Remembering the Goat Man & The Pig

If you grew up in small-town America in the 1940s and 1950s, chances are you remember Ches McCartney, a.k.a. the Goat Man. That’s what happened when Randall Aspinwall, his son Nick, and his son Myles visited our farm on a cold, rainy Saturday.

New jail is wise move for Hart Co.

Hart County’s jail crowding issues are on track to be alleviated following the most recent meeting of the board of commissioners.

Ga. Power: Be a good coal ash ‘citizen’

As sure as salt water licks the sands of our Golden Isles, we can expect the state’s largest utility to put a squeeze on Georgia’s Gold Dome. And if mythical sleuth Sherlock Holmes were stalking the halls, he’d say, in his British accent, “They don’t call it Georgia Power for naught.”

Alcohol law change could aid downtown

Opinions about alcohol have changed greatly in the past few decades. It wasn’t long ago that selling alcohol of any kind was prohibited in Hart County and the city of Hartwell.

Gospel as good as grandma’s biscuits

My love of music was pounded into me. Not with a stick, but by the calloused fingers of my grandmother — pounding keys of her mostly out-of-tune upright piano. Nanny’s repertoire was scant, but she could make her secondhand Baldwin jump.

State should cast wider vaccine net

More COVID-19 vaccine doses are in Hart County and more will certainly be shipped, but as of last week, there were still a very small number of locations where the vaccine is available locally.

Distressed ‘meow’ brings pleasant surprise

On a cold, rainy Saturday, I sat on an upside-down 5-gallon plastic bucket. The farm’s to-do list was stuffed in my Carhart’s pocket, but I wasn’t getting up. My mind was too busy thinking about two things: • What happened in the past year. • What was making me laugh, six feet away.

Patience is only option for vaccine

Patience is not a virtue we all can claim, but it is one all may need to learn. We have heard for months the corner to turn is near in the battle to quell the spread of the novel coronavirus, but that corner seems to remain just out of reach for so many people wanting to get the vaccine.

Mask rules at schools good move

Schools are back in session with students in the classrooms this week, but this time, there are stricter requirements for masks and social distancing. This was the right step to take and a wise decision if in-person learning was to begin again given the continuing surge of COVID-19 cases locally.

A letter to our eight grandchildren

Dear loved ones: There’s no way to sugarcoat this. I am sad and ashamed you had to witness what happened in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6. I understand and embrace American rights to speak up, march and protest, but there is a line separating legal and illegal.