EXTRA, EXTRA/Butting heads over county name
Don Earnhart, a radio station owner and disc jockey in Butts County, Ga., launched a campaign this summer to change the name of the county, according to The Associated Press (AP). Claiming the name was preventing the county from developing its economy, Earnhart invited residents to voice their opinions. “If you don't like Butts County, take your butt and move out,” one resident said. However, the disc jockey argued that if the county's name were not embarrassing, then at least some businesses would use it in their names, and perhaps other businesses would be attracted to locate in the county, which contains 20,000 residents and is 40 miles south of Atlanta. “If people say they're not embarrassed of it, why aren't they using it?” Earnhart told the AP. “What are we going to have, ‘Butts Cleaners’? ‘We Get The Stains Out?’” Eventually, the name change failed a caller poll 20-6, residents wrote letters to the local newspaper opposing a name change and Earnhart apologized to the county commission for causing the uproar.
