opinions
Old Time Elections — By Tommy Purser
Going to the courthouse Tuesday to see the final vote tallies come in brought back fond memories of years ago when vote-counting was an experience, a showcase. Years ago, the courthouse would be packed with people, hundreds of people, waiting, watching and listening as poll workers laboriously went over absentee ballots with the counting lasting…
Read MoreTo Our Governor-Elect — By John Reed
To Our Governor-Elect As this was written before the results of Tuesday’s election were known, I’m addressing this to both candidates. Most applies to both contenders, in one way or another. To the Honorable next Governor of Georgia: congratulations on winning a hard-fought election to the highest office in our State. Your campaign appealed to…
Read More‘Unfriending’ a High School Friend
It was probably six years ago when I “unfriended” an old high school friend on my Facebook page. It wasn’t a hard thing to do. Since high school, he had morphed into a right wing conspiracy theorist, a far right hater of politicians and political views with which he did not agree. He repeatedly posted…
Read MoreDegrees Of Hate — By John Reed
Degrees of Hate The past week’s headlines have been dominated by the actions of a pair of deranged people: sending mail bombs and shooting up a synagogue. As usual, the media were quick to wring their collective hands and bloviate about gun control and hate crimes. As local readers have come to expect, I have…
Read MoreMoving JD Forward
By ANDREA TAYLOR There are always issues and problems that can keep us up at night. After praying and giving thanks to God for my children and family each night, I pray for my job, my work family and the community that I am so proud to help move forward each day – Hazlehurst and…
Read MoreModern Greetings — By John Reed
Modern Greetings Nothing brings home the impact of social media more than birthdays. There was a time when I got birthday greetings from family and maybe one or two friends the old-fashioned way: a card in the mail. By the late 90’s, I started getting the occasional email, sometimes with a cute animated message. Now,…
Read MoreThe Hidden Tribes of America – By Tommy Purser
The Hidden Tribes of America. That’s the title of a year-long project recently launched by a group that calls itself More in Common. The Hidden Tribes of America survey collected the views of more than 8,000 people, a group of U.S. citizens statistically representative of the population based on census data. While so many people…
Read MoreAfter The Storm – By John Reed
After The Storm Thoughts after the storm: Disasters have a way of making people behave differently…sometimes better, sometimes worse. A perfect example: local drivers who can’t figure out how to let each other get through McDonald’s new double drive-through lanes were perfectly capable of managing intersections with powered-down traffic lights. Major kudos to both Georgia…
Read MoreThrown Under The Bus — By Tommy Purser
If the Jeff Davis County Commissioners feel like they were thrown under the bus by the Hazlehurst City Council I can understand why. Here’s what the commissioners had to say in a statement released in response to public statements made by members of the Hazlehurst City Council at its September meeting: ***** “After reading a…
Read MoreLeft Turn, Clyde — By John Reed
Left Turn, Clyde Anyone who recognizes that movie quote will appreciate the absurdity and annoyance of lousy drivers. This week’s column space was almost ceded to my better half, who had some well-chosen words about local drivers. After watching people come to a complete stop at the roundabouts, fail to use turn signals [yes you,…
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