The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/1404755
The International Spy Academy-God's Truth Force Vacation Bible School les- son at Petersburg Holiness Church at- tracted 63 children, of which 27 had per- fect attendance. Pastor Chad Searls and his wife, Val Searls, made the five-day event an educational and fun week for the children and dozens of area adults who helped out with the production. The gigantic grapes and good report brought back from the promised land by Joshua and Caleb was a part of the Bi- ble story about the 12 Israelite spies who were sent to scope out the promised land. The top scoring teen girl was Skieley Murray. The first place teen boy was Josi- ah Searls and second place went to Nich- olas Trella. The top Tween girl was Andrianna Parks, with a tie for second between Brailen Willis and Kelsey Harper. The top tween boy was Jace Searls. There was a four-way tie for second between Levi Gibbs, Corbin Parks, Trever Harper and Ethan Caravantes. The toddler girls' first place belonged to Aly Copeland and second went to Gab- by Denney. The top toddler boy was Jase Benefield, with Jace Murray and Lucas Lamar tied for second. A number of Petersburg Holiness Church mem- bers became modern detectives during the highly successful Vacation Bible School at the Knox Road location in Petersburg. A total of 63 children at- tended and 27 had perfect attendance for the five- day school. The theme was International Spy Acade- my-God's Truth Force and opened every night with a skit to introduce the evening's topic. A total of 63 children attended the Petersburg Holiness Church Vacation Bible school program, themed In- ternational Spy Academy-God's Truth Force. Teens, Tweens and toddlers participated in the program and col- lected prizes at the end of the school. Pastor Chad Searls and Allen Parks played Joshua and Caleb in the reenactment of the Bible story about the 12 Israelite spies who were sent out to the promised land. The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, August 25, 2021 C-5 In 2014, President Barack Obama de- clared the combat mission in A fghanistan over. At that point, the U.S. military be- gan operating in a train-and-assist and counter-terrorism role in A fghanistan, with the A fghan Army in the lead. Tru- ly, A fghanistan remained a dangerous place, but there was no potential that thousands more U.S. troops would be required to go into combat. The A fghan Army, with U.S. sup- port, was standing and fighting the Tal- iban. Military leaders had advised that they thought that with 2,500 troops they could sustain the status quo in A fghan- istan. Today, what passed for the status quo in 2020 looks pretty attractive com- pared to the dumpster fire that is A fghan- istan today. "I know that there are concerns about why we did not begin evacuating A fghan civilians sooner. Part of the answer is some of the A fghans did not want to leave earlier—still hopeful for their country." Maybe there was some small number of A fghans who remained hopeful, but most were hoping to leave, and today are stranded. In July the U.S. had a visa ap- plication backlog of 18,000 A fghan trans- lators and others who wanted to leave. The effort to get those people who had risked their lives to help the U.S. mili- tary should have started much earlier and gone much faster. "The truth is: This did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated." Maybe the rapid advance of the Tali- ban surprised a White House who want- ed to believe otherwise, but the potential that the Taliban could quickly retake A f- ghanistan was a commonly shared belief among the intelligence community and the Pentagon. Intelligence agencies began to warn of a potential Taliban takeover soon after Biden's decision to conduct a total with- drawal in April. Military leaders knew that once US support was removed, in- cluding the vital contactor support that kept the A fghan air force in the air, there was a strong potential of collapse. "American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that A fghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves… We gave them every chance to determine their own fu- ture. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future… It is wrong to order American troops to step up when A fghanistan's own armed forc- es would not." Of the mistruths uttered by Biden, these were among the most galling. The A fghan Army has been fighting and tak- ing casualties in their war that would have made even the most hardened war- rior blink. Casualties among the A fghan Army are estimated to be 69,000 killed, more than America suffered in the Viet- nam War. The A fghan Army did not stop fight- ing until they realized they had been abandoned, their logistics and air sup- port stopped when America pulled out the 18,000 contractors who had been sup- porting their efforts. Americans have eyes. They can see the events as they unfold in real time on T V. They intuitively can tell when they are not getting the full story. This week, a profound sadness has gripped the na- tion as we watched America abandon- ing a country and the people that stood next to the U.S. during tough times. When faced with a disaster like we saw this week, they don't want excuses, fin- ger-pointing, or half-truths. For shame. Thomas W. Spoehr conducts and super- vises research on national defense matters. would be on the federal dole." How can we expect leader- ship in A fghanistan or any- where else abroad for these American values, when we don't see it at home? Star Parker is president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education and host of the weekly television show "Cure America with Star Parker." Letter to the Editor 10 Commandments should be displayed DEBACLE Continued from page 4 MISTRUTHS Continued from page 4 63 children attend VBS at Petersburg Holiness $1.2 trillion green energy in- frastructure bill. If a CEO of a private company tried to balance its books with these accounting schemes, they'd throw them in jail and lose the key. All of the successful wel- fare reforms that were passed in the 1990s under former Democratic Presi- dent Bill Clinton have been eviscerated. No more work requirements. No time lim- its. No cap on how much fam- ilies can receive in total food stamps, health care, unem- ployment insurance, rent- al assistance and child pay- ments; some milk the sys- tem for up to $100,000 a year without working a sin- gle hour. The people who are the suckers here are the folks who are working 40 hours a week and paying taxes to subsidize criminals — most of whom will never be caught or prosecuted. Congress and the White House should be ashamed of this wreck of a program with a fraud rate of close to 10 per- cent. For private credit card, insurance or lending compa- nies, fraud rates are 1-2 per- cent. A 10 percent fraud rate would put them in Chapter 9 bankruptcy. But in Washing- ton, being defrauded of $ 87 billion of taxpayer money is apparently a green light for Congress to pass another $4.5 trillion of spending. Why? Because the politi- cians are doing such a won- derful job with the trillions of dollars we already gave them. Stephen Moore is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foun- dation and an economic con- sultant with FreedomWorks. He is the co-author of "Trum- ponomics: Inside the America First Plan to Revive the Amer- ican Economy." TAXPAYERS Continued from page 4 Court Report FELONY Pike County Circuit Court Robert Dotterweich charged with count I domestic battery and count II domestic battery, prior, a level 6 felony. Kevin Richardson charged with count I residential entry, a level 6 felony, count II battery resulting in moderate bodily in- jury, a level 6 felony, and count III resist- ing law enforcement. Michael Craig Garber charged with count I operating a vehicle with an ACE of .15 or more and count II operating a vehicle while intoxicated, prior, a level 6 felony. Jack Dewayne Parks charged with count I possession of methamphetamine, a level 6 felony, count II maintaining a common nuisance - controlled substanc- es, a level 6 felony, count III domestic bat- tery and count IV domestic battery, pri- or, a level 6 felony. Kyle Hayhurst charged with count I possession of methamphetamine, a lev- el 6 felony, count II unlawful possession of a syringe, a level 6 felony, and count III possession of paraphernalia. Aaron Shover charged with count I maintaining a common nuisance - con- trolled substances, a level 6 felony, count II possession of methamphetamine, a lev- el 6 felony, count III possession of mar- ijuana and count IV possession of para- phernalia. Shandi Loveless charged with count I maintaining a common nuisance - con- trolled substances, a level 6 felony, count II possession of methamphetamine, a lev- el 6 felony, count III possession of mar- ijuana and count IV possession of para- phernalia. TRAFFIC AND MISDEMEANORS Pike County Circuit Court Aarron Epley charged with driving while suspended, prior. Bruce A. Rutledge charged with count I operating a vehicle while intoxicated and count II possession of marijuana. Amy A. Shea charged with possession of paraphernalia. Makiya L. Shea charged with posses- sion of paraphernalia. Autum Lynn Garrett charged with op- erating a vehicle with an ACE of. 15 or more. Dakota J. Candler charged with driv- ing while suspended, prior. Praful Raja charged with possession of marijuana. INFRACTIONS Pike County Circuit Court William E. Canimore charged with speeding, exceeding 30 mph. Aarron Epley charged with count I op- erating with expired plates and count II operating a motor vehicle with a false plate. Benson Franelus charged with seat- belt violation. Tremareus N. McPhaul charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Caleb Zazzetti charged with speeding. Christina Smith charged with driving while suspended. Melinda G. Stanbrough charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Daniel J. Schmitt charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Chad A. Porter charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Shahab Mohammadi-Sakha charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Kevin D. Abell charged with speeding, exceeding 30 mph. Trinity J. Mayes charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Kristl B. Smith charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Jordan M. Toon charged with speed- ing, exceeding 70 mph. Bryson L. Butterfly charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. Bryant Lamont Baxter II charged with no valid driver's license. Thomas John Werle charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. John C. Britt-Nellis charged with speeding, exceeding 70 mph. CIVIL Pike County Circuit Court Margaret Stilwell sues Pike Animal Welfare Society on complaint. Howard Lee Dunigan petitions for title. Marcia Davis sues Robbie Davis for dissolution of marriage. Jeanette Walls sues Christopher Walls for dissolution of marriage. Katrina Fulcher sues James Jackson White for dissolution of marriage. politicians share ideas. He and I are both on YouTube competitor Rumble. Those sites are good. The problem with them is that most participants are already knowledgeable about liberty. "We lose something by not talking to the other side," I tell him. Paul says he worries less about that because his Twit- ter feed is full of "idiots (and) imbeciles." My newsfeeds aren't as crazy. At YouTube, Twit- ter and Facebook, I often learn things. There's some thoughtful discussion. I'll stay on YouTube, Face- book, etc. I hate the bias and censor- ship. But more debate — is the only way we learn. John Stossel is author of "Give Me a Break: How I Ex- posed Hucksters, Cheats, and Scam Artists and Became the Scourge of the Liberal Media." CRISIS Continued from page 4 CENSORSHIP Continued from page 4 duty is to live and die for the state. Nothing must compete for the minds of youth except socialism's ideology. Historically, the two ene- mies of socialism are capital- ism (owning and acquisition of property) and religion (be- lief in a higher power). Anyone who owns proper- ty or believes in a higher pow- er is an enemy of the state. This evil ideology is sweep- ing across America and is be- ing advocated by politicians, social activists, universities, journalists, news networks, and teachers. School boards are adopting socialist curric- ulums hoping to create a new generation of followers eager to eat at the trough of com- munism while surrendering their God given freedoms. There is hope on the hori- zon. The electorate is becom- ing fed-up with these social- ists and their "wokeness." Parents nationwide are de- manding school boards re- verse course and stop impos- ing their socialist indoctrina- tion upon impressionable chil- dren. A black father who is the de- scendant of slaves slammed critical race theory during a public-school district's board meeting in Colorado Springs. He said racism in America would "by and large be dead" if not for institutions such as the education system "keep- ing it on life support." Some parents are taking the drastic step of remov- ing their children from pub- lic schools. In liberal Seattle, parents are removing their children from public schools and enrolling them in private schools or homeschooling. Seattle Schools have lost so many students that the dis- trict is now begging for par- ents to re-enroll their chil- dren in public school. Seattle schools project a $ 69.8 mil- lion budget shortfall for the 2021-22 school year; and the projected budget for 2022-23 looks worse. Our rights granted by the US Constitution are in peril. Socialism is the antithesis of freedom. "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years tell- ing our children and our chil- dren's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." Gov- ernor Ronald Reagan, 1967 State Inaugural Address. To the Editor: Apostle John wrote in the book of Rev- elation 22:14, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Yes, I believe that the 10 Command- ments of God should be displayed in Pe- tersburg or any other place. We are a free country and God's Commandments should be put up, it should be taught and learned by all. Almighty God created the heavens and earth. We are saved by faith and God's grace. God should be respected. We are living in perilous times. People, we need to believe God's Word, the Bible. We need Jesus Christ the Lord, to know Him and obey Him. Lord Jesus, He is the only way to heaven. I agree with Forest L. Burton. We need the Commandments of God dis- played. Billie Ann Grubb