Opinion

I’ve never been one of those people that dives deeply into the intricacies of music. I don’t know that I’ve ever read any album notes or ever cared much about the backstories of any songs or the recording processes that brought them to life.

Dolly Parton has been in the news a lot lately, and she appears to have overcome some health concerns. 2026 is a milestone year for Dolly, marking her 80th birthday, the 60th anniversary of her marriage to the late Carl Dean, the 40th anniversary of Dollywood, and the 30th anniversary of her Imagination Library. There is no better time to send a love letter to “our Dolly.”

I recently had the pleasure of taking a day outing with my grandmother to Rockvale and Eagleville. Both were city names that I had heard all of my life but had never really spent any time in either. The main reason for picking that area of the state was to go and try the Fried Tater Café in Rockvale. It had popped up numerous occasions on social media over the last few months and so we figured why not give it a try.

As a TV news anchor, I try to avoid cliches, because they turn up on the news (local and national) a lot. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard, “The investigation is continuing,” I’d have some serious cash. I mean, that should be obvious. We all know that cops aren’t going to leave the scene and say, “You know what? I’m stumped. Let’s just go to Wendy’s and hope the whole thing blows over.”

The sun barely peeked out from behind the horizon as it reflectively glistened off the still dew-covered grass at the town community center.

Let’s explore the origin of some common sayings. After writing several columns about sayings like, “Not my cup of tea” and “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” many of you suggested a few others. How many times have you threatened to read someone “The Riot Act?” What is that act, and why is there a riot involved? I’m pretty sure I “read the riot act” to my sons when they were teenagers, and I’m equally certain they rolled their eyes when I did.

Spring has sprung!

I was a morning radio host before I got into TV news. In that role, I was encouraged to inject a little humor into the lives of listeners battling rushhour traffic. During that era, we had a Democratic president, followed by a Republican president. Our area governors, senators and representatives came from both major parties. I was an equal opportunity jokester. Thankfully, my listeners had a good sense of humor, advertisers never complained, and neither my bosses nor the politicians ever tried to censor me. It was, as we hear so often, a different era.