In these days of discontent and destruction, hate and harangue, we could really use Roy Rogers. And Trigger, his Golden Palomino. Dale Evans and Bullet the Wonder Dog. Not to mention the Sons of the Pioneers. I believe if we could get this group back, we could find our kinder and gentler selves.

It is hard to tell where the governing stops and the campaigning begins.

"Thanks to Whitfield County Public Works for finally mowing the county and of Haig Mill Lake Road. Hasn't looked this good since before Easter weekend, the last time it was mowed!"

"Police in Aurora, Colorado, pulled over a Black family and made them lie on the ground while they confirmed that the SUV they were driving was not the same as a vehicle which had recently been reported stolen. That vehicle was a motorcycle, not an SUV."

Was the power on in your house this morning?

We hope you and your family are doing well and navigating the changes we are all experiencing related to COVID-19. As we continue to navigate the crisis in our own community that has gone on much longer than any of us could imagine, we wanted to provide another update to you on the work of U…

"To the Forum contributor telling us to get on board with economic development, I have a few questions for your consideration: Didn't we taxpayers pay for the land now being given away for free? When taxes on the free land finally come due can it ever make up for revenue lost? Won't equipmen…

There is very little new under the sun. The monument and statue destruction that we are witnessing has been witnessed in other times and other places. A tyrant’s first battlefield is to rewrite history.

"While watching some of the recent Congressional Judiciary Committee hearing and listening to Georgia Democrat Congressman Hank Johnson’s rambling and condescending questioning of Attorney General William Barr, something suddenly dawned on me that is very startling and alarming, that these s…

A taxpayer-funded agency plans to host children at its public facilities each day from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. They’ll gather in groups, led by a licensed adult, and follow an established learning schedule. During breaks, they’ll even be able to go outside for recess.

The opening of school is always an exciting time in the lives of students, teachers and parents. It has always been one of my favorite times of the school year because everyone is happy and looking forward to learning.

Gov. Brian Kemp needs to let mayors be mayors and run their own cities.

I have very good reasons to be worried about catching the coronavirus.

"I'm a senior citizen and I remember a thing called envy when I was a teen/young adult. Envious of something that belonged to someone else was not a bad thing as it made me work harder to have things that meant a lot to me, successful career, nice home, savings, good marriage and friends. No…

This week, American astronauts returned to earth. Their trip to the space station was the first manned launch from the U.S. in 10 years.

"How much of a refund should the taxpayers expect since schools closed early and are not physically opening on time? Only fair."

"Jesus said of Nathaniel, 'Behold, a man in whom there is no guile.' John Lewis and Regis Philbin — two men in whom there was no guile. Do we Americans have any such people left?"

I doubt whether any American would defend the police treatment of George Floyd that led to his death. But many Americans are supporting some of the responses to Floyd’s death — rioting, looting, wanton property destruction, assaults on police and other kinds of mayhem by both whites and Blacks.

"I must have missed the tribute in the paper. So I want to give my thanks to Glenn Sweeney for 40-plus years of service to Whitfield County. Thanks, Glenn!"

If you’re wary of Congress pulling out its credit card one more time, the news this past week was mostly bad. Not all bad, but mostly.

Georgia lawmakers are elected to represent both their districts and the state as a whole.

I could tell by the way the phone jumped straight up when it rang who was on the line. It could be none other than Skeeter Skates, owner of Skeeter Skates Tree Stump Removal and Plow Repair, located in Ryo, Georgia. Yes, phones jump where Skeeter is involved. I do, too.

When we took office on the Dalton Public Schools Board of Education on behalf of our community, we realized we were taking on a position of trust and stewardship. We are entrusted with the safety and well-being of our students and staff. We are entrusted to be fiscally responsible with taxpa…

"I support President Trump but disagree with him on federal troop intervention in Democratic-run cities. I say, let the looters and rioters burn the cities to the ground. Sooner or later, Trump hater or not, citizens will have enough and do something about it. If they don’t, nothing lost."

"While we are on the subject of public parks that we pay for, could someone please enforce the leash law at Edwards Park? I used to walk/run there but pet owners don't want to put Fifi on a leash. I've been bitten by someone else's dog twice. Next time I will sue the owner, the city, the cou…

I laughed when I saw The Washington Post headline: "Minneapolis had progressive policies, but its economy still left black families behind."

"Has anyone noticed the 'Army-looking helicopters" (my 11-year-old grandson's words) traveling late afternoon and night over Dalton? Two or three times last week. I live very close to the Walnut Avenue end of Dug Gap Road."

The Confederacy has been the excuse for some of today’s rioting, property destruction and grossly uninformed statements. Among the latter is the testimony before the House Armed Services Committee by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley in favor of renaming Confedera…

As physician leaders, we want to reinforce social distancing and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines as we continue to see evidence of the COVID-19 virus in our area. We have one of the higher rates of positive testing in the state and even the nation.

"The prison system has a lot of folks who would prefer the government didn't make decisions for them."

Remember the dress? Or rather, #TheDress? A picture of it appeared on the internet one day, and suddenly people were arguing over whether it was blue and black, or white and gold.

This is usually the time of year I get excited knowing I will once again see a full campus following a quiet summer. I love the energy a new semester and new academic year brings.

Has it really have been 24 years since the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games? Sunday will mark 8,766 days since that dramatic night when Muhammad Ali, hands shaking with palsy, lit the cauldron signifying the beginning of 17 days of Olympic competition and the culmination of years of hard work.

Politics is broken.

Between 2 million and 3 million Americans will die!

"Pundits say that senior citizens are overwhelmingly now supporting Vice President Biden. Well, I am a senior citizen and fear my finances, health and safety will not survive four years of Biden as president. I suggest everyone look closely at what Biden is proposing because he is not the co…

"This is a message for all of the Trump haters. Would you make a list — one for Trump, one for Biden — and would you list the things that Trump has accomplished in four years and would you list the things that Biden has accomplished in his 40 or 50 years in government? Be truthful and honest."

"Maybe the representative groups who have educators' interests as their number one priority (NEA, PAGE, GAE) need to step up to the plate and negotiate a school start date that follows a community-wide administration of a yet-to-be-discovered vaccine for a pandemic disease. Otherwise, all th…

The Michigan State University administration pressured professor Stephen Hsu to resign from his position as vice president of research and innovation because he touted research that found police are not more likely to shoot Black Americans. The study found: “The race of a police officer did …

"Given that I live in a community where people, at their own peril, put politics before science, I am grateful that my grown children had the foresight to move far, far away, and that my grandchildren won’t be attending schools here this fall."

The resurgence of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) in Georgia and elsewhere has unmasked an intriguing difference of opinion about how best to move people to do right.

Times are so uncertain right now, and it has been far from “business as usual” for many in our community, especially for corporations, small businesses and our school systems. Many are facing budget cuts, decreases in staffing, limited inventory and other unique challenges.

The scene: A grocery store aisle, one-way, 6 feet from another human being, masked and looking for any available paper products since toilet tissue seems to be as rare as a singing frog these days. And then, suddenly:

"The only reason Dalton is not mandating the wearing of masks is simple. They would have the local businesses, especially eating establishments, up in arms because of lost revenues. It's all about the money."

The online mob came for Harald Uhlig.

"A few Saturdays ago I stopped at the McDonald's near Lowe's. It was hot and I was tired. When I went to pay I was told my lunch had been paid for. The buyer was driving a black truck and treated 10 or so cars to lunch. It was a wonderful surprise. Thank you to the black truck buyer!"

Dr. Thomas Sowell has just published "Charter Schools and Their Enemies." He presents actual test scores of students in traditional public schools and charter schools on New York State Education Department's annual English Language Arts test and its Mathematics Test.

"If we can't have a mask mandate, can we at least pass a resolution stating clearly that businesses can refuse entry to people not wearing masks?"

The Gen. Joseph E. Johnston statue that has stood in the middle of downtown Dalton for 108 years is a landmark, a monument that has become controversial in current times.

“On the contrary, history is one of the most important things we teach. It’s shameful how little time we devote to it. A better understanding of the Spanish Flu, for instance, would have paid dividends in our current crisis. As George Santayana said, ‘Those who cannot remember the past are c…