The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

The drought is over! It is "raining" news this week, so much so that I think I am in need of a lifeboat and swimming lessons.

We are definitely back to normal at the news office. I have so many news articles that I don't know what to do with them all. It's a nice problem. I always prefer having too much than not enough. It is much easier to decide what to do with too much than it is to try and create something from nothing.

A blank page scares me to death! A crowded one is great.

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A news story on the front page of The True Citizen last week told of arrests made in a dog fighting investigation in Burke County. The details were graphic and disturbing. It was hard for me to believe that this sort of thing goes on until a similar incident occurred here several years ago.

The story in the Waynesboro paper told of pets being stolen and used as "training" partners for pit bulls. The docile animals, videoed by the perpetrators on their cell phones, were shown whining and straining against their leashes as they were dragged to their deaths at the jaws of the pit bulls.

The accused were arrested and charged with dog fighting when those videos and videos of the fights were discovered during an unrelated investigation by law enforcement.

It is a sickening story that needs to be told and a heinous crime that needs to be appropriately punished.

I believe that we humans were intended to be caretakers of God's creation and everything in it. We were given dominion over the animals for this purpose, and those who abuse the privilege are certain to one day face our Creator's wrath.

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Happy birthday this week to: Emily Pierce, Carroll Gay, Chasity Wilkerson, Melvin Dickey, Scoot Jenkins, Don Hopkins, Megan Fields, Marley Knight, Randy Thompson, Bob Fields, Brandy Thompson, Viola Davis, James Henry Sapp, Edna Grace Royal, Lori Pickett, Eddie Bolton, Gena Boynton, Jesse Williams, Morgan Sharpe, Sandy Lanier, Jan Griffin and Lois Godbee Wilson.

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Celebrating wedding anniversaries this week are: Mr. and Mrs. Johnny Fleming, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Oglesby and Mr. and Mrs. Hud McTeer.

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Military Active Duty List: Capt. Donald Slade Burke, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, Calif.; SPC Grade E4 Arthur Lamont Milton Jr., HHC 1-36 Infantry Support, Friedberg, Germany; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Ft. Stewart; Petty Officer 2nd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Maryland; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; LCPL Dwain "Cade" Lee, 1st Marine Division Combat Service Support Group II Security Element, ArRamadi, Iraq; Jimmy Cooper, U.S. Army National Guard, 878th Engineering Battalion-Augusta, Persian Gulf ; 1st Lt. J.R. Taylor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Iraq; SPC. Daniel Stuart, 18th MEDCOM, 121 General Hospital, Seoul, Korea; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, 2nd Marine Division, F.A.S.T. Company, Yorktown, VA; Sgt. 1st Class Steven Yager, 362nd Sig. Company, Korea; MM3 Jeffrey Sweat, U.S. Navy, USS Kauffman, MM3 59/E-Division, A-Gang, Norfolk, Va.; Cpl. Larry Lamont Clark, U.S. Marine Corp, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C. Bagdad, Iraq; Khan Young, U.S. Navy, U.S.S. Kitty Hawk, Persian Gulf; Robert Milton Jr., E-3, U.S. Army, Ft. Stewart, Hinesville, Ga., Mission Kuwait; SFC Ronnie Perryman, E-7, Georgia Army National Guard, Battery A, 118th Field Artillery Regiment, 48th Brigade Combat Team; Arnold R. Mosley, 2nd Lt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas; and Debra A. Mosley, Tech. Sgt., U.S. Air Force, Randolph AFB, Texas.