Opinion & Editorial

The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

 Exclusive Subscriber Content

Opinion: Family gathers to raise WWII airman’s sunken marker

News Staff
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Phil Hudgins CNI   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.
This photo—taken in December 1997—was my dad’s last Christmas with us. Until our mother died in 2014, the Leon Loard portraits, in the background, of sisters Sandy and Sheila (pictured) and me always hung side by side. Today the portraits are in each of our homes. (Photo submitted by NeSmith)

This photo—taken in December 1997—was my dad’s last Christmas with us. Until our mother died in 2014, the Leon Loard portraits, in the background, of sisters Sandy and Sheila (pictured) and me always hung side by side. Today the portraits are in each of our homes. (Photo submitted by NeSmith)

 Exclusive Subscriber Content

Opinion: Big Dink stories help keep my father ‘alive’

Dink NeSmith
Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Sunday is Father’s Day. Oh, I wish mine were still here so that I could tell him how much I loved him. Even though he died in 1998, Big Dink’s DNA is at work inside me. And so many stories keep him “alive.”
The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

Opinion: 2025 Legislative Newsletter

News Staff
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
The buildup to Sine Die is always dramatic, with legislators scrambling to get their bills heard and passed. However, several key pieces of legislation did not pass before the 2025 legislative session’s sine die adjournment.
The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

Opinion: Acts of apostles, ancient and modern

News Staff
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Reid Hamilton Local Columnist   Here at the beginning of Pride Month, I had the opportunity to preach on the story of the slave girl with a spirit of divination, from chapter 16 of the Acts of the Apostles.
Example of slime mold (Photo submitted by Sierra Burke)

Example of slime mold (Photo submitted by Sierra Burke)

Opinion: The case of the shape shifting molds

News Staff
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
Sierra Burke Local Columnist   There is something growing on lawns and in landscapes that is the talk of the town. It moves, shape-shifts, and has a very unattractive look.
“Georgia, Georgia The whole day through (the whole day through) Just an old sweet song Keeps Georgia on my mind (Georgia on my mind) ….” (Photo submitted by NeSmith)

“Georgia, Georgia The whole day through (the whole day through) Just an old sweet song Keeps Georgia on my mind (Georgia on my mind) ….” (Photo submitted by NeSmith)

 Exclusive Subscriber Content

Opinion: Georgia. what's on your mind?

Dink NeSmith
Wednesday, June 4, 2025
If you asked me to name my 10 favorite songs, the answer wouldn’t be instantaneous. But I wouldn’t hesitate to tell you my top pick, “Georgia on My Mind.” Ray Charles sings it best. Willie Nelson is my runner-up. Indeed, Georgia is always on my mind. I have never wanted to live anywhere else.
The Hartwell Sun

The Hartwell Sun

 Exclusive Subscriber Content

2025 Legislative Newsletter

News Staff
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Alan Powell State Rep.   Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed the following bills: • House Bill 308 would, among other things, empower trial courts to order the installation of an “intelligent speed assistance device” when the registered owner of a vehicle used that vehicle to commit the offense of reckless...