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Today's Opinions

  • An example of life imitating art – or at least the ‘Andy Griffith Show’

    Those black-and-white lessons we learned from our devotion to the scriptures of the Andy Griffith Show typically seem lost in the transcendent Technicolor of today.

    The tenets taught to us by Andy, Barney and the gang too often seem maudlin and misplaced in the constant churn of our lives, when we seldom slow down to inhale the sweet fragrance of love and life and spin like another damp load cycling down in a washing machine.

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  • Letters to the Editor, Aug. 3, 2011

    Ethington a good man

     

    A lot to do about nothing and the rest of the story regarding Donnie Ethington.

    I first want to say I respect our hometown paper and the great service it provides this community. As a 40-plus-year subscriber, I look forward to reading it three times a week. Recent articles inspire me to write and stand up for Donnie Ethington.

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  • What we think: Not all budgets have problems

    The ongoing – and seemingly never-ending – debate about the fiscal irresponsibility of the United States government is a tiresome, fearsome and even loathsome process that all of us as taxpayers and voters have to endure and sort through to help us make valued decisions about the capabilities of our elected leadership.

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  • What we think: Cordy Armstrong will be missed

    Shelby County lost one of its truest and most dedicated servants last week, when longtime magistrate Cordy Armstrong passed away.

    All you have to do is read the glowing tributes to Mr. Armstrong’s character and commitment – which aren’t always linked when talking about public officials – to understand what those who knew him best and worked alongside him thought of his contributions to our society.

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  • SOUDER: The debt-ceiling debate: Economics according to J. Wellington Wimpy

    As I was researching today’s column concerning the ongoing debt-ceiling “crisis” in our country, I came across an item that really got my attention. Late Monday evening, Congressional leaders from both parties got together and issued a rare joint statement, as quoted in a front page story in the New York Times: “We, as leaders of Congress, wish to calm the escalating fears regarding any potential default on our debt and assure our creditors that we will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”

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  • You have to keep your cool during hot fun in the summertime

    Last week, while most of you were basting like a Thanksgiving turkey waiting for the oven that was about to surround you at midweek, I decided to do something really snide and snarky and sneak north for a few days, to Minnesota.

    And you know what happened: I had to wipe that smile right off my face, as my mother often told me to do.

    My first tip came when I ran into Simpsonville Mayor Steve Eden in a convenience store. He asked if I was handling the heat, and I told him I was headed to Viking country.

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  • What we think: Caution is key in zoning change for recycling plant

    The Triple S Planning Commission acted with great uncertainty in its borderline OK last week for Midwest Metals to build a recycling center on Kentucky Street near Red Orchard Park.

    The concept was approved, 4-3, on Commission Chair Gil Tucker’s tiebreaking vote.

    For the record, Commissioners Scott Merchant, Jake Smith and Larry Stewart supported a zone change from light industrial to heavy industrial, and Commissioners Quintin Biagi Jr., Dudley Bottom and Ed Rudolph opposed. And we thank all of them for their care and diligence with this matter.

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  • We congratulate: Another heroic act in Simpsonville

    Routine heroism must be in the job descriptions for public servants in Simpsonville.

    First there was an off-duty police officer who saved a horse from a burning barn, then there was the firefighter who interrupted his dinner with his family to sustain and save the life of a neighbor having a heart attack.

    Now we have yet another police officer – Ron DeSoto – who has rescued a stolen purse from an elderly shopper at Walmart and arrested the thief.

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