he has been doing since 2008, helping set handmade, white markers along the west side of Deerfield Parkway. Each cross-shaped marker, topped with an American flag, commemorates a deceased veteran with ties to Milton, from the Revolution to Afghanistan.
"Being a new city, we don't have any traditions," said Lusk, who served in Vietnam from 1965-67. "I'm trying to establish one."
Metro Atlanta is steeped in Memorial Day traditions, from the somber 63-year-old rite at Marietta National Cemetery to the state's largest gathering in Roswell, which began in 1997.
Milton, founded in 2006, is not too young to host its own Memorial Day Service, replete with dignitaries and uniformed veterans. But the names on the markers, Lusk said, provide a uniqueness to the city's observance.
Head south about four miles, then east another dozen, and you’ll see the inspiration.
Lining Pleasant Hill Road in Duluth are those same markers. The names are different and the flags on top are larger, but at 700 and growing, there are clearly enough of them to represent a tradition.
Duluth began its display in 1989, with city crews setting about a dozen markers. The small, wooden memorials now line almost a mile of Pleasant Hill Road, intersecting with another set stretching south onto Howell Ferry Road and north onto McClure Bridge Road. Others are set along Buford Highway and West Lawrenceville Street.
"If somebody imitates us, that's wonderful," said resident Alana Moss, adding that Duluth may have borrowed its idea as well. "I love it because we can't spread too much appreciation for military veterans."Lusk was struck with the Duluth design and set out to imitate it himself in his shop four years ago. He bought the materials, painted each marker and stenciled the names. That first year, Lusk and five volunteers set 58 markers. This year, 12 volunteers took about two hours to set just more than 200.
This was the first year for Frank Foster, a veteran from Rockdale County. "I think everybody should be out here doing it, whether they're a veteran or not."
Allen Calhoun, Lusk's business partner, volunteered from the start.
"I enjoy doing it," Calhoun said.
City Councilman Joe Longoria, who has volunteered the past two years, said he's proud to pitch in.
"I'm strictly here to support those for doing something many of us didn't have the chance to do," he said.
Milton's Memorial Day celebration begins at 10 a.m. Monday at City Hall, 13000 Deerfield Parkway.
This year's featured speaker is Air Force Col. Murphy Neal Jones of Covington, La., who was a prisoner of war for nearly seven years in Vietnam.
The ceremony will conclude with a roll call of local veterans living and dead. Their friends and families will be invited to find and reflect upon the handmade markers along Deerfield Parkway.
The markers will remain up for the week. Then Lusk and others will collect them for storage until Veterans Day in November. By then, Lusk will have received more names and will build more markers to line the avenue.
"Somebody needs to do it," Lusk said. "It fell upon me."strong>
By Tim Enloe; Accessmilton.com
Various topics are always flying around Milton. If its not election talk it is development for and against this or that and everything in between. Lately, the redistricting topic has been on everyone's radar.
Much like you, I too have had conversation with numerous residents sharing their opinion on this issue. One of the biggest arguments has been the issue of traffic on the "rural" two lane roads. Some parents from Roswell whose children are being shifted to Milton High School even conducted an experiment and drove 50 cars through Crabapple during rush hour. Their goal was to prove how much extra time it would take to get their teens to class. By the way, one mother stated it would take an addition twenty minutes as opposed to their current time to Roswell High.
This past week, I spoke with a Milton resident who had chosen to take a back seat to all the hoopla. He did, however, ask the following question: "Why don't they take the bus?"
I paused for a moment and let the question sink in..."Why don't they take the bus?"
Standing back from the situation at hand and looking at the traffic issue from a purely objective stance, it is a good question to ask you, the taxpaying parents of Milton and Roswell.
Let it be stressed that I am neither an advocate for students to take or not take the bus.
However, if only school buses took the children to school, then traffic would indeed be far less. Hard to argue that point.
In conclusion, I present this basic question to you, the readers of Accessmilton.com. Do you drive your child to school or do you utilize taxpayer funded transportation? If you do drive them, then why? If you go the bus route, why?
Share your thoughts in the commments section below.
Double Click To Enlarge Screen.
By Accessmilton.com
MILTON- More and more residents are joining the Milton Farmer's Market summer event
running from June 11th to July 30th each Saturday in Crabapple.
Mayor Joe Lockwood himself has joined in the activity with a garden offering numerous
veggies; from peppers to potatoes and everything in between.
Recently, the Mayor was kind enough to give Accessmilton.com visitors a quick tour of his garden and chicken house. Please check out the video above for more.
If you or someone you know would like to join the Milton Farmer's Market, please contact Zack Eller at 678 896 2491. All types of vendors / participants are encouraged to participate.
MILTON, Ga. - Landscaping companies may soon find themselves under new restrictions after the Milton City Council passed a revised definition May 16 making the law more stringent.
The intent of the new ordinance was to restrict landscaping businesses, plant nurseries or garden centers that are located on land zoned as AG-1 in an effort to keep them to small and attractive uses that may abut residential areas. What the city and council did not wish to see is for a large-scale business to locate in the same property, affecting neighbors.
The new ordinance restricts how much of any material can be located on a property, particularly dangerous materials such as fertilizer and gasoline.
Only two vehicles are allowed on the site, and they must be screened from nearby properties .
The new regulations apply just to landscaping businesses situated on AG-1 zoned land.
Council member Julie Zahner Bailey voiced concern that the new law did not go far enough in restricting potential uses, especially regarding the type of commercial vehicles that will be allowed.
"I think this starts to move us toward more commercial use," said Zahner Bailey. "When it's too broadly defined, it's impossible to enforce. The commercial vehicles definition is not addressed, and I think the intensity of use is an unintended consequence."
"This isn't meant to be an end-all," countered Council member Karen Thurman. "It's meant to be a starting point. The council can add further restrictions.""I don't see how it's opening up anything at this point," said Council member Alan Tart.
There were no restrictions before the ordinance was passed.
The council voted 5-1 in favor of the new definition, with Zahner Bailey the only dissenting vote. Council member Burt Hewitt was absent from the meeting.
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To find out more about White Columns Subdivision in Milton, click here=> http://www.accessmilton.com/Neighborhoods/white_columns.php
By Tim Enloe; Accessmilton.com
Earlier this month, we posted a story on some recent crime enforcement that one of the Milton Police Officers performed over a course of a week.
Some of the laws this officer enforced were DUI's as well as wreckless driving among other things. He was removing dangerous individuals off the roads that you and your families frequent. Individuals willing to do your family harm by their actions.
Over all, it was simply a good story letting the Milton constituency know that our officers work dangerous and long hours to keep our loved ones and families safe while putting their lives on the line 100% of the time.
Just today, however, various comments came in on this particular post. Some calling this individual "overly aggressive" making claims that he "slammed me on the hood for no reason." One very omniscient individual
even went so far as to state that Milton needed to " fire your cops, we don't want them."
With all of this incredible knowledge, I am truly at a loss as to why Milton isn't paved in gold with angels singing as you enter this hallowed city! I mean, who can compete with such intelligence and higher thinking?
It should be stressed, that while I have been on ride-alongs with our police department, I have yet to ride with this officer. However, any such claims can be confirmed or disproven by simply requesting a video tape of such stop. One would think these individuals would have shared their accusations all over the media and sued for millions if such claims were true. Then again, certain habits are known to encourage memory loss.
As we all know, this editorial will receive input from the same folk. Not to worry, oh victimized ones, as I have some suggestions that should make you smile!
I propose that the City of Milton create a "user fee" system when it comes to using the Milton Police Department. That way, all of these "innocent victims" will no longer be bullied by the terrible MPD.
So, when your wife, mother, or sister decides to take a shower and no one is home and a man enters your home with a knife to rape your loved one, I have no doubt your use of the Force will let you not only know about this evil violator due to your seeing things before they happen, but you will also be able to battle him not with guns, but with your lightsaber. Yes, I know you are faster than the average police cruiser too. After all, you are YOU!
In addition, any time a driver is speeding or under the influence near your loved ones, these terrible not needed officers will know to look the other way by the "I'M PERFECT-BACK OFF!" sticker on the back of your loved one's leased vehicle. Of course, we do request that you do not call 911 and ask that your loved one who is splattered all over that tree and sidewalk be picked up by those in public safety. I do recommend, however, that you make sure a shovel is in your vehicle at all times...I have heard that blood and other internal body tissue can stick to surfaces over a period of time. Then again, you can wait for the coyotes, opposums and racoons to come out that night. And who said you weren't "Green"?
I, however, am very willing to pay for the protection the Milton Police Department provides to insure my family is kept safe. Officers, feel free to patrol the streets I drive or pull me over at any time if I am breaking the law. Laws, by the way, that were created by elected officials that taxpayers voted for. Search my vehicle or home whenever you deem it necessary! I encourage you to do the same for my loved ones as well. However, I do request that you return the favor for those that are willing to do myself and my loved ones harm.
Bottom line is this, the more citizens continue to complain about these men and women who are putting their lives on line for us, the sooner they will leave for employment that actually appreciates their sacrifice.
Then, citizens will get the sterotypical donut eating corrupt cop who would no sooner take a bullet to protect a citizen or enforce the law than those who are so willing to attack our officers blindly to identify themselves. No doubt that such a lesser officer would not be opposed to bribes to look the other way as well.
I encourage anyone reading this article to not believe or agree with what I have written here. What I do encourage you to do is to request a ride along with any Milton Officer of your choice. See what these individuals deal with day in and day out that the general media chooses to ignore. After which, we would love to hear your opinion on how terrible they are.
Maybe then, some objectivity might actual come in to play. One would have thought that we learned about the justification of support from the blind eye that was given to our military returning home from Vietnam. Then again, society is so willing to forget...
By Accessmilton.comIf you would like to provide input on a proposed regional, recreational-level girls’ slow-pitch softball program, the deadline for online surveys is Tuesday, May 31.
Please visit www.surveymonkey.com/northfultonsoftball to take the survey. It is also available under “Your Government” > “Parks and Recreation” > “North Fulton girls slow-pitch softball questionnaire.”
All feedback collected will only be used by the respective parks and recreation departments of the five cities of North Fulton -- Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Milton, Roswell and Sandy Springs --in their determination of whether to undertake this program.
The concept, said representatives from the cities’ recreation departments, is that teams would practice at home parks and play home and away games against teams throughout North Fulton.
For more information, click here.
By Accessmilton.com
For the third year in a row, the Milton Farmer's Market will take place in Crabapple.
Kick off will be the second weekend in June running to the end of July. There have been some changes for the better this year around.
Please keep an eye on Accessmilton.com as more information is on the way!
By Rhonda Cook
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The crying woman told a 911 operator she “shot him as much as I could” and moments later police found her would-be attacker dead in the back yard of her Gwinnett County home.
The woman was getting out of the shower when 34-year-old Israel Perez Puentes, armed with a knife, dragged her to the bedroom where he planned to rape her, police said. Her fear was evident in the recording of her call for help – obtained by AM 750 and now 95.5FM News/Talk WSB.
“I was in the shower and the lights cut out in my house,” the sobbing woman said moments after she shot and killed Puentes on May 11.“This man came at me with a hood on. And he had a knife in his hand.”He forced her into her bedroom, she later told police, and that is where she retrieved her gun.
“I shot him as much as I could,” said the woman. “I shot him with a .22 but he just kept running.
"He was going to rape me, kill me.
“I can’t go back in there. … I don’t know where he is,” said the woman, whom The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is not naming because she was the victim of an attempted sexual assault.
Gwinnett police Cpl. Edwin Ritter told the AJC last week that the woman, who is in her early 50s, was getting out of the shower when Puentes, whom she did not know, turned off the lights and attacked her.
She fell back into the shower, injuring her back, and tried to fight Puentes off with the shower rod, Ritter said.
"She was telling him that she has money and please don’t hurt her," Ritter said.
"He forced her into her bedroom," Ritter said. "Once inside the bedroom, she retrieved a .22-caliber pistol and shot him several times."Ritter characterized the attack as an attempted sexual assault.
Puentes, of Alpharetta, ran outside the house and collapsed in the back yard of the house in the 2800 block of East Mount Tabor Circle.
The woman ran to a neighbor's house after the attack, and was later taken to Duluth Medical Center for treatment of minor injuries. She was released from the hospital and returned to her home just before noon that same day.
Neighbor Rebecca Wisecup told the AJC the woman’s screams woke her.
"It was just horrible screaming,” Wisecup said. “I found our neighbor on our kitchen floor. She was naked, just out of the shower. She was screaming that somebody tried to kill her, and ‘Oh my God, oh, my God, he tried to kill me.'
"I ... got a robe on her and got her to sit down, and within a few minutes the police showed up and took care of her," Wisecup said.
Wisecup said her neighbor told her that "she was in the shower, and the bathroom light went off, and she opened the shower curtain and there was a man that held a knife up to her throat."The woman was not charged with killing Puentes.
"She responded to the deadly threat with deadly force," he said.
Go here for the actual 911 call=>
http://www.ajc.com/video?bcpid=97471435001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAAFAsZ1c~,8MkVRvW0DmauKT3uAriKKf2yHzTPz5MP&bclid=1717763711&bctid=950568474001
Senator questions benefits to ‘adult baby’
Coburn sees possible fraud.
A key senator has asked the Social Security Administration to investigate how people who live their lives role-playing as “adult babies” are able to get taxpayer-funded disability payments — after one of them was featured on a recent reality TV episode wearing diapers, feeding from a bottle and using an adult-sized crib he built.
Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican and the Senate’s top waste-watcher, asked the agency’s inspector general to look into 30-year-old Stanley Thornton Jr. and his roommate, Sandra Dias, who acts as his “mother,” saying it’s not clear why they are collecting Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits instead of working.
“Given that Mr. Thornton is able to determine what is appropriate attire and actions in public, drive himself to complete errands, design and custom-make baby furniture to support a 350-pound adult and run an Internet support group, it is possible that he has been improperly collecting disability benefits for a period of time,” Mr. Coburn wrote in a letter Monday to Inspector General Patrick P. O'Carroll Jr.
The request comes at a time when members of Congress are struggling to cut budgets and weed out waste to try to bring down the staggering deficit, and comes just days after Social Security’s trustees released a grim assessment of the program’s long-term financial health.
SSI is run by Social Security and pays out benefits to aged, blind and disabled people who have little or no income.
The inspector general’s office didn’t return a message seeking comment.
In an email response to The Washington Times, Mr. Thornton threatened to kill himself if his Social Security payments are taken away, and said the television episode showing him doing woodwork oversold his abilities.
“You wanna test how damn serious I am about leaving this world, screw with my check that pays for this apartment and food. Try it. See how serious I am. I don’t care,” the California man said. “I have no problem killing myself. Take away the last thing keeping me here, and see what happens. Next time you see me on the news, it will be me in a body bag.”Mr. Thornton was featured in early May on National Geographic Channel’s “Taboo” program along with Miss Dias, a former nurse who feeds him a bottle and otherwise attends to his needs when he is dressed in diapers.
In the episode, he shows off the adult-sized crib he built and sleeps in, and the cameras follow him to the hardware store where he buys wood for his latest do-it-yourself project — an elevated high chair that is capable of holding his ample frame.
He said he has been living at least a partial adult baby lifestyle since his teenage years, though he does wear adult clothes when he goes out, fearing embarrassment otherwise.
Mr. Coburn said Mr. Thornton “is cognizant that his choice to live as an adult baby violates social norms,” though, and through both his projects and the adult baby support website he runs, www.bedwettingabdl.com, he appears to have the skills to hold down a job. That, the lawmaker said, should make him ineligible for disability payments.
Mr. Coburn also questions why Miss Dias, as a former nurse, collects SSI benefits, “since she is able to provide childcare” to Mr. Thornton.
In an extensive biography on his web page, Mr. Thornton says he worked as a security guard for a year and a half but said trauma stemming from childhood abuse, combined with other mental problems, made it impossible for him to hold the job, and he has been receiving SSI payments for most of the last 10 years.
In his email to The Times, Mr. Thornton said he is not capable of working. He said running the website only takes four hours a month, and he said his craftsman skills were overstated by the program, which showed him working on his adult-sized high chair.
“What you saw on camera being drilled was pre-assembled the day before. All I did was drill six holes for the camera,” he said.
Lance LargePaid for by the committee to elect Large 4 Milton, Inc.
Many thanks to our Milton Police Department for all that they do.
Click here for the video segement on this post=>
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/27927723/detail.html
With Spring upon us in Milton, the Blue Bird is back singing his beautiful songs as he flies from garden to garden.
The bluebirds are a group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Sialia of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. They have blue, or blue and red, plumage. Female birds are less brightly colored than males, although color patterns are similar and there is no noticeable difference in size between sexes.
Bluebirds are territorial, prefer open grassland with scattered trees and are cavity nesters (similar to many species of woodpecker). Bluebirds can typically produce between two and four broods during the spring and summer (March through August in the Northeastern United States). Males identify potential nest sites and try to attract prospective female mates to those nesting sites with special behaviors that include singing and flapping wings, and then placing some material in a nesting box or cavity. If the female accepts the male and the nesting site, she alone builds the nest and incubates the eggs.
Predators of young bluebirds in the nests can include snakes, cats and raccoons. Non-native and native bird species competing with bluebirds for nesting locations include the Common Starling, American Crow, and House Sparrow, which take over the nesting sites of bluebirds, killing young and smashing eggs and probably killing adult bluebirds.
Bluebirds are attracted to platform bird feeders, filled with grubs of the darkling beetle, sold by many online bird product wholesalers as mealworms. Bluebirds will also eat raisins soaked in water. In addition, in winter bluebirds use backyard heated birdbaths.
By the 1970s, bluebird numbers had declined by estimates ranging to 70% due to unsuccessful competition with house sparrows and starlings, both introduced species, for nesting cavities, coupled with a decline in habitat. However, in late 2005 Cornell University's Laboratory of Ornithology reported bluebird sightings across the southern U.S. as part of its yearly Backyard Bird Count, a strong indication of the bluebird's return to the region. This upsurge can largely be attributed to a movement of volunteers establishing and maintaining bluebird trails.
By Accessmilton.com
Kings Ridge Christian School (KRCS) fourth grader Marc Gorski had an unusual request upon winning a raffle during a school fundraiser, one not a lot of youngsters would make: He wanted to party with the police.
Gorski, a student of KRCS reading specialist Karin Mulvey, initially won the teacher’s donated raffle themed for a “tea party.” Given that wasn’t his cup of tea, Mulvey said he could choose any party anywhere. So he requested her husband, Milton Police Officer Scott Mulvey, who speaks to her students regularly about staying safe and on the right side of the law, host him and his friends at Scoops ice cream parlor in Crabapple. He also wanted officer Brian Kiel and his K-9 partner, DaSilva, to come, as well. Apparently the pair had made quite an impression during a visit to the school earlier in the year.
“You’d think they would want to go play paintball or video games,” said officer Mulvey. “But they wanted to talk to officers Mulvey and Kiel.”
So on Tuesday, May 10, Mulvey and Kiel hosted five 11-year-olds at the popular Crabapple business. Scoops donated a party room and let the boys get their fill of ice cream.
“They were so excited,” said Dawn Gorski, who placed the winning bid at her son’s insistence. “It was all they talked about all week.”
After a question and answer session ranging in topics from the officer’s weirdest cases, to the youngest person they ever arrested, to whether they’d ever been involved in shootings, bank heists or fights, the boys got to tour a police car and see a demonstration from DaSilva.
So was it worth it for the young Gorski?
“It was really cool,” he said.
Many thanks to Milton Officers Mulvey and Kiel for putting their lives on the line for Milton families and their property. You truly are heroes!
See below for pictures from the party.
By Accessmilton.com
MILTON, Ga., May 16, 2011- The City of Milton will begin its annual city-wide road patching and repair projects May 18, said Carter Lucas, Director of Public Works.
The work is expected to last 30 days, depending on weather, and crews will be working from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. There should be little delay in traffic, as the majority of roads being repaired are residential, said Matthew Fallstrom, Public Works Superintendent.
If you live on one of the roads listed below, please do not park on the street starting May 18 and drive carefully around job sites for the safety of the workers.
Following is a list of the roads to be patched or repaired:
Thorntree Run from Tullamore Way to cul-de-sac
Drummond Pond Road from North Valleyfield Road to cul-de-sac
Kensington Farms Drive from Birmingham Highway (Ga. 372) to cul-de-sac
Powers Court Ave. from Birmingham Highway to cul-de-sac
Richmond Glen Drive from Birmingham Highway to Richmond Glen Circle
Richmond Glen Circle
Glencreek Way from Francis Road to cul-de-sac
Francis Road from Thompson Road to the county line
Sandpoint Trace from Plantation Trace to cul-de-sac
Creek Club Drive from Chipping Wood Court to Autumn Close
Autumn Close from Creek Club Drive to Heron Run
Country Ridge Road from Thompson Road to cul-de-sac
Avensong Village Circle
Aventide Lane
Hopewell Road from Redd Road to Bethany Bend
The cost of these projects is $510,170 and the work was awarded to the lowest bidder, Marietta-based Blount Construction Company, Inc.
For more information, call Angie Kapijimpanga, Public Works Department Citizen Responder, at 678-242-2562 or e-mail angie.kapijimpanga@cityofmiltonga.us.
By Neal Boortz For The AJC.
Earlier this week a news story came along that gave me another opportunity to do one of my favorite things — rant against government schools. If parents understood the damage that has been done to our republic through government control of education things might change. Big “if.” The story told us of some real angry housewives of Atlanta who are upset with the Fulton County Board of Education changing school attendance maps. These dedicated moms were screaming about their children being moved from one school to another and separated from their friends. Yeah, I know. You’ve heard this before.
Sorry, ladies, but just what did you expect after you abandoned your parental responsibilities by subjecting your children to these hideous government indoctrination centers we insist on calling “schools.” You blissfully glide along year after year believing that your child is actually being educated, and then suddenly you start spinning around on your eyebrows when the government determines that they will be sent to a different school than the one they attended last year? Grade inflation doesn’t bother you? How about cheating scandals? But change your child’s school and it’s the end of the world?
The first question is why are your children in a government school to begin with? Hopefully you aren’t one of those parents who realizes that most government schools are terrible, but believes that the particular school your child attends is so far above the rest that neither you nor your child has anything to worry about. Do you really believe that? Or do you just WANT to believe that?
So now your child is going to have to attend a strange school next year, and you’re upset. Pardon me for asking, but just how many letters have you written to your elected leaders asking for school choice? How many groups do you belong to that promote school choice? How many times have you spoken to your friends and business associates about school choice and vouchers that allow parents to choose which schools their children will attend? My guess is that your answers to these questions are none, none and never — or maybe just, “Huh?” But now you are whining because the government to which you surrendered your children without complaint has changed your child’s school.
Cry me a river.
Here’s a basic difference between American government schools and the schools you find in many places in Europe (where, by the way, they do a much better job): Here the child follows the money. There the money follows the child. Let me explain.
In many European countries, as here, you pay your school taxes. The bureaucrats then decide how much will be spent to educate each child. In America the bureaucrats send the money to a specific school and tell you that’s where your child must go. Across the pond the bureaucrats wait until the parent has decided on a school, based on whatever criteria is important to the parent, and then send the money chasing after the child. It’s called school choice. Perhaps you’ve heard that phrase before. Teachers’ unions have, and they hate it. They don’t want to have to compete for the money you’ve paid for your child’s education. You, however, SHOULD want to them to compete. Competition breeds innovation and excellence — two concepts foreign to today’s government schools.
Why my dislike of government schools? The type of electorate that can put a President Barack Obama into the White House had to come from somewhere. The common denominator is government education. As Thomas Sowell has written, our schools produce people with “neither the skills to be economically productive nor the intellectual development to make them discerning citizens and voters.”
But for some parents it’s all about where they go, not what they learn.
Courtesy http://news.cnet.com
Google revives Blogger after outage.
Google got Blogger back online late this morning following a maintenance-related glitch that kept blogs dark for more than 20 hours.
"We're nearly back to normal -- you can publish again, and in the coming hours posts and comments that were temporarily removed should be restored," Eddie Kessler, tech lead/manager at Blogger, wrote in a post on the Blogger Buzz site around 10:30 a.m. PT.
The post continues:
Here's what happened: during scheduled maintenance work Wednesday night, we experienced some data corruption that impacted Blogger's behavior. Since then, bloggers and readers may have experienced a variety of anomalies including intermittent outages, disappearing posts, and arriving at unintended blogs or error pages. A small subset of Blogger users (we estimate 0.16%) may have encountered additional problems specific to their accounts. Yesterday we returned Blogger to a pre-maintenance state and placed the service in read-only mode while we worked on restoring all content: that's why you haven't been able to publish. We rolled back to a version of Blogger as of Wednesday May 11th, so your posts since then were temporarily removed. Those are the posts that we're in the progress of restoring.
The publishing site has millions of active blogs, he said.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20062657-245.html#ixzz1MI642KVp
Courtesy Cnn.com and Wikipedia.
Allen High School is a public, co-educational secondary school in Allen, Texas that serves students in 10th through 12th grades. It is the only high school of the Allen Independent School District. Student enrollment is over 5,000, making the school one of the largest secondary schools in the state of Texas.
Allen High School serves most of the city of Allen. Until fall 2006, when Lovejoy High School opened, Allen High School served high school students in the Lovejoy Independent School District, which includes the city of Lucas, most of Fairview, and a small portion of Allen.[1]
Allen High School was established in 1959 on land donated by Harris Brown on the corner of Jupiter and Main streets. August 1999 saw the opening of Allen High School “2000”, a facility opened to 2,200 students in grades 10 through 12. The former high school was converted into the Becky Lowery Freshman Center, named in honor of a former middle school teacher and school counselor. It serves all 9th grade students.
Allen High School offers the International Baccalaureate program to its students, with the class of 2002 being the first to graduate Full Diploma. AHS also provides Advanced Placement and elective courses.
Allen uses an 8:15 a.m. to 3:35 p.m. modified block schedule. The period schedule includes five standard periods per day, though students are required to be present for only four in 10th grade, and only three in 11th or 12th grade.
The Allen Eagle football program has had five playoff berths and two bi-district championships in six seasons. In 2006 the varsity football team finished its season as the District 9-5A Champions by beating Plano East in the last game of the regular season, 22-17. Its only loss was to Garland High School in the season opener. In the playoffs the Allen Eagles beat Mesquite, Wylie, Round Rock, and Spring Westfield, and made it to the state semifinals where they lost to Southlake Carroll. The team's regular season record was 9-1 with an overall record of 13-2.
The Eagles had a perfect (10-0) regular season in 2007, followed by a first-round playoff loss to end the season.
After finishing the 2008 regular season with a record of 9-1, the Eagles beat South Grand Prairie, Coppell, Odessa Permian, Euless Trinity, Round Rock Stony Point, and Fort Bend Hightower in the state championship to earn their first ever state title, making them Texas' Class 5A Div I State Champions. Upon winning the championship, the Allen Eagles were ranked #2 in the nation by both ESPN Rise and Yahoo! Rivals High School rankings, and they were ranked #5 by MaxPreps poll.
Due to the program's popularity and student population, the school was authorized, via an approved April 2009 $119 million referendum, to build an 18,000 seat stadium to be named Allen Eagle Stadium for the team which will be completed in time for the 2012 football season. [3][4] It will be the third largest high school stadium in the state, but the largest designed for the use of only one team. The new facility also will house a weight room, wrestling practice facility, and indoor golfing facility [5].
The Allen High School girls' golf program achieved the first UIL state championship for the school by winning the state tournament in 2005. The team followed this with another state win in 2006.
The Allen Eagles wrestling team won the THSCA dual state tournament in the 2008-2009 season, defeating the defending UIL state champions Randall High School. The Eagle wrestling team also won the THSCA dual state tournament and UIL state tournament in the 2009-2010 season.
The Allen High School boys bowling team won the 2001-2002 and 2007-2008 Texas High School Bowling Club Team Championships. The Allen girl's team was state champion in 2003-2004 and 2004–2005, becoming the first Texas boys' or girls' teams to repeat as state champions. The girls' bowling team won its third state championship against Plano East in the 2008-2009 school year.
The Allen High School varsity hockey team won the 2006-2007 and 2008-2009 Texas State Championship, and the 2009 Rocky Mountain Regional Championship. The team placed second in the 2009-2010 State Championship, and was a quarterfinalist at the National Championships.
The girl's soccer team finished 2nd in the state in 1998 and the boy's program made it to the 1993, 1996 and 1997 regional finals.
In the 2008-2009 school year, where Allen High School was state champion in football, hockey, girls' bowling, golf, and wrestling.
The Allen Escadrille is the world's largest high school marching band, with a membership of over 680 students.[6] They play for the 5A football team, participate in competitions and perform in parades and other venues. The Escadrille was invited to perform in the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Honolulu, Hawaii in 2009, and performed in the 2006 Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California. It received the Sudler Shield Award from the John Philip Sousa Foundation in 2004. It was also a participant in the 1994 St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland, being the only high school band chosen to play at the Dublin Lord Mayors Ball; the 1995 and 1999 Texas Gubernatorial Parades; and the 1997 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City.
Allen High School received the 2011 Grammy Signature School Gold Award,[7] which recognizes U.S. public high schools making an outstanding commitment to music education during an academic school year.
Allen High School also has a broadcast program, KGLE 3 Teen News. Between 1996 and 2006, the program had five first placesBest of Shows, two second places, one third place, one eighth place, and one not placed at the National Scholastic Press Association’s biannual competition. it has also been a Pacemaker finalist five times. The KGLE broadcast program includes radio broadcast.
The Allen Orchestra was invited to perform at The International Midwest Clinic and Convention in 2006.[8]
Allen High School;s photography program won ATPI's Top Program contest in 2006.[citation needed]
The school's German folk dancing team took first place in the 2005 state competition and third place in state finals in 2006.[citation needed]
The Allen Clinical Rotation Program received a new technology lab.[9]
To read more about Allen High School, go here=>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_High_School_(Allen,_Texas)
