The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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As Russell B. Laine, the Chief of Police of Algonquin, Illinois and the President of the International Association of the Chiefs of Police has stated, "Without community support, law enforcement agencies cannot succeed." And as part of the effort to connect with the local community and build support, one of the services that various police departments in Alabama offer is the very informative and insightful Citizens Academy. A four to eight weeks long course, depending upon the resources of the...
Originally published on January 01st, 1960, "Patriot's Daughter: The Story of Anastasia Lafayette" by Gladys Malvern, was reprinted in 2011 as part of the wave of Gladys Malvern historical fiction novels that were being made available to readers once more after being out of print for decades. Gladys Malvern wrote nearly forty-eighty books throughout the course of her writing career and the intent was to bring back all of her nearly four dozen books onto the modern bookshelf. With many of her...
There are 1100 Volunteer Fire Departments in the State of Alabama. And with the number of volunteer firefighters nationwide reaching a low in 2020, many local Volunteer Fire Departments are actively seeking volunteers. While the number of volunteer firefighters has slumped, the call volume nationwide has more than tripled in the last thirty-five years. The County Sheriff's Office is responsible for providing the dispatch services for the Volunteer Fire Departments. With many communities having...
Separation of Church and State and ending religious "superstition" form the basis of State Senator Kane's campaign for U.S. Congress in "God's Not Dead In God We Trust", the fifth installment in the "God Is Not Dead" movie series. Superbly portrayed by Ray Wise, an American actor originally from Ohio, State Senator Kane receives good news for his campaign when six weeks before the election, his sole opponent passes away. This news is not well received by Senator Smith, portrayed by a former...
A delightfully entertaining and laugh out loud funny show, "Sean of the South LIVE", played to a full house at the historic Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on Saturday, September 21st,2024. Similar in style to Lewis Grizzard, Jeff Foxworthy, and Rick Bragg; Sean of the South is the stage name of the columnist, novelist, and country musician, Sean Paul Dietrich - a Southern writer who was born in Missouri during the third quarter of Coach Paul Bear Bryant's farewell Liberty Bowl. Describing...
September 21, 2024 - COALING - Nine teams participated in The Fourth Annual Defend the Orphans Kickball Tournament hosted and organized by Coaling Baptist Church on Saturday. Originally k own as "Kicking Baseball", kickball was for many decades considered a children's elementary school game, however, it began growing in popularity in the 1990s among young professionals and adults. So much so that in 1998 the World Adult Kickball Association was founded. With several cities creating kickball...
The eight-day election prayer guide written by the granddaughter of the highly regarded Billy Graham, Cissie Graham Lynch, is now available for free from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Known for her "Fearless" series in which Cissie Graham Lynch tackles important modern day social issues from an evangelical Biblical perspective head on, the prayer guide implores readers to research the candidates, to pray fervently, and exercise their privilege to vote. Opening with a verse from 1 Ti...
September 27, 2024 – Tuscaloosa - For our final class of the Citizens Academy, the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff gave us the grand tour of what they call "Tuscaloosa's finest gated community" - the County Jail. All of us participants in the Citizens Academy looked forward to the occasion with both trepidation and anticipation. And as we stood outside of the entrance to the jail waiting for class to begin, more than one of us made a list of who we'd call to bail us out, should we be detained for a...
I have not been writing as consistently as I used to. Entirely by choice. Meaning, there are not any problems between myself and any of the newspapers or outlets I write for. It is entirely me. First, I have been writing for over 30 years now and I guess I am stepping back to see what I think of it all. I take it that is normal. The world of media has changed. There was a shift that came along with Covid. I do not feel I have the same freedom of speech I once had. I feel this way because I have...
In an age when Disney Princesses ranging from the classics such as "Snow White" and "Cinderella" to newer ones such as "Tiana" to "Merida" are incredibly popular and idolized by millions; in "The Princess Bellaheld" by Julie Sutter we are introduced to the true story of a real life princess who turns seventeen in AD 703. The daughter of Irish missionaries of the Culdean Church to the German principality of Thuringia, Bellaheld is nevertheless of noble stock on her father's side. But, she is...
A multi-year work of art, Leonard Da Vinci, worked on painting "The Last Supper" from 1494 to 1497. Commissioned by the Duke of Milan, a great patron of writers and painters - Ludovico il Moro, it is not a work on canvas that the duke would frame and then hang on his wall. Rather, it is a mural painted on a wall in the refectory of the Cathedral's adjoining Dominican convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan . And as such, the mural began deteriorating quickly after its completion. So much...
Tickets are now on sale via Ticketmaster for "Christmas With C.S. Lewis", a play set in 1962 as C.S. Lewis is hosting a group of Americans who are spending Christmas in the university city of Oxford. With all of the heat indexes spelling caution in making sure that one stays well hydrated during the summer heat, it may feel early to start thinking about Christmas. But, when this play was produced in Birmingham, Alabama last year the demand for tickets was so high, that a second performance date...
The shallowness of the modern day dating scene is on full display in "It Ends With Us". A movie based on The New York Times bestselling book by Texas native, Colleen Hoover. Although Hoover describes the romantic drama as the hardest book she has ever written, since she touches on the deeply personal theme of domestic violence, the plot of the film actually comes across as a very formulaic Hallmark movie with darker overtones and better acting. That being said, the motion picture is on pace to...
With the 250th Anniversary of The Declaration of Independence coming up in just under two years, there is some renewed interest in the history of The American Revolution. And in "Revolutionary Rebecca" we have an energizing and delightful historical fiction novel based on the true story of Rebecca Motte, a Patriot during the British occupation of South Carolina during the American War of Independence. The historical novel opens with two cousins in 1812 tiring of having to stitch their samplers...
Southern women especially I think know how to talk cookery. Take the pound cake. Three times in the past week I have been involved in conversations about pound cakes. And that's not to ignore the chats about tomatoes fresh from the vine, or about new potatoes, or about running beans in early summer. There is hardly a shortage of recipes for pound cake. Church cookbooks and community cookbooks always offer several. The variety stemming perhaps from women using ingredients they had on hand. The...
The memoir by J. D. Vance, now President Trump's Vice-Presidential nominee, stands at 264 pages long but it is an easy and comfortable read. It centers around Vance's early years growing up in a fractured Appalachian family that lived in Ohio but had roots in the hills of rural Kentucky. At times it is spiced with "F" bombs that seem to be included in a nonchalant fashion. With the driving force behind the memoir being the internal conflict, J.D. Vance feels as he navigates entering the...
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Fifty-five years ago those words were first entered into the annals of history by Neil Armstrong as he became the first man to step on the moon. And while Hollywood didn't commemorate the occasion with a dramatic biopic of the moon landing, Hollywood has provided us with a delightful romantic comedy centered around the Apollo 11 mission with "Fly Me To The Moon". A surprise treat of the summer movie season, "Fly Me To The Moon"...
To make a three-hours long movie captivating in spite of a plot that lacks both cohesiveness and clarity is quite a feat. Yet, it is just such a feat that Kevin Costner accomplishes with his first installment in the “Horizon” movie series. Of an age when many Hollywood actors begin to see their careers wane, Costner came to the forefront of the acting world once again with his portrayal of John Dutton, the family patriarch in the Western television series, “Yellowstone”. And to the surprise of m...
On June 6, 1944, the shores of Normandy bore witness to an unparalleled display of courage and sacrifice. The Greatest Generation, forged in the crucible of the Great Depression and steeled by the fires of World War II, embarked on an endeavor that would alter the course of history. These brave souls, hailing from towns and cities across the globe, stormed the beaches of D-Day with unwavering resolve and a fierce determination to defend the ideals of freedom and democracy. In the face of...
An important seat is at stake in Alabama’s newly redrawn Congressional District 2, and the future of our community and country hinges on voter turnout. The pressing issue of how much folks have left in their pocketbooks after payday affects every Alabamian, transcending party lines. To all residents of Congressional District 2, the choice is clear: vote for Caroleene Dobson in November. A vote for Dobson is a vote for a stronger Alabama economy and a revitalized national economy, promising a b...
Every year on 14 June, Americans come together to honor a symbol that embodies the spirit and resilience of a nation — the Stars and Stripes. Flag Day is a time for reflection, pride, and unity as citizens across our country celebrate the adoption of the United States flag. Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the first American flag by the Second Continental Congress on 14 June 1777. This resolution marked the beginning of a new identity for a burgeoning nation, struggling for independence fro...
The new book, “The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness,” has started a conversation about what age kids should be given a cell phone. The author, Jonathan Haidt, is a social psychologist, and he suggests that teens should only be given flip phones for communication and have little to no access to social media until they are 16. Parents like what he has to say, though kids maybe not so much. Mental health collapsed in America and cou...
With freedom comes great sacrifice. On Memorial Day, we pause to reflect on the immense sacrifices made by the brave men and women who have served in our armed forces. It is a day to honor and remember those who gave their all, laying down their lives so that we may enjoy the freedoms and liberties we hold dear. Our hearts swell with gratitude as we think of the countless heroes who faced the ultimate test of courage and duty. Their selflessness and dedication to our country are the foundations...
The lessons of baseball and life begin in spring – play by the rules, try your best, and the sun will still come up again if you lose. Farmers keep pace with the changing seasons. The American food grower knows to bend with these changes, but they are sustained by the promises of spring. If there is another spring, there will be another chance. Not bound by the set dates on the calendar, the remnants of winter are sometimes slow to go, but soon the sun’s warmth will grow stronger every day. Fres...
Granddaughter Lauren recently competed for the title of Future Miss Abbeville Christian at Abbeville Christian Academy where she is enrolled in the Pre-K program. Her mother is a teacher. She was wearing a lovely dress, sporting her pageant smile, and walking the walk she had practiced walking. Earlier in the afternoon she’d had her had done by a woman in town. Everybody told her she was pretty. She stood confident before an auditorium of parents and obligated grandparents and when asked what s...
