We’re not laughing

Is this a mismanagement joke? Sheriff Darr hired lawyers to help him get ready for a meeting? Darr, at a very minimum, should be able to discuss his budget with Council without taxpayers paying his lawyer $9,700 to show him how. Reckon the sheriff would like to hire a lawyer to help him manage the sheriff's office, so the sheriff could avoid going over budget every year?

Gross distortion

It is amazing how the media can twist and spin every statement Donald Trump makes. The interpretation of his comments regarding Hillary's stance on the Second Amendment is almost comical, but this is a very serious election. Actions speak louder than words.

Don’t trust it

Paul Revere might say, "The rigging is coming, the rigging is coming!” There is talk of online voting … I love my computer for the convenience of retrieving and searching for info, but am a realist when it comes to the pitfalls of the Internet; privacy is not an option, nor is personal info safe once you've stored such. I do not do any banking online because neither my bank nor investment brokers can or will guarantee my safety from hackers . Just the recent revelations of the hacking into the Pentagon's, Secretary of State's and DNC servers have demonstrated this, not to mention how many times we've all been notified many times by our bank/credit card companies about a new card being sent because of someone has compromised the information that has been stored by a company who we've done business with.

Start now to contact your congresspersons to stop entertaining any such route for voting!

Cooperative effort

As Chair of the River Valley Regional Commission Council, I want to thank each member of the Council and especially the Executive Committee made up of Richard Morris, chair Quitman County Commission; Mike Speight, private consultant; Terrell Hudson, chair Dooly County Commission; A. J. Rivers, retired businessman, Cordele; Harry Lange, chair Harris County Commission; George Moore, chair Webster County Commission; Jerry “Pops” Barnes, Columbus councilor; and Chip Jones, freelance writer, Richland, for their support and leadership over the past year.

In 2015, we made the decision to invest in the Regional Commission and its staff by agreeing to provide the Columbus office with a new office building. The Executive Committee met numerous times to review sites and discuss the financial implications. The RVRC’s new location at 710 Front Avenue provides our staff with a more efficient, modernized space with room to grow. I want to thank each member of our Council and especially those mentioned above.

I also want to thank these gentlemen for their leadership and courage to work together on the passage of the Transportation Improvement Act of 2010. Harry Lange chaired the Regional Roundtable Executive Committee and George Moore and Terrell Hudson both served on this committee which was charged with approving a slate of projects for the region wide vote.

In the end, River Valley was one of three areas in the state that passed the Transportation Improvement legislation. In the last three and one half years, our region has collected approximately $159 million, with $119 million going to regional projects and $40 million distributed to local governments for transportation improvements.

It is due to the work of citizens like these that the River Valley region will continue to grow and prosper.

Dubious origins

The book of Daniel is traditionally ascribed to Daniel himself. However, modern biblical scholars consider the book pseudonymous, written during the Babylonian exile (6th century BCE) by a forger during the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid dynasty in the 2nd century BCE. The author used the figure of Daniel to intensify the experiences of the Jewish people during this crisis. The message the author wanted to convey was that as the God of the Jews saved Daniel and his friends from their Babylonian enemies.

The book describes all the historical events that occurred between the 6th and the 2nd centuries BCE and claims they were visions revealed by God to Daniel while he was in exile in Babylon.

This book should be in the Apocrypha rather than in the Old Testament. It's a piece of mythological, allegorical writing designed to strengthen Jewish resistance to the Seleucids during the Maccabean revolution.

The book is divided into two sections, chapters 1-6 and chapters 7-12. The material in the second section is a series of visions that have played a role in the development of Christianity.

This story was originally published August 17, 2016 at 6:03 PM with the headline "We’re not laughing."