The Atlanta Constitution du lieu suivant : Atlanta, Georgia • 97

THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION SECTION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1990 -play Lewis Grfzzard A CHANCE TO ana "1 i 1 mm bmm Public hearing set for Oct. 9 i ft 4 4 ill in. fvj i By McKay Jenkins Staff writer The crowds from south Cobb staked out the commission building. Across the street, the hordes from north Cobb packed into Marietta Square. They shouted and waved signs protesting possible landfill sites, but when the meeting began they once again were told to wait.

More than 400 people from different quadrants in Cobb expected to come away from Tuesday's commission meeting with a sense of which proposed landfill sites the board favored. But after consulting with the county's solid waste department, 'commissioners voted to wait for a public hearing Oct. 9 to discuss the five proposed sites. The issue has created anxiety throughout the county for nearly two years. The five proposed sites are on the west side of the county near these locations: Interstate 20 and Six Flags Road; Baker and Hickory Grove roads; U.S.

41 and Cedar Crest Road; Pickens Road at Comer Road; and Pitner Road. The Pitner Road site has been under consideration for two years but has been held up by the state Environmental Protection' Division (EPD). The county's solid waste department ranked the Pitner Road site No. 1, but the board may decide other sites are more desirable because of more accessible truck routes. An EPD letter sent to Commission Chairman Philip L.

Se-crist in August said a decision on whether to issue the county a permit for the Pitner Road site would be made as soon as the county states that it will proceed it Eric WilliamVStaff Walter StricMltVStaff Opponents of landfills In both north and south Cobb County gather on the Marietta Square. with that site's construction. Although the letter does not grant the county a permit, Commissioner Thea Powell said it appears to be a fait accompli. "If the EPD thought Pitner Road was an environmentally sensitive spot, I doubt they'd have sent the letter," she Objections to the other sites have been widespread. City officials in Kennesaw and Acworth have objected to the Baker Road site, and the mayor of Austell has written the board in protest of the Six Flags Road site.

A letter to Mr. Secrist from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warns that the FAA is "strongly opposed" to the Six Flags site, since birds attracted by a gar- bage dump might interfere with planes using Fulton County's Charlie Brown Airport. through a job-training program and now she's an instructor at Quality School of Pipewelding. 1 (' 'F- fiT vO 5 Alliterative attack takes all-time aim People ask, "Do you read all your mail?" Ofcourse.Ido.Themail 1b great fun. I get letters that say I'm a terrific guy, 1 get letters that say I'm a disgrace.

I enjoy both kinds. The love mail fires my ego and makes me feel wanted. The hate mail tells me I'm hitting nerves and stirring things up. I've always been an irreverent little cuss. The hate mail is also enjoyable because of the names I get called.

Here are some examples I've collected over the years: "You Godless Gizzard." "YouTunnel-Visioned Toad." "You Ignorant Maggot." "You Four-eyed, Fur-mouthed, Fish-faced Fool" These come from religious nuts, gun lovers, bleeding-heart liberals, soccer fans and the left-handed Chinese Yacht Racers Anti-Defamation League. But the all-time all-time came in the other day. A man who signed as A.M. Lamar of Montgomery, put me in my place as no one ever has before. Mr.

Lamar took exception with a column I wrote suggesting we immediately kick butt in Iraq, which sounded like a good idea at the time. His letter began: "Like most childless, middle-aged, medically deferred, mega-mouths, you just cant wait to see someone else's young sons charge in to 'kick butt' in another bloody and stupid patriotic war." Brilliant. In one sentence Mr. Lamar refers to my inability to stay married, my advancement to middle age (a sure sign of stupidity), my health problems and my occasional tendency toward mindless pontifi-cation. But that wasn't the best part.

Here's what Mr. Lamar's letter said next: "Are you ready to volunteer in Iraq, you pecksniffian, pusillanimous, pig-valved, (rhymes with 'hiss') ant?" That is taking attack alliteration to previously uncharted heights. "Pusillanimous, you can look up. It's "lacking courage or spirit; cowardly." And I do have an aortic valve that once belonged to a pig and you certainly should know of the lowly ant to which Mr. Lamar refers and how it implies that one is terribly insignificant, as in, "Run you little (rhymes with ants" from the movie, "The Last Picture Show." "Pecksniffian" took tome work.

I went to the Random House Dictionary of the English language, Second Edition, Unabridged, and there it was. It comes from the Seth Pecksniff character in "Martin Dickens. Pecksniffian's definition read, "Hypo-critically and unctuously affecting benevolence or high moral principle" 'whatever that means. Solwenttounctuous.lt Is, "characterized by excessive piousness." Basically, I think "pecksniffian" means I'm an ignorant maggot. At my rate I wanted A.M.

Lamar to know how much I appreciate his letter and that his polrits were well-taken and I'm also glad "pecksniffian" Elaine Waters was unemployed for 18 months after layoffs at Lockheed. She learned welding J03 TRAINING: Programs by the Atlanta Regional Commission teach new skills to many difflcult-to-place candidates, then help them find jobs paying an average $6.39 an hour. By Donna Lorenz Staff writer At 17, Tracy Wright was a welfare mother. Divorced and caring for a baby daughter, she had no job skills and couldn't drive a car. Now, a year later, the high school dropout drives her own car to a clerical job, supports herself and her child and has earned a high school equivalency certificate.

The difference between then and now is that Ms. Wright learned word processing through an Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) lob-training program. "It has really changed my life," she said. A souring economy hasn't yet had an impact on the size of metro Atlanta's federal job programs, which already are near capacity. But the downturn means layoffs and fewer jobs for the people who need them most, and that increases the strain on everybody in the programs, administered by the ARC in all but Fulton and DeKalb counties.

Those counties administer their own programs. The training is designed for those who've been laid off, young people considered to be high dropout risks, older workers and the economically disadvantaged, including the Keysville's boundary feud finally resolved EncWiiiiairiSiatf By Derrick Hlnmon Staff writer Less than a month before Keysville's 100th anniversary, a five-year legal dispute involving the city's boundaries and the government's ability to function has finally ended. U.S. District Judge Dudley Bowen signed an order last week dismissing the last two lawsuits filed against the all-black city government by white residents who claimed city officials lacked the authority to collect taxes and annex adjacent property because the town's boundaries were in dispute. According to the judge's ruling, "the boundaries of Keysville have been legally determined," ACLU attorney Lauglin McDonald, who represented Keysville, said Tuesday.

Kenneth Daniel, the plaintiffs' attorney, could not be reached for comment. The borders had been unclear because the landmark around which they were drawn Please see KEYSVILLE, Welding Instructor Elaine Waters works with Harry Dillow, a student at Quality School of Pipewelding in Villa Rica. homeless and criminal offenders. Last year, the programs served nearly 3,900 people in eight counties. They were financed with $7.4 Please see TRAINING, 64 Lawyer: Widow due officer's pension i i 9 if; I 1 well's non-binding opinion.

"I think it probably would get a favorable review," said Joel Gottlieb, city pension manager. Benefits on Officer Davis's annual salary, Which Mr. Gottlieb estimated at between $22,000 to $30,000, would be paid indefinitely, or until Mrs. Davis remarries. Neither Mrs.

Davis, nor her attorney, Antonio L. Thomas, could be reached for comment. Mr. Thomas earlier had threatened to file a suit. In August, Sean Reynard Pat-mon, 22, pleaded guilty to malice murder and rubbery in the slaying of Officer Davis.

He was sentenced to life plus 20 years and is likely to serve 10 to 12 years. Mrs. Davis criticized Fulton County District Attorney Lewis Slaton for allowing a plea bargain. "This just gives every punk in the city and the state the idea that they can kill a police officer and not do much time," she said By Alma E. Hill Staff writer Contrary to a city pension board ruling, the widow of a police officer killed on duty is eligible for pension benefits, an assistant city attorney said Tuesday.

After reviewing city pension law. attorney Charles Barnwell said Evelyn Davis, 34, should be entitled to 70 percent of her late husband's salary, despite the couple's being married less than one year. In July, city pension officials said Mrs. Davis was not eligible because she was married to Joseph Davis 22 days short of the one-year requirement. "It was an error in the interpretation of the law," Mr.

Barnwell said. He believes the one-year marriage stipulation pertains only to spouses applying for service pensions, not disability benefits for on-the-job Injuries or deaths. I Evelyn Davis (left), the widow of Officer Joseph Davis, should get 70 percent of her late husband's salary, according to an assistant city attorney. Officer Davis was shot three times in June 1989 while chasing a robbery suspect into a cemetery off Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Mrs. Davis applied for and received $10,000 from the city, which amounts to her late husband's pension fund contributions. She will receive thousands more should the pension board 1. ohnny CrawforcStaff Hospital ccnds In tho clowns SWng-A-Long the clown helps Carlos Bates, a patient at Scottish Rite Children's Medical Center, blow bubbles Tuesday at the hospital's 75th birthday party. Article, Page 02.

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