I did not see anything wrong with the blog. There was no slander in it. There was no ugly words in it. I have seen way worse than that in letters to Editor.

The man needs help with a very serious that could become deadly if it reaches the breaking point. If Ness could point out the problem with the blog, I am sure all of us would adhere to the rule.

I believe (though I could be wrong) that the blog was pulled because of the negative comments made about the sheriff. I went through similiar things with my neighbors, and I know that they cannot do anything unless they see/hear it for themselves. Document EVERYTHING with a video camera. Then at the very least you can go to civil court with your evidence and sue. And the next time the sheriff is up for re-election, we should all remember this.

Well, I saw this coming and copied the blog into a word doc! HA!

I will say honestly that I love Statesboro and this entire community, and I support our schools as well as our local government. I have friends who are with the police departments and I get along well with the deputies that I have had contact with. But, they are human, and not perfect. This is not right and they ought to take a good look at the situation... I don't care who it is that is being reported. If they have had several complaints, then they owe it to the people in that neighborhood to hang out there for a bit and see what's up. Or better... show up immediately when they are called, and they'd see it for themselves.

Hey folks the Sheriff is a public elected officials. Freedom of speech gives you the right to address concerns about the Sheriff. I have heard so many people say that he is just not there to respond to Citizens.

We ask readers to REPORT ABUSE. Several readers reported abuse of blogging privilege in this case, and this included no one from law enforcement.
In our opinion, these readers gave enough background with this blog (including pending legal issues) to merit removal of this blog at this time.

Hey Good Grief:
How do you know Gary55 was telling the truth? Sounds like everyone's quite willing to come to his aid, but maybe there is more to the story. Could it be he is part of the problem? Have you ever lived next to a problem neighbor? I have and it's crap. They complain over nothing and cause lots of problems. They accuse others of all kinds of crap, none of which is really true just to cause trouble. Perhaps someone who knows "the rest of the story" will come forth and comment?

It is because Gary55's neighbor is the editor of the paper and not only that he is stunning on the eyes.

gwarfan- Seriously, or just a joke?

hungryman- I JUST got through dealing with noisy neighbors. I complained over and over and over again to the landlord, but until he saw it and HEARD it with his own eyes and ears, his hands were tied. I was accused of complaining over "every little thing" by this neighbor also, but believe me, I have better things to do with my time than complain about nothing. I lost sleep because of the noise, couldn't enjoy living in my home at all, and was scared all the time because the neighbor had threatened me. Finally the landlord heard what was happening and this neighbor was evicted. But it took MONTHS of calling him everytime there was noise and videotaping everything. Alls I wanted was to be able to live in peace. I have on videotape where the neighbor threatened bodily harm to me, but I am not pursuing it because this person is finally gone! I finally get to enjoy my home again!!

I think more people are quick to believe Gary55 because they have been the victim of a noisy neighbor. Neighbors who complain about nothing are few and far between.

okay.....I'm curious I'm going to go to the county website and take a look at the property in Berkshire and see if any of the owners work at the Herald....man I have too much time on my hands.

Yeah girl. It will be interesting to see if the really "liberal editor" lives in Berkshire. I'd bet not.

Hey Gwarfan. Maybe you are right with the "few and far between thing" but I've had neighbors complain about border plants, over hanging trees, trees getting hit by lighting and falling on their property, my dirty pickup truck and poopy dropping neighborhood pups scattering pine straw. To aggravate thinking I was the cause of their problem, they've left bagged trash in my yard for ME to pickup, pulled string to indicate property lines and cut wires from pet fences. After all that crap, I had no problem being a problem. My footprints never cross their sacred ground.

I can't find one......

Statesborogirl-That's because it's untrue.

Hungryman, I have dealt with "problem" neighbors as well. It is not fun. It is annoying and infuriating and does nothing for my already high blood pressure.

It seems to me that, if the neighbors' behavior is a problem for Gary55, perhaps blogging about the issue is not the best (or most effective) course of action for this man. Stirring the pot and venting is understandable, but still isn't going to curtail the neighbor's lack of respect for others. I find it very hard to believe that the local law enforcement is unwilling to get involved. Perhaps retaining the services of an attorney would assist Gary55 in resolving this conflict.

I can attest to the fact that local law enforcement is unwilling to get involved in these situations. They are considered neighborhood disputes, and law enforcement wants nothing to do with them.

Again, call a lawyer. If you have a homeowner's association, it may also be beneficial to involve them as well.

The likely reason Gary 55's blog was pulled was because he gave information that could have identified the people about whom he complained.

Like I said in his blog, get enough neighbors together and bombard the sheriff's department with LEGITIMATE complaints. They are understaffed and can't be everywhere all the time but when they get tired of going back to the Berkshire bunch, something will get done.

Thanks for the recap, watchdog. Pretty sure that's what Ness meant when she commented: "We ask readers to REPORT ABUSE. Several readers reported abuse of blogging privilege in this case, and this included no one from law enforcement.
In our opinion, these readers gave enough background with this blog (including pending legal issues) to merit removal of this blog at this time."

Okay I commented earlier and my facts were wrong....sorry. It has been brought to my attention someone from the Herald DOES live in the subdivision in question. Sorry for the bad information. Regardless....this should be handled in a court if it has gone on as long as Gary says it has.

All we know is what Gary 55 is saying and we haven't heard the other side of the story. Well, most of us have not, but I have. I know a man who works for the BCSO and he mentioned reading these blogs, but said he was not going to get into the blog world.
However, he told me deputies have indeed responded to Gary55's complaints, but when they arrived, they heard no noise.
The last night G55 called there were numerous noise complaints all over the county and as I've mentioned before, there are only so many deputies on call and this county is huge. It takes about an hour to get from above Portal near Candler/Emanuel to the other end around Ellabell or Pembroke.

Sorry watch dog, I love ya, but maybe when they take those 2 hour dinner breaks...that I have witnessed...they should be more available to citizens. Especially when they are in full uniform, driving sheriffs duputy cars, inside the city limit, having 2 hour dinner breaks.

I have to agree with you on that one lakerat. I have lived in this community all of my life and have so very good friends in the sheriff's department and I tell them all the time they need to stop hanging around in town bullcrapping with each other over long lunches and dinners and patrol the county. You should watch out if you are heading down in the stilson or brooklet area when the highschool gets out. Those teenagers go crazy and run all over the place. On some of those back roads its not even safe to drive. They race down going in both directions and its scarey when you come down the road and they are coming. I personally know that this is reported on a regular basis but it continues to occur. I know they can't stop every thing but if they patroled these problem ares their presents may be enough to stop this behavior.

and this happens in the morning too but there is an establishment in the middle of statesboro that if you go by it around 7:00-8:00 I guarantee there will be deputy cards eating breakfast there....but maybe these are the ones getting off the night shift. Oh well maybe one day they will help with the traffic issues in the lower end of the county before someone gets hurt.

My neighbor complains when my visitors drive a "smidge" over her property line.She complains when a neighbor 1/2 mile down the road makes tracks in the road crossing from her own driveway into her mothers driveway.She will sue me for picking up pecans that fall from her tree into my yard. I'd be willing to bet that Charmin toilet paper does not please her.

lol I needed a laugh tonight.... you are right ibdaisy so people can't be pleased.

That reminds me, ibdaisy, of a neighbor we had once in Columbus, Ga. We had a german shepard dog. As you know dogs do what dogs do. They crap. Well she called the health dept. on us for dog crap. The inspecter told us we had to clean it up. We had been cleaning it up, but I guess it wasn't fast enough for her. Well, that crazy husband of mine threw all the crap he picked up on top of her carport. The inspecter came back and said we did a good job cleaning up. Right then is when we decided we would buy enough land so as not to have any close neighbors. We did just that when he retired.

When that happens, get out your camera!! Call Lynn Anderson or go to a county commission meeting! I know what you say is true - there are slackers in every business and yes, including the BCSO.

But then, there are those neighbors like ibdaisy's who just pick, pick, pick over nothing at all. Unless we know Gary55 personally we don't know if he's being truthful (No offense G55 - I do NOT know you and I am NOT saying you are lying!!)

Those of you who don't know me don't know whether I am being truthful either. My point is, let's consider both possible sides of the story in all cases.

Deputies deserve to eat breakfast and lunch, but two hour lunches are very likely not approved. What, are they lying to the dispatcher about where they are located? Maybe the sheriff or county commissioners need to investigate these incidents.

If I was the one who observed it, don't think I wouldn't walk up to the offending deputy and ask him how much I'm paying him by the hour to goof off!

No.... Gary55's neighbor is not the editor of the Herald. I know that family and they do not live in Berkshire. They live in another neighborhood and are nice quiet neighbors.

You all have some good comments... but I do believe Gary55... and I think he is trying to do whatever he can for his family. He's reaching out in the only way he feels is left.

I've said before... I love Statesboro and Bulloch County... there's no place else I'd rather live.. but I do think we have some things that need to be cleaned up. Hey... can we borrow Sarah Palin for a little while?? :-)

I agree SusanS....regardless of who his neighbors are I feel for Gary55 because if you have ever had bad neighbors it can be a terrible thing to live with. Statesboro is a great place to live and raise a family. We have our problems but a lot fewer than other places.

I do not even know who the editor of the paper is, i would have thought the stunning on the eyes would have given away I was joking. I have had horrid neighbors that gave me grief for no reason and some who did have reason but I ignore them. There are times in life when you have to take the can opener out of the drawer and open that can of whoop ass. Fight back brother even if not pshyically, blare your music in the early am, roll his yard, leave that flaming bag of dog poo on his doorstep, order magazines and other junk mail for them. Fight like a wuss or fight like a man but fight. That or you can hire me to do the dirty work for you. Free you of blame.

Watchdog, I did call the dispatcher when a deputy had a two hour (dinner) in uniform. The deputy parked in my parking lot at the entrance door to my business in the deputy vehicle. When the dispatcher contacted him he came into my place of business and asked me to step outside. He told me there would be repercussions for calling. I asked him to move his car. He refused to move it several times. In the course of our conversation he said that three times to me. I have several witnesses to this event. I called the Sheriff and never got a return phone call. I then wrote a two page letter, sent it certified and never got a response. My late husband contributed faithfully to his campaign. I have no respect for anyone in an elected postion that does not respond to the public that put them in office. Believe me I will remember this come next election.

By the way the parking lot is owned by me and clearly posted. He actually broke two laws.

Oh, really!! You should have called the newspaper immediately when that jack *** threatened you. That's bull and makes me furious. I despise law enforcement officers who think a badge makes them all powerful, and I am disappointed in our sheriff if he did not respond. I'd have been waiting for him in his office until he did take time to see me.

I wanted to give a perspective from a resident in the neighborhood. As a resident in the neighborhood for over 4 years and knowing all parties involved there has not been this kind of problem before until just this year. As said before their are some residents who hang out in groups at night but never has the law been called on them because of rowdiness, loudness or even disrespect. Things have been blown way out of proportion. The "noisy neighbor" from this incident is not even the same as the one from a few months back. So you can draw your on conclusion about the problem.

Maybe those noisy neighbors ought to invite Gary55 so he won't feel so left out and complain so much.

Eagle... if the noisy neighbor is keeping a child awake at night that needs to get up early and be rested for school, then I don't care what he is or isn't doing, it's disresepctful to his neighbor. When you live in a close knit neighborhood, you have to think about those around you.

Gwarfan.... I knew you were kidding... but some don't quite recognize your sense of humor yet. :-)

I think some of you folks really have missed the point of an earlier comment...so here it is again in different words. Is it possible that Gary 55 is really the nuisance neighbor and not the neighbor he is complaining about? Just about everyone of you have identified the nuisance neighbor as one who constantly complains. Ever seen the old the movie "Hang em High?" Maybe you should ask questions before you shoot, form opinions and take sides.

Look, I have had enough problem neighbors to know that they do exist. When you throw booze and loud insane music into the mix I totally agree with Gary55. He is not the problem. Good grief who wants to listen to that bumping all hours of the night. You said maybe we should ask questions before we shoot. Believe me I have had some neighbors I would have loved to shoot. I was told by law-enforcement that I would be within the law to shoot the dogs. I told him I'd rather shoot the stupid people that tied the poor dogs to the trees.

Where did Gary55 go. We are on here defending him and he as been quite as a peep.

Good question lakerat. Wonder if his absence could be tied to those "possible legal issues" mentioned earlier. If true, wouldn't that be interesting?

hmmm with what the police blotter said someone won't be blogging about it.