By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | What do you think your property tax payments to Gwinnett County would be if Gwinnett did not have a special fund for constructing major projects, in view of the tremendous growth Gwinnett has had in the last 50 years? (By the way, October 15 is the deadline to pay the 2016 property taxes.)
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Lillian Webb was a major force for good in Gwinnett as an elected official. She was a Norcross councilperson (four years, 1971-74) to 11 terms as mayor (1975-84 and 1996-2007) and chairman of the Gwinnett County Commission for eight years (1985-1992).
“Miss Lillian” Webb, 87, died last week. She was a pioneering office-holder, leading the way for women in state Republican political activities, and in city and county government in Gwinnett. She was the first female mayor of Norcross, and first female county commission chair. And she did all this with such a happy, welcoming demeanor that charmed everyone she met.
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Living in a foreign city for a week certainly gives you another perspective on life.
Our youngest has an Irish-related client and was headed for Dublin, Ireland, for a week. Renting an apartment there with two bedrooms, my wife and I got an invitation to buy a plane ticket and go along. It’s hard to refuse such an offer.
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Communicating.
It’s one of mankind’s more difficult tasks.
Whether it’s one individual to another, one person to a wider audience, or even nation to nation, pitfalls crop up everywhere and often.
Today, Americans are mesmerized by two people trying to communicate, and persuade us, that their approach is the best one for our nation in the next few years. Both are having problems getting that communication to show us.
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Back a few years ago, I was optimistic about the future of newspapers. Since then, my faith in their future has continually declined. The impact of the Internet has been far worse than I had realized. What you are seeing with the Internet isn’t just affecting newspapers. How about banking? Insurance? Automotive sales? Retail …Walmart is fighting Amazon, etc. etc. etc.
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | The concerted efforts by many politicians to have voter registration drives seeks to get more participation in our democracy by citizens who so far don’t vote.
On the surface, it seems a reasonable move.
But not to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the former UCLA and Milwaukee Bucks basketball star, who was once known as Lew Alcindor. The other day on National Public Radio we heard him explaining why he thinks such voter registration drives are not a good idea. You may be surprised at the way he reasons …
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | If I have heard this once, I have heard it a dozen times this political year. It continues, here two months before the presidential election.
“I just don’t know what I’m going to do in the presidential election.”
It sometimes comes from Republicans. At other times, it comes from people who would normally vote Democratic.
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | After a lifetime of teaching school and raising a family, what’s it like to see your book published after you have retired?
That’s what we asked Mary Anna Bryan of Lawrenceville recently. She had her novel, Cardinal Hill, published by Mercer University Press. The publication came after she was awarded their Ferrell Sams Award for Fiction in 2014 for one of the best books of the year. However, the actual printing of the book was not until August of 2016, with no reason given for the gap.
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | It was on a Wednesday about 5:30 p.m. back about 1967, when putting together the front page of the weekly Wayne County Press in Jesup. A phone call from the county health director, Dr. Dan Glover, was urgent.
“We’ve got a real problem we just realized, and we want you to put this story on the front page for tomorrow’s newspaper,” he pleaded with me. (That would consist of tearing up what we had laid out previously on the front page, just near the deadline time, not a good time for re-doing this page. I was skeptical.)
“Never tell anyone that you’re writing a book, going on a diet, exercising, taking a course, or quitting smoking. They’ll encourage you to death.”
– Comic Artist Lynn Johnston (“For Better or Worse”) (1947 – ).
The family-friendly event, Duluth Fall Festival, will take place on September 28-29. This is the 41st year, and the Festival has consistently been voted one of the top festivals in the entire area, including “Best Large Festival in the Southeast’” by national publications.
There will be more than 300 arts, crafts and food booths, a huge parade, entertainment at two venues, a 5K road race, and much more. If you would like more information, are interested in volunteering, etc., go to the Festival website:
Gwinnett Forum publisher Elliott Brack suggests that Gwinnett County needs a long-range list of continuing objectives for improving the county. His list:
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