Hometown Dekalb - News From Dekalb County GA - Opinion

Obama Plan Jeopardizes Thousands of Coal Jobs

Fred Jackson — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 17:47:36 UT

"So if somebody wants to build a coal power plant, they can. It's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all that greeenhouse gas that's being emitted"...

Fault Feds, Not Atlanta, for Lanier's Woes

Chick Krautler — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:01:30 UT

Today, Lake Lanier is more than 13 feet below its full pool and nearly 10 feet lower than it was this time last year. The state climatologist sees the next few weeks as critical in determining the extent and severity of the 2008 drought. By contrast, the reservoirs downstream from metro Atlanta are virtually full...

Prepare Students for the World, Not Just the Test

Mary M. Jessie — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 03:55:00 UT

While the debate continues over who's to blame and policy-makers pay lip service to preparing students for the 21st century - here for almost a decade already - the U.S. education system muddles on as a 19th-century model ...

Global Warming Comes to Georgia

Benita M. Dodd — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:45:00 UT

In these hazy, 90-degree Georgia days, with gas prices soaring and smog hovering, the guilt trip that global warming proponents are selling is easy to buy. And with industry and academia seeing the green in being "green," it's even to tougher for ordinary Georgians to resist ...

Transparency Can Bring Clarity to Georgia Taxpayers

Benita M. Dodd — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:35:00 UT

Internet-savvy bank customers in Georgia can go online and check and balance their accounts from the comfort of their home, even at 2 in the morning. But let that same taxpayer be curious at 10 a.m. about how his taxes are being spent in Georgia, and he'd have a tough time finding out...

Positive Outcomes of the '08 Legislative Session

Kelly McCutchen — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:00:00 UT

Those who watched this year's legislative session as they would a hockey game - waiting for the fight - were not disappointed. Going in, the focus was a "WETT" session: water, education, taxes and transportation. But beneath the political theatre, the final score indicates a victory for good public policy ...

Competition Can Solve Atlanta's Budget Woes

Leonard C. Gilroy, AICP — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:00:15 UT

The chickens have finally come home to roost in Atlanta. The city's recently announced $70 million budget deficit - one of the largest among U.S. cities, representing a staggering 11 percent of the general fund - is the most recent symptom of unchecked growth in city government ...

2008: The Year of the Latino Vote

Jerry Gonzales — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:00:00 UT

2008 - the year of the Latino vote ...

DeKalb Chamber of Commerce: Tell Senators NO to Section 3 of HB 8

Fri, 11 Jan 2008 17:20:00 UT

The DeKalb Chamber of Commerce recommends telling senators NO to Section 3 of House Bill 8 ...

Capital Report: Are the Stars Aligning for a Transportation Funding Bill?

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 01:15:00 UT

While the rain is important in helping to replenish Lake Lanier and Allatoona, a new openness to solving Georgia's transportation funding crisis may mean that transportation plans that were once on the chopping block could be replenished as well ...

Shining Some Light on State Spending

Kelly McCutchen — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 12:55:00 UT

"No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth..."

Missing from the Tax Debate: Spending

Kelly McCutchen — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 23:00:00 UT

Like love and marriage, tax and spending go together like the proverbial horse and carriage. Absent spending controls, any major "reform" proposal in Georgia's tax code - particularly a shift in revenues among different levels of government - becomes a masquerade that would increase the size of government...

Letter to Editor: Make Christmas Memorable for Military Families

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:00:04 UT

We would like ask for assistance in making this a memorable Christmas for military families having a difficult time due to having their sole provider being away serving their present assignments...

A Prescription for Grady

Bill Loughrey — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 03:00:54 UT

Grady Memorial Hospital is a vital community asset used by residents throughout metropolitan Atlanta, a safety-net hospital for hundreds of thousands of uninsured Georgians that admits tens of thousands of patients a year. All this takes place on an annual budget of $700 million ...

Perspective on Transportation Innovations: Concessions, and Then Some

Benita M. Dodd — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 05:00:04 UT

Any elected official who proposes raising gas taxes or fees to fund transportation infrastructure needs in Georgia is probably not planning on re-election. Yet every policy-maker knows the state needs an innovative approach and deep pockets to plan for a future without mind-boggling traffic congestion ...