Opinion & Editorial

OUR VIEW: Lighting the spark

We celebrate the Fourth of July because it still matters. Nearly 250 years ago, a cadre of civic-minded colonists risked everything, including their lives, to break ties with an arrogant British king who demanded loyalty without question.

From the Desk of Dink NeSmith: An emu joins our barnyard menagerie

By Dink NeSmith   Ink is in my blood. But I’ve never said, “Today I am going to get some ink on my skin.” However, if I did, I might tattoo this phrase: “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” Have you ever muttered that, too? But this isn’t a complaint.

Notes from the Grillo Pad: Adams and Jefferson

By Jerry Grillo   Every year at this time, I think of one of my all-time favorite cosmic coincidences: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, two of the most important founding brothers during the summer of 1776, each died on the 50th anniversary of Independence Day, July 4, 1826.

A VIEW FROM YONAH: A J-3 Cub and the father I never knew

By Emory Jones   This is a Father’s Day column.  I know it’s late, but that’s not because I forgot. Some memories ask for a quieter corner of the calendar. For me and lots of others, Father’s Day long ago became one of those quieter corner days.

WANDERING WORDSMITH: Family roots run deep in White County

By Denise Etheridge When I interviewed the nice folks who run Leaf Grocery and Deli last month, I took away some charming tidbits of Leaf community history. I also realized during our relaxed, friendly conversation that family ties are strong in White County.

OUR VIEW: Juneteenth is when freedom arrived

Freedom for every American didn’t come easy. And it didn’t come all at once. We celebrate July 4th as Independence Day, commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, which sought to free the 13 American colonies from the shackles of British rule.

NOTES FROM THE GRILLO PAD: Dad did the righteous thing

My father — the King of Father’s Day, who had a tinfoil crown to prove it — grew up in a Lower Eastside Manhattan neighborhood called Little Sicily. He was eight or nine when he met Jack Dempsey — the former heavyweight champion of the world, who had a belt to prove it — at the local Boys Club.

OUR VIEW: Never forget —She served too

Today, 20 states across the country — not Georgia — will commemorate Women Veterans Recognition Day. This isn’t a separate version of Veterans Day.

Family lifts a legacy on sacred ground

It’s late morning on Memorial Day, May 26, 2025. The air is cool for late May, low hanging rain clouds forbidding the sun’s appearance. Most of the Hudgins boys and a couple of nephews are gathered in the cemetery of Belmont Baptist Church south of Gainesville, Ga.

The constant loop in my thought track

Notes from the Grillo Pad (by Jerry Grillo) Nine years ago, after my son Joe had been disregarded and disrespected yet again by people who should have known better, I got really upset. I channeled my anger into the 21st century’s favored vehicle of bloodless vengeance: the blog.