Opinions

Dear Jamie,

I would like to submit just a short note to say how fortunate that we are to have our hospital system in Baxley. A lot of people don’t realize how many communities have either lost their hospitals or have had to cut back to “skeleton crews” across Georgia. Nearly every hospital that I am aware of is having severe financial problems for numerous reasons. That is another story for another time. [Full Story »] 

For months the Appling County School System has teetered on losing its Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) coveted accreditation. Had the system lost SACS accreditation, it would have had dire consequences on students, stakeholders and the entire community. [Full Story »] 

I was just listening to a man on TV telling that every citizen in this country owed 80,000 dollars as their part of the national debt. He further stated the Obama bailout would wind up costing each American 28,000 dollars. [Full Story »] 

Laurie Jo Upchurch and her daughter Triniti, wearing a pretty cowgirl outfit including shiny white boots, arrived at our house on St. Simons Island around 10:30am. They loaded their music paraphernalia into Big Red’s saddlebag. Shortly thereafter, we mounted the wild red Mustang and I reined him across the Torras Causeway and headed him south on I-95 toward Magnolia Manor, our United Methodist Retirement Center at St. Marys, Ga. where I serve as chaplain. [Full Story »] 

According to the calendar, summer started officially on June 21 at 1:16 p.m. Eastern Time. However, I didn’t notice at all because it’s been HOT here for months now. National Geographic tells me that June 21 was also the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere as well as the summer solstice, which is a result of the earth’s north-south axis being tilted 23.4 degrees relative to the sun. This tilt causes different amounts of sunlight to reach different regions of the planet. Now all that information is fascinating, but the crux of the matter is that it’s agonizingly hot and dry here where I live. We are a mere eighteen days into the summer season. Can I possibly survive all the pleasures of summer, which doesn’t end until Friday, September 23? That sounds like light years from now. Besides, we all know the heat doesn’t evaporate from Georgia air in September. It could be November. Maybe summer would slip by more quickly if I enjoyed its various pleasures more. [Full Story »] 

By Robert Morrison

Many Americans are aware that NBC deliberately cut out the reference to Under God during a broadcast segment of the Pledge of Allegiance during the recent U.S. Open in Washington. NBC responded to the flood of criticism by offering what can only be described as a non-apology apology. NBC has continued to ignore inquiries as to why or how the pledge was edited. NBC, which broadcast on the public airwaves, has also refused to make amends for their disrespect of the pledge and the tens of thousands of Americans who have served our nation in uniform. [Full Story »] 

The Kentucky Wonder beans are canned, the garlic dried and put up, the potatoes are keeping well, and the tomatoes are ready for canning.

This leaves me with the okra and what a job it has turned into. I am not one to waste the bounty of the garden I have worked so hard to have what with the drought and hot weather, so the okra must not be wasted. It has become somewhat comical, though, when I go up to a neighbor’s house with a bag of the fresh okra to give away. They have got to where they won’t answer the door. I guess they are as tired of the okra as I am. I have pickled it, stewed it, fried it, boiled it, and have taken to eating it raw if it is small and tender. I wish it would stop bearing, but it won’t. You can literally see it grow. Like any weed, it loves chicken manure. If anyone wants a mess, they can come and get it, please. [Full Story »] 

The following is a listing of Georgia Senate and House bills that will become law on Friday, July 1. This list was compiled and published in the Georgia Times-Union.

SB 10 - Permits local governments to ask voters to approve the sale of packaged alcohol on Sunday afternoons. [Full Story »] 

Back in the day, if you wanted a chicken for Sunday dinner you had to grow it and kill it yourself. It was back around this time in history, when most everyone had a few chickens in the yard, that Ahtee Crider began his odyssey as a chicken tycoon. [Full Story »] 

Friday afternoon we picked two five-gallon buckets of peas from our garden. I picked the Black Crowder peas while Larry worked on the White Acres. Larry taught our grandson Stuart the fine art of pea picking. He has a way to go yet, but we’re working on him. When the picking was finished, Larry and I settled in chairs under the oak trees to shell the peas. After the general conversation flagged, I began reminiscing. [Full Story »] 

Dear Editor,

This letter is to Jethro, [Full Story »]