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The Baker County Press

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters are welcome, but must contain the signature of the writer, a telephone number and city of residence. Letters must reflect opinions and statements on issues of current interest to the general public. The newspaper reserves the right to reject any material which in the newspaper’s judgement does not meet standards of publication.

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AUGUST 15, 2013 CONTACT US By phone at 904.259.2400 or by fax at 904.259.6502. You can stop by our office located at 104 S. Fifth Street, Macclenny, FL or mail your submission to PO Box 598, Macclenny, FL 32063. We are available online at www.bakercountypress.com

Why Gravelle allegations were worthy of print Politics in Baker County is a constitutional right at the polls. blood sport, or so they say. In this respect, we help oil It’s certainly possible last the wheels of our republic. We week’s story don’t endorse about sexual candidates, we battery allegadon’t play fations against vorites and we city commission go out of our candidate Kirk way to be fair Gravelle, who and balanced in Joel Addington was not proseour reporting cuted for the also that readers leged crime 10 years ago, were can make up their own minds brought to our attention for poabout issues and politicians. litical ends. Candidates advertise to get Some may be wondering their message out. On the news why this story was published side, we strive to publish the at all. truth, as elusive as she may be. The short answer is politics, And when we report the truth, but not the sleazy and corrupt it can mean different things to kind you’re probably thinking different people. One may see about. I mean politics, as in the the allegations leveled against nexus of government and sociMr. Gravelle as an assault on ety. his otherwise good reputation, It’s a big and important while another may view them space that determines how our as a window to his character or American democracy works, or decision-making. doesn’t work, as the case may We leave those judgements be. Politicians, our agents, who to readers. generally enact and amend As to the allegations themour laws but occasionally disselves, they are obviously very regard them, directly impact serious. So serious, in fact, nearly every aspect of our lives. that even though they’re 10 Plus, they decide how our hardyears old, even though police earned tax dollars get spent. dropped their investigation at To say politicians have an the direction of prosecutors, enormous power and responand even though they may have sibility, even at the local level, surfaced for purely political doesn’t do their job justice. In reasons, we believe voters have many cases, they hold people’s a right to know the allegations lives in their hands. Not like a exist. doctor or an executioner, but in Doing otherwise would be a the way doctors or executiondisservice to our readers. ers have to be trained for their Nine times out of 10, we err jobs because some politician(s) on the side of disclosure. When made it so. we as journalists obtain inforI’ll leave the civics lesson mation relevant to current govthere, but suffice it to say poliernment affairs, we report that tics holds a special place in my information as accurately and heart because government, and fully as possible in almost every ours in particular, means so instance. much to so many people, from We have some exceptions, investors and single moms to however, like protecting the Ugandan villagers and genetics identity of sex crime victims researchers. and alleged sex crime victims. So, when a candidate is runThe last thing we want to do is ning for public office, seekre-victimize such people. That, ing to represent the citizens of unfortunately, can cause some this county, asking voters for confusion for readers, which their trust and sometimes their we also strive to avoid. money, our job is to inform the There are some rules you public about the candidates to just don’t break. assist them in carrying out their

On Point In Print

The fleeting ‘hipness’ of older age I have lost my hipness. kids get off my lawn!” I once thought I was relaI never thought that would tively hip. In fact, many of my happen. But walking through students were amazed that I the mall recently, I’m began to listened to – or at least knew – wonder. some of the bands they liked. Here are some of the reasons That is still the case in many I’ve lost my hipness. respects. You For one can still find thing, I don’t some pretty like to go to hip stuff on my the mall. It’s iPod, but as a loud, distractgeneral rule ing and hard my hipness left to park. I don’t ROBERT GERARD with my eyelike to just sight and good knees. I am now wander around for hours looka bifocal wearing, arthritic noning at stuff I don’t want to buy. hipster. If I want to waste my time I can How do I know? Because I think of better ways to do it. can now look at things that are I would much rather shop in hip and think – that’s just stulittle “mom and pop” specialty pid. stores that have stuff that you You know what that means, can’t buy just anywhere. don’t you? I am just a step away When I do go in a big store, from being that grumpy old guy everything looks the same. It who smells funny, shakes his doesn’t matter where I go, befist and yells, “Hey, you crazy cause everything has a similar

My Side of the Matter

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Marital woes gratuitous Why was sex case Dear Editor:

I was sorry to read that Terry Brown had to resign as the Baker County Commission’s attorney after twenty-five years because of health reasons. It was unnecessary to include information in the article about his ex-wife, their marital problems and divorce proceedings.

It is hard enough to give up a career because of one’s health. Rather than focusing on his long tenure and the guidance he provided for the county, Mr. Brown’s bad decisions in his private life were publicized for all to see. Karen Thomas Macclenny

The Baker County Press USPS 040-280 Post Office Box 598 Macclenny, FL 32063 (904) 259-2400

The Baker County Press is published each Thursday by Baker County Press, Inc. Periodicals postage paid under permit issued April 12, 1929 at the post office in Macclenny, Florida.

SUBSCRIPTION RATES $25.00 a year inside Baker County; $45.00 a year outside Baker County; deduct, $5.00 for persons outside Baker County who are 65 years of age or older, military personnel on active duty, and college students. POSTMASTER: send address changes to The Baker County Press, P.O. Box 598, Macclenny, FL. 32063. Publisher

James C. McGauley - [email protected] MANAGING EDITOR - Joel Addington - [email protected] ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION - Jessica Prevatt - [email protected] ADVERTISING SALES - Karen Mercorella - [email protected] FEATURES/COMMENT/SPORTS - Robert Gerard BUSINESS MANAGER - Karin Thomas - [email protected] CLASSIFIEDS & TYPESETTING - [email protected] This newspaper is printed on recycled paper.

front page worthy? Dear Editor:

Recently, I was shocked and saddened to read headlines of an article in The Baker County Press written by the news editor, stating that a local city commission candidate had been tagged as a “... Candidate target of dismissed sex case …” Wow! What is it with these guys? No, the article wasn’t about a mayoral candidate in New York City with a zipper problem or an existing mayor in San Diego who never heard of Title 7. The article was much more vague and ambiguous than that. It was about a series of alleged interpersonal relationships between the target victim – our local citizen – and his live-in relatives. The whole bumbling passage is surrounding “instances” that occurred in another city 10 years ago. Ten years ago! [Editor’s note: the alleged crimes were said to have taken place both here and in Jacksonville]. The alleged instances were found to have no merit. Three different state and county officials reviewed the complaint and said there was no case. It was a “he said-she said” situation. If this is the argument, why is it front page news in our local paper 10 years later? Our local journalist, a very professional and talented lad, failed to name the accuser, only the name of our local citizen who happens to be vying to become an elected city official and, presently or coincidentally, is running against two other candidates. Had the article been slightly more in depth, the reader would see this was a family fight, not an arm’s length sinister sexual predator story which is the underlying strain in this fairy tale. If you the reader struggle through the article, you will find a poor attempt to make a mountain out of a mole hill or, as we say around here, a landfill out of an ant bed. I also find it amusing that one of the other city commission candidates has a quarter page advertisement on the opposite page in the paper, touting what a great city commissioner he would be if elected. His ad doesn’t mention he works part-time for the Baker County Sheriff’s Office and is a local Christian church minister. Why is that?

Reed Dearing Macclenny

look and feel. This year, the color palate includes a lot of orange. Everywhere you look are orange shirts and dresses. Everyone will be wearing orange. Grumpy old me has a problem with that. I like orange just fine, but why do I want to wear something everyone else wears? When I first discovered the Internet years ago, one of the greatest things about it was that I could find all kinds of cool stuff nobody else would wear. I started with hockey jerseys, then after a few years I started to see a lot of them so I switched to soccer jerseys. Now, they are everywhere. So, lately my choice has been retro bowling shirts. I’ve found some spots where I can get them for the same price as everyday stuff I would buy at the mall and I’ll have my own personal style different than everyone else. I don’t want a tattoo; my skin isn’t an artist’s canvas. If I want art, I’ll hang it on my wall, not on my back. Why? Because I know what age does to skin. I’ve seen it first hand. That cute little rose on your breast is going to become first a gardenia and then a magnolia in time. Gravity is bad that way. I own a dumb phone and rarely use it. I’m not one of those people who can’t stay off their smart phones. I don’t want to be “connected” every second of the day. I really don’t think that every thought that pops into my brain is gold that has to be tweeted to the world as soon as I think it. #hashtagsRirritating – in fact, I think that’s the first one I’ve ever created. I don’t tweet. Birds tweet, not people. Usually, I have more to say than I can express in 140 characters. I have a camera on my

phone, but it’s a piece of junk so I don’t take pictures with it. I have not one photo of myself taken by holding my phone out in front of me. If I want a picture, I’ll use a camera. I would much rather sit in a coffee shop, sip a coffee and talk face to face with someone than on the phone or on Facebook. That way I can understand inflection and see facial expressions. It is so easy to be misinterpreted on social media. Conversation is the best form of social media. That doesn’t mean my unhip self hates technology. Skype and FaceTime are great. When I was a grad student at Baylor, I would have loved to be able to have seen and talked to my fiancé Kelley, or my parents and sister. I loved it when son Dylan was in Italy and Sara Beth was acting in Tennessee and we could see them and talk to them in real time. Even though I love the touch and feel and smell of books, I still like my Kindle. It lets me get hard-to-find books immediately. I feel the same way about iTunes and Amazon and eBay and Spotifly where I can find weird stuff and difficult to locate music. It has made my life richer. Okay. I’m rethinking my unhipness. When I started writing this column I honestly was prepared to declare myself totally “unhip.” Now that I’m done with it, I’m not so sure about that. It’s a different, evolved, more a personal way of looking at the world. Hey, you crazy kids — get off my lawn. Come up on the porch and have a glass of tea and lets talk music.

FACEBOOK FANS ‘What you had to say ...’ Plan B reaction ...

Readers reacted last week to news that Plan B emergency contraceptive will be available over the counter: Brandi Kay Funk: Maybe it will help cut down on all of these children being born to irresponsible teenagers and adults. I am all for it. Louise Curtiss Smith: Nothing is going to help until these people understand this nor abortion should be considered birth control!

VjandKeri Katz: Well, it’s time to try something different, especially since Baker County has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the state. Taylor Wild Man: People are gonna do what they are gonna do. I don’t think it will change much. Jessica Robynn Davenport: At 50 bucks a pop, I don’t think it’s something a woman can afford to use frivolously.