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Note: Comments posted at the bottom of this page are not submissions for the print version of Tell Willie and are for online readers to discuss today's Tell Willie column in real time. To submit a question or comment to Willie for the print newspaper click here or call 864-882-0903 and leave Willie a message. He checks his voice mail daily.

Willie,

How come we never ever hear about the Seneca High JV Team? The JV team gave Seneca their first win of the season against Blue Ridge. Do these players not matter to the paper? I don’t know about you, but these players are the future of Bobcat football but yet they seem to be forgotten about.

Willie says:

The paper does report JV scores occasionally. The fact is, with varsity level sports at five schools and Clemson and South Carolina university sports, the paper doesn’t have enough room. Throw in the fact that there are continual demands for golf coverage, Braves coverage, Panther coverage, local tennis, volleyball (high school and college) and recreational sports and the space gets even harder to find. Tell your hard-working JVs to hang in there and their time will come when they reach the varsity level.

Willie,

My ex-husband and his girlfriend put bruises on my two daughters, and when I sent the police down there he was a jerk to my kids. They came to me for the weekend, but I have to return them. What happened to the legal system protecting our children? This police officer should lose his job for the way he handled the problem because it’s not solved. I guess my family will take the law into our own hands.

Willie says:

Whoa there. I wouldn’t be taking the law into your own hands or you will be the one that police officer or another takes to the slammer. If you feel your daughters have been abused, you should call the Dept. of Social Services. If you feel the police officer acted inappropriately, call his boss. DON’T take the law in your hands.

Willie,

Do you know where to get flu shots besides a doctor’s office? They charge so much for an office visit. I checked at Walgreens, but they start after I’ve started work and stop before I get off. Any ideas?

Willie says:

The best bargain for flu shots will likely be your own doctor. Some are only charging $15 while you can pay as much as $25 at a pharmacy. The county is offering shots on single days throughout the county. Call the county health

department at (864) 638-4170 or 882-2245 to find out where and when they are offered.

Willie,

Quality and character are lacking in some magistrates as evidenced by the woman recently penalized for malfeasance in office. A similar situation occurred when another magistrate got into a fight at a bar. Are there any educational and legal qualifications for magistrate-appointees in South Carolina or is it just who you know?

Willie says:

Yes, there are legal requirements and background checks. People are people, however, and they do make mistakes. If you have never made a mistake, cast your stone.

As for me, I’ve raked all my stones into a pile lest a perfectionist move into the neighborhood.

Willie,

I am so happy to see Heloise back in the paper. I love her. I’ve never called you before, but I just had to say hug the editor for me. I love to read her.

Willie says:

Willie is as pleased as punch that you and other Heloise lovers are once again happy, but as far as huggin’ the editor for ya, ol’ Willie can’t help ya there!

Willie,

I recently finished six weeks of radiation therapy that was provided by Cancer Centers of the Carolinas here in Seneca. As promised, I was treated with compassion, respect and dignity by all members of the staff. They are a great group of professionals, and we’re fortunate to have them in our community. I want to publicly thank them for all they did to help me become a cancer survivor.

Willie says:

Please allow Willie to congratulate you and wish you many, many more years as a cancer survivor!

Willie,

This is for the person wanting suggestions for their squirrel problem. I use a Hammerli Storm rifle with Crosman destroyer pellets.

Willie says:

Ya sure you don’t want to try just yelling at ’em like Willie does?

Willie,

I read where someone in Seneca had a bad odor in their neighborhood. I live on Kathmaette Drive in Seneca, and we have a sewer smell in our neighborhood. I have called the city three times and have yet to get the issue resolved. Come on, city of Seneca. Keep up the good work, Willie!

Willie says:

Thanks! If you’ve got a city problem, keep on calling and try to enlist your neighbors to call too. How can folks live a decent life when it smells like a sewer?

Willie,

I would like to know why the city of Walhalla’s trash truck people sit around town at the Bountyland store across the road every morning around the same time (8:30 a.m.). They need to be doing their jobs. Some people need a job. If they don’t want to work, put somebody there that wants to.

Willie says:

Maybe they expect the trash to come to them.

Willie,

I’ve seen a few arrests take place in my wilder days and as a result of this I’ve realized something that might help many people out there, police and suspects alike. If you are being arrested, respect the peace officer, even if you don’t agree with them. Don’ t fight, resist, argue, say derogatory things to the police or threaten them. Just realize that you’re going to jail, because the officer feels like he’s doing his job. He wouldn’t be taking you into custody if he didn’t feel it necessary, or if he didn’t feel like you’d done something unlawful. Being arrested is only the first part of the process and though it can be very scary to be arrested & charged with something, it’s not the end! You will have a chance to defend yourself in a court of law, with an attorney even if you don’t have the money to pay for one. You still have a chance to have your name cleared and the best way to do that, is to be calm, listen to the officer, take mental notes of why he felt like you needed to go to jail and discuss these things with your lawyer. This could be very helpful to your case. — A happy mom in Oconee (1st time writer)

Willie says:

Dear Happy Mom in Oconee, Willie’s just gotta say that as a first-time writer to me, you must’ve been trying to make up for lost time! I’m making a chapter in my book out of your letter. This is Chapter 1. Your advice is good. Anyone who ever faces arrest, has nothing to gain and everything to lose by being verbally abusive or, worse yet, physically violent. Keep your cool.

Willie,

Let me start off by saying I served this country proudly and there’s things going on around here that literally make me mad to the core. Could you please help me explain to the people of Oconee County and everybody else that there is no such thing as a former Marine. It makes me mad to the core to hear somebody say that this person or that person is an ex-Marine or former Marine. Willie, once you’re a Marine, you’re always a Marine for life. Could you please help me explain this to people? And, Semper Fi.

Willie says:

I try to be. Maybe folks will think about Marines in a different light after reading your letter. Semper fidelis is not just a motto; it’s a way of life.

Willie,

I read your story about cold cases. I’m glad you put in the cold case of Mark Lee. That was my third cousin that got murdered. It’s been going on for many, many decades now and no suspects or anything. One day I hope they catch him, but only one person knows who did it and that’s the Lord Jesus Christ.

Willie says:

Maybe one day justice will be done for your deceased relative.

Willie,

Could you tell my why they have to stand right outside and smoke at the West Union Ingles? I know they have the right to smoke, but when you come in in the morning time, you don’t want to smell like smoke.

Willie says:

Tell the management how distasteful it is to have employees smoking right where customers have to walk through the smoke.

Willie,

There seems to be some new rules for the traffic signals on 123. A red light is only a suggestion, a yellow light means step on the gas and if you get a green light, pray as you go through. Drive carefully and have a great day.

Willie says:

I wonder if the police and the DMV and SCDOT, etc. all got the memo with these new laws …

Willie,

I wanted to say thank you and congratulations on the new look of your newspaper. It looks clean, well organized and it is easier to read. Well done.

Willie says:

Thanks for the compliments! Willie, too, thinks the whole team of employees involved in planning and implementing the redesigh did and are doing a fantastic job.

Willie,

I haven’t seen any comments in your column about your paper being changed so I thought I’d call in. I like the white paper and the larger print, but you dropped the horoscopes and your columns are getting smaller. Is it because you don’t get no calls or because they won’t give you any space to put all of them in there?

Willie says:

You probably discovered by now the horoscopes have moved to be located by the Classifieds. Ol’ Willie has lots of dedicated folks out there, like yourself, still writing and calling — but how many the newspaper can print each day is not my call.

Willie,

I think I fell asleep and woke up in the wrong season. I went into (several) stores this weekend and, whammo, all you see is Christmas stuff. I mean, everything you’re looking for has been moved to the back and Christmas stuff is everywhere. We haven’t even gotten to Halloween yet.

Willie says:

That’s retail for ya.

Willie,

A word on the G20 riots in Pittsburgh. The Constitution does not give us the right to assemble, it gives us the right to peacefully assemble. When the anarchistic rabble in Pittsburgh rioted they abrogated their right to assemble, period. The police using riot control tactics did so to protect private property, which is exactly what they are paid to do. Violation of the posse comitatus act only occurs when federalized troops are used against American citizens. In this particular case if only the Pennsylvania National Guard under the control of the governor and the Pittsburgh police were used, there was no violation of the posse comitatas act of 1878. The anarchists in that mob don’t believe in law and order as we understand it, unless of course it is their law and their order or lack of it. Contrast the Pittsburgh mob scene with the Washington “tea party” made up of people who put God and country first, but are only questioning some of Obama’s socialist leanings. They were seen and noted by Washington because of their responsible behavior in spite of being ignored by the liberal press.

Willie says:

Any freedom to assemble and to speak up on an issue, give speeches, carry picket signs, or whatever method one chooses is based on the word peaceful.

Comments contained in the Tell Willie column are not intended to reflect the views of management or staff of The Journal. They are the opinions of readers who have submitted Willie items. The Journal makes no guarantee of the accuracy of comments contained in Tell Willie. As for the answers, Ol’ Willie does his best to get it right.

Comments contained in the Tell Willie column are not intended to reflect the views of management or staff of The Journal. They are the opinions of readers who have submitted Willie items. The Journal makes no guarantee of the accuracy of comments contained in Tell Willie. As for the answers, Ol’ Willie does his best to get it right.