Opinion

“A true American hero.” That’s how Jim Moreland describes Jonathan Cook, a longtime Kershaw resident who is immensely respected and endeared by people who know him. Some people might describe Cook as a disabled Vietnam veteran. It’s an accurate description in the sense that Cook didn’t come back from Vietnam as the man he was when he got there in the mid-1960s.

Tis the season to be thankful and count our blessings. One blessing Lancaster folks can number was Joan Hall Williams, better known as Jo Williams, or simply “Aunt Jo.”
She was a Lancaster treasure, something extra special about the Red Rose City.
Williams, who died at age 79 earlier this month, loved her home and showed so in many ways.
A history enthusiast, Williams was glad to share her knowledge about Lancaster. Often, she would provide history lessons about Lancaster and Lancaster County.

Several weeks ago, Lancaster County and City councils held a joint gathering at Charley’s Cafe in downtown Lancaster.

Normally, The Lancaster News receives notification of such meetings within the 24-hour period outlined  under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA.) In this incident, special notification about the meeting was not sent to The Lancaster News, as is procedure before any public meetings. Instead, we received a telephone call from someone letting us know about the meeting just before it happened.

Someone asked me several months ago would John Spratt get ugly in the Congressional campaign. I assured him that the John Spratt I knew was too much a gentleman and too principled to stoop to smear campaigns.

After seeing his ad, aired in the Charlotte media market, attacking Mick Mulvaney on Lancaster County’s Edenmoor Development, I need to apologize to that man and correct the misinformation I’d left.

The ad, while totally unjustified, is brutal. The scenes are every subdivision homeowner’s worst nightmare.

You may be reading this editorial as a printed product held in your hand, sprawled across the kitchen table while drinking your morning coffee or while scrolling down your computer screen or smart phone.

Today you have numerous methods of getting the news. And the dissemination of news has changed dramatically since the early years of smoke signals.

National Newspaper Week begins today and it’s a good time to take a look at what your community newspaper means to you.

It’s National Newspaper Week, and it is a good time to put things in perspective.

In a head-to-head test of public notice results, a newspaper recently won by a 7-to-1 margin over the Internet.

People still read newspapers and are far more likely to see newspaper notices than those placed online.

The test was done in Darlington County in July by Sheriff Wayne Byrd and his local paper.

It is unfortunate to think of John Spratt as a “friend” of our district. Friends do not let government spending spiral beyond imaginable numbers.

Friends do not support ineffective legislation or inefficient government and then expect you, their “friend,” to pay for it all. Neither do friends support legislation that has the long term effect of eroding the support and structure that has permitted this country to prosper through private business and individual freedoms.

Got a question for a candidate running for office this year? If you do, you may want to submit it for an upcoming political forum. Candidates will be asked questions from voters at the Before You Vote 2010 Candidate Forum at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14, at the City of Light’s Inspiration Chapel auditorium.

Candidates will also face voters questions at a two more forums at 6 p.m. Oct. 19 and Oct. 25 at Bundy Auditorium in the Bradley Arts and Sciences Building at the University of South Carolina at Lancaster.

U.S. Rep. John Spratt has voted for HR 3534 (CLEAR Act) on July 30, 2010. HR 3534 is a thinly disguised permanent roadblock to American energy which drives American companies out of the Gulf, delays future drilling, increases dependency on foreign oil and implements climate change legislation and youth education programs. But most importantly, it mandates membership in the Law of the Sea Treaty without the required two-thirds vote to ratify it in the U.S. Senate.