Nearly 40 years ago, then Vice President Spiro "Ted" Agnew railed against the nattering nabobs of negativism in the press corps. Agnew was the V.P. in the Nixon administration. It crashed and burned from self-inflicted wounds. In fact, Agnew's acceptance of cash for contracts when he was a governor provided his boss with a safety net. Ted had to go away before Tricky Dick... more

After the news of Dec. 5, the future of the U.S. Postal Service seems nothing to write home about. With bankruptcy looming (and Congress dragging its feet about providing the agency more flexibility for dealing with financial woes), the Postal Service announced plans to close nearly half of its processing plants -- eliminating 28,000 jobs and essentially giving up on the chance of next-day delivery of first-class mail... more

Prospects look good for a seat at the table for a National Guardsman among the Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to a Lewisburg man and the president of the National Guard Association of the United States. "It looks very good," said Larry McKnight, executive director of the National Guard Association of Tennessee, reporting on recent developments in Washington, D.C. ... more

Ho-ho-hold everything! This is the interview that couldn't wait. Christmas 2011 finds my son Gideon (who turns 8 in March) still trusting and full of wide-eyed innocence. In the coming year he might stumble across a newspaper article meant For Adult Eyes Only or be disillusioned by a "helpful" Older Kid... more

William Shatner, the actor probably best known as Capt. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise in the show "Star Trek," also appeared on the TV series "Boston Legal," and while portraying an aging lawyer, the charactor would once in a while tap his temple, give a weird look from an eye, wink and say, "mad cow."... more

After attending the Marshall County Chamber of Commerce Annual December Business Meeting and Dinner, I decided to write a column rather than presenting a straight news report. The reason for the column is because I can add my opinion. I believe the photos and captions on this page tell it all. Our chamber has made a significant change for the betterment of the businesses in Marshall County... more

The murder and subsequent investigation into Penny Blackwell Coyle's death, now 11 days ago, brought to mind another case in a nearby county, but more on that after something addressed to her friends and family. I regret including a few paragraphs about her nominal court record at the end of her murder story. ... more

It does appear that the Congressional Super Committee looking for budget cuts to federal spending was about as successful as Marshall County commissioners' two-man search for support for consolidation of government services here, or combining the county with one or more municipality under a metropolitan charter. more

This week's column was going to be about the 2012 campaign or the White House and how obvious it is that the incumbent will be re-elected and we might all be thankful that we don't have to worry about that anymore. After all, Bill Clinton got re-elected with the Monica Lewinsky affair in full bloom. Richard Nixon was re-elected with Watergate and, if it weren't for a helicopter crash during a daring desert raid gone wring, Jimmy Carter might have been re-elected... more

My father was a Pennsylvania Dutchman. His hometown wasn't much different from Lewisburg and there were Amish people as well as Mennonites in and around the town where he was born and grew up. Grandpa was a merchant and there were many farmers for his trade... more

It's my understanding that y'all take the position that government ought to get out of the way of business when its trying to grow, employ people, make money and generally prosper. So, here's an opportunity to deliver on the recurring announcement that government ought to get out of the way and let business conduct business in a free enterprise, level playing field, open market economy... more

Actually, "Sleeping with the Enemy," a thrilling movie that came out 20 years ago starring Julia Roberts, is really pretty good and its plot still rings true this month. Roberts' character escapes from an abusive relationship with clever preparation, but her husband notices a critical mistake, tracks her down and, well, telling more would ruin the show... more

Thank you Jesus for giving me a forum where I can voice my opinion. I just read another, of many articles where the headline starts out, Atheist Group Tries to Stop Prayers at High School Football Games. Separation of church and state is a vague law that is overused by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. I believe their goal is nothing more than to look for reasons to get headlines to promote their foundation... more

The state revenuer was asked for his opinion on why people continued to distill various grains into moonshine. His answer was simple. "Unemployment going up. Price of sugar coming down. People gonna make some 'shine." It was 1972, some 40 miles south of Atlanta and the simple law of supply and demand was in full swing in a little town that recently approved a referendum so a dry county could allow liquor stores... more

The dean of municipal law in Tennessee represents a town that's now probably eight times the size of Lewisburg, but there weren't 50,000 people there during the 1990s. Anyway, councilmen would ask her if it was OK to do something and she avoided saying yes or no by explaining how she could defend them in court if they decided one way or another. During that half hour discussion, most of the councilmen wanted to forget about it and do something else... more

More than a year ago Tribune readers were told in this column of a woman counting pennies out of her purse to pay her water bill. Now, you should know there are at least 45 children in the Marshall County school system who rely on the free lunch and breakfast program for their daily bread... more

History only appears to repeat itself to those who don't pay attention to the details, according to a national news commentator quoting a college professor. Well, it sure looks like it's happening again. Mayor Barbara Woods will be welcoming crowds to Lewisburg next month for Goats Music & More, complete with country music singer Lorri Morgan. GM&M is a festival that's grown to, as the name implies, so much more... more

Wayne Coomes' voice almost trembled. He'd paused. It seemed clear that the man who simultaneously served as police and fire chief here had personal experience on the subject he discussed in two penultimate paragraphs of his speech Sunday in Rock Creek Park... more

There's not much new that can be said about anything, including the terrorist attacks 10 years ago this Sunday morning. More scholarly and religious leaders will probably find more to say than I. "This changes everything," was a frequent statement that winter of 2001-02 when one newspaper columnist addressed the terrorists in a widely published article advising them: "You don't know what you've done."... more

As obvious as the solution to the jobless problem is some Democrats still just don't get it. Take Maxine Waters . . . please! No, seriously, Rep. Maxine Waters says we need a $1 trillion jobs program. Didn't we already try that? Didn't the stimulus program bomb?... more