Opinion

By Mike Ruffin

Hank Williams died in 1953, Buddy Holly in 1959, Patsy Cline in 1963, Sam Cooke in 1964, Otis Redding in 1967, Janis Joplin in 1970, Jim Croce in 1973, Elvis in 1977, and John Lennon in 1980. They were all popular singers who died at a relatively young age. [Full Story »] 

Mondays are deadline day at our office. The pace is hectic as we put the final touches on two community newspapers.

When the work is done and the final pages have been sent to press, I am prone to change clothes and go for a walk. My favorite place to conduct this cardiovascular stress-relieving activity is Greenwood Cemetery. [Full Story »] 

I’m going to make some people mad with this column but, in the wake of another tragic fatality, I feel like I have to get it off my chest.

I like to hunt and fish as much as anybody but I don’t like four-wheelers. I never have. [Full Story »] 

After the greens, rice and peas are eaten and after the last bowl game has ended; after the last toast is made, the list of resolutions finalized and sleep beckons, the new year will lie before you. People fawn all over themselves making promises to those selves and others with regard to changes they will make in the new year. Just as the road to hell is paved with good intentions, every January evening is littered with broken resolutions. [Full Story »] 

It was the last soccer game of a long, hard season. Due to defections and injuries, Livia Lanier, our youngest, and her teammates played it without any substitutes.

This was a make-up game played on a cold Tuesday night near Parkview High School in Gwinnett County. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or keeping up with the crazy things that presidential candidates say (which would leave you no time to keep up with anything else), you know that Mark Richt is no longer the head football coach at the University of Georgia. I understand the move, but I also hate that it happened. [Full Story »] 

Barnesville-Lamar County has a wellearned reputation as a community full of folks with big hearts who give generously for good causes when called upon.

Tough economic times may have cut into how much some of us give but the willingness to give has not abated. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

The Apostle Paul, writing to his beloved friends in Philippi, said, “I thank my God every time I remember you” (Philippians 1:3).

Here in this week of Thanksgiving, I want to thank God for people.

I thank God for my parents, the late Champ and Sara Ruffin, who provided me with life and love. I thank God for the people of my hometown of Barnesville, who gave me a wonderful place to grow up.
[Full Story »] 

Coming of age in Savannah, as I did, one was constantly in the presence of military personnel. Savannah, with its strategic port, has always worn a target around its bejeweled neck and thus has always been well-fortified and defended.

When I was a kid, Savannah had Hunter Field and Travis Field. Travis Field was home to the Air National Guard. Today it is Savannah-Hilton Head International Airport. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

Nov. 1 was All Saints’ Day. The observance started off in the early church as a way to remember and celebrate the martyrs, those who were faithful to the Lord at the cost of their lives.

It eventually evolved into a day to honor all of the Lord’s saints who have made it home.

Many churches observe All Saints’ Day by recalling the lives of those members who have died during the preceding 12 months. We did that in the last couple of churches I served as pastor.
[Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

With Veterans Day on the near horizon, I started thinking about Laura’s grandfather, Maj.

Oliver Quimby Melton, and the other veterans of World War I. Major Melton was a bona fide hero, having received a battlefield promotion after being one of the few officers to survive the slaughter in the Argonne Forest.

There were many like him. Many of them died. [Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

It was very late on Tuesday, Oct. 21. The Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox were locked in the titanic struggle at Fenway Park that was game six of the 1975 World Series.

Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk strode to the plate in the bottom of the twelfth inning. The score was tied 6-6. Pat Darcy, the Red’s eighth pitcher of the game, threw a pitch that Fisk lifted high and deep down the left field line. Fisk hopped down toward first base, waving his arms to the right, trying with all his might to convince the ball to stay fair. He leapt into the air as the ball struck the foul pole 310 feet away and just above the 37 foot high left field wall known as the “Green Monster.” [Full Story »] 

By Walter Geiger

I watched much of the first Democratic presidential debate last week and came away unimpressed.

There is little doubt Hillary Clinton will get the nomination. Bernie Sanders is an out and out communist who could never get elected and, though I am sure they are fine people, the other three candidates were mere window dressing.

I could never vote for Hillary. She just has too much baggage and huge trust issues. I have friends who think she is the most experienced person for the job and will vote for her. I respect their opinions but do not agree. So, I will be voting Republican and there is a far more interesting slate of candidates vying for the GOP nomination.
[Full Story »] 

By Mike Ruffin

I’m writing these words on Wednesday, October 7, 2015 – the day that some “Christian” online group that I had never heard of before they got a little publicity this week – says will be the day the world ends. You’re reading these words on or after Tuesday, October 13, 2015, which means that they got it wrong. That’s no big surprise, given that all of the other – and there have been a lot of them – individuals and groups who made such predictions before them, also got it wrong. [Full Story »]