Opinion

Dads, credit Sonora Smart Dodd for that tie you always wanted, hand-drawn, crayon-colored greeting card and all the attention lavished on you today. Why? Because Dodd was an equal opportunist daughter.
While listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909 at Central Methodist Episcopal Church in Spokane, Wash., Dodd got to thinking that fathers deserved special recognition, too.

Kershaw Town Council has a major task ahead.
The council is in the process of finding a new town administrator with the resignation of Kershaw Town Administrator Tony Starnes.
Starnes, after careful consideration, said he made his decision to resign a few weeks ago.
Starnes’ announcement was stunning to Kershaw Mayor Wayne Rhodes, who was assured by Starnes he was just ready to “move on.”
Starnes, 62, said he might want to do something else or just spend quality time with his family.

John Smith never sets his sights on winning region titles or state championships. Rather, he simply aims for his team to get better. Somehow, though, his Great Falls Red Devils continue to win plenty of both.
On March 3, Great Falls defeated Johnsonville for the Class A state title. Smith won another state title that he didn’t plan for or expect, even though he returned five of his top seven players from last year’s state title team, including the Class A Player of the Year.

A pair of bills being debated in the S.C. House illustrate the ongoing tension between those who would open government up for all to see and those who seek to close its doors to pesky outsiders.
The first would outrageously clamp the door firmly shut on a wide swath of law enforcement records. The second would helpfully ease the path for citizens who seek to learn more about their government.

With the recent passing of longtime Lancaster County public servant Fred Plyler, former Lancaster County school superintendent John Wall said he lost a “good friend.”
The same could be said of Lancaster County, which was a better place because Plyler did plenty of good work here.
He set a high standard as a magistrate, county road commissioner, an original Lancaster County Council member, a former president and board member of the Lancaster County Farm Bureau and a founding member of the Buford Volunteer Fire Department.

Even at the age of 92, the homeowner was aware the men on the other side of her front door were would-be scammers. When they asked her to walk outside and help them hold a tape measure, she refused, then closed and locked the door.
Minutes later they gained access to her house by breaking in through her back door. She pressed her life alert button and told the men help was on the way. They left before the deputies arrived at her house.

The Lancaster County foster care unit has quite a tradition going. For the third consecutive year an employee of the county foster care unit has taken the state’s top honor as Caseworker of the Year.
The latest honoree is Chaundra Fletcher, who was honored at the Independent Living Conference by the S.C. DSS and the University of South Carolina.
A year ago, Kenya Papillion received the honor, while Tracy Rabon won the award in 2009.
Fletcher, who has a caseload of 19 children, is regarded as an exceptional worker.

Life is about choices. We don’t choose nor can control what happens to us. We can choose how we respond.
Many people face serious challenges – challenges that run the gamut – from personal, to financial, to medical. Response to these challenges determines how we handle the situations.
For some, the challenges are too overwhelming.
Yet some turn the challenges into opportunities. Judy Chandler was one of those people.

The city of Lancaster plans to roll out (literally) its voluntary recycling program in September.
While the city is starting off slow with its program, it is to be commended for initiating the effort to recycle plastic, bottles and jugs, metal and aluminum cans, as well as magazines and certain other papers.
Marty Cauthen, the city’s solid waste director, said several residents had requested the city introduce a recycling program. After discussion and planning, officials devised a system that is not too costly to the city and residents.