Opinion

Newspapers need us; we need them

Ronda Rich's picture

In the home in which I grew up, the daily newspaper was almost as important to our everyday lives as the Bible.

Daddy came home every night, finished his supper – which Mama brought to him on a tray as he relaxed in his favorite recliner – then picked up the paper and read every page.

Until she died, Mama planned her day around the arrival of the newspaper. As soon it arrived, she hurried to get it, made a cup of coffee with cream and sugar, then settled into her chair and savored the pages. She took hours to read every word. Read More»

FreeSpeech for 02-24-10

The last three health inspection grades for the Fayette County Jail are 99, 97 and 100. I can’t find another eating establishment in Fayette County with an average this high. What are my options if I want an extra clean place to eat out and don’t want to go to jail? Read More»

School spirit? How about bad manners?

In the Feb. 10 edition of The Citizen, Ms. Carol Jensen-Linton reported that a very large group of McIntosh High School students joined in the singing of the national anthem at a basketball game at Starr’s Mill High School. The McIntosh students joined in on the line, “and the home of the brave,” singing loudly, drowning out the Starr’s Mill student who was singing a capella, changing the line to “home of the Chiefs.” Ms. Jensen-Linton was critical of the students’ action. Read More»

Important taxing decisions to be made; come to council retreat

The annual City Council retreat is coming up the second weekend in March. This is where council discusses its priorities for the remainder of this year and they begin to discuss the budget for 2011. It is a great opportunity for citizens to be heard as well as be educated on exactly what council is considering for next year and what it deems to be priorities.

Are council’s priorities our priorities? If not, it is a perfect time to let them know. If so, it is equally important that they hear that as well. Read More»

Hey, big spender! You’re outdoing FDR

When the Democrats regained control of Congress in January 2007, they promised fiscal responsibility. They passed PayGo (pay-as-you-go) which requires Congress to find a way to pay for programs without raising taxes.

However, in their first year, they increased spending by $454 billion, raised taxes by $98 billion, and added an additional $356 billion to deficit spending. Read More»

1st, illegal hunting; now loose pit bulls

I have written you before about our neighbor who hunts on property where he has no permission to hunt. It doesn’t matter if it’s deer season or not, he hunts.

Well, the courts took care of that problem: he is on probation, can’t hunt anywhere, and can’t have guns on his property. All is well, you think. Not hardly!

Now he has two pit bulls that are running the neighborhood. I came home from cardiac rehab to find two pit bulls trying to tear down the fence to my chicken pen. I called animal protection [and] they caught one of the dogs and the other escaped. Read More»

Correction

I recently wrote a letter to the paper entitled “Westmoreland Right On Most Things, get government out of the way.”

In the printed version, it says (incorrectly) that government would have cut a trillion dollars from Medicare.

My letter said one-half-trillion. I just wanted it to be accurate.

John Currie

Peachtree City, Ga.

[The editor replies: The mistake was my editing error, and has been corrected in the online version.]

Smart Little Snowman

Sallie Satterthwaite's picture

It has been heartening to me the number of grandmas whose grandbabies have been diagnosed with autism. Whether at church or Curves or the Kroger, grandparents of autistic children come up to me with huge smiles and saying, “We have an autistic grandchild too and you’d never know it.”
I still have no idea what to expect – it’s hard having grandchildren who live 700 miles away. Samuel is a joy to our daughter and her husband, and most of those who know him. Read More»

Ask Father Paul

Father Paul Massey's picture

Answers to your questions about life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their congregations. Here are some questions that I’ve gotten over the years of my ministry and via email for this column. Read More»

When belief is not enough

David Epps's picture

When I was a 25-year-old pastor I had better answers to the questions of life than I do now. When I took my first church at 23, I knew I didn’t know anything about almost everything. By the time two years had passed, I had all the answers.

Why do some people suffer? I could tell you. Why do bad things happen to good people? I had the insight. In fact, when a supervisor suggested I read a certain theologian, I declined. I knew what I believed. Read More»