• How nice to see the picture of Frances and Ed Long. I will always have fond memories of her as the Times-Georgian society editor back when. To make a statement about the environment she rode a motorized scooter around town for a while. To me, a newcomer at the time, she was fascinating! The Sunday paper was full of great pictures. How about the motto: No names, no picture. I want to know who everyone in every picture is. Great columns this week from DeeDee Murphy, Joe Garrett, Peter Maierhofer and Leonard Woolsey.

• Congratulations Bowdon officials on cracking down on “nuisance properties.” They found 27 properties in various degrees of disrepair and are sending letters to owners of nine of those telling them to cut the grass and clean up their property. More cities should try this.

• I appreciate Dr. Edwards taking a firm stand against charter schools. As he stated they’re not a bad thing, it’s just how the state is ramrodding this through the Gold Dome. If this is voted in the quality of education will suffer greatly and the less fortunate will suffer the most, those who have the most will get the most. And where will the state find the money to support it, there’s not enough money now to support the already under-funded school systems statewide now. I just hope everyone educates themselves on this issue before voting.

• Looking at the wording on the ballot for Amendment 1 (charter schools), it seems that we already have two entities in place to accomplish the goals stated — local school boards and the state Board of Education. Then why do we need another layer of government? We have been bombarded by some of the very same politicians and other parties in recent years saying that we need less government and more local control. Oh, how they hate big government! Now, they want more government and less local control. What’s their real agenda? Do you think it might just be they want charter schools for corporate profit using your taxpayer dollars to fund it? It’s not really about parental choice. It’s about power and money. Bingo!

• Have you ever noticed how the “left wingers” get nasty when their power is threatened?

• “Educate and inform the whole mass of the people ... They are the only reliance for the preservation of our liberty.”— Thomas Jefferson. The Founding Fathers of the United States lived more than 200 years ago and understood the value of public education. An educated populace sustains our democratic nation. True democracy encompasses such qualities as independent thought, critical and analytical thinking. These very qualities are what the proponents of H.R. 1162, the constitutional amendment on charter schools, will restrict to a certain group of people.