Opinions Everybody has one

1 MickeyCummingsAroundThe FarmOpinionsEverybody has 4A THE NORTH GEORGIA NEWS December 15, 2021 LamarParisQ & Afrom Union County CommissionerWayneFowlerAll ThingsNewSee Paris, page 5 ASteve RoweBlairsville - Union County ChamberPresident Publication No: 001505 Advertising, News deadlines Friday at 4 Mail Service for all subscriptions except 30512, 30514 & 30572 - One Year $40. In county, carrier delivered subscription is $5. All subscriptions must be paid in advance. NORTH GEORGIA NEWS is published weekly by NGN/TCH, Inc., 266 Cleveland Street, Blairsville, Georgia, 30512.

2 Entered as Second Class Matter as of Dec. 24, 1988, at the Post Office in Blairsville. NORTH GEORGIA NEWS is not responsible for errors in advertising beyond the cost of the actual space involved. All advertisements are accepted subject to the Publisher s approval of the copy and to the space being available, and the Publisher reserves the right to refuse any : 706-745-6343 Fax: 706-745-1830 Box 2029, Blairsville, Georgia 30514 North Georgia NewsPublished since 1909 Legal Organ of Union CountyWebsite: Email: Mail: Box 2029, Blairsville, GA 30514 Chamber of CommerceShe Knew!

3 See Cummings, page 5 AKenneth West Publisher/OwnerShawn JarrardGeneral Manager/EditorLowell NicholsonPhotographerDerek Richards Advertising DirectorTodd ForrestSports EditorJacobWilliamsWatchingand WorkingArmadilloSee Williams, page 5 ACommissioner s QuestionsLetters to the EditorChristmas GiftsCathyWheelerHabitatHappeningsLetter s to the EditorThe North Georgia News is an independent and nonpartisan publication. As such, third-party views contained hereinare not necessarily the Opinions or positions of this newspaper, advertising, press releases, editorial content, perspectives expressed in articles covering local events.

4 Goodbye BlairsvilleSee Chamber, page 5A Habitat for HumanitySee Smythe, page 5 ADear Editor, Dear Editor,See Maloney, page 5 AMuch to CelebrateSee Habitat, page 5 AOpiate EpidemicDear Editor,Angels at Foodland No Board of CommissionersDear Editor, Your MoneyDear Editor,See Duket, page 5A Not Rocket ScienceDear Editor,See Nichols, page 5 AVery recently, there have been some concerns about old carsand household items being stored outside on personal property. While I am not a fan of an overabundance of county ordinances, we do have to make some effort to regulate and/or protect the property values of Union County residents.

5 This week s questions address some of the concerns I have heard in the past few How do I know if my neighbor s junk would be classified as a junkyard?A. In the ordinance that specifi-cally relates to junkyards, a junkyard is defined as five (5) or more junked vehicles. This means they have no current license plate and are partially dismantled or unable to be moved in the manner it was originallyintended. For example, if your neighbor has two mustangs in hisdriveway that he is rebuilding, this does not qualify as a more information on how to define a junkyard you can look atthe Union County code 38-82 which you can find on our web site at Does the amount of junk on a piece of property mat-ter?

6 A. For a yard full of junk materials, such as washers, dryers,and other junk, the junk material has to equal 600 square feet ormore for it to be considered a junkyard. For example, this wouldbe an area that would be 30 feet long by 20 feet wide. Q. Were some of the junkyards grandfathered in when the ordinance was written?A. Junkyards in existence before August 25, 2005 were grandfathered in. If any changes are made, like new junk beingbrought in or additional junk cars being added, then these prop-erty owners must comply with the ordinance and get a permit fora What exactly do you mean when you say they weregrandfathered in?

7 A. It means that legally, they already had a business estab-lished when the ordinance was adopted. Therefore, you cannot go back and change the requirements and possibly cause them harm. Q. Someone in our neighborhood is building a houseand has building materials piled around. Can the county doArmadillos are moving further and furthernorthward and have started showing up in themountains. I ve seen them walking through thewoods while hiking here. Let s talk about arma-dillos, and the damage that they can Georgia, we only have one species ofarmadillo.

8 That s the nine-banded ar-madillo. In Central and South America, there are 20 spe-cies of armadillo, including the giant armadillo that can weigh up to 130 pounds. The ones that we haveare about the size of an opossum and weigh 8 to 17 pounds. They are brownish colored with sparse hair. The unique thing about them is the shell that covers them. This shell is made up ofbony plates covered by a tough skin layer. Theplates overlap giving the armadillo some free-dom of movement.

9 Armadillos don t like coldtemperatures, which is why they have been slowto establish populations in the will dig burrows or use burrows dugby other animals to sleep in. When it s hot out-side, they will limit activity to nighttime. How-ever, when it gets cold, they become more activeduring the day. They don t hibernate, becausethey aren t capable of storing body reserves offat. Therefore, they must forage at least everyfew days. The burrows usually have an entrancethat s about a foot wide and 4 feet have poor eyesight, but rely on theirsense of smell to find food.

10 Their diet is madeup of insects and plant litter. Sometimes, youcan see parts of what they ve eaten in their drop-pings. Their droppings are round and about thesame size as marbles. Most armadillo foragingis done by digging in the ground. When diggingthey are looking for grubs. They will eat fireants,and don t mind fireant can carry disease, but trans-mission of disease to humans is very rare. Theycan carry leprosy, but the only two reported cas-es of it transmitting to people was in Texas when some people ate undercooked armadillo.