RFD
By Bonnie K. Taylor General Manager The True Citizen

The Rev. Karlton Howard, pastor of Noah's Ark Missionary Baptist Church, called to thank the generous and loving folks of Burke County for their monetary contributions to help defray funeral expenses for Carrie Habersham and her son, Julius Thomas Jr.

The mother and son were killed in a car accident just before Christmas. Julius Thomas Sr. and Fred Petrea were also killed in the same accident.

Julius Jr.'s sister, Clarissa Thomas, was injured in the accident. According to Rev. Howard, she is recovering from her injuries at a cousin's home in Augusta.

Clarissa was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year. Once she has recuperated from her injuries she will begin treatment for the cancer.

Please continue to keep her in your prayers!

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Congratulations to Seth Torek, son of Tyler and Tonya Torek of Waynesboro. He has been chosen as one of the 64 finalists in the 9 to 12-year old Augusta Chronicle's Make Kids Count $10,000 Scholarship Bond Giveaway.

Mrs. Torek was recently named as Burke County Public Schools 2008 Teacher of the Year.

This is the second time in four years Mrs. Torek has been chosen for this honor.

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A new day is dawning at The True Citizen and Chalker Publishing Company.

We are going CTP (Computer To Plate). Unless you are in the newspaper industry this acronym is Greek to you.

About seven years ago we purchased an Imagesetter and this was a big, big deal for a publishing company. Gone were the days of paste-up.

During the paste-up days we had numerous students tour our facility on field trips. There was much for them to see. Once we went to Imagsetting, the paste-ups disappeared and there was little for students to get a hands-on look ... it was all done inside a computer.

Newspaper page designers sat at their computers - composed the page and sent it to the Imagesetter where the page was printed on a negative, then burned to a plate and the plate was placed on the press.

Beginning today (Wednesday) the negatives go away and we print straight to plates. Bypassing the negatives means one less step and a better image for reproduction on the press.

It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, but I am ready to learn the new tricks of our trade. Wish me luck!!!