Opinion & Editorial

Baylie Jade Phillips has seen the Georgia-Clemson rivalry from both sides. Phillips attended Clemson and twirled with the school’s Tiger Band (right photo) before transferring to the University of Georgia and twirling for the Redcoat Band.

Baylie Jade Phillips has seen the Georgia-Clemson rivalry from both sides. Phillips attended Clemson and twirled with the school’s Tiger Band (right photo) before transferring to the University of Georgia and twirling for the Redcoat Band.

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Franklin in center of border battle between UGA, Clemson

News Staff
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
T he University of Georgia may have more bitter football rivalries, but Clemson is the “border” rivalry.  Northeast Georgia and Franklin County lie right along that disputed border.  The only opponent closer to UGA than Clemson is Georgia Tech, and that’s by only a couple of miles.

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Coaches make a difference

News Staff
Wednesday, August 28, 2024
W ho has made a difference in your life?   Think for a minute. Teacher, friend, pastor, family – coach ? All are to be valued, and we likely can find several that have meant much to us.   I could, in particular, name teachers that I worked with who had lasting influences on many students.
Three of the items moved from my office were the 1948 Texaco gasoline pump, four 1940s framed Coca-Cola posters and an antique display case, filled with newspaper relics, including the first Macintosh computer our company purchased in 1988.

Three of the items moved from my office were the 1948 Texaco gasoline pump, four 1940s framed Coca-Cola posters and an antique display case, filled with newspaper relics, including the first Macintosh computer our company purchased in 1988.

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Confessions of a nostalgic packrat

News Staff
Thursday, August 22, 2024
W hy did the equivalent of a semi-tractor trailer back up to one of our barns last week? Good question. There are short and long answers. Country artist George Jones sang about “living and dying with choices” that he’d made. My quick response is that I chose to be a nostalgic packrat.

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Rolodexes—old and new—save the day, twice

News Staff
Thursday, August 15, 2024
F or decades it sat next to my office phone. The alphabetized Rolodex was my handy go-to reference file.  For those not born in the last century, the directory’s spindle was stuffed with business cards, names and numbers.

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Please hold your applause

News Staff
Thursday, August 8, 2024
By Phil Hudgins   Have you ever felt like you received more credit for something than you deserved? Well, I have. About 15 years ago, I came across a recipe for pancakes in a little book of breakfast specialties. I made those pancakes for my family.
Joe Vines

Joe Vines

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Fourteen years later, the mystery remains

News Staff
Thursday, August 8, 2024
By Dink NeSmith   Without warning or explanation – in 2010 – the simple instruction was: “See that Dink NeSmith gets these.” And with that, the unidentified visitor exited the White County News in Cleveland.
The Franklin County Board of Education voted last week to leave its millage rate at the same rate as last year.

The Franklin County Board of Education voted last week to leave its millage rate at the same rate as last year.

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BOE right on millage

News Staff
Thursday, August 1, 2024
The Franklin County Board of Education voted last week to leave its millage rate at the same rate as last year. That means that property owners who saw increases in their assessed values this year will see higher tax bills this fall.

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Memories of the Big Four

News Staff
Thursday, August 1, 2024
T aking a trip down memory lane, all the way back to, arguably, the greatest decade: the 50s.   My book, “It Was What It Was,” is stuffed with anecdotes, character descriptions and memories of growing up in a small Southern town post-World War II. Life was good.