Editorials

State graduation rate slowly moving up a steep hill

“Houston, we’ve had a problem,” a phrase astronaut Jim Lovell used to tell the command center -- located outside Houston, Texas -- that his Apollo 13 spacecraft had suffered a major electrical problem that not only threatened the spacecraft’s mission but also the lives of the crew.

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Archive by category ''Editorials

EDITORIALS

Georgia on track to make driving under the influence a painful experience

The National Transportation Safety Board has made a recommendation that states lower thresholds for inebriated drivers from .08 to .05. This would follow the lead of more than 100 countries that have .05 or lower limits. Whether the move would lower the instances of alcohol-related accidents and...
EDITORIALS

Transit system would bring three main benefits to Warner Robins

The city of Warner Robins is considering a public transit system. It is now studying costs, since routes have already been investigated. In their deliberations, City Council should consider the cost of not developing a transit system in a city that’s growing like a weed after a summer’...
EDITORIALS

To walk or not to walk. That is not the question

Recently, a number of seniors in the Bibb County school system received the horrible news that they could not participate in graduation programs because they hadn’t met the graduation requirements. There seems to be more furor over not being able to “Walk with their class” than...
EDITORIALS

Betty Sweet: a true Southern lady

The Middle Georgia community lost a bright shining star Tuesday. Betty Sweet Smith Simmons may have been laid to rest, but her enduring spirit will live on in those who knew her. While some thought “Sweet” was a nickname, it was not. It was her father’s middle name and it described...
EDITORIALS

Reforms needed but will haunt local taxpayers

Almost a year ago, Gov. Nathan Deal signed into law H.B. 1176, titled the Georgia Criminal Justice Reform Act. It was hailed by a variety of allies from the NAACP to the ACLU and the Pew Center on the States. Adam Gelb, director of the Public Safety Performance Project of the Pew Center on the States...
EDITORIALS

Houston County school chief made the right decision

Robin Hines, superintendent of Houston County schools, is drawing fire for doing his job and following the law. He made the decision, not in a vacuum, that the mistakes of past graduations will not reoccur.
EDITORIALS

EDITORIAL: Is it an idea whose time has come?

With all the brouhaha in Washington, D.C., over immigration, gun control and sequestration, there is a move afoot to tax Internet sales that is sliding by almost unnoticed. It is not going unnoticed in the halls of Congress, and it is finding an unusual band of bipartisan supporters.
EDITORIALS

EDITORIAL: Familiar names and faces running to steer new government

The phrase, “Everything old becomes new again,” has been used to describe old musicians and performers from the Rolling Stones to Betty White. But in the context of this upcoming merger of city and county governments, it takes on a new meaning.
EDITORIALS

Real culprits behind Bibb schools financial woes hiding under the Gold Dome

The Bibb County Board of Education is struggling -- not with how to improve education in the county, but how to pay for basic educational needs. The eight members of the board have been vilified and pilloried. They’ve been called wasteful and tax-a-holics.
EDITORIALS

The fix to Log Cabin Drive needs to be funded

Anyone who has traveled Log Cabin Drive between Mercer University Drive and Napier Avenue is aware of the road’s issues. The section closest to Napier is fine. It was reworked with money from the 1995 special purpose local option sales tax for road improvement. There are sidewalks and the...