Attention, Newton County mothers and your adult daughters: When you're out and about shopping, picking out spring plants for your garden, or maybe enjoying lunch and a little family gossip, do not be alarmed if you notice me lurking about. I have neither sinister nor larcenous intent.
Spring is here, and after we sailed past Good Friday and the risk of frost, it is now planting time! I've bought seeds and pots and I'm ready to plant something.
During the last county commissioner's retreat, I submitted a proposal regarding the discharge of firearms in high-density areas. After careful research, we asked the county to allow us to return to the guidelines established prior to the 2006 version of the county ordinance governing this matter.
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In a simpler time, it was common that families had only one bathroom. A close friend of mine reports that when she was 3 or 4, old enough to bathe herself, her older brother needed to use the bathroom while she was taking a bath. He explained that she should close her eyes and it would be all right. As adults we recognize that as "magical" thinking. Closing her eyes really didn't make the situation ...
Dawson is the four-year-old daughter of a co-worker of mine. From time to time, she comes by the office for a little visit. If there is a perfect age for a child, I think it would be four. The magical innocence of a child is at its peak. They laugh hysterically at adult attempts at silliness and are easily content with a cookie and a glass of milk.
Late in the evening of Nov. 7, the United States House of Representatives voted for the federal government to take over health care in this country by a 220-215 vote. Included in that bill that will cost significantly more than one trillion dollars are sections to raise taxes on most Americans, gut Medicare, force taxpayers to pay for health care of illegal aliens and as many new regulations as can be dreamed of in 2000 ...
Democrats are having a hard time explaining away their big losses on Tuesday. By evening's end, Democratic lawmakers and pundits were already taking to the airwaves to proclaim the importance of their win in one upstate New York congressional district - one in which the Republican candidate dropped out just three days before the election and a virtual unknown Conservative Party candidate managed to win 45 percent of the vote. <p ...
My daddy stood up and put his hand over his heart every time our national anthem was played, and when it was over, he wiped tears from his eyes. It didn't matter where we were or how many people were around, either. When the flag passed in a parade, Daddy's hand was on his heart and tears were in his eyes. At high school football games, right after the preacher prayed the ...
Well, I've certainly ruffled some feathers by saying American health care's third-party payment system suffers from Soviet-style inefficiencies. "Soviet-style," now that's cussing by American standards. I chose the controversial reference to find common ground among Washington partisans embroiled in the health care debate. It's worked with a few representatives, just not enough. And it has also put me in a position where, as dad used to say, I've got some explaining to do. That's good. ...
Politicians are often accused of "putting the fox in charge of the hen house" - of giving someone with a vested interest in an issue control over how that issue is resolved. A good example is a president (such as Barack Obama) who appoints people from Wall Street to enforce federal regulations intended to crack down on illegal behavior by Wall Street's investment community. Needless to say, you're not likely to get vigorous enforcement in that situation.
My friend Sam Griffin, the retired publisher of the Bainbridge Post-Searchlight, recently shared a letter written to him in 1942 by his father, Capt. Marvin Griffin, later to be governor of Georgia, as he and his men, members of the Georgia National Guard's 101st Coast Artillery/Anti-Aircraft Battalion, were preparing to embark for Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea. Gov. Griffin was a colorful character, always ready with a quotable quip, but on this day Capt. ...
November is here. President Obama has been in office since January. That's nine months and no change. Oh, yeah, things were supposed to change. Here's what has changed. Our troops are in harm's way in Afghanistan and elsewhere, and the Commander-in-Chief continues to waffle on an American policy in Afghanistan.
I recently had problems with my refrigerator, which is about three years old and was the top of the line model when purchased. In the course of getting it repaired, I came into contact with two very different repairmen who worked for the same company.
One thing the housing slowdown has given us is fewer cutely named subdivisions. I love driving through a town and noting the name of developments. In Forsyth County, one of the larger developments is called Polo Fields.
I am proud to be a member of the 25th class of Leadership Newton County - a Covington/Newton County Chamber of Commerce Program.
It's important, I think, for us mortals to share our most memorable experiences with one another. When others tell of things they've done, places they've gone and people they've met, it enriches us. As only a rarified few among us have the time and unlimited means to experience everything life offers, tales of disparate adventures allow us to live vicariously, broaden our horizons, enrich our intellectual experience, and keep alive the hope ...
The one phrase I have not heard in any debate over government policy in my lifetime is: "I don't know." From the Cuban missile crisis to the latest debates over heath care, Republican and Democratic administrations alike have never encountered a question for which they have no answer.
There used to be a scale in front of a store in Social Circle. You could put a penny in the slot by your astrological sign and a little cover would move to reveal your weight and your horoscope.