Crane: The journey back continues

I have learned from others on these pages and elsewhere not to bury the lede, so, as of Aug. 13, 2025, for the moment and the present, I am cancer-free!

Smith: Tommy Lawhorne

Life has thrown A-plus linebacker Tommy Lawhorne a curveball, but the valedictorian of his class, Academic All-America surgeon, and goodwill ambassador extraordinaire has taken a stiff-upper-lip approach to managing illness — just as friends would predict for the handsome native of Sylvester.

Rich: Grave digging

Most of the local tellings — it’s not gossip — come from two places: the beauty shop and the funeral home.When Tink moved to the rural South, he had only been to two funerals in his life. On average, we have a visitation or a funeral about once a week. He’s become a pro.

Yarbrough: Presidential thoughts from the coffee club

When I saw the phone jump off the cradle, I knew immediately who it was. Skeeter Skates, owner of Skeeter Skates Tree Stump Removal and Plow Repair in Ryo, Georgia. Skeeter has that effect on people — and on telephones.

Letter to the Editor: Too much to take?

Dear Editor,Without much fanfare so far this year, on Friday, Aug. 29, the Board of Commissioners is scheduled to approve the county’s 2026 General Fund budget.

Rich: Back in 1937

When she talked about those tribulations back in 1937, her feeble voice crackled with both age and emotion. With over 70 years separating them from now, the grief still lingered, but wisdom had covered it like moss on a riverbank.

Yarbrough: Thoughts on heading off to college

I remember it as if it were yesterday. In fact, it has been a lot of yesterdays — and I mean a lot — since I first walked on the campus of the University of Georgia. My parents dropped me off at my dorm, then headed back to East Point, some 70 miles away.

Smith: Lexington, Kentucky

Flying into Bluegrass Field has always been emotionally intoxicating — even before you tour a distillery upon disembarking. There is something special about Kentucky “Horse Country,” which reminds you this environment is as rare as a bottle of Pappy Van Winkle.

Rich: Roosevelt and the ‘governmint’ cheese

Most admire Franklin D. Roosevelt, a crafty, pleasant, get-it-done type of president.He had been raised as an only child to his mother and father, though he had step-siblings. He was tremendously spoiled but not in the way that turned him mean.

Yarbrough: Mr. President, you have the wrong number

Uh Oh. If I were the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, I might want to get out of town as soon as possible, or preferably out of the country. Maybe even hitch a ride on one of Elon Musk’s rockets and cool it in outer space for a while.