Articles by Section - Columnists
You only live once
Last month, I got caught in the massive hail storm while teaching in Stockbridge. I took a picture of the larger than a golf ball-sized hail that pummeled the houses and cars in the Monarch Village neighborhood.
Morgan: Authors turn lives into fiction
Take a life, any life, even your own. Write down all the known facts and documentation of that life, much but not all of it taken from public record: birth, parents, hometown, siblings, education, college transcripts, career, titles, marriage, children, divorce, volunteer positions, achievements, military service, address, church membership, diaries, daybooks and perhaps old letters retained by the sender or recipient.
Cushman: Goodness over evil
My sister Kathy texted the news of the Boston Marathon bombing not long after it happened.
Random thoughts on random topics
It turns out that you can go home again. I recently established a chair in crisis communications leadership at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communications at my beloved University of Georgia. UGA President-elect Dr. Jere Morehead, along with Dink NeSmith, chairman of the Board of Regents came for the ceremony and both made my family and me feel warmly welcomed on campus.
Spring into the yellow season
I suppose it is never a normal spring. But it does seem like we have gotten more rain than usual this spring. Not that there is anything wrong with that as Seinfeld would say. I am sure we will be hearing dire predictions of drought soon enough, and all the rain we have had lately will be forgotten.
Spring fever mind games
I wish the weather would stop playing games with us here in the South. It wasn't more than a few weeks ago that I slipped into a pair of short pants for puttering around the house.
Gun debate highlights voter distrust
Gun control advocates sound puzzled by congressional resistance to relatively modest gun control legislation. Many cite a poll showing 90 percent of Americans support more background checks and suggest the National Rifle Association is the only reason Congress won't implement the will of the people.
The mortgage complaint window is open
Got a beef with your mortgage company or loan servicer? Lots of people do, and thousands of them have been turning to a federal complaint hotline for action - or at least a quick response from the lender.
Black unemployment
A couple of weeks ago, Black Entertainment Television founder Bob Johnson, speaking at The National Press Club, said the nation "would never tolerate white unemployment at 14 and 15 percent." Black unemployment has been double that of white Americans for more than 50 years. The black youth unemployment rate is more than 40 percent nationally. In some cities, unemployment for black working-age males is more than 50 percent. Let's look at this, but first let's ...
Carter: For all who persevere
This isn't as easy as it looks - this putting together of ~750 words with a coherent thought every week.
Morgan: The astronaut and the fire truck
An imaginative sort who spies a bright red fire truck parked outside a church might think one of two things: Either the congregants are burning up with the Holy Spirit and keep a fire truck on hand to cool things down once in a while, or the truck is a warning the fires of hell are close unless they toe the line.
Thatcher's death marks end of an era
When Margaret Thatcher was elected England's first female prime minister in the spring of 1979, I was 12 years old and my father had been a congressman for less than four months. To me, it seemed as if it would be only a short while until my own country followed suit and elected a woman to serve as president.
Yarbrough: UGA's best-kept secret
They are the best University of Georgia athletic team you have likely never heard of.
The dumps of home improvement
My husband and I have lived where we are now living for more than 40 years. More than half my life.
Carter: Bike for your health
I enjoy my bicycle. There's nothing like the freedom of rolling through the countryside propelled only by the power of my own legs, feeling the warm sun on my skin and the cool wind moving over my body, engaging the world with all five of my senses.
Archive By Section - Columnists
Cushman: Turbulent time calls for good pilot
This week, for more than an hour, I experienced a turbulent airplane ride. It was not fun. Normally, the pilots are able to chart a new course and fly through the rough air pretty rapidly, but on Monday, there was just no clear path, so my fellow passengers and I had to endure the bumpy ride. Normally an indifferent flyer, I ended up turning up the airflow and hoping that the bouncing would stop before I had to reach for the bag in the pocket in front of me.
Low standards getting lower for war
Americans do poorly on world geography questions and I am no different. Just this week, I read stories about armies from Saudi Arabia in Bahrain, violence in Dafur (part of Sudan), and the US lead no-fly zone in Libya. I had to go look for Libya on a map, which if you are curious, is just to the east of Sudan on the continent of Africa. Which made me curious, because President Obama said that ...
Morgan: Reading Conroy an education
Pat Conroy's latest book is one of my favorites. It's entitled "My Reading Life," and in 15 chapters, he recounts all of those individuals, starting with his mother, and teachers of one sort or another who taught him the love of language, the power in words and the ability of books to change lives. Those lessons have defined and driven his life.
Giddens: Doggie do's and don'ts
Sunday marked the start of spring officially, but as always in our fickle clime, warm weather had already teased us in fits and starts for weeks.
Yarbrough: Not a beautiful day for Mr. Rogers
It is not a beautiful day in Mr. Rogers' neighborhood. Sen. Majority Leader Chip Rogers (R-Woodstock) saw his beloved school voucher bill bite the dust this session. Groused Mr. Rogers, "We want to ignore the fact that our schools are failing. I'm going to have a hard time defending this one." Not really. Mr. Rogers, maybe public schools are failing because you and your colleagues have done a poor job of helping them succeed. Duh! ...
Harwell: Love of land transcends risk
I've been drawn to San Francisco ever since I first laid eyes on the place in the 1950s. Some family friends moved there and would send postcards or letters containing Polaroid snapshots. The place just called to me.
Mission Accomplished
More than two years into the administration of Barack Obama, liberals and leftists have gotten one of their fondest wishes. America is no longer the world's policeman; our will has receded and countries around the world are free to do nearly whatever they please. No need to worry about the American tiger; it is made of paper even on the best day and no longer matters on the world stage. All of the ...
House gets busy as session winds down
The pace on the House floor continued at a fast clip last week as we closed in on crossover day.
Durusau: The bare truth: Different party, same story
Even in a family newspaper sometimes unpleasant things must be discussed. Women and children should stop reading now.
Morgan: Charlie King a local treasure
Most everybody around here knows 95-year-old Charlie King, and if you don't know him personally, you've at least heard of Newton County's amiable historian emeritus. Oh, the tales he can tell about almost anyone and everything that's gone on in town since he was born here in 1915.
Giddens: Another reason to celebrate
I'll be wearing green and a big smile this St. Patrick's Day.
SPLOST will help retire county debt
Our 2011 SPLOST referendum will be voted on Tuesday. It is only a continuation of the 1 percent tax we've levied on ourselves since 1985 that has provided funds for a number of critically needed and award-winning projects in this community. Think about our water supply provided by Lake Varner, Turner Lake Park that regularly hosts regional sports competitions, the well-used and popular Newton County Library, an award-winning Judicial Center and ...
Lessons from the slope
This week, along with many other Americans, our family is on spring break. After years of beach vacations, we decided to brave something new and take our family skiing. After turning in points for flights, and determining what location might provide the best value, we are finally midweek into our vacation.
Harwell: Tying up loose ends
Tying up loose ends is always difficult, isn't it? Humans wish to project some sense of permanency - some evidence proving that we once actually mattered - into our existence. We are mortal, and we know it, yet we throw up obstacles to prevent us confronting the abyss yawing before us. We will all die, and that scares us. We don't know how to deal with the fact that we - all of us - will perish.
House takes on immigration, HOPE
The pace really picked up in the House last week. H.B. 87 is a major anti-illegal immigration bill.
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