Elliott Brack’s Perspective
BRACK: Sen. Unterman now supports Medicaid expansion program
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum | State Sen. Renee Unterman of Buford, who heads the Georgia Senate Health and Human Services Committee, may soon be writing legislation which could help hospitals, especially smaller hospitals within Georgia. She has changed her views on the subject, and now supports Medicaid expansion because of hospital closings in the state and because of problems that residents are having getting to see a doctor. She first stated these views in Modern Healthcare, a national magazine out of Washington, D.C.
BRACK: Authoritative book on Cobb is major service to his reputation
By Elliott Brack, publisher, GwinnettForum | A sports author has done the state of Georgia and Ty Cobb, in particular, a major service. Author Charles Leerhsen of Brooklyn, N. Y. has published an authoritative biography: Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty. The book enhances and clarifies the reputation of Georgia’s “Big Peach,” who was maybe the most controversial player in baseball. The book won the 2015 Casey Award for the best baseball book of the year.
BRACK: Letter offering water service line insurance really gets to me
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher | Every now and then, something comes along that really gets under my skin. One recent letter did it. It was from a company called “HomeServe,” and listed a local post office number in Marietta to reply to. We found the firm was out of Norwalk, Conn. See if this letter gets you going …
BRACK: Three aspects of recent trip to D.C.
By Elliott Brack | Three distinct elements distinguished last weekend’s springtime trip to Washington, D.C.
It turned chilly when we visited the new (for us) Washington Nationals park on Sunday. A radio station reported as my daughter and I rode in a Uber car to the stadium that the weather was “blustery,” and that was an understatement.
BRACK: Passing stopped school buses more of a problem than you think
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum | Vehicles passing stopped school buses is much more of a problem than most of us realize. At least Gwinnett’s school system is taking steps to address this situation, at no cost to your school tax bill. But only about 10 school systems in Georgia are participating in a new technology which improves school bus safety.
BRACK: Questions arise now that presidential contest is almost settled
By Elliott Brack, editor and publisher, GwinnettForum | You must admit that social media has been a mighty contributor to this 2016 political season.
In another way of saying this: look what we have done to ourselves.
We couldn’t get enough of Trump, or Bernie, and every so often, some of the other presidential candidates. So we turned inward, creating more bizarre buzzing for the political year.
Gwinnett Forum | April 1, 2025
“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.”
— Former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (1874-1965), via Lee Klaer, Duluth.
Continuing objectives
Gwinnett Forum publisher Elliott Brack suggests Gwinnett County needs a long-range list of continuing objectives for improving the county. His 2025 list:
- Move statewide non-partisan judicial and school board elections to the date of the General Election.
- More creative efforts to support the arts in Gwinnett.
- Advancement and expansion of city historical societies.
- Require establishments that serve alcoholic beverages to halt sales of such products at 1 a.m., and close by 2 a.m.
- Require the Georgia Legislature to meet only once every two years.
- Eliminate single-use plastic packaging and straws in Gwinnett and require instead the use of paper products.
- Gwinnett planners to encourage condos and townhouses instead of apartments.
- County-wide microtransit services.
Interested in Gwinnett history?
Now re-printed in its third edition, Gwinnett: A Little Above Atlanta, the award-winning history of Gwinnett County, is once again available for purchase. It sold out of its first two printings. The book won the 2010 Award of Excellence in Documenting Georgia History from the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Board. The book is available at Old Town Antiques at 93 Main Street in Lilburn.
- The history of Gwinnett is also available as an e-book from Amazon or Barnes and Noble for $9.95.
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