Opinion

By Mike Ruffin

I had poured my heart out every Sunday morning for six years.

I had tried to tell them how much God loves them. I had preached about the blessings and the challenges that come with following Jesus. I had tried to help them see just how amazing it is that Almighty God gives any thought to us at all, much less that God loves us so much that Jesus died for us. I had told them over and over again that we have an amazing opportunity to be crucified with Christ, to be raised with him, and to walk in newness of life. [Full Story »] 

By Sen. Johnny Isakson


“We would not be where we are today had it not been for veterans who died on the battlefield so we could have free speech, democracy in government, and so our people could peacefully decide whom their leaders were and leave it up to us to lead the country.

“I want to put a personal face on Memorial Day for just a moment.

“First, I wish to talk about a guy named Tommy Nguyen. Tommy Nguyen is my legislative staffer on military affairs information. He volunteered for the U.S. Army Guard. He went to Fort Benning, GA, and graduated No. 1 in his class. You know what that means at Fort Benning. Right now he is deployed in Afghanistan and has been deployed for the past 5 months. [Full Story »] 

Nearly lost in all the campaign rhetoric and discussion on which bathrooms should be used by whom and who gets to be the bathroom monitor was news that the U.S. Senate has okayed a bill which would allow families who lost loved ones in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to sue Saudi Arabia.
[Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

So there’s been a report making the rounds that says you shouldn’t hug your dog. My dogs and I find this news very disturbing. Dr. Stanley Coren, a retired professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, examined photos of people hugging their dogs and concluded that, in most cases, the hugged dogs exhibited signs of stress. [Full Story »] 

We first moved to Barnesville in the Spring of 1979. We bought a wonderful, old, big, drafty house on Thomaston Street that had belonged to the McKoy family.

We knew very few people in Barnesville but, boy, did we ever hit the lottery on neighbors. [Full Story »] 

Led Zeppelin’s 45-year-old song “Stairway to Heaven” has been in the news lately. The estate of a former member of the band Spirit is suing Zeppelin, claiming that the legendary British rockers plagiarized the opening notes of the song from Spirit’s song “Taurus.”
[Full Story »] 

Laura and some of her garden club friends were at the office making red and purple bows to benefit fire chief Steve Andrews in his fight against pancreatic cancer. Red is for firefighters and purple is for pancreatic cancer.

Hedy Cauthen started the bow tradition here years ago when her son, late firefighter Britton Cauthen, was fighting the same dreaded diagnosis.
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By Mike Ruffin

The Braves played in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium from 1966-1996.

That’s 31 years. This will be their 20th and final season playing at Turner Field. Next year, they’ll move into a brand new state-of-the-art park up in Cobb County. I expect the one after that to be built on the shores of beautiful Lake Lanier. When you look at a map that shows where their season ticket holders live, the move makes sense. There are other advantages to the new location. If they need to call up a player from the AAA Gwinnett Braves, he’ll be just an Uber drive away, for one. But as someone who lives south of Atlanta, I’m sorry they’re doing it. It’s going to make it much more complicated to get to the old ball park. Make that the new ball park. [Full Story »] 

I guess I have many views that would align me with the Libertarian Party. As I have written in this space before, I don’t much care what your lifestyle is as long as you don’t shove it in my face and demand that I accept it as normal.

That said, if you have male genitalia, you should use the men’s room even if you look in the mirror and see Lady Gaga. The ladies room is for those equipped as a female even if they look like The Incredible Hulk. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

On the March 21 edition of the CBS Evening News, Jim Axelrod presented a story that made me realize (again) that you can never know the ongoing impact an action might have. Henry Colebourn was a veterinarian in Winnipeg, Canada. He was on his way to join the forces fighting in Europe during World War I.

When he got off the train in a small Canadian town, he encountered a hunter who had killed a bear and was selling her cubs for $20 each. He bought a female cub and named her after his hometown. [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

There are a lot of things I would, in a perfect world, like to have.

Some exist. Some are waiting for a clever inventor to come along.

I would like to see someone come up with a granola bar or yogurt that tastes like a sausage biscuit slathered in mustard. I can see that being a big hit where Sharia law is strictly enforced. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

Half a century or so ago, my father and I were in the car listening to a program on the Mighty 1090. It was a church program, and a lady was testifying.

“The Lord done cured me of my sugar,” she said. “In fact, he done cured me of my sugar twice!” [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

With the publication of each and every issue of the newspaper you hold in your hand, judgement is required as to which stories and photos are used and how much space and emphasis they are given.

Each story is different and weighed on its own merit but there are some overall basic tenets we adhere to.
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By Mike Ruffin

My good wife and I have attended a lot of concerts over the almost four decades of our marriage.

We got off to a rough start, though. In early 1979, about half-way through our first year of marriage, the band Boston was scheduled to play at the Macon Coliseum. [Full Story »]