Day 19 (Wednesday, Feb. 15): Without question, in my eight years that I have served in the Legislature, this has been the busiest time that I have ever experienced.  While I am happy that leadership is trying to get us out by the end of March, the pace by which we have been operating has been very trying and exhausting. Read More

The old saw, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, again,” is well known by state legislators Jan Jones, R-Milton; Brooks Coleman R-Duluth; Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta; Margaret Kaiser, D-Atlanta; Alisha Morgan, D-Austell; and Matt Hatchett, R-Dublin. They are the sponsors of House Resolution 1162 that would put on the ballot a constitutional amendment question that, if approved, would take local control away from elected school boards when it comes to approving charter schools. This ... Read More

Feb: 17: The 2012 Legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly is now officially over half way through the 40 of session under the Gold Dome in Atlanta. Read More

I seem to have an innate ability to make folks mad. Usually, it is the humor-impaired and special-interest twits. Today, I hope to make everybody mad, no matter your race, creed, color or university affiliation. This diatribe is for all. Read More

Green starts here this spring. Read More

MOULTRIE — Through the years I have collected an assortment of stuff, and occasionally I look around at all these items in my office and reminisce as to how I came into their possession. Many of them have stories associated with them while others offer much less drama, but they made good paperweights ... so I kept them. Read More

Editor, We would like to thank all of our many friends in Long County and the surrounding communities for their heartfelt expressions of condolence during our recent loss of our beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Read More

A proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the state government to set up charter schools at the local level and require local school boards to provide funding for those schools failed to receive the required two-thirds vote of approval in the House of Representatives on Feb. 8. Read More

If you really want to know who loves you the most — your wife or the dog — try this little experiment. Read More

I’ve had a lot of trouble understanding why Fort Stewart continues to train soldiers so intensely for the heavy methods of combat, like tanks, when it’s clear most everyone is about to deploy to Afghanistan where those methods are unusable. A tank isn’t practical in those mountains, and I’ve really struggled over why it’s so important to keep the guys away from their families to train on something that seems so moot. I understood training ... Read More

Today we hear the term “czar” used a lot in government. The people who we call czars actually are policy directors for different segments of the government. Because of their power, the media uses the term czar, which is actually an old title for a Russian ruler and translates from Caesar, which was what Roman rulers were called. Read More

This one should have been a no-brainer. At least the court’s 4-3 ruling leaned in the direction of public accountability. Read More

Feb. 10: The 2012 legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly continues to move forward with 18 legislative days behind us. After leaving the Capitol on Friday of last week and heading home to our districts, the legislature was back in full swing on Monday. This week the General Assembly was in session for four days. Although we will not be in session on Monday and Tuesday, myself and the majority of my colleagues will ... Read More

Editor, This is in response to Len Calderone’s column titled “Midway budget raises some questions.” Read More

Knock! Knock! Read More

In February, we are all about trees at Keep Liberty Beautiful because Georgia’s State Arbor Day is always the third Friday of the month Read More

Editor, I am writing in response to the letter, “Mrs. Goode slams new mayor,” in the Jan. 24 edition of the Ludowici News. I also attended the first meeting of the new city council Jan. 17 and would like to give my viewpoint from the audience. Read More

Since its inception in 1993, the HOPE (Helping Outstanding Pupils Educationally) scholarship has awarded more than $6.3 billion to more than 1.4 million Georgia students in what many consider to be the most successful merit based scholarship program in the nation. Read More

There has been a dispute over water and waste-water rates/usage between the city of Midway and the Liberty County Development Authority since 2008. Although meetings regarding the matter reportedly were held June 4, 2010, and Dec. 3, 2010, the council supposedly didn’t learn about what had transpired at the meetings until April 11, 2011. Read More

Unless and until the Georgia Constitution is amended, the era of direct or indirect state control over public K-12 education is over. Read More

A proposed constitutional amendment that would allow the state government to set up charter schools at the local level and require local school boards to provide funding for those schools failed to receive the required two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Read More

Friday night’s Raider Brigade Ball was a lot of fun. Was it worth $70 and six very long hours away from my daughter? You’d have to ask me in 10 years when I look back on my first and probably only military ball. Read More

Word that Georgia is no longer required to meet requirements of No Child Left Behind is welcome news. Read More

Most people agree that local school boards play a critical role in Georgia public education. Read More

The Republican race so far has been topsy-turvy. Rick Santorum won Iowa. Mitt Romney won New Hampshire and Florida. Newt Gingrich won South Carolina. Ron Paul didn’t win anything. The race so far has not indicated a clear Republican leader, but I believe that might have changed with Florida — a change brought about by Romney’s huge advertising campaign.  Read More