The Chatter Box
By Deborah Bennett

If you have traveled U.S. Highway 25 through the city of Millen recently, you will agree that the road bears little resemblance to the highway we have known. I don't know where the Department of Transportation gets all of the "orange barrels," but I sure would like to own the business that supplies them with the things. They must use a million!

I am still having trouble remembering to get over into the left lane as I am traveling north into town. The right lane ends as you come to the overpass, and I usually end up getting caught where I shouldn't be.

The pains of progress, however, will be well worth it when the Savannah River Parkway is finally completed through Millen and Jenkins County. It has been a long time coming!

In the meantime, we will just have to "grin and bear it."

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Our poll question for last week on The Millen News website was, "Should qualified local candidates applying for job positions with the city, county and board of education be given first consideration over out-of-town applicants?"

Responses, as of Monday, were: Yes - 26, No - 12, and Undecided, 1.

To participate in this week's poll go to http:// www.themillennews.com.

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Happy birthday this week to: Karen Lane, Cody Burch, Chris Cranshaw, Jessica Herrmann, Donna Chance, Roger Black, Colin Chance, Evie Wiggins, Jeannette Becton, Rosa Hill, Art Johnson and Martha Edwards.

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Military Active Duty List: Lance Cpl. Patrick Barnette, U.S. Marines, Twenty Nine Palms, CA; Sgt. Adam Demshar, 44th Signal Battalion, Baghdad, Iraq; Lance Cpl. Lee Ogden, U.S. Marines, Radio and Communications, Bahria, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Eric B. Kelsey, U.S. Navy, NSA Bahrain; Airman First Class Charles F. Woods, Moody Air Force Base, Valdosta, GA; Capt. Andrew P. Thomas, U.S. Marines, F.A.S.T. Company, Yorktown, VA; Stuart Burrus, U.S. Air Force, Bossier AFB, Bossier, LA; SPC 4 Travis D. Motes, 1st Calvary Division, T. Hood, Texas; Capt. Donald Slade Burke, Travis Air Force Base, Fairfield, Calif.; Staff Sgt. Gilbert C. Sheppard III, 48th Brigade, 118th Field Artillery, Iraq; Petty Officer 3rd Class Jamie A. Yager, U.S. Navy, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; Petty Chief Officer Andy D. Crosby, U.S. Navy, Elroy Destroyer, Norfolk, Va.; Stephanie Crosby, R.N., U.S. Navy, Lafayette Destroyer; 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; 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; 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.