Opinion & Editorial

The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

Opinion: Genius I.Q. squirrels

Dan Moorhead - Local Columnist   Based solely on my own personal observations and meticulous note taking I believe that somewhere around eighty percent of all the squirrels residing in Hart County call my back yard home.
The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

Opinion: Time to get out and scout

Sierra Burke - Local Columnist   As the temperatures seem like they are continuing to rise, and the rain keeps coming, now is the perfect time to get out into your landscapes, gardens, and fields and scout for potential pest and disease problems.
The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

Opinion: To Jeff Bezos: You could’ve spent just $42.88 on wedding

Our invitation to Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s lavish wedding  obviously got lost in the mail. My wife and I used to get personal letters from Mr. Bezos’s  former company, Amazon, all the time. We were due.   Had we received our invitation, I could have explained to Mr.
Cartoon by Merry Harris

Cartoon by Merry Harris

Editorial: Help be Hart County’s planners

Our P.O. Box at the Hartwell Post Office is filled each week with fellow newspapers from around the state. They give us the opportunity to see what other newspapers are doing and how we can improve The Hartwell Sun for our readers.
William NeSmith, 16, cradles Halle on her way to the truck for a ride to the farm. (Photo submitted by Dink NeSmith)

William NeSmith, 16, cradles Halle on her way to the truck for a ride to the farm. (Photo submitted by Dink NeSmith)

Opinion: Hallelujah, an emu joins our barnyard menagerie

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.
The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

Opinion: Slain pastor’s daughter wishes change of heart for killer

Phil Hudgins CNI   It’s June 17, 2025, as I write this. It’s the 10th anniversary of the night a white supremacist walked into a predominantly Black church in Charleston, S.C., pretended to pray with the parishioners and then shot and killed nine of them.   Eliana Pinckney was 11 years old.
In 2016 the Rev. Dr. Felix Haynes, left, arranged for us to visit with Wendell and Tanya Berry (and their dog, Maggie) in their Port Royal, Kentucky, home. Wendell Berry is a famed author and advocate for responsible environmental stewardship. He became a valuable adviser in the battle to keep Wayne County from possibly becoming America’s largest toxic-coal-ash dump. (Photo submitted by NeSmith)

In 2016 the Rev. Dr. Felix Haynes, left, arranged for us to visit with Wendell and Tanya Berry (and their dog, Maggie) in their Port Royal, Kentucky, home. Wendell Berry is a famed author and advocate for responsible environmental stewardship. He became a valuable adviser in the battle to keep Wayne County from possibly becoming America’s largest toxic-coal-ash dump. (Photo submitted by NeSmith)

Opinion: Felix was more than an articulate ‘man of the cloth’

The phone call rattled my soul.   The Rev. Dr. Felix Haynes, 81, had died.   The articulate “man of the cloth” was a biblical scholar and deliverer of poignant sermons. But Felix was much more than a preacher. He was a friend to thousands.    And I was one of the fortunate ones.