Council pay raises

Where's the transparency?

Memorial Day

Many of us pay scant attention to international news.

We hear you

A few years ago, we made a decision to stop the Sunday comics and cease publishing an evening TV guide.

Impressive improvement

It is gratifying to see the 2012 graduation rate in Newton County schools grow so rapidly from the low point it dropped to just three short years ago.

Defective government

"Hold on, my friends, to the Constitution and to the Republic for which it stands. Miracles do not cluster, and what has happened once in 6,000 years, may not happen again. Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world."

New superintendent

Graduates

County budget

The Newton County Board of Commissioners has a tough task in front of them as usual, deciding how to make expenses meet revenues, but we'll say what we've said for each of the past few years - this is still not the time to raise taxes.

Some thoughts

Last week, two young lives were snuffed out on Interstate 20. A 19-year-old and a 7-month-old baby will never know what it's like to grow old.

New superintendent

On Tuesday night, the Newton County Board of Education will choose Dr. Gary Mathews' successor as superintendent of the Newton County School System.

Mother’s Day

"The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother."

Making the grade

In Wednesday's paper, we ran a story explaining what the new state school assessment model means to students and other citizens of Newton County.

Good moves

The Covington City Council has made two practical decisions that could contribute to economic growth in the future.

The morning-after pill

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, 1.3 million babies a year are aborted in the U.S. That is a staggering number.

Social Circle

If you were driving through the main street in Social Circle and blinked twice, you might miss the physical heart of the city.

Hurricane Sandy

In the midst of everything else Congress had to worry about this week, the senate tried its best to jam a $60.4 million relief package for the victims of Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the coast of the Northeast, down the throats of American taxpayers. Anyone with even a shred of decency is concerned about the victims of Hurricane Sandy and would likely be willing to help out in any way possible, including the use of the tax dollars.

New Year 2013

Every man should be born again on the first day of January. Start with a fresh page. Take up one hole more in the buckle if necessary, or let down one, according to circumstances; but on the first of January, let every man gird himself once more, with his face to the front, and take no interest in the things that were and are past.

Carpenter

Last week, it was announced that Deputy Superintendent for Operations for the Newton County School System, Dennis Carpenter, had accepted a job as Superintendent of the Hickman Mills C-1 School district located in Kansas City, Mo.

Thanks

We are fortunate here in our community to have active civic clubs that are still willing to work and contribute their money and time for the betterment of the community.

Dreams

Sometimes it takes newcomers to grasp and understand the bright spots a community has had that sit right under its own nose without being discovered.

Goodbye Steve, thanks for the memories

The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate and to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well."

Replacement needed

There's no question that losing Superintendent Gary Mathews to retirement before he has a chance to finish his five-year plan is going to cause a disruption in our district's forward progress.

Full Speed Ahead

Damn the taxpayers of Georgia, full speed ahead! "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" Admiral David Farragut's legendary quote as he invaded Mobile Bay during the Civil War seems to be the motto of our elected officials in the Georgia World Congress Center. This past week our legislators voted unanimously to approve a deal for a new downtown stadium for the Atlanta Falcons. The new stadium is projected to cost between $948 million to just ...

Yes, Virginia

First printed in the New York Sun, Sept. 21, 1897, and written by newsman Francis Pharcellus Church.

Rush to fix

Gun control talk is all the rage these days in the aftermath of the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn., but we feel much of the angst is misplaced. Yahoo recently tried to stir the pot with an article asking who was responsible for the shooting. The answer is obviously the mentally-disturbed young man who took it upon himself to commit a sick, illegal act. Guns by themselves did not kill ...

Annual prayer breakfast

It's time to start making plans for the annual Rotary-Kiwanis Legislative Prayer Breakfast, which will be held at 7 a.m., Friday, Jan. 11, at Turner Lake Complex.

Hometown Hero

Porterdale police Lt. Jason Cripps shows up for his job every day and conducts himself in a professional manner.

Heartbroken

In this space today, we offer no words of wisdom or advice. Our hearts, like yours, are broken for the tragic, needless loss of life that occurred Friday. We pray that the Lord would protect each of you from the pure evil that exists in this world; the kind of evil that would take the life of an innocent child.

In the dark

The leadership and officials at the Garden of Gethsemane Homeless Shelter seem to be satisfied living on the brink of shutting down and remaining mired in mediocrity.

Not too late

There has been much talk here in Newton County that we just might have hit the bottom of fiscal mess we have endured for the last four years.