Opinion

Take time out for working folks

Looking forward to a Monday feels strange. Most weeks, those of us who log 40-hour weeks at any occupation do all we can to squeeze out as much weekend as possible before Monday rolls around. But on Labor Day that all changes.

Mayor on Duty - 8.22.24

After last Thursday’s long board meeting, I came away with a confirmation that I have had for quite some time.  That is, when it comes to future growth and the development of the town, Highlands has multiple pressure points.

It's a good time to be a Plateau kid

Everyone likes to think back to the “good ole days.” And for many, those times signal back to childhood when life was simple and the day-to-day grind of work, family, and commitments was some far-off ideal.

Mayor on Duty - 8.15.24

This Thursday is the August meeting of the Highlands Town Board of Commissioners.  It will begin at 7 p.m. at the Highlands Community Building next to the ball field. The meeting can also be accessed remotely by going to the board meeting link on the town website.

Back to school for some, not for others

Summer doesn’t officially end on the calendar until Sept. 22. In reality, the end of summer is coming up much sooner as students, teachers, and administrators prepare to head “back to school.

Mayor on Duty - 8.8.24

On January 25, I wrote in this column: “My suggestion is that HCA Mission needs to consider a new Asset Purchase Agreement and sell the system to another provider.  They paid 1.5 billion for Mission, which some critics now say was a giveaway price orchestrated by Paulus, Ball, and the Mission board.

Hurricane Debby serves as a reminder

It’s about this time each year that the American Red Cross and The Blood Connection issue a call to blood donors across the Southeast, as they did on Monday. Hurricane season puts a strain on multiple layers of infrastructure and among those is the fast depletion of blood supplies.

Mayor on Duty - 8.1.24

At the Community Coffee with the Mayor last Friday, Hank Ross, the president of Friends of Founders Park and the park’s designer gave a brief history of how the park came about.

HCA/Mission facing tough questions

The grass is rarely greener on the other side of the fence. Such is the case with our regional healthcare system at the moment.

Mayor on Duty - 7.25.24

It began at my Community Coffee with the Mayor in June and has continued since then. A number of folks at the coffee were upset by the large number of trees that had just been cut down at a home-building site in an old neighborhood in town.