2024 Columns

What is Thanksgiving without a Thanksgiving column?  For those of us who are tasked with offering our opinions on these pages, it is an obvious topic.  And a good one.  A chance to remind ourselves of the many things for which we are thankful, from beautiful sunrises to family and friends to our freedoms we too often take for granted and a lot more in between. I have … [Read more...] about November 24, 2024: Being Thankful For These Weekly Conversations

My  bucket list is not only complete, my bucket runneth over.  My portrait of the Beloved Woman Who Shared My Name  now hangs in the Wellstar School of Nursing at Kennesaw State University where she received her degree at the age of 45.  That’s correct.  At a time when most of her friends were winding down¸ she was just getting wound up. Some of you are familiar with her … [Read more...] about November 17, 2024: Portrait a Reminder of a Remarkable Accomplishment

The election is over and whether your side won or not, let’s all be grateful the nation is still standing and that all the political ads are gone and, hopefully, forgotten.  Now, it is time to get back to the Okefenokee. Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals  LLC is still pushing for approval from Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division to drill for titanium dioxide on 582 … [Read more...] about November 10, 2024: Proposed Expansion Could Be The Answer To Okefenokee Controversy

Spoiler alert: No talk of politics this week.  I will let the talking heads talk and political pundits pontificate and then I will tell you what really happened and why.  No applause, please.  Just doing my job. Instead, I am going to tell you about a remarkable woman doing a remarkable thing and that despite the partisan poison being spewed these days, reminds us we do have … [Read more...] about November 3, 2024: A Candy Bar Feeds an Exciting New Initiative

One of the names that comes up in the controversy regarding the possible permitting by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to allow mining for titanium dioxide on Trail Ridge at the edge of the Okefenokee by Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals is attorney Joe Hopkins, of Charlton County. To the environmental groups fighting the permitting process, Hopkins, … [Read more...] about October 27, 2024: Timber Owner Say Okefenokee Mining Ban Would Violate Constitution