Habits of people right here in our Rabun County

Habit No. 1: Early to bed I know a person well, but only learned of one of her habits within the past month. Each night – on most nights – she goes to bed to sleep at 8:00 pm. I have not, to my knowledge, known anyone else who regularly goes to bed that early to sleep in my 88 years. Habit No.

The elephant in the room? It’s our Okefenokee Refuge

Don’t look now but there is an elephant in the room. Well, it’s not a room exactly. It is our state government. And it’s not an elephant, either. It is our Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, which they want to pretend isn’t there and wish we would, too. Fat chance.

Hatchett: Week One Under the Gold Dome

The 2026 Legislative Session is officially underway, and after our first full week under the Gold Dome, it’s good to be back to work on behalf of the people of the 50th Senate District.

It’s The Law: What to do and how to do it

I am often asked what to do when a child, grandchild, or other loved one is struggling with substance abuse. In many cases, the problem extends beyond drugs or alcohol to behavioral addictions such as gambling.

How states are reining in costly regulations

Georgia continues to grapple with a complex, outdated and steadily expanding regulatory environment. Debates over the state’s regulatory burden, including proposals such as the “Red Tape Rollback Act” introduced last year, are not occurring in isolation.

Become engaged now in the process

This new year will have major moments that are constructed by you, the voters, as important elections fill the 2026 calendar at the local, state and national levels.

It starts in the mind

I heard about a physician who said, “Many of my patients have nothing wrong with them except their thoughts. So I have a favorite prescription I write for some. But it is not a prescription that you can fill at a drugstore.

Newspaper flunky remembers some interesting times on the job

The demise of another print edition of a major newspaper — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution — has prompted a number of nostalgic columns about the good ol’ days of print journalism. Like other dailies, the AJC has gone strictly digital.

Some observations to share with three great-grandsons

Dear Henry, Noah and Samuel Knox Wansley: It looks like it is your turn to receive some unsolicited advice from an old man who has been dispensing it since your daddy and his cousins were about your age. That has been a long time.

The 2026 Election hangs over the 2026 Legislative Session

The 2026 legislative session marks both an endpoint and the eventual transition to come.