To say the least, last week was eventful.

There was the Sany development meeting with DAPC. I voiced some expectations to be addressed before coming before the City Council, which seemed well received by the Sany officials in attendance.

I expect the areas still needing work or just clarification will be handled in additional meetings between DAPC and Sany. Read More»

[Editor’s note: The following essay by Annie Volk was the J.C. Booth Middle School eighth-grade first-place winner in the Peachtree City Rotary Club’s “Laws of Life” student essay contest.] Read More»

Sometimes it takes a well-meaning Yankee to put me in my place. One who will remind me that all things Southern are, by no means, universal. That some things need to be explained.

Like bush hogging.

Now, where I come from – the rural South – the term “bush hogging” is plopped down comfortably in the middle of our everyday language and is used as commonly as “eating” “sleeping” or “breathing.”

To the rural Southerner who is blessed enough to have more than a couple of acres on which to reside, bush hogging is as necessary as eating, sleeping or breathing. Read More»

The title for this article is not original to me. It was the title of a poem written by a friend and if he still had it I would probably share it with you now, but he wrote it when he was a boy and it is apparently lost forever. The message of his poem, however, is one that shouldn’t be lost.

He wrote the poem at a point in life when he wondered if anyone noticed him. When he told a joke, no one seemed to be listening. If he was interrupted in telling a story, nobody asked him to finish it. “Am I here?” he wondered. Read More»

Graduation ceremonies are boring.

They often require one to sit in uncomfortable seats, wearing uncomfortable clothes either outside in oppressive heat or humidity (Friday’s high, 86 degrees) or in a room that quickly closes in with the dull roar (and aroma) of a crowd of people. Read More»

In June of last year, as I reported in this column at the time, a Phoenix, Ariz., bishop received a suspended sentence of 10 days in jail and three years probation for violating a Phoenix noise ordinance because his church rang its bells hourly as a way of praising God. Bishop Rick Painter of the Cathedral of Christ the King (a man with whom I am personally acquainted) retained attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund to pursue legal options to defend his rights. Read More»

After four days in Savannah, I learned many things. Spending time together is the most important thing you can do for the relationship with the one you love. And four days in Savannah is simply not enough time spent in this wonderful city. Read More»

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions. Here are a few that I’ve gotten over the years and via email for this column.

Dear father Paul: What about people who have never even heard about Jesus or God? Will God send them to Hell? — Mike.

Dear Mike: Good question. I get this one a lot. Read More»

All of Fayette County is invited to help welcome Lt. Dan Berschinski home on Saturday, May 29. Read More»

[Editor’s note: The following essay by Brittany Butler was the J.C. Booth Middle School seventh-grade first-place winner in the Peachtree City Rotary Club’s “Laws of Life” student essay contest. Not long after she wrote and submitted this essay, Brittany’s sister drowned in a tragic swimming pool accident in Florida.]

Everyone has their own set of laws for living life, but how we understand them and what we do with them makes them special. I got mine two months before my third birthday. My little sister was born. Read More»