Opinion

"America was not built on fear. America was built on courage, on imagination and an unbeatable determination to do the job at hand." -- Harry S. Truman I wanted to give a huge thank you to Commissioner Linda Yockey and the rest of the Bedford County Commission for working with Bruce Nelson from the State of Tennessee Real Estate Asset Management to purchase the old Social Security Building. ...

To the Editor: Across the country, everywhere you look, our religious freedoms are under attack from the radical left and their socialist agenda. In Tennessee, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit last November against the Smith County School System for a student-led prayer at a Veterans Day assembly and their "prayer and period of silence" in school...

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead The date for filing new bills for the 2020 Session closed last Wednesday. There are 2,901 bills filed for this year compared with 2,727 last year. I believe that we normally pass about 500 bills per year. As you can see, there are many new ideas and changes introduced, but only about 15-20% pass and become laws...

Why do only a small portion of the voting age citizenry bother to vote in presidential elections? It’s because the majority know their vote doesn’t matter. Here are some details from the National Popular Vote Advocacy Group. State winner-take-all laws are the reason why the vast majority of American voters are politically irrelevant in presidential elections. These laws award all of a state’s electoral votes to the candidate who gets the most votes in each separate state...

To the Editor: The recent episode of United States House Representative Nancy Peolsi dramatically grandstanding and grimacing while tearing up Presidents Trump's State of the Union speech is reminiscent of another hate-driven outburst in the Halls of Congress by a disgruntled South Carolina Democrat, Andrew Brooks. ...

To the Editor: Now the trial of the impeachment of President Trump has come to an end. We must turn our attention to the U.S. Senate for holding a so-called trial without searching for the total truth. There were many differences in this trial. This trial did not have any witnesses. ...

To the Editor: In the story headlined “Wartrace, resident spar over driveway” by Terence Corrigan (Times-Gazette, Saturday, Feb. 1), concerning the Dec. 19 Wartrace town hall meeting, the paper stated Eddie Carroll disagrees with the Town of Wartrace over who should pay for repairs to his driveway. This matter had not been discussed with us...

To the Editor: I am asking for community assistance from individuals and churches for Curtis Stacy. For many years Curtis ran the Community Closet at his home on Dover Street and helped many people in Bedford County with free clothes whenever needed. Due to his age and health he had to stop doing this service...

To the Editor: We are approaching the final arguments and the vote on the articles of impeaching a first term president Donald J Trump. The country is waiting and watching the Senate. The Senate has already voted to have a trial without witnesses. The majority Senators voted on a partisan line. ...

Hamilton County government has found a new way to prevent access to public records:get rid of them. It's not really new. It's the oldest trick in the book. In late July last year, a reporter with the Chattanooga Times Free Press became concerned that the county government was not following state law in its responses to public records requests...

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. — Colossians 3:17 The second year of the 111th General Assembly started back in Session at noon on January 14th. We have a new Speaker of the House, Cameron Sexton, from Crossville. ...

To the Editor: The ongoing travesty the Congressional Democrats have instigated drags on with acquittal a given. However, in the interim the United States moves right along with the economy booming and if anything with the cheap theatrics put on by the House of Representatives, all they have done is displayed their ignorance of the Constitution in that President Trump has not committed a single violation of any of the true articles of impeachment as set forth in the Constitution in Article 3, Section 3, Clause 1. ...

On the evening of Jan. 21, I realized for the first time that the community I was raised in was being compromised and maybe it has always been this way, it has just taken me 24 years to realize it. That evening I sat on the second floor of the courthouse and listened to a few speak about the refugee relocation situation before people like Holly Johnson could speak up. Holly Johnson is the state refugee coordinator for Catholic Charities of Tennessee...

To the Editor: Bedford County Schools have joined with other school districts in saluting our local education leaders during Tennessee's annual School Board Appreciation Week -- January 27-31, 2020. The week is designed to recognize the contributions made by our school board members, who are given the tremendous responsibility of ensuring the education of Tennessee's youth...

Tennessee has a rich news media environment with more than 120 traditional subscription-based weekly and daily newspapers, several free newspapers, alternative press, an established black press, 34 television news stations, public and commercial radio stations, niche news outlets focused on single topics like education or the legislature, business journals, a new nonprofit news organization in Memphis, a new university-based Institute for Public Service Reporting also in Memphis, independent student-run college newspapers and TV stations, and a variety of one- or two-person digital-only shops run on grants, grit or both.. ...

To the Editor: I am writing to thank Shelbyville residents for sharing the true meaning of Christmas with children in need this past holiday season. Because of the generosity of donors in Shelbyville and across the United States, Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan's Purse, collected more than 8.9 million shoebox gifts in 2019. Combined with those collected from partnering countries in 2019, the ministry is now sending 10,569,405 shoebox gifts to children worldwide...

When I talk with citizen groups in Tennessee about open government, people tell me they want more information about what their government is doing, not less. An informed citizenry results in better and more accountable government. But in plain language, people just want to know what's going on, particularly when it affects their lives directly...

On Tuesday, January 21, I will be introducing a resolution at 5 p.m. on the third floor of the Bedford County Courthouse. This resolution is a resolution of No Consent to Refugee Resettlement in Bedford County, Tennessee. As many of you have read over the past few weeks, Governor Bill Lee has announced his consent to initial refugee resettlement in Tennessee in response to Executive Order 13888 issued by President Donald J. ...

To the Editor: I'd like to echo the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation's recent recognition of David Womack Sr. of Shelbyville for his leadership and dedication to agriculture in Bedford County and beyond. In addition to advocating for traditional agriculture, David is a founder of the U.S. biodiesel industry...

A lot of awards shows and other programs generally do an "in memoriam" segment honoring those of the trade who passed during the year. In 2019, we've lost our fair share of loved ones, friends and co-workers in Bedford County. This week Bedford County Emergency Medical Services and this entire county lost one of its own dedicated emergency medical services workers, Capt. Chris Wrenn. Our hearts go out to his family...