January 29th, a letter to the editor by Ed Huber, Copperhill:

There’s an old saying “The more things change the more they stay the same” Is this always true? Three issues come to mind as I think about it.

As 2013 drew to a close our Copperhill Postmaster retired. I, for one, can say she did a wonderful job and is missed. A real plus for the Basin area!

Before the New Year began I found a note in my mailbox from Barbara’s replacement informing me my mailbox was to far from the road, and must be located so the carrier can serve without leaving their vehicle as well as several other issues. She gave me 15 days to correct or my delivery service may be suspended. My mailbox has been in the same location for 40 years and no one has ever complained. Many different carriers, over the years, have never left their vehicle to place mail in the box. They drive-up, leave the mail, and continue on their way. So, we now have a Dictator to manage our post office. I called 800-275-8777 and filed a complaint.

The second issue deals with my electric bill. I just finished paying $431.00 for the month. Nearly 25 percent of the bill was a TVA generation charge. So, why is the TVA getting $95.00 for a generation charge and is the 400 plus charge fair? According to the mailing in my bill Tri-State says “It’s your money, and every kilowatt counts” The first sentence said “Have you ever been surprised when your electric bill comes in the mail”? “You think, how in the world could I have used that much electricity”?

I looked on the internet for some answers and discovered that Bill Johnson, the CEO of TVA, was paid 5.9 million from Jan. 2013 to Sept. 2013. Not bad. Nearly 6 million for 9 months of work! Looking down the list of the top ten executives the total came to nearly 20 million and, 12 thousand plus other TVA employees received 127 million in performance payments for the year. Add to this healthcare and retirement (which is 6 billion underfunded) and I see why my electric bill is so high. Wouldn’t it be nice to publish the salary and benefits of the top ten at Tri-State?

The third issue is good old Copperhill and their annual budget. I just read the article in the Observer and my urinary track became irritated. 127,000 in the budget from traffic fines! I know we must lower the incidence of head-on fatalities in downtown Copperhill so I fully understand the reasoning. I have an idea. Let’s block traffic at the bridge in town and the bridge at Grassy Creek. Will get several barges and Chief Billy and the boys can shake-um down on the way up or down the river. Just think—No more traffic fatalities in downtown Copperhill! Then to finish the job we can tell the Georgia Storm Troopers it’s the first day of hunting season and elect the Benton King as Sheriff and have speed-traps at every billboard in the county. Man will we be safe!

Ed Huber, Copperhill