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Will interest in municipal races be any better than in saving old CCHS?
Most of the political attention has been on Iowa and New and on the upcoming "Super Duper Tuesday" when Alabama and about half the states in the union will hold presidential primaries. The presidency is important, no one denies that. But I wonder if it impacts our everyday lives and our local communities as much as who our local mayors, council members and county officials are. Someone said "All politics is local" and you can't get any more local than the mayor of a little burg like Grove Hill or the other municipalities in the area. We all complain about what is going on- or not going on as the case may be. We all say "someone needs to run" and "we need to clean house" but that is about the extent of it. Municipal elections are Aug. 26. Qualifying begins in July. If you think things aren't running like you want it in your little corner of the world, quit bellyaching about it. Plan to run for local office or find someone to run and back. When it comes down to it, though, I expect all the talk and the bellyaching to be about like what I heard about saving the old Clarke County High School. A handful of folks moaned and groaned that something ought to be done to save the 1936 schoolhouse from the demolition that is planned after the new $6 million school is occupied. But when I wrote an editorial a couple of weeks ago suggesting that the building be spared and used for a new central office or for some other use, I heard little from the public, pro or con, on the subject. It made me wonder if folks really care one way or the other- are they too apathetic and lazy to even comment? Since so few have voiced their complaints one way or the other, I'd suggest that we put a few sticks of dynamite under the old building and see just how high it will blow. If it turns out to be a good show, I can think of a few other places around town we need to put a few sticks too. Enough, and we won't have to worry about the August elections. **** One of the problems of trying to remember a few folks who have died the past year is that you always overlook someone you knew well and who was a big part of the community. I overlooked Bobby Glover in my reminiscing last week. Maybe it was because the list I was looking referenced him more formally as Robert Coleman Glover and the name didn't catch my eye. Bobby Glover owned and operated Clarke-Air for years. He knew the air conditioning business and was a good businessman too but always thoughtful and almost philosophical when I talked to him. In his later years he walked regularly for his health and you could see him in all kinds of weather, stepping around town. I know there are others on the list of over 400 obituaries that we published in 2007 that should be mentioned but I can't get to them all. **** One of the first deaths of 2008 was Shirley Wright, the wife of Rev. Jack Wright who died Jan. 2. Shirley battled cancer courageously for a long time but got sick a week or so before Christmas and never recovered. I knew when I missed her from her central spot in the choir at the Grove Hill Baptist Church's Christmas program that something was wrong. She would have been there if she had been able. She will be missed.
Jim Cox is editor and publisher of The Clarke County Democrat.
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