On July 31, 2025, I had what I still hope was my final day of chemotherapy treatment. The month of August last year brought many follow up tests. The most significant were CT Scans (which have since shown no cancer, tumors, or significant risks/changes) and a newer technology, Signatera blood testing for circulating cancer DNA. Infusions of IV fluids, iron (for occasional anemia), B-12 shots and other regimens continue with some frequency, though... With the results of both major diagnostics being negative, CT scans continue every six months, and Signatera testing continues every three months... yet time and again, now for one year...I remain cancer free. The term ‘remission’ has largely fallen out of use and favor, with the I think stronger replacement terminology, No Evidence of Disease (NED).

I have an incredible medical team. My gastro, Dr. Nitin Gupta, literally spotted a small, glistening white spot at the tail end of my colon... he biopsied what appeared to be a spot of little concern, during a belated, but routine (for me) annual colonoscopy.

After the pathology came back showing a very aggressive, high-risk, and fast-growing colon cancer, Dr. Gupta referred me to my surgeon. In the month between that initial colonoscopy of a dot, slightly larger than half a pinky fingernail, and a follow-up ordered by my surgeon—who wanted to get a closer look before deciding the best surgical path—the dot had grown several centimeters across, dark black with tendrils growing up and into the walls of my colon. It looked like a very early version of the spawn in Alien.

Though I enjoyed the ‘happy juice’ that took me away for a moment during the procedure, when I came to, a very straight-faced Dr. Cici Zhang calmly ended my hopes for a colon re-section and a short recovery period...with no further treatment needed.

“Your cancer is growing fast, we need to get your surgery scheduled ASAP. That entire colon needs to come out. If we wait, that tumor will pierce the walls of your colon, get into your bloodstream and lymphatic system, if it is not already there, and you may be facing a battle that we most often cannot win.” advised my gifted surgeon.

Out With the Old…

The path ahead for me was clear, though not the one I wanted to take. A couple of weeks later, I was back at Northside Cancer Center for a long 8.5 hour nap, waking up sans my largest organ (the colon), and 46 lymph nodes that went along to keep the large intestine company. Having led a relatively healthy and blessed life, I had never experienced an extended hospital stay; this was nearly two weeks of recuperation and learning a whole new way to handle and process waste.

My surgeon and later my oncologist, another standout, Dr. Kathleen Lambert of Georgia Cancer Specialists, each told me that the two things I entirely controlled that could benefit my treatment and ultimate recovery were my attitude and as soon as I possibly could...regular exercise. The day after surgery I was out of bed, walking with my new friend the colostomy bag, and experiencing pain in places I didn’t know one could hurt. Cheered in part by a day two visit from my grandtwins, the Mighty Mites, I began making multiple daily loops around the hospital floor and ward. By week’s end, I was doing these laps for half an hour at a time.

I left Northside while still learning the particulars of my new digestive system, and a bit fearful of injuring myself while dealing with the bag. Spent the next month generously and lovingly hosted by my daughter Barclay, her husband Cody Carson, and the grandsons in their incredible home near Monroe, Georgia. I had a downstairs in-law suite, and though I tried to be a good guest (I slept a lot), I’m sure it was no breeze having me underfoot, in part as Barclay was at that same time 8-months pregnant and taking care of twin not-quite-five-year-old boys.

Then Came the Hardest Part -

The chemotherapy treatment regimen that followed, and its side effects, were the most challenging part of this journey. Admittedly, compared to so many others I have met, and some I already had to say goodbye to, I got off light. The chemo regimen I was on lasted for three-days, every two weeks for three months. As you started to recover from the last treatment, the next one would arrive. I won’t rehash here again, but as you have friends or family in this tunnel or undergoing radiation, this is the phase where they will most need, as well as appreciate your support.

A close friend/fraternity brother, Matt Crabtree, took the lead in arranging my chemo session transport, as well as a slew of gift cards and meal baskets. When I lived with the Carsons enough flowers and gift baskets to open a florist covered their kitchen island and dining table. I had previously witnessed the power of prayer, in healing each of my daughters and grandsons, as well as bringing relief to other family members. But until this experience, I had never really felt the power of prayer. Even now, courtesy of 25 years in local television, complete strangers will greet me at the grocery store to share that their Prayer Group included me each week, or offer a random hug at a restaurant—again folks I have never previously met—complimenting my recovery and good health.

Though there were some mishaps, and a good chapter for a book on what NOT TO DO when wearing a colostomy bag, in November I had my ‘bionic colon’ surgically constructed or the more medically correct term, ‘Reversal Surgery,’ and a new exit was created with about 18-inches of my small intestine . The end result isn’t identical to what I had previously, but it works pretty well, and all the plumbing is now back on the inside.

Whistle While You Work Out…

Taking the recommendation of regular exercise to heart, I began morning Tai Chi each day, while also building back my Yoga practice, and walking an average of 10-15 miles each week, mostly on the PATH trail, which crosses through our backyard. I am now in better shape than I was prior to the cancer’s arrival. In many ways, I am a different and hopefully better person. Maturity had already done some of that work, but I know that I have much more empathy and general awareness of what others might be going through.

As I woke up Monday, realizing that I have officially been cancer-free for a year, my confidence that this recovery will become permanent—and that at the five-year mark my medical team will start to use that word “cured,’ had a nice growth spurt. There have been too many moments to list here, in what I thought might have been only brief over-time. And of course, I am aware that with my particular cancers, I have a roughly 50 percent chance of getting past that five-year mark. Yet as my nephew remarked at my father Jerry Crane’s 88th birthday celebration this past Sunday, stubbornness tends to run deep in the Crane family, particularly among the men.

I’m not ready to go just yet. And among the many blessings of this past year, my grandson No. #3, Cohen “Coco” Carson arrived, and we celebrated his first birthday in April. More recently an incredible Cancer Survivor’s Summer Camp, brought me several new friends, and I will spend next weekend at another all day Cancer Survivor Conference, learning better ways to strengthen and lengthen this new life.

As I said earlier, this was not a road I would have chosen, but it has given me an attitude of gratitude that has made my heart and daily steps lighter on most days. I thank God, my children, grandchildren, family and more friends than I can count for your kind words, prayers, many thoughtful gestures and gifts...and for believing in me and regularly encouraging me along the way. I ain’t going anywhere anytime soon.

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PHOTOS courtesy of Bill Crane

Crane @ Northside Cancer Center, two-days post surgery, March 2025

Crane @ Form Yoga Decatur, August 2026

One Man’s Opinion, “Remember Customer Service?” Tuesday, August 11, 2026

I am a good and loyal customer. If I receive a good product or service, at a fair price, from a retailer, vendor, or contractor, I keep coming back for more. It’s called Customer Loyalty, and for enterprises who understand that, it’s perhaps the greatest dividend from investments made in solid customer service. My last three cars have each been a Kia Sportage, all three purchased at Bulldog Kia in Athens, from the same salesmen. The service at that dealership started to decline rapidly, and I moved to Heyward Allen Toyota, also in Athens, and from every indication, I will be there to stay.

During 1989, I walked into the Decatur, Georgia Post Office, one of the larger postal sub-stations in metro Atlanta, and I rented P.O. Box 392. This contract and customer relationship of 37-years pre-dates Priority Mail, and began only a few years after the promulgation of Zip+4. Post office boxes offer greater security (particularly for financial and medical records), 24-hour access, typically faster delivery and were then very reasonably priced. That first year was $39.00, when I renewed in 2025, it was closer to $150.00. Packages generally did not have to worry about being stolen nor getting damaged by bad weather. I learned the benefits of having a P.O. Box in college and have kept one ever since. Customarily, like most other vendors and contractual relationships, near the end of the prior year, I would receive and invoice/renewal notice in that same P.O. Box. Last year, one of the more surly clerks in that Decatur Post Office, once known for its customer service, informed me that the U.S.P.S was under no obligation to send you a bill, it was the customer’s responsibility to keep track. If a bill or renewal notice arrived, that was simply ‘a courtesy.’

Loyal to a Fault -

I frequently travel for work, which is another reason for having the P.O. Box, keeping my mail and packages from walking away. Returning from the celebration of my youngest daughter’s birthday the first week in July of 2026, I stopped by the Decatur Post Office to pick up my mail. I was surprised to find I was locked out of my box.

Not having received any renewal notice, I checked my phone, and sure enough, that one-year rental had expired on May 31, 2026. I was six weeks over-due. Surprisingly, the Postal Service would not allow pre-payments beyond one-year, and until the most recent box application, one could not keep a credit card or payment instrument on-file for auto renewal.

I apologized to the clerk, after waiting in line for nearly an hour. This postal clerk was sympathetic, but unable to reopen my box, accept a payment or really explain a lock-out after 6-weeks and 37 years. I will save you the time of reading that after weeks of attempting to appeal, as this is a business and personal address of nearing four decades, I was assured that there was NO WAY I could again rent that box, pay a penalty, appeal the decision, etc… Whether I liked it, or not, that address was dead to me.

This story has a somewhat happy ending… I live closer to a very small Post Office in Scottdale, Georgia. I drive past that location multiple times each day. In addition to a friendly clerk, also named William and a responsive station Postmaster, I was able to secure P.O. Box 392, Scottdale, GA 30079-1321. The forwarding order from my now ‘dead’ Decatur box has already been filed. The Scottdale USPS team members were helpful and apologetic, even though they were also shut out on the ‘why’ of the box management system changes in Decatur.

As a broke young TV reporter in Macon in 1984, I had over-bought myself a new sports car. My monthly car payment and related automotive insurance each combined to cost a week’s pay and half my monthly income. I had to find a more economical solution...and fast. GEICO operated a huge call center in Macon and had just opened its first ‘customer facing’ independent agent office. That agent, Jerry Sorrells, could not have been more customer-focused. He wrote me a policy, for nearly half the cost I had been paying, and that began a 38-year relationship with the insurer. Sorrells is still with GEICO, running his own shop in Cobb County now.

Yet when my policy renewal arrived in July a few years ago, GEICO proposed a 150% premium hike, while I was simultaneously dropping down from three insured vehicles to only two. Thinking there had to be an error, I made several calls to the company, spent hours on hold, being transferred, etc... I explained that I am in my early 60’s, not my 20’s, that my last insurance claim was in 1991 and that I have had no moving violations of any kind for well over a decade. Generally the type of customers they want. GEICO explained that ‘underwriting’ was driving these premium increases, as well as significant increases in medical claim expenses in the event of a serious accident, and that all of metro Atlanta was considered a ‘high risk’ market. My calls got me nowhere, so in about six hours I contacted three other insurers, got quotes with matching coverage, and moved to the insurer and broker currently handling my homeowner coverage, for a 50% reduction in my insurance premium. Thus ending another 38-year customer relationship.

And the List of Companies Who Get This Keeps Shrinking -

I subscribe to a lot of newspapers, likely including the paper you are now reading. The big guys seem to only want new subscribers, not seeming to appreciate longtime readers. The mobile phone, cable, and other media companies are always running great promotions for the NEW customer, but leaving out the loyal customer. IF you have to BUY all your new customers with price cuts and promos, those customers will only be with you until your competitor runs a better promo. It is called churn rate, and it is all about the high costs of customer acquisition. As a small business person myself, I know all too well that the best customers are the customers you ALREADY HAVE. Seek more of their business, do more of what you can do for them, as they already like, and employ you. There are still companies that do get this. The list just seems to be getting shorter.

Hospitality Industry Remains a Primary Exception, In Some Places -

Chick Fil A, which continually ranks among America’s Favorite Restaurant Chains, puts customers only behind the quality of its products. Georgia Power is still known as being customer-focused, despite being a huge monopoly utility, and I will go one step further that several of metro Atlanta’s new municipalities, offering a city-lite model, with high touch and customer service, at least seem to many of their new residents that they really do care. Most small businesses already understand this model, recognizing the high costs of customer acquisition and the comparatively low costs of customer retention. So this effort not only pays off, it makes a huge difference in customer satisfaction, regulars and new customer referrals. Happy customers, quite frankly often reflect their happiness back on the business’s employees as well. So, IF you consider yourself a smart consumer, and you want to share your wallet and dollars wisely, REWARD those who reward and serve you well. You will be very glad you did.

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One Man’s Opinion, “Lessons I Am Still Learning,” Tuesday, August 18, 2026

Though I personally think the Back to School bells are ringing too early these days, particularly given the checkered performance of public school HVAC systems across the South, I would still wait til after Labor Day. Just over 60 autumns have come and gone since I first stepped into a classroom. And though I still consider myself a lifelong learner, my days of formal education ended more than forty years ago. And yet, memories of those classrooms, many of those teachers and later professors, remain vivid in my mind.

My first born daughter, Barclay is a teacher, her mother is a recently retired educator. I have long believed that teaching, often performed as a calling, is among the most noble professions. One of my favorite, though unofficial instructors was my grandmother, Mary L. Crane, a quote of hers is forever stuck in my brain. The day you stop learning is the day you start dying.

Though the past couple of years have thrown me a few health curve balls, I have no plans to exit anytime soon, so learning new lessons, as well as re-learning quite a few old ones, remains high on the agenda. My life has been blessed in so many ways—too many to inventory here—but in the arena of education, there are several folks I would like to recognize and give a shout-out to as the millions of American schoolchildren through college graduates head back into those hallowed halls of learning.

Miss Rice - As a runt of a first grader, and the first of my three siblings to go to school, I was pretty social and a real rule follower (that would change). Miss Rice was kind, sweet, new to teaching and very soft spoken. If our class was unruly, you could barely hear her speak. Yet, since I never remember her shouting us down, her demeanor kept us all inquisitive and calm. Before heading home for Thanksgiving break, and the Christmas recess that would follow, Miss Rice announced a Grand Reading Contest. The winner would be the student who read the most books by the return from Christmas break, nearly 45 days away. You had to keep a small log listing the book’s title, the date it was read, and a sentence describing the story. I didn’t get to see the other students’ entries, but my mother initialled each entry, as ‘proof’ that I had read the book. These were not novels, they were just children’s books and even the little Golden Books counted. I checked out as many as our school Librarian would allow me each weekend, and I planned to read at least two books a day. I won the contest handily, having read more than 60 books. But the prize was even better: a chess set. I had never even played checkers. Miss Rice gave me the lifelong gift of loving reading, as well as later developing the critical thinking skills you gain from playing chess.

Mrs. Morris/Mrs. Barker - The 4th grade gave me two teachers of similar background and temperament; one set me on the path to this vocabulary of mine. The other caused me to be so fearful that at times in her presence I could not speak. Mrs. Morris was my hero that year, though she had me complete what seemed like Herculean learning tasks. Mrs. Barker thought little of me and I lived down to her expectations. This would begin my challenging authority and questioning the thinking and rationale of those who had ‘the power.’

Ms. Autry/Ms. Franklin - Brother Brian, sister Tanya and I were entered into the Gifted Program at our elementary school. As the oldest of the trio, being the last one selected for the Gifted Program gave me a bit of an inferiority complex. Though classmates started calling me Crane Brain in kindergarten, I thought I must be the family dunce. Marsha Autry was our instructor in this loosely structured, multi-grade classroom, where we spent almost half the day during 6th and 7th grades. I always sensed that Ms. Autry was uncomfortable in her own skin. As a result she gave it her all to help us each feel comfortable in our own skin. Teachers value smart kids, fellow students not so much. Ms. Autry taught me to use my mind, and be proud of what it could hold...and to just know that most of those wisecracks and insults were effectively some degree of jealousy. Ms. Autry, who didn’t really like herself much, taught me to like me. Ms. Franklin, the school librarian just across the hall, practically adopted me and let my teachers know that anytime I had spare time, including after-school, I was welcome to come to the library and help her reshelve books. This began a compulsion to organize and collect, and also gave me great access to new titles. Ms. Franklin taught me that just when you think you know it all, there is another story to be told or new book to read and learn.

Coach Nick Janoulis/Coach Eddie Roberts - Other than one P.E. Coach in elementary school, there were no male teachers. Though my siblings and I became close with the Reverend Tucker, who was also our school custodian. But two high school coaches left their marks on me, influencing both my mind and my worldview. Nick Janoulis was a smaller man, built lean, but solidly, like the Wrestling Team that he coached. He was my first history teacher who focused more on the modern day and what I would later come to know as political science. His classes were always fun and informative, and he had a quick wit, which provided a healthy challenge for my own wit, by now developed into that of a class clown, or less charitably, a young smart ass. Coach Janoulis helped me understand the science of leadership, early lessons in politics, and the reality that the only constant in that arena is change, along with some degree of self-interest. I ran Cross Country for most of my high school years, under legendary Cross Country Coach Eddie Roberts. Thanks to Facebook, I remain in touch with Coach Roberts to this day. Perhaps the most valuable lesson he taught me, while I attempted to lengthen my stride and make my running more efficient, was to stop looking sideways and checking where my competitor was in the race. Keep your eyes straight ahead on the road, which was often quite uneven, and focus on your pace, stride and breathing. Looking sideways will slow you down, possibly trip you up and can dangerously take you off-course.

Ms. Jeannie Mills/Mrs. Lynell Chance/Ms. Eveline Brady - The trio of women who most impacted my high school learning were a Math Teacher, an English Teacher and School Newspaper sponsor and a Spanish Teacher. I chose to take math, a subject I generally disliked, twice with Jeannie Mills. We are also still connected via Facebook. Her classes were also joyful and celebratory and her time as an advisor and friend was coveted. Other than memorization, math never came naturally to me. I scored higher on the verbal than the math portions of the SAT. But to boost that SAT score in time for college entrance exams SAT Math was one of the last classes I took from Ms. Mills. She just kept telling me to apply myself, and direct at least half the energy I was putting into reading and books. Following her lead, I added 20 points to my next SAT Math score, tying my Verbal score. I would learn this lesson more than once: where there is a will... Lynell Chance encouraged my vocabulary, my reading and my writing. My smart aleck remarks were at full steam at this point. I am sure I was occasionally exasperating. Miss Chance was also the sponsor of our school newspaper, The Lakeside Legend. Once after a particularly choice remark by me, while smiling and biting her tongue Mrs. Chance said to me, “Mr. Crane, it seems you have so much to say. Perhaps you should consider writing it down...and then never showing it to anyone.” Even I laughed at that. Ms. Brady was a free spirit, a Black woman teaching Spanish and playing jazz in her classroom, and not above using costumes to engage her students. I switched from French to Spanish, largely based on the other students who were in Ms. Brady’s “cool kids” class. She had long before taken my younger brother under her wing, and he spoke fondly of her almost daily. Ms. Brady taught and demonstrated that one should always be ready to be surprised and expect the unexpected.

I have witnessed my daughter and her mother as lifelong inspirations to their students. Barclay’s first year as a teach was coming up on 12 or 13 years ago, and she still hears from many of those children in a school where she only taught for one year. I wish I had done a better job of keeping in touch with the educators who did so much and meant so much to me. But if nothing else, I hope this word reaches them or their loved ones, as I once again say, “Thank you and God bless you.” Now, back to class.

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One Man’s Opinion, “That Wonderful HOT, Centennial Games Summer of ‘96,” Tuesday, August 5, 2026

I was very happy to see Atlanta’s many successes as a FIFA World Cup Host City, capped by th​at semi-final match between ​England and Argentina at “Atlanta Stadium” (Mercedes-Benz Stadium). Big winners include Atlanta’s downtown, as well as the City of Decatur, and Centennial Olympic Park as the center for national team fan action and gathering place for the thousands who came to the city to watch the match and party, even those without tickets inside the stadium. My hometown of Decatur hosted an incredible series of events and Watch Parties, featuring ​live match action, live music and a wide array of other amenities and attractions.

As a lifelong soccer fan and Atlanta United founding season ticket holder, it was also great to see football elevated to such a level of interest and visibility here in the U.S. ​ Though my wallet wasn’t quite willing to spring for the near fortune of match tickets, I did greatly enjoy an exhibition match between Team USA and Belgium, which was replicated in the actual tournament (again with a loss, but the USMNT team outplayed its World Cup standing from many prior years). And if you aren’t already aware, metro Atlanta is now the home of U.S. Soccer and the U.S. Olympic soccer training facilities near the town of Trilith in Fayette County, made possible largely by the philanthropy of Arthur Blank.

​It remains hard for me to believe 30 summers ​have passed since Atlanta welcomed the world for the Centennial Olympic Games in the Summer of 1996. I was blessed to be working at that time for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, as V.P. of Communications and Director of Marketing for Forward Atlanta, placing me at Ground Zero for things Olympic and with an office on what is now the Marietta Street side of Centennial Olympic Park.

​The city of Atlanta, Fulton County, the state of Georgia, and most of the metro Atlanta region, as well as our business and hospitality communities put aside their long differences and rowed together in one big boat to help the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) deliver the almost entirely privately funded Centennial Olympic Games. I won’t spend this column reciting the long list of lasting legacies our region received from hosting those games, but there is an excellent and newly expanded exhibit I highly recommend at the Atlanta History Center that covers that all incredibly well.

A Personal Stroll Down Centennial Summer Memories -

This will be a more personal stroll down my Centennial memory lane. I loved my job and had rented my home for the entire month of July. The rental rate was HIGH, though not an inestimable pile of cash. But I was newly divorced at the time, and that side income certainly helped pay quite a few bills. Audi, though not an Olympic sponsor, was making quite am ambush marketing splash with the ​introduction of their Audi A8 in Atlanta that same summer, complete with its Olympic looking ring​s logo.

Audi paid me and several other local dignitaries and athletes​ handsomely to drive their hot cars, and just ‘be highly visible’ for not quite 6-months before, during and after the games. Yes, that isn’t a typo...Audi paid me, and they reimbursed fuel, parking and SUGGESTED valet parking, as well as a modest mileage reimbursement to ensure that you got out and around town, driving that incredible car. I will likely never to be able to afford to own one, but it was an incredible ride​ and experience.

With my home occupied for the entire Olympiad, I stayed primarily in my grandmother’s former home in Smokerise on the east side of DeKalb County. We had lost Mary L. Crane in 1992, but her estate was still being liquidated, and her home still needed care, so I had the run of a large 4-bedroom, also where I had lived for awhile earlier, pre-divorce, in a rather cushy downstairs apartment. It made for a longer commute, but local and state leaders had largely convinced metro workers to telecommute for the first time, unless they had event tickets or business directly with the games, to use mass transit into and out of downtown.

Among the Highlights -

The Metro Chamber turned its headquarters into The Oasis Club, O Club for short, providing very high-end, high-dollar hospitality for economic development prospects, corporate entertainment and ​being at the hub of all Olympic activity. MSNBC was launched from that chamber rooftop, across the street from then arch-rival CNN, during those same games. I got to meet Larry Hagman, of recent “Dallas” fame, then serving as a spokesman for a Texas-tri-cities bid to host the 2008 Summer Olympics. Larry, in his Stetson handed out J.R. Ewing $1,000,000 bills and did his interview in accent and character. He was a hoot.

The Chamber held daily press briefings on that rooftop, to assist and feed positive content to the approximately 15,000 non-credentialed and non-rights-holding media attending the games. In addition to local heroes like Hank Aaron, Ambassador Andrew Young and Billy Payne, we hosted Coach Bela Karoli and the Magnificent Seven U.S. Gymnastics team, the morning after their Gold Medal win, as well as prior Olympiad giants including Olga Korbut and NBC’s Bob Costas.

Lifelong Bonds and Friendships Formed -

I formed lifelong personal and professional bonds with a quartet of incredible communications professionals ​during​ a weekly morning pre-game​s planning meeting. This group included my current business partner and former boss, Bill Marks (ACOG Deputy Communications Director), Nick Gold (Press Secretary to Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell) and Kim Arcuelo (Communications Director for the ACVB)​. I have hundreds of stories and memories of that summer, but one of my favorites involves securing daily access to the IOC sponsor hospitality village, and the IOC Hospitality Tent. This was in the days before facial recognition software or any of the many technologies available today, which would have kept me outside that tent…looking in.

Many new products were launched that summer, including Powerade, a Coca-Cola product to challenge Gatorade. Then and now, I preferred the ice blue colored, Mountain Berry flavor, at the time it amused me ​as being the same-color as our frequently maligned Olympic mascot, Izzy.

AND Izzy’s Blood -

The food and drink were incredible in that tent, and literal royalty, many of whom were IOC board members, dined there each day. One morning of a particularly long day, prior to the July 27^th bombing when many things took on a more somber tone, I was starting the day with a flute of Cristal champagne and blue Powerade.​ I jokingly told the bartender that the concoction should be called, “Izzy’s Blood.” About half way through that flute, a beautiful young lady appeared next to me at the bar, inquiring about my blue mimosa… I shared the contents, and the benefits of loading electrolytes on a hot summer day…

She ordered a large round of Izzy’s Blood for her table, which was the royal family of Sweden, whose ​national and royal colors are of course white and royal blue. As it turned out, she was a personal secretary to Princess Victoria, and when I returned to the tent a couple of mornings later, the Royal Family were all well ahead of me, on round 2 of Izzy’s Blood.

I was introduced to King Carl Gustaf, now Sweden’s longest reigning sovereign, as well as his wife the Queen, the Prince and Princess. By Swedish law passed in 1980, the first born is heir apparent, ma​king Crown Princess Victoria the next sovereign of Sweden. Her hand maiden and I kept in touch for awhile. I was later told that Izzy’s Blood became all the rage of the Royal Court at summer events in Sweden with the royal family. Someday I will need to reach out to Coca-Cola bottler in Sweden and explain where their fascination came from.​ Cheers to that hot, crazy summer, and even to Izzy! Skal! (cheers in Swedish).

Photos - Billy Payne, CEO of ACOG and then Atlanta City Council Member, Michael Julian Bond with Centennial Games mascot, Izzy and friends, 1996. (courtesy Michael Julian Bond)

Billy Payne and Izzy reunion at Truist Park, August 2026 (photo courtesy of the Atlanta Braves)

Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce Building aerial shot of Centennial Olympic Park.

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One Man’s Opinion, “Data Center Math Does Not Add Up,” Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Though I am a far cry from being an ‘early adopter’ or ‘technology influencer,’ I am also not a Luddite or someone who generally fears or holds the latest/greatest technological innovation in contempt. I am fond though of a favorite Mark Twain quote: “I’m all for Progress. It’s the damn change that I am against.”

Data Centers, fast on their way to becoming the latest societal scourge, are not new. Their purpose and proliferation are rapidly evolving, but Cisco, Amazon, Meta, Google and others have been leasing and selling computing storage and data capacity for nearing two decades. Those centers are where the “Cloud“ is located. Demand for more computing capacity and storage is being driven by the development of A.I., increasing 5G adoption, as well as visual content streaming of nearly every kind, all of which consume significant storage space and bandwidth.

The Data Centers keep getting larger, and admittedly their demand for electrical power and fresh water supply do concern me. At Stanton Springs near Rutledge, Georgia, some area residents have been fighting the location and development of a Rivian Automotive Plant. Though Rivian will bring billions in investment, several thousand jobs and other benefits to the region, activists in opposition have been pushing back primarily on environmental and quality of life concerns. Meanwhile, humming quietly nearby, Meta owns and operates a couple of massive data centers. The first was labeled and used primarily by Facebook, the second and newer data center exists quietly without signage, but is also owned by Meta.

On the plus side of the ledger, though that list may be short, Data Centers do generate MASSIVE property tax payments and revenue to the host local government—or, in the case of Stanton Springs, three counties and one combined and well managed industrial authority.

​Muddying the Waters? -

Earlier this year, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), brandished Mason Jars of muddy, polluted water, sent to her by residents of Rutledge, Georgia and Morgan County, freshly drawn from what had previously been their pristine wells. The Meta centers are alledgedy thirstily drawing down the underground aquifers from which those local residential and farm wells draw their drinking water.

Some large tech players like Google and Alphabet are going further, on their own initiative, with an effort by 2030 to introduce or treat more potable water into regions where their data centers draw out. These efforts are to be commended and will hopefully be replicated, if not later regulated. President Donald Trump recently announced that he is a large-scale supporter of data centers. I am not sure how much that will move the needle in exurban and rural areas now viewed as “Trump Country,” but buried in last year’s “Big Beautiful Budget Bill” is a provision preventing states from regulating A.I. development. We may see soon if the feds attempt to ‘trump’ any state efforts to slow the sprawl and siting of Data Centers at the county and municipal level before too many aquifers are irreversibly impacted.

Though I am an only occasional user of AI, I have witnessed some of its marvels and benefits, besides providing college and even high school students whole new ways to cheat on their term papers. But when I recently read in several different credible publications that our U.S. tech giants are investing approximately $7.0 trillion dollars in their data center expansion and development between now and 2030, I seriously began to question their math, much less their desire for an eventual return on investment (https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-7-trillion-dollar-data-center-build-out-how-industrials-can-capture-their-share​)

​The entire U.S. federal budget for fiscal year 2026 totals roughly $6.9 trillion. With an active war underway with Iran, and mission support in multiple places around the globe, our U.S. Defense Budget is $1.5 trillion.​

Return on Investment, for the Public OR for the Private Enterprises? -

At that spending pace I can see chip-maker Nvidia’s profitability, but the picture is a lot foggier if those tech giants are building out capacity that we may not ever actually need. And what about the possibility of a takedown of our reasonably vulnerable power grid, or the use of EMF weapons, which permanently fry the circuitry of anything electronic, from your phone and laptop to any data center within range or your automobile’s computer operating system... It seems like an insanely big bet on technology still unproven simply for fear of being beaten by the Chinese.

But more practically, private sector enterprises and their shareholders can place bad bets, with their capital and let the marketplace shake things out... Only they are not doing that alone. Georgia Power, a well managed utility and largest operating division of the Southern Company, is investing billions in new power generation and its transmission network, as well as assisting in the build out of data centers, who are about to become several of their largest customers.

During the electrification of the south, and development of transmission networks and our power grid, a strong argument could be made for locating power transmission lines with the most efficient and cost effective routing, and occasionally using the force and power of eminent domain to buy out or relocate private property owners in the way of those transmission power lines, power plants and sub-stations.

But a Data Center is NOT a “public benefit or amenity.” It is a data and profit center for a for-profit enterprise. I have been shocked to learn recently of a new 35-mile transmission line project, almost alongside other existing utility right of way, which crosses through four counties through west Georgia to a Data Center site location in Coweta County, which is directly impacting more than 330 property owners, and requiring the relocation and even demolition of dozens of homes and farms, many of which have been multi-generational properties.

Where is the Georgia Power That I Know So Well? -

The Georgia Power that I know quite well has long been a good corporate citizen, but even if the buy-out offers are above market, they should NOT be allowed to use eminent domain—a last resort tool of government--while simultaneously clinging to ‘client anonymity’ on the owners of the planned Data Center.

I support and tip my hat to the ongoing efforts of Ansley Brown, a young mother, wife and resident of Grantville, Georgia (https://www.facebook.com/ansley.hunter.3​). Ms. Brown has been loudly and directly pushing back on the Georgia Power transmission project, garnering a following of more than 1 million on social media, thousands of area resident petition signatures and organizing numerous community events across the region to slow or pause the project. Ms. Brown’s initial involvement was spurred by the proposed loss of her childhood home and her mother’s current home. While that residence and many others on that quiet street have now reached an agreement to sell to Georgia Power, hundreds of properties are still yet to be taken and thousands more will become front row seat ‘neighbors’ to this new massive transmission line system, as well as likely, eventually a Data Center.

The incredible amount of computing power in these more behemoth structures can be heard as a loud, 24-hour electric hum surrounding the centers. And while consuming massive amounts of electricity to run those computers as well as the required A/C, these buildings put a lot of heat into the atmosphere. I wasn’t too concerned about the cows passing gas in a dairy or cattle farm, but a few hundred thousand PC racks put off a lot more heat.

The Space Race Paid Dividends, But Some Took Decades -

I am reminded of the Space Race, which took place on a much smaller scale, but delivered incredible societal benefits from miniaturization and transistors and early computer chips, to the knowledge we gained in being able to view our planet from space and the many satellites which now surround us providing a wide array of services. I am not a tech giant or a futurist who solely sees a despotic future ahead of us, but I can see about a dozen different ways that these investments could go south, or that water tables of finite nature could be permanently damaged by forever chemical waste. Slowing down this literal artificial brain drain seems only common sense.

A closed data center, or one without power or water for cooling is a real possibility. At that point, revenue stops and vital resources are gone. We should thoughtfully consider requiring onsite power generation, using technology such as small scale nuclear, and looking at cooling technologies, such as underwater encasement and even geothermal versus the use of conventional air conditioning and its massive drain on power generation. And with this level of investment, it also doesn’t require a financial analyst to see the bubble building as the return on this level of investment may take decades to recover...if ever. If killing thousands of jobs and industries is a side benefit, who will be able to buy all of the new services and amenities which A.I. supposedly brings? Too many big unanswered questions. Let’s hit the pause button.

###

Portrait of Alexander Hamilton, who also opposed the original Gerry-Mander.

One Man’s Opinion, “Let’s Draw Political District Maps to Serve Communities,” Tuesday, July 21, 2026, 757 words

While our President is sowing new seeds of doubt in our nation’s elections, do not forget an equally significant shift underway to make a once a decade process (district reapportionment following each U.S. census) into a process that can be redone on political whim and by whichever party holds the current political majority, at almost any given time.

Welcome to the wonderful world of re-districting and political district map-making, 2026. Having worked under Georgia’s Gold Dome, and later Capitol Hill during times of Democratic and Republican majorities, I have witnessed both Team Red and Team Blue skewing district maps in their favor following U.S. Census results and during re-districting.

In 1991, a solid Democratic majority in the Georgia General Assembly drew a map for the new 11^th Congressional District that looked like a Rorschach ink blot straddling I-20, reaching from Decatur, Georgia to Savannah. State Rep. Cynthia McKinney won that new 11^th Congressional District, which had a 64% African-American majority when she was elected in 1992 as the first African-American woman to represent Georgia in Congress. McKinney was re-elected in 1994. Several constituents of McKinney’s new district, previously in several other districts with very different maps challenged the new map in court, and during 1995 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Miller v. Johnson that the district boundaries were unconstitutional gerrymandering because the new boundaries were drawn primarily focused on the racial composition of the constituents of the new district. A special session of the Georgia General Assembly subsequently redrew those congressional district maps, and U.S. Rep. McKinney’s district was subsequently renumbered the 4th District taking in most all of DeKalb County, GA. Though Ms. McKinney protested her new map and district, which had a nearly identical racial demographic composition, she won easy re-election in 1996, 1998, and 2000. She lost her seat during the Democratic Primary in 2002.

Political parties pursuing a defined, even at times divisive ideological agenda or policy, certainly. Promoting candidates and statewide office holders who support your principals or core beliefs, no question. But using household and even precinct-level data on prior voting patterns and age/race/gender demographics in an attempt to draw customized political districts at the municipal, county, state, and federal levels to maintain or grow your power base, or artificially hang on to power. Certainly NOT. Those are the kind of power grabs that President George Washington feared in his longstanding opposition to political parties.

And yet, President Donald Trump has been pressing GOP Governors and legislatures in deep Red states to convene Special Sessions and redraw their Congressional District maps in part to increase GOP districts and potentially hold the GOP Majority in the U.S. House in the coming mid-terms.

I may be whistling in the wind, or speaking to an audience still entranced by the Trump Administration’s clarion call to roll the clock back to paper ballots and block all but overseas military and a very select few from voting by mail. Voting by mail could use some further securitization. Georgia made a strong step in that direction by requiring Voter Identification along with casting absentee ballots.

Let’s also remember the purpose of our U.S. House to be the ‘people’s chamber,’ and the similar intentions by charter and State Constitution of those legislative bodies and the sub-ordinate cities, counties and townships which they created.

We cannot entirely remove politics from politics. But how about we put the needs of the public and our cities, counties and communities first. When we DO REDRAW district maps, let’s consider and prioritize regions and communities of common interest. Prioritize practical existing district boundaries such as using city and county lines, large bodies of water and already determined metropolitan statistical areas, rather than drawing maps which often bisect neighborhoods and streets, sometimes playing hop-scotch through a community by grabbing and separating upper and lower income neighborhoods within the same Zip Code.

As a political independent these days, it will definitely show me a lot when either party or its leadership puts the needs of We The People ahead of their desire for consolidating more power, influence or racking up a larger majority, via clearly partisan gerrymandering and district map making. I may be too Pollyanna for even making the suggestion, but I certainly know that heading down this path would be extremely well received by the voting public at large. Maps drawn to guarantee extreme majorities often instead guarantee more extremist officeholders, further divided government, and a less than adequate result for the people they are all intended to serve. Put that in your district GPS mapmaker. Do better. We deserve as much.

###

And the President keeps “winning…”

https://dailyboulder.com/trump-doj-mistook-routine-court-order-for-a-victory-then-suffered-embarrassing-16th-straight-defeat-on-voter-rolls/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTI5MlleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFCQjRlYkg2WXdzME5NSzdBc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvPFqTqk3jIZ7RWkVTNeUfgKa9GpCA1g6r9BUpyWlV7AEHEek-87g3lg9t2o_aem__W9ZCIX8Ub-9bhQvQnMwlA

One Man’s Opinion, “The Tale of Two Landos,” Friday, July 10, 2026

Once upon a time, there were several magical places in the Land of 1000 Lakes. In the central region of Florida, far away from the beaches and their bugs grew a cluster of kingdoms, each created to offer respite and pleasure for families the world over.

My first trip to Orlando was in 1974. The paint was still drying at Disney World; there was a minimal park entry fee, and attraction charges were per ride, ranging from free exhibitions like “The Carousel of Progress” (sponsored by General Electric) and “If You Had Wings” (sponsored by Eastern Airlines), to A-E ticket priced rides, much more like a county or state fair, giving patrons access to the restaurants, attractions and gift shops, but allowing their wallet and ride appetites to determine the ‘spend’ for each day. When DisneyWorld opened in the early 1970s, General Adult Admission was $6.50 and an E-Ticket attraction cost 90 cents.

​Though Dad purchased a family vacation home on Jekyll Island later that same year, which would dominate our summer and Thanksgiving vacation destinations for decades to come, I continued to hear the siren song coming from the Lands of Lando...

​During the interim decades, Uncle Walt’s playground would gain competition, as Anheuser Busch would expand its Florida amusement park holdings from Busch Gardens in Tampa, to Sea World, Discovery Cove and Aquatica along the International Drive tourism/convention center row in Orlando. And Universal Studios, now NBC/Universal, about to branch into a second publicly traded company out of Xfinity/Comcast/NBC/Universal, would perhaps mount the strongest challenge to the growing Disney park dynasty, with a family of parks and resort hotel properties to take on the House of Mouse. As my first born daughter Barclay reached school age, I became a Disney Dad in reasonably short order, and regular pilgrimages to the Magical Lands of Lando would often include cousins, close friends and even following her competition dance team there for a performance.

A PAUSE, THEN REGULAR RETURN-

Those regular visits paused for slightly more than a decade until the arrival of her younger sister. Perhaps my most enjoyable park trek to date, despite requiring a second-mortgage to finance, was the first trip a couple of years ago with the grandtwin Mighty Mites, both their parents (Barclay and Cody) as well as their Aunt Olivia. I still find magic in those multi-generational family gatherings.

Olivia and I just returned from the Kingdoms this week, where we celebrated our nation’s 250th birthday at Universal Studios, followed by three days at Disney and one at Aquatica. We enjoyed parts of each place, space and day...but with now a half century invested in making these treks, I feel compelled to share some troubling observations, as the Land of Happiness seems to be evolving, more into a Land of Plenty, and a lesser lands of have-nots.

The heat was significant on this visit. I had long ago come to prefer park visits during the holidays and winter months, where the temps are lower and with a few exceptions the crowds are lighter. But a significant birthday for Olivia came on July 1, and when asked what she wanted, this trip was the ask…

NOW A TALE OF TWO OR THREE LANDOS-

The Disney Parks have the highest price points. For a three-day stay, regular retail was $179.00 per park per person, per day. Thankfully, utilizing a combination of discounts—10% off for AARP members and $50.00 per day off for late entry at 1:45 p.m.— and later, our per park, per day rate was $129.00. Parking was an additional $35.00 per day, though Disney now allows you to move between parks and parking lots without an extra charge on the same day. We typically ate breakfast at our hotel and had lunch just before entering the parks. Olivia would typically run out of batteries in that heat about 4-5 hours later, so more often than not, dinner was back at the hotel or en route after leaving the park. Disney has almost innumerable amenities, attractions, and sites to see, but I have seldom been all that impressed with their dining.

​I took note, in the parking lot, on the wrists next to the Magic Bands, and in the attire of most adult park visitors...this was a very upscale crowd, even with their sunburns, occasional heat exhaustion and community Karens wailing about some expectation not being completely fulfilled...at least twice in each park. Though we have stayed on property many times over the years—and Disney offers 40,000+ hotel rooms at a wide array of price points and resorts, along with amenities like extra park hours and free use of their transportation system—we stayed at a nearby Marriott property that was convenient to all the leisure lands and where I could pay with hotel reward points. But even this option included a $26 daily parking fee, in a surface lot outside the hotel. This trio of Marriot mid-market properties at Lake Buena Vista has aged reasonably well, Barclay and I stayed here during its opening summer and for several years after.

We planned our July 4th at Universal Studios, my favorite of the parks. A few minor disappointments: my favorite restaurant there, an Irish Pub in the New York City within that park was closed for re-branding and refurbishment. Olivia’s favorites, an E.T.-themed ride and a Live Animals On Set stage show had held most of their charm. Daily afternoon thundershowers, a staple there as long as I can remember, typically arrive before afternoon drive time, cooling off the hot pavement, bringing a slight breeze and making the heat/humidity more tolerable. We dined at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville and watched fireworks from our hotel balcony, as Disney was putting on quite a spectacle just above the treeline slightly more than a mile away.

By far Olivia’s favorite is the Magic Kingdom, our day there was magical and we almost never left Fantasyland, home to the bulk of Disney Princesses and Villains. We visited or rode all of our old favorites as well as chatted briefly with Cinderella, Snow White and Belle. The latter gave Olivia a now-treasured bookmark, as both daughters love to read.

We broke up the Disney trifecta with a water park day at Aquatica, a SeaWorld affiliate park. After Anheuser-Busch was acquired by Imbev, a Belgian beverage conglomerate, the company divested the theme park division, which has since been resold twice or thrice to a series of private equity groups. Though the aquatic mammal shows and their care seem well maintained, the rest of those parks are in apparent and visual decline. Maintenance needs are visible everywhere, food quality is sub-par, and staffing and even safety standards are visibly only a fraction of those high-life Busch years.

CHANGE NOTED, NOT ALL FOR THE BETTER-

In my years traveling the parks with Barclay, SeaWorld and particularly two dolphin visits at Discovery Cove made those parks a family favorite. Their condition today somewhat saddened me. We purchased a Groupon for admission, more than halving the gate price (neither Disney nor the Universal Parks routinely discount admission). But the park owners still find ways to get cash from visitors. Parking was $45.00 in a large, paved, and pock-marked parking lot, offering no trams or way to beat the heat if the park was crowded.

As we picked a mid-week day, the park was only semi-crowded, but Olivia and I were now in the minority, as our fellow park patrons were primarily black and brown, and Spanish was spoken much more frequently than English. The staff and other guests all treated us well, but I did note at Guest Services as we entered with our Groupon, that several families were paying for their annual passes—less than the cost of two visits—by signing up for monthly payment plans.

Again by comparison, the Disney parks were whiter than I had ever seen them, with more Rolexes and mothers clad in Lulu Lemon. The Universal and SeaWorld parks were much more teen/tween-aimed and reflected a more mid-market customer base.

Of course, there are more expensive resorts all over the world...but the dividing line, based primarily on economic levels, was quite striking. Disney recently announced in an Earnings Call that it expects 2027 will bring another hike in park admission prices, to roughly $200.00 per park, per person per day, along with higher ‘surge’ pricing on high demand holiday weekends and for special events. A large segment of America had long been priced out of an ‘on property’ Disney Resort stay, but this may make the dream of even a park visit become only a fantasy for all too many.

As a very minor, minor Disney shareholder, I will admit it is typically the best performing stock in my modest portfolio, and I want them to be profitable, but there is something in all of this which feels a bit more Elitist with each visit, and I can’t help but think Uncle Walt is wincing more than a bit when he gazes down upon his magical lands of family wonder.

A final, redeeming magical moment during our day in EPHOT. Princess Aurora, better known as Sleeping Beauty, was walking through France in EPCOTs World Showcase area. She had a photographer in tow, but no security or cue of other park visitors. Disney Princesses have been a lifelong fascination for Olivia, Aurora was her first. The first full sentence Olivia spoke with me was during a walk at around age 2, when she began to sing the lyrics of “Once Upon a Dream,” from Sleeping Beauty. I shared this with Aurora, who was also touched. She took Olivia’s hand and they began to walk and sing the tune together. I couldn’t get my mobile out fast enough to capture that on video, but we did get a few more magical photos and memories. Wishing the same for you and your family this hot summer of 2026.

###

One Man’s Opinion, “Happy 250th Birthday America,” Tuesday, July 1, 2026

Though I was only 15 at the time, I have many very vivid memories of our nation’s Bicentennial in 1976. And though it took me a few years as a cashier at Winn-Dixie in those days, I still have my collection of 48 of those 50 state Bicentennial quarters.

It was a time of great national pride that I could sort of feel in the air that summer. I well remember seeing the movie, “1776,” and later a live stage version of that inspiring musical. Several of those songs still pop up periodically in my head. Gerald R. Ford, the almost accidental President of that day, seemed like more of a cameo player in that larger national production. He gave some nice speeches and presided over a few events, but in 1976, during those few post-Watergate years, our nation seemed optimistic, as well as focused on nostalgia and patriotism simultaneously. And yet, it was also a Presidential Election year (former Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter would win that contest over Ford in November of 1976).

Our nation’s capital was inundated with tourists, from the Capitol building to the White House, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and a much smaller number of Smithsonian Museums. Our own family had visited the summer prior (1975) in part to avoid the expected crowds. In the black and white photo atop this column, you can see the Mall inundated with visitors, eager to soak up what is one of the most inspiring vistas in our country. At that time, the Mall itself was much less crowded, now also filled with multiple war and veteran memorials, as well as surrounded by multiple additions to the Smithsonian Museums.

SMITHSONIAN PLANNED AN IMPRESSIVE CELEBRATION FOR NEARLY A DECADE-

The Smithsonian in fact had spent nearly a decade preparing for this Semisequicentennial celebration in Washington, D.C., with a bi-partisan Congressional Commission, some federal funding and millions in private donations to plan and execute America 250, with a summer-long celebration of the now world’s longest-surviving Constitutional Republic. However in 2025, our second boomerang Commander-in-Chief chose to scrap those plans and celebrations and to rebrand this milestone anniversary as Freedom 250, now underway across the Federal District and our nation’s capital. As of this writing, a few days away from July 4th and the biggest celebration day, the public reaction, attendance and reviews are more than a bit…under-whelming.

The centerpiece, filling the vast expanse of our Capitol Mall is The Great American State Fair. Full disclosure, I have not been there, and have no plans to be, but from the photos, aerials views and ongoing live Fox News coverage from the Fair, it would appear that 10s of dozens of Americans are struggling to find the entrance, melting in the typical heat of summer along the Potomac, while visiting many rather bland (short-notification and lead time) exhibits by 42 of our 56 states, territories and protectorates.

Word is that Florida and Colorado have among the two most popular states to visit, with a majority having the look and feel of an Interstate Visitor Center, with free brochures and frequently no restrooms.

POWER/AC AND MEMORABLE EXHIBITS IN SHORT SUPPLY-

Reliable power supply and working generators appear to be a problem, with sporadically functioning air conditioning. During D.C.’s typical summer afternoon thundershowers, fair-goers are regularly evacuated OUT of the exhibit tents, which are not all grounded well, at the first sign of lightning and thunder, onto the Mall lawn and into the rain, so they will not add ‘being struck by lightning’ to their special memories of this historic American anniversary.

Though the Smithsonian had planned nightly live concerts, and a broad array of American folk art and cultures to be showcased, many of those top artists and acts withdrew their participation as the planned Fair appeared to become increasingly partisan and political in nature (something not at all present in 1976). One of the biggest names appearing this week, though a fellow Georgian and metro Atlantan, is actor/singer/songwriter John Schneider, perhaps best known as Bo Duke of The Dukes of Hazzard. I am a fan of John and his work, but by week’s end he may prefer to be more associated with his second most famous role as Jonathan Kent, Superboy’s father on Smallville, who when danger called could simply carry or fly his father to safer and higher ground.

THREE THINGS ARE INCREDIBLY CLEAR THIS YEAR-

From every camera angle presented thus far of the Great American Fair, three things are in great evidence. The U.S. Park Service has really improved its lawn care abilities, and each blade of grass can almost be counted. The Temu version of the Arch de Trump is serving as a great way-finder, tall enough to help guide visitors into the no-long-lines entrances among the multiple fenced-off public spaces elsewhere along the great Mall. The highly visible Ferris Wheel, a staple of State Fairs across the country, is immobile almost as often as the wheel is spinning, again due to generator problems. The line forming for one of the fair’s few actual ‘attractions’ is also one of the few indicators of ‘a crowd’ waiting in line for the ride to function.

In 1976, I would have given most anything to make a return trek to Washington. Instead, this year and for the upcoming holiday weekend, my youngest daughter and I will celebrate her birthday park hopping in Orlando, Florida. On the plus side, from what I have heard from a few visitors to the Great American State Fair, we may find the Disney and Universal Parks to be a comparative food bargain. At the D.C. celebration, a lemonade is $10, a foot-long corn dog is $12 and a giant pretzel is $25.

The grand fireworks finale for July 4th, advance-billed as the “World’s largest and longest fireworks display,” has been pushed back to 11 p.m., to allow time for President Donald J. Trump’s live televised remarks. I expect by that time in Orlando, Olivia and I will have viewed quite an impressive fireworks spectacular there, and likely already be in bed or nearly there.

I hope those families fortunate enough to be in D.C. and on those fairgrounds pack some extra cans of Red Bull, or perhaps a blue energy drink of choice for a long, hot night in what really once was a swamp. Happy birthday ‘Merica. Long may ye reign!

###

​Photos courtesy of the U.S. Park Service & Fox News Channel

Photos courtesy of: U.S. Park Service and Fox News

One Man’s Opinion, “Many Missing Ms. Martha,” Wednesday, June 24, 2026

I ​first met Martha Zoller sort of the way thousands of others do. As part of my early work at WSB Radio, Scott Slade, broadcast icon and not quite four decades long host of “Atlanta’s Morning News with Scott Slade,“ began a Sunday morning edition of his Monday-Friday show. However, the AMN Sunday Edition was long form radio, much like CBS Radio with Charles Kuralt or Charles Osgood.​ Though born and raised around Griffin, Georgia, Slade has a Midwestern accent and a deep, authoritative voice that you know and trust.

Scott’s voice introduced me to a radio colleague and already friend of his, Martha Zoller, already a dozen years into her radio career, as the host of “The Martha Zoller Show” on WDUN-AM 550, then and now sort of the North Georgia and Gainesville-based equivalent of WSB and the heart of the Jacobs Media Group. Scott assembled a round-table of journalists and pundits who would gather and tape each Friday, a roughly 7.5-15 minute segment typically consuming the final quarter of the hour long AMN Sunday Edition.

The group varied, but regulars included the AJC’s Jim Galloway and Greg Bluestein, Lori Geary (then of WSB Action News and now host of The Georgia Gang on Fox 5) and more often than most featured guest Martha Zoller.​ I knew of Martha because of her clout within the Georgia GOP and campaign media circles... Republican and Democratic candidates, nominees and incumbents all had her number on speed dial. Very few of them would pass through Gainesville, or enter or exit a campaign season without making a pit stop to sit down and chat with the one and only Ms. Zoller.

When an opening occurred for a U.S. House seat in the 9th Congressional District, as Gainesville’s Nathan Deal became Governor. She ran hard to succeed him. That special election contest was won by Doug Collins, who represented Georgia and the 9th well in Congress. He now leads the Department of Veterans Affairs. The loss was tough, but Martha rebounded very quickly, perhaps more significantly, at least to me, though the race got a bit muddy and there were certainly shots fired by both camps... I have never since heard Martha criticize or speak ill of her former opponent. I asked her about that once, during an unrelated chat about the first Trump impeachment proceeding in the U.S. House. Collins was serving as Chief Defense Counsel for Trump.

She paused for a moment, laughed, looked at me with those sparkling eyes of hers and said, “Yeah... life is too short.“

She would later spend a few years doing radio with another group in Athens and with a friend and colleague, Tim Bryant. Both Martha and Tim are conservatives and Martha is additionally a Christian Conservative. On many topics and issues, then and now, we didn’t quite see eye to eye. Even when ​our disagreements were substantive, and she always did her homework, ​her tone was always upbeat. There was no meanness in her arguments and civility, respect for others and general kindness prevailed in EVERY SINGLE encounter I have had with her for more than two decades.

​After contributing and working as a political analyst at WSB Radio for 16 years, by 2022, I had begun making occasional appearances on other Georgia radio stations outside of the Atlanta MSA. Martha’s show was one of the first stops I made as well... Unbeknownst to me, I was about to go on a ‘two-year sabbatical’ from my home at WSB TV and Radio after​ an ill-chosen description of our Commander In Chief’s use of bronzer... Though much more a fan of the President than I am, after that ax dropped, Martha was among the first to check in, suggesting that my occasional visits with her become weekly, with a fixed position and that WDUN would also be interested in adding my column, One Man’s Opinion, to their website, where it continues to appear today. Though I only lost one syndicate member and daily newspaper during that career speed bump, Martha was the first to extend a hand and remind me how touched she was by a call I made to her after the loss of that Congressional seat...

For the last four years and change, every Wednesday morning between 10:00 and 10:30, I would join Martha for Crane’s Corner. Though Martha prepped for her every show, and arrived at the station hours ahead of air, I seldom kn​ew what we might be chatting about, or if there might be an occasional guest host. It was wonderful, live radio, which I hoped sounded like two good friends having coffee and catching up (as that in part, is what it was)... But at least for me, it was a lot more than that. I would lose my mother almost at the start of this shared weekly coffee. Martha’s husband, Lin, would face and beat back two battles with cancer. My twin grandsons, the Might Mites, would become social media darlings and later a third, the Tiny Tyke would join the family...Martha noted, commented and complimented each addition.

Within days of going public about a year and change ago with a rather dire cancer diagnosis and prognosis, again Martha was among the first of many friends to call, check in and ask if I needed to take some time away from her show. I chose just the opposite, as her program often lined up with my then twice monthly chemo visits, we frequently sat in the virtual Crane’s Corner while I was in the chemo chair at my oncologist’s office. And I assure you those visits more than helped to pass that time.

In February of this year, Martha had a cardiac episode. The heart attack got her attention. Very active and vital, she shared that stress was her cardiologist’s key concern, and she was only a couple of years ahead of me. IF she didn’t reduce those daily doses that a several hour live radio show can induce, that stress might start making some choices for her. Martha called to share her plans to retire from her daily show at the end of June. This Friday was her last planned regular show. She was going to continue on as Senior Political Analyst for Jacob’s Media, appear twice monthly on The Georgia Gang, continue her Blog and perhaps grow her consulting business. But I also know from spending a couple of evenings with her and Lin in Atlanta during this year’s General Assembly that they were ​also planning some more family time and travel.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, June 25th, would have been our last regular radio chat. Instead I will visit with her most regular guest host, the Reverend, Dr. Tom Smiley. Her family will hold visitation in Gainesville on Monday, followed by what I am sure will be a packed house for her farewell and service. Martha was a loving mother and wife, also a business partner in Lin’s medical practice and staffing enterprises, a loyal UGA Bulldog and Grady College grad, a member of the State Board of Education, longtime GOP ​grass roots activist and even more loyal mentor and friend. Wednesdays will no longer be quite the same for me...and along with a few thousand others across north Georgia, I am going to miss getting a chance to regularly hear from my friend, Martha Zoller.​ Rest in peace.

​###

​Photo courtesy of Jacobs Media

“I was offered a job on Wall Street by my uncle. But I wanted to get out. Make it on my own kinda thing,” George H.W. Bush (1924-2018), the 41st President of the United States to his biographer.

Perhaps not our most articulate President, but among the most genuine of the modern era. Born possibly with the silver spoon of which former Texas Governor Anne Richards so derisively spoke, George H. W. Bush, the son of a former Wall Street banker and powerful U.S. Senator, Prescott Bush (R-Connecticut), graduated prep school and at age 18 joined the U.S. Navy, by age 19, becoming the Navy’s youngest aviator and aircraft tail-gunner. Shot down over the Pacific in 1944, Bush would parachute out of his flaming aircraft, after also hitting most of his assigned bomber targets. Following a post-war graduation from Yale, Bush broke out for Texas and a shot at the oil business with his young bride Barbara.

While Bush had modest successes in the oil business, he would soon begin to cut a path of public service. Bush was elected to Congress, representing suburban Houston and later a twice unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate. President Richard Nixon appointed Bush as Ambassador to the United Nations, and then Chairman of the Republican National Committee, during the Watergate years. Bush was actually one of the first voices to publicly call, in a written letter to Nixon, for the President to resign for the good of the country. Ford would later appoint Bush the U.S. Envoy to China (we did not yet have an Ambassador), and then Director of the C.I.A.

When Bush began his campaign for President in 1979, he was joined early by a prominent Georgia Republican, Paul Coverdell and their strong friendship would last for decades.

After winning the White House in 1988, Bush appointed Coverdell his U.S. Peace Corps Director, and in 1991, Coverdell left the administration and returned to Georgia to seek the U.S. Senate seat held by incumbent Democrat Wyche Fowler. Coverdell faced four statewide elections that 1992 Presidential Election year, including the state’s first U.S. Senate run-off. On that long runoff election night, three weeks after Bush had lost his own re-election to President-elect Bill Clinton, President Bush was attempting to keep tabs on the race of his pal Coverdell.

But in 1992, Al Gore had not yet invented the internet, and the Associated Press did not track results of state contests for national wire distribution. The President’s eldest son, and family campaign manager, George W. Bush, was constantly calling my mobile phone for Election Night updates to relay to his father, who had lost the White House three weeks prior, and his beloved mother Dorothy Walker Bush just a week prior.

With election results swaying back and forth all night, only the north metro Atlanta suburbs remained to be tallied, George Bush asked me via mobile, “What’s still out?”

I told him that most of North Fulton County was still out, (some things never change). Amidst the sound of rustling papers W. said, “You mean places like Roswell, and Alpharetta?” I had forgotten at the time that the President had kicked off his re-election campaign in nearby Woodstock.

Me - “Yes, those are still out.”

W. - “Well...Dad carried Roswell by more than 70 percent, and Alpharetta by nearly 80. I’m going to go ahead and tell him that Paul has won.”

Before I could say, “Wait..” or make it across that ballroom to Coverdell with the phone, the unmistakable voice of Poppy Bush came on to say...”

“Congratulations Senator!“

I apologized and asked the President to repeat himself as I thrust the phone into the hands and ear of our soon to be U.S. Senator-elect Paul Coverdell. The unofficial election results, which would show a state win by just over 25,000 votes, were expected within the hour. two days prior to Thanksgiving.

The slightly premature congratulations boost Coverdell’s ego and often stooped stature visibly by several inches, a smile beamed across his face as he thanked the President for bothering himself with keeping track. Coverdell’s victory would also decide the U.S. Senate Majority.

“You’ll be our 51st Senator Paul...this one is more important than either of us.”

The Bush family’s favored biographer, Jon Meacham, has often referred to 41 as “The Last Gentleman.” I don’t think that is quite accurate as George W. Bush (43), as well as his brother former Governor Jeb Bush of Florida and a few others in public life still remain in that arena, but it is a shrinking field, in what was once a much larger league of extra-ordinary gentlemen... Thankfully, the Bush bloodline isn’t quite done serving America yet, and thankfully there are still a few stars America hasn’t met quite yet from that Bush league and elsewhere. God bless you both, Mr. President!

Photo courtesy of the Associated Press -

President George W. Bush (43) and his father, President George H.W. Bush (41)

Entering the September of my years as Frank Sinatra sings, or the 4th quarter of life as some others have less charitably put it, reminds one of the importance of taking inventory and adjusting priorities. It is not about how many more years of life we can squeeze out, but rather, how much life, good work and impact we can still make with those years.

Though I have only once sent a telegram, I am old enough to have a lot of experience with landline phones, fax machines and was self-taught on a Memory-Writer, later MS DOS and Microsoft Windows, and all its many updates since. Never really an early adapter, I can download and figure out most phone apps, though I still HATE E-tickets.

As we are often led to express that ‘youth’ is wasted on the young, I will admit, in my late 20s near the start of my career, while serving as Press Secretary for then-Georgia Secretary of State Max Cleland, he insisted on writing in the word “youngest,” near the start of almost every title or job upgrade over the five years we updated his bio. Cleland was at the time in his middle 40s. Well… I get it now.

There can be quite a sudden shift from ‘Hey kid,’ to ‘...‘Wait a minute old Man‘ much quicker than you might think. I am also someone who tries to find and seek the better sides of life, the more optimistic vision and version - believing that if people are willing to work together and make compromises, that almost any objective IS achievable.

With that in mind, I thought I might share some of the benefits of aging, beyond AARP senior discounts and the occasional surprise of someone holding a door or an elevator and saying, ‘...After you sir’ though that latter pleasure is almost entirely limited to the south.

Perspective -

I am a bit too much of a control freak to ever be an easy-going or a WTH happens kind of guy, but age and some battle scars have taught me NOT to fight every battle, to understand that others have their own, well-formed opinions and preferences as well as personal history and backgrounds. Living awhile has brought out the Libertarian in me, so you can do or think what you want to, as long as you don’t harm or take from others in the process of doing that.

Empathy/Kindness -

I credit my mother with this one, but raising a special needs child and being a parent to two daughters, and now a grandparent, remind me daily of the many simple joys of life, if we take the time to appreciate them, as well as that manners, kindness and the empathy of living by the Golden Rule cost us nothing and can contribute so much to so many, with only the slightest of efforts.

Grandchildren -

If you know...you know, and I mean no insult to those without children, but becoming a grandparent makes all that earlier rollercoaster ride entirely worthwhile. I can also mention and strongly recommend that as life partners pass or marriages dissolve, you can still marry into becoming a grandparent, one of life’s great short-cuts.

A year ago, still in my cancer journey, I could barely lift either of my then four year old grandsons. Now as they crest upon 6, I am back to toting the pair…

Occasional Answers to the Mysteries of Life -

I still do NOT understand why women obsess over shoes, or how many of my friends can become more distressed over losing a particular football game than over losing a job... But I have figured out why weddings and funerals at times seem so similar and why your presence (when invited) is so important at both, for different reasons. Having said ‘See you later‘ too soon to too many good people, I also believe we get to move on to a better place, though I am still figuring out what all I may still need to do to get there.

And perhaps leaving the best benefit of aging for last, having lost entirely too many friends, family (my own blood brother) and hundreds of acquaintances at entirely too young an age... still living certainly beats the alternative. My cremation is prepaid, and I hope the Irish wake is long, the bar is open and the stories are funny...but I also still have a long bucket list, and plans through at least the early 2040s... or so.

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Photo courtesy of the author - Bill Crane with younger daughter Olivia, and twin grandsons Callen and Carter @ Georgia’s Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, Georgia, Memorial Day weekend 2026

One Man’s Opinion, “Lanier Near & Far,” Thursday, May 28, 2026

As an elementary school student, my siblings and I stood staring from the dock across the waters of a quiet cove on the Murrayville northern tip of Lake Sidney Lanier. My grandfather, William C. “Bud” Crane was a man of many hobbies, interests and projects. He didn’t finish all of the projects, but you had to admire the ambition.

In this instance, Grampa Bud was baiting the hook of my first fishing line to dip into the lake and the mouths of waiting bream as he told us of the Chestatee and Chattahoochee Rivers meeting to form what man had made into Lake Sidney Lanier (with an assist from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers). Bud was finishing a lake cabin and dock of his own design and construction on a secluded cove at the northern end of Lake Lanier.

Our ‘other’ usual family vacation spot in those days was Jekyll Island, which my grandparents, Mary and Bud Crane can also claim credit for introducing us to. And to access Jekyll, you crossed the Sidney Lanier Bridge along U.S. Highway 17, connecting Brunswick, Georgia and the mainland, along with a causeway to Jekyll Island. I was told, then and now, it is the longest bridge span in Georgia. Who was this fellow named Sidney Lanier?

Decades later the start of my own career would land me in Macon, Georgia, with well known CBS affiliate, WMAZ-TV 13, and Eyewitness News. And there again, the birth home and a museum named for famed musician, author and poet, Sidney Lanier. Lanier had been educated nearby in Milledgeville, then the location of Oglethorpe University. Sidney Lanier served during the Civil War as a Confederate private, in the Confederate Signal Corps, and in the tidewater region of Virginia. The ship on which he served was captured in 1864, and Lanier served as a prisoner of war at Point Lookout in Maryland. He contracted tuberculosis in the POW camp and suffered greatly from TB for the rest of his life.

After a time in Alabama near Montgomery, Lanier became a lawyer and returned home to Macon. Though well regarded, Lanier long struggled to support his wife and three children. Failed careers as a flutist and musician were supplanted by poetry he would write for magazines and periodicals of the day.”The Marshes of Glynn” and “The Song of the Chattahoochee” are considered among his greatest works. Though he lived only 39 years, Lanier left us quite a legacy.

Self-taught to read and play music, Lanier aspired to play concerts with his flute. Though in demand and touring the nation, the flute was not the fiddle, and it was then also not quite a living. His poetry and other writings, which we would now view as a ‘side hustle‘ were at times written with lyrics and music in mind, yet still primarily to pay the bills. Several of his poems were later set to music by others.

From ‘The Marshes of Glynn”-

And the sea and the marsh are one.
How still the plains of the waters be!
The tide is in his ecstasy.
The tide is at his highest height:
And it is night.

In more recent times, due to Lanier’s brief stint in the Confederacy, there was talk, primarily emanating from Washington, D.C., of renaming the great lake, that bridge, schools and other honors paid to the poet and wordsmith. Lanier was not a general, nor an elected official, he was but a lowly private, called to duty and fighting on behalf of his family, for his homeland.

Thankfully, that prattle did not last long. The U.S. Army Corps finally announced in the spring of 2023, that it was pausing plans to rename Lake Lanier, as well as Buford Dam, both named for former Confederates. Buford was a Confederate Colonel and later President of the Railroad which led to creation of the town of Buford.

I live in an area named Scottdale, named for another Confederate Colonel, George Washington Scott, who led one of the Confederacy’s final victories in battle, saving Tallahassee, Florida from fall and capture...just one week prior to the Treaties of Appomattox.

I am grateful, as my own grandsons approach the age of their first fishing pole, or when we walk on the beaches of Georgia’s Golden Isles, that I can still look forward to telling them of a man who lived less than 40 years, yet has Georgia’s largest lake, longest bridge and much else named in his honor, despite rising from the humblest of circumstances.

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Photos courtesy of -

Sidney Lanier Bridge from The Brunswick News

Lake Lanier Islands courtesy of Chafin Communities

One Man’s Opinion, “I Will Miss the Mouth of the South,” Thursday, May 21, 2026

When I first met Ted Turner, he was already a larger than life figure, and a rascal around Atlanta, but he was only then introducing himself on the national stage. CNN was barely a toddler, and the Braves were in their formative years as America’s Team. In those days, the big Atlanta banks would not even lend Ted Turner the money he needed to build his eventually global media empire.

Turner always implemented big ideas, usually while being mocked by the national talking heads. He reinvented the TV news business, helped make the cable industry a multi-billion dollar franchise and redefined the reach of local broadcast stations and regional major league sports franchises.

Saving the Bison, donating $1-billion to the United Nations, creating the Goodwill Games, becoming one of America’s largest land-owners and preservationists would all come years later.

Turner Broadcasting began underwriting the documentaries and travels of Jacques Cousteau, and his famed Calypso in 1982. That work would continue Cousteau’s string of award-winning documentaries, as well as his efforts to save our oceans and marine life. In 1985, President Ronald Reagan awarded Cousteau the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Turner brought Cousteau to Atlanta, he spoke at the Convocation at the Georgia Institute of Technology during their Centennial year and celebration.

A Bulldog Meets Cousteau & Turner @ Georgia Tech Celebration -

This not long out of Athens UGA Bulldog, then working at WMAZ-TV in Macon, came home to cover said Convocation, meet and interview the famous Cousteau, and then head back to Macon for the Sunday evening newscast.

As a one-man band reporter, I shot, edited and performed the ‘stand-ups’ in my stories, and as Turner was responsible for Cousteau’s visit and funding his documentaries at that point, I chose to stand out front of the then comparatively modest HQ of Turner Broadcasting, the former home of B’Nai B’rith of Atlanta and for many years also Ted Turner’s home, even before there was a CNN Center.

It was starting to rain, and I was about to ruin a favored silk tie in that weather, and on the 5th or 6th take of my standup. I heard a distinctive voice behind me, unmistakably Turner’s, with his unique Southern drawl.

“Hey son... do I own that camera?”

​I stopped, walked over to the late model Mercedes in the rain, and behind the wheel, with a party of three was Turner, a beautiful blonde Turner Broadcasting talent (whom I won’t name), and another couple in the back seat. The quartet was well ahead of me enjoying their Sunday afternoon with a bottle of champagne opened and on ice in a bucket between the driver and passenger’s seat.

I explained to Ted that I was doing a story about Jacques Cousteau, the Georgia Tech Centennial and his appearance there, and the deft move Turner had made stepping in for National Geographic and taking over the financing of Cousteau’s exploits in his twilight years.

Turner laughed, loudly, tipped his head skyward, had his companion refill his champagne flute and said to his entourage, “It’s doesn’t matter if they are talking good about me, or talkin’ bad about me... as long as they are talkin’ about me. “

He shoved the car in gear, and off they went. I got my standup on the next take, with a smile stuck on my face, and yes, I ruined that tie in the rain.

Turner Becomes Globally Famous, and Occasionally Controversial -

Turner would soon be quoted, I think in his Time Magazine Man of the Year profile, seeking his philosophy to achieving so much... He had said, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”

I have met some incredible people in my life. Ted Turner was a hero of mine. He was far from perfect, I did not always agree with his decisions, nor his politics, but I always had to admire his drive, his loyalty to his people and his enterprises, and his devotion to trying to make the world a better place.

How many billionaires do you know that pick up trash or broken glass from the street or a curb? I more than once saw Turner doing both. As Atlanta’s Olympic heyday passed, ACOG owned an Olympic stadium with known structural flaws in some of the higher elevation stands, and a track field NOT designed for football, baseball or any major national sporting league’s sport. Turner stepped in, spent $40-million of his own money and converted that into Turner Field. The setting is better at The Battery, the Braves’ new home, but for my money an afternoon at The Ted was hard to beat in the world of baseball.

Turner’s Empire Grew, at Times Seeming That There Was No End In Sight -

Turner got richer, than poorer, then richer again, selling CNN, twice, first to AOL, which ended like a bad second marriage, and later to Time/Warner. That second merger would result in the larger company divorcing itself from Ted. He moved out of his modest rooftop apartment atop CNN Center, and bought a building a few blocks away, while simultaneously launching a restaurant chain partly focused on restoring the American Bison. Perhaps you have heard of Ted’s Montana Grille...

Turner was often controversial and even when on his best behavior, often irreverent. I never missed any opportunity when I was given one to see him speak. He always made news, even with his quips. He toyed with a run for President. NOT doing that was probably one of the best decisions he ever made. Losing Turner Broadcasting also cost him his beloved Braves, though he remained a fan. His marriages, divorces and love for the ladies followed him around all his life.

In later years, after his diagnosis and decline, I would still see him occasionally at a Ted’s downtown, in a building which also houses the headquarters of his restaurant chain, he kept his own corner table towards the back, and though he has other homes across the country, he would still spend several weeks a year in the Penthouse atop the now Turner Building on Spring Street. The city would rename that Ted Turner Boulevard, though Atlanta still needs to do more to recognize Turner’s legacy and many contributions here.

MILES of Milestones -

He was in cable before it was cool. He turned old cartoons into two more cable networks. He had a failed 24-hour music channel, which pre-dated MTV and VH-1. Turner Classic Movies alone likely saved thousands of aging movie titles from the 1930’s, 40s and 50s from simply being discarded, ensuring they remain preserved, curated and available to the public. Turner Sports predated ESPN, and still hosts some of the best baseball and basketball sports programming and talent in the industry. What was Turner Broadcasting has grown to now include HBO and for a time, the Discovery Networks.

Everything he touched didn’t quite turn to gold, but enough of it did that he and his family and former shareholders will all still be smiling for many years to come. I even credit Turner and his then wife Jane Fonda, often at Braves games with his friend and former President Jimmy Carter, with making the “Tomahawk Chop” a globally famous thing, which now would be a viral Meme on TikTok.

Turner launched CNN on a scrappy budget of roughly $30-million per year, often beating out America’s then three legacy networks, each with annual budgets of closer to $300-million. The media giants in New York, D.C. and Los Angeles laughed at Turner and mocked his Chicken Noodle Network. They are not laughing anymore...

But I still am, whenever I think of Turner, I always smile and picture that cocksure grin, the bubbly blonde and chilled bubbly on board that sunny Sunday afternoon now four decades ago. Give’em hell in Heaven Ted. I have a feeling you are already shaking things up a bit up there. Rest in peace sir, you deserve it.

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Photos courtesy of Turner Broadcasting & the Atlanta Braves

The Ted, in the foreground, adjacent to Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, shortly before its implosion in 1997.

Raising a child with special needs and cognitive delays teaches you to find great cause for celebration in many of life’s small victories. Riding a bike, hiking to the top of Stone Mountain, learning to swim...each measured against a different metric these accomplishments can seem Olympian. I say this to preface that when our children and adult family members achieve a significant victory, it warrants community-wide celebration. And I will come back to that in a moment.

In DeKalb County, Georgia, then a fast-growing and leading suburban community of metro Atlanta, a young special education teacher, part-time realtor and County Commissioner, Liane Levetan met a distressed mother whose son, Barry Glider, had educational and disability needs then poorly met by DeKalb County School District.

Mrs. Glider found a sympathetic ear, and an ally in Commissioner Levetan. The commissioner—later DeKalb’s first woman CEO, and still later a State Senator—was already known for her pleasant and polite persistence in pursuing community improvements.

A New Use for Old V.A. Campus?

The massive and hulking Veterans Administration campus now along Clairmont Road in Decatur, near the county seat and backing up to Lullwater Park and the Emory University President’s residence has not always been there. The lake at Lullwater was once the City of Decatur waterworks reservoir; the remains of this can still be found in the Medlock Woods nearby.

The V.A. previously had a much smaller facility on Peachtree Road, in what is now Brookhaven, Georgia, and most recently fronting Brookhaven Park, but we’ll return to that later as well.

Commissioner Levetan convinced the federal government and V.A. to hand over that abandoned campus to DeKalb County at no cost. Levetan had scouted the facility crawling through an unsecure window with Abe Saporta, another longtime community activist and Atlanta area resident. The pair determined that the building had good bones and could be converted into several worthwhile public uses. Levetan envisioned renovating the abandoned structure into an Adult Services Center for those with cognitive impairments, in its beautific setting with a large greenspace as its backyard. She would secure funding for the facility via an upcoming DeKalb bond referendum, which included a long wish list of public improvements.

A Champion to Champion the Cause-

Soon after, while taking a short vacation in Miami with her husband Phil Levetan, Liane would spot world champion boxer Muhammed Ali at the famous Fountainbleau Hotel dining with his family. Never shy or afraid of self-introduction, Liane walked right up to Mr. Ali, spoke of her dreamed services center back home in Atlanta, and asked the Champ if he would consider supporting and endorsing the upcoming Bond Referendum. In less time than a boxing referee could call one of Ali’s many former opponents OUT... Ali said he was IN. But how to record and capture his words of support?

Phil Levetan was dispatched to a Miami Radio Shack, returning with a cassette tape recorder. The All-Time Greatest then gave a great sales pitch advocating for fighting hard for those striving daily to lead a normal and productive life. Ms. Levetan, ever the tactician and vote counter knew well that Ali’s enthusiastic swing should connect well with the fast-growing Black population in suburbs across DeKalb County. She and her husband returned to Atlanta with that casette (she still has the tape), and that radio ad moved masses, causing the bond referendum to pass decisively. The Barry Glazer Center opened and through various names and iterations, continually operated at that Peachtree Road location until the mid 2020s.

Government Cooperation and a Funding Partner-

The City of Brookhaven meanwhile wanted to expand its green spaces and parks, and specifically its signature Brookhaven Park, just a few hundred yards from its gleaming new City Centre, then under construction. While the latter was in pre-development, Brookhaven Council member Madeleine Simmons, a gifted trial lawyer, led negotiations with DeKalb County to secure rights to the Peachtree Road frontage and which the county still owned, and then approached Claratel, the private non-profit operators of DeKalb’s Community Service Board (CSB) as well as owner/operators the aging Adult Services Center. Brookhaven pledged $5-million to Claratel for its relocation to a new facility, designed and purpose-built to serve its clientele.

I mention some of these details because it’s rare for different layers and levels of government to plan and cooperate effectively, rather than operating within silos and different spheres of influence. Brookhaven had already broken that mold with the development of Skyland Park and the co-location with the DeKalb School District’s John Lewis Elementary School, this second initiative simply demonstrates that combining resources and efforts may be part of the Brookhaven Way, or even bring some gravitas to the city’s marketing slogan, “Brookhaven: Better Together.”

Community Input Sought and Received for New Center -

Claratel took the $5-million to expand an existing, underutilized DeKalb Recovery Center facility on Winn Way in Decatur, Georgia. Emory Decatur Hospital (long known as DeKalb General and later DeKalb Medical Center) fronts that street. A cluster of medical office buildings, DeKalb’s Crisis Center and DeKalb’s Public Health Department are all neighbors. But this new Claratel Center, to be named the DeKalb Community Access Center, scheduled to open by early 2027, involved interviews with the parents and families of our community for input and meeting the needs of their family members.

This new facility will include Physical and Occupational Therapy Rooms, a cafeteria, a quiet room and a model apartment to practice independent living skills. A charming cafe will welcome visitors to the building, thanks to a generous gift from Claratel board member, Meredith Rothman McCoyd. “Meredith’s Cafe” will allow center clients to work in the cafe as well as access wonderful coffee and pastries prepared daily onsite.

At a recent ground-breaking for the building along Winn Way, Ms. Levetan sat beside Barry Glider’s mother, still reflecting on her son’s earlier win. Kevin Tanner, Georgia’s Commissioner for the Department of Behavioral Health & Human Services was also on hand, to recognize the planning and delivery of the state’s first and only purpose-built facility of its kind—though hopefully not the last. Tanner also shared news of a facility in Macon, Georgia, located downtown near the Atrium Healthcare Medical Center Hospital and the Macon/Bibb County Law Enforcement Center, offering a crisis intervention and assistance center for the cognitively impaired, who are involved in an accident, arrested for a minor charge or even simply lost after leaving home. The community, state and Atrium funded that support center, to help prevent a minor mishap from becoming a lifetime tragedy or trauma.

It was NOT lost on me that Levetan, Brookhaven Commissioner Simmons, Mrs. Glider and DeKalb’s current CEO, Lorraine Cochran Johnson, each worked on and blessed this forward thinking Win/Win deal on Winn Way...that perhaps the women in our community not only know better, but with a bit of cooperation and less competition...they do better as well. As our daughter Olivia approaches her high school graduation from DeKalb County Public Schools​, ​the next steps in her path are a bit less certain at this time​. But with this new major community resource and facility, I am confident that we will find s​everal safe options and some new key learnings ​opportunities for our O, as well as thousands of other young men and women much like her. And THAT is a BIG WIN/WIN on Winn Way by almost any definition.

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Photos by Bill Crane

One Man’s Opinion, “When Nixon Wore the White Hat,” Tuesday, May 5, 2026

‘Tricky Dick,’ ...Richard Milhous Nixon (1913-1994), the 37th President of the United States, is among the most reviled and scrutinized presidents in modern U.S. history. Nixon is perhaps most remembered for Watergate, Deep Throat, and the skullduggery of members of his administration and campaign team committing various high crimes and misdemeanors during his re-election campaign in 1973, and the subsequent cover-up. Nixon was flawed as a human, at some level we all are, and I have certainly come to know other public office holders and appointed officials who have more greatly abused the public trust.

But U.S. voters gave Nixon big wins and the U.S. White House twice, as there were also significant domestic policy and foreign affairs wins and accomplishments. The Clean Air and Clean Water Acts both became law during the Nixon years. The former President eventually got the U.S. out of Vietnam and opened up foreign relations with a then closed China. With inflation near records only being surpassed today, Nixon froze prices (with limited effect) and moved the U.S. currency off of the gold standard. There is still a Fort Knox, and vault filled with our U.S. strategic gold reserves, but that gold and silver no longer back up the value of every U.S. dollar.

But perhaps Nixon’s bright mind and care for this nation shone brightest before he ever reached the office of President. In 1960, then Vice-President Nixon had the endorsement of popular and departing President Dwight Isenhower. The first televised Presidential Debate in U.S. history would prove pivotal in the race between Nixon and handsome, young Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy. Those who listened on the radio typically pronounced Nixon the winner, while those who watched the telecast noted Nixon’s five-o’clock shadow, poor make-up. and perspiration. The telegenic Kennedy, a fresh face to most Americans by comparison, had charisma and confidence and was declared the victor by most who viewed the debate in stark black and white.

That Presidential election would be among the closest and tightest races in U.S. history. Kennedy would receive 34.2 million votes and Nixon 34.1 million. A fifty-state difference of roughly 100,000 votes and 1/6 of one percentage point. The Electoral College vote would be more decisive, due to where those votes fell, though questions of ballot manipulation in Massachusetts, Texas and Illinois almost immediately followed the election. Mayor Richard Daley of Chicago reached out to the soon-to-be President-elect (Kennedy) on that nail-biting election night to tell him, “Mr. President, with a little bit of luck and the help of a few close friends, you’re going to carry Illinois.”

Lyndon Baines Johnson, then-Senate Majority leader, and Kennedy’s running mate in 1960 had purportedly wired elections in his home state of Texas dating back to 1948. Joseph Kennedy the President-elect’s father, was bragging within days of the election that his family could still ‘deliver’ votes in machine-style in Boston and Massachusetts, a state which was then still competitive for Republicans.

For comparison purposes, the margin of the popular vote between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump was 7,000,000 votes. The Electoral College victory margin by Biden over Trump, was the same as Trump’s over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Clinton also won that popular vote, largely based on a massive win margin in California, by 4,000,000 votes.

President Eisenhower, V.P. Nixon, and Nixon’s campaign team all believed the contest was stolen and encouraged Nixon to challenge the results. Nixon said no. Nixon knew such a challenge and any resulting review would be divisive for the nation, take months if not years, and likely be unsuccessful. He was also keenly aware that many young and then-forming democracies of the world considered the U.S. to be their model and shining beacon of liberty and freedom. How might an internal challenge to U.S. elections harm those efforts in other burgeoning democracies?

Richard Nixon understood that the Presidency is more important than who occupies that seat and that the Republic which is the United States has remained a global model for then nearing two centuries of democracy in action. On January 6, 1961, outgoing Vice President Richard Nixon presided over the joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results, confirming John F. Kennedy’s election.

Nixon said, “In our campaigns, no matter how hard-fought they may be, no matter how close the election may turn out to be, those who lose accept the verdict and support those who win.” Novel concept...yes on that day and for students of history quite a few more later, Richard Nixon was wearing the white hat.

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One Man’s Opinion, “My Happy Cancer Camper Tale,” Tuesday, April 28, 2026

​My 2025 took a sharp turn sideways the day after my January birthday when my gastroenterologist called, sharing birthday greetings along with a sobering and aggressive colon cancer diagnosis and a less than positive prognosis. Options for 2026 were available, but they were drastic and limited. Tough choices were made quickly and the journey of survival began. But this column is not about that.

As you may have read in the earlier chapters of my battle, and as I continue to count each new day, I am now eight months cancer-free with no evidence of that dread disease (N.E.D.). Each of these months brings a new, quiet, internal celebration of this new, hopefully remaining post-cancer life and reality. Though I lost a few body parts, in many ways I believe I am now a better and stronger person because of that journey, which included a new highlight and peak just last week.

Buried among dozens of medical and related emails in early spring was a surprising invitation from Kymberly Duncan, Survivorship Coordinator of the Northside Hospital Cancer Institute. Kymberly was about to share with me another surprising differentiator that validated my selection of Northside Hospital and the Northside Cancer Center for my surgery, ongoing oncology treatment and care, as well as subsequent monitoring and management.

MORE Than Just Treatment -

I had already encountered the Cancer Survivor’s Services Center in an office building near the Northside main campus in Sandy Springs, and taken a Tai Chi course, which is now part of my daily morning routine. The center offers a broad array of services, classes and support groups at little to no cost to patients and survivors, as well as their families and caregivers. I had found no equivalent to that at any of the other major health systems I had considered.

But this offer was about to raise that already high bar of service and care even higher. Ms. Duncan was inviting me to join several dozen of my fellow cancer survivors, each ranging from 6-months to 2-years N.E.D. for a weekend mountain retreat in North Georgia. There was an application process, but Northside, its Cancer Institute and the weekend’s primary funder, the Northside Hospital-Atlanta Auxiliary, were to cover all costs. Our destination would be the Elohee Retreat (https://elohee.org/​) atop Bald Mountain in White County, near Helen.

Participants from across the state and various walks of life, ranging in age from early 40s to mid-80s, converged upon the Support Center just after lunchtime on Friday. After a brief welcome and orientation, we loaded into a small fleet of chauffeured Mercedes Sprinter Vans for the just under two-hour ride. The trip north was quiet, as I assume most participants were contemplating and resting, not entirely certain of what to expect. We were all in for a long series of pleasant surprises.

Retreat, Renewal Remember -

As we pulled off a Georgia highway onto a winding gravel road leading up to Elohee, we were greeted by enthusiastic and welcoming Retreat staff, including one of Elohee’s founders, Carolyn Bralley. Before we could emerge from our vans, Carolyn and her team unloaded our luggage, oriented us to our cabins and their amenities, and picked us up in reverse order when our weekend concluded. Our first session and icebreaker was a sort of ‘getting to know you‘ Bingo, which brought laughter, familiarity, and shared experiences forward. By the end of that first day, new friendships had formed.

A Tapestry of Survivor Stories -

No two survival stories were identical, but the threads of our survivorship wove together into a wonderful tapestry. Though not everyone disclosed their specific diagnosis, metastatic breast cancer was the dominant cancer among the women, and prostate cancer among the men.

It is difficult to explain how welcoming and non-judgmental everyone was, from every retreat participant, to all retreat staff members and counselors. Our accommodations were individual, comfortable, restful, and serene. Though the itinerary was full of programs and learning sessions, ample time was reserved for communing with nature, including a Qigong introduction (cousin of Tai Chi), and a wide selection of hiking trails, which included a beautiful waterfall and an inspirational Hemlock tree. And again, perhaps not surprisingly, one of Elohee’s founders was also a cancer survivor, still on her journey, as were the majority of the Northside staff planning and executing this wonderful adult summer camp.

New Memories of Camp -

Juliet Weaver on the Northside Oncology Services team, was consistently ready to lead hikes on Elohee’s miles of mountain trails. Mona Malek, the Northside Auxiliary President, attended every group session and led the arts/crafts workshop on Saturday. Well-timed rainfall that Saturday ended months of drought on the mountain, allowing us a campfire with S’mores and fellowship after dark. Only the fellowship and the new relationships created surpassed the retreat itself. All in, included the needed rain, we had perfect weather for this mountain outing.

I am convinced that we all left to return to our ‘new normals’ refreshed, renewed, and invigorated. I have said before and will say again: I am here today to share all of this with you thanks to the brilliant care of my Northside medical, surgical, and oncology teams. I never realized that care would continue post-cancer. But I am here to tell you that much like my summer camp days of yore, I can’t wait to go back, or for the next time I meet up with any of my many new Cancer Camp friends.

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​Photo courtesy of Northside Cancer Institute

One Man’s Opinion, “The Power in Shared Sacrifice,” Thursday, April 16, 2026

I am hopeful and pray daily that this war with Iran will come to a lasting armistice soon. The odds of that happening in the near term—without any further nuclear weapon proliferation by Iran, as well as a free and clearly navigable Strait of Hormuz, as our White House would prefer— remain long.

Our nation has far superior forces and weaponry, but Iran and terrorists do not and will not fight conventionally. The longer this conflict continues, the greater the likelihood that Iran will bring that war to the United States.

Despite having a well-trained and armed domestic military, the civilian population in the ‘lower 48 states’ has not faced broad-scale open warfare on American soil since our Civil War. We are not ready.

IF Iranians terrorists, NOT U.S. Muslim civilians, choose to attack us here, we have many vulnerabilities, as part of having an open and free society. Our energy grid, water supplies, medical system infrastructure and yes, even Wall Street, the world’s financial capital, could all become targets if we continue this conflict with a nation that truly believes in taking an eye for an eye.

​I am not writing this, nor my earlier column on the importance of being vigilant, to be an alarmist. We do have time to prepare. Iran’s leadership remains in disarray. Even their oil sales income streams are damaged, and most of their former regional allies hope for the collapse of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and regime change. But there is no alternative or regime ready to roll or even nearby in the wings. The deposed Shah’s son is an inspiration for many, but he lives safely away from the conflict in Europe.

Thankfully, Pakistan and other voices in that region are doing their best to help Iran see reason and the benefits of peace. A short cease-fire simply allows both sides to reload and tend to their people’s injuries and replinish their weapons of war. IF the Straits remain closed or unsafe for commercial oil tankers indefinitely, the likelihood of a global recession is strong.

AMERICA HAS PLENTY OF OIL, BUT WE CANNOT REFINE IT-

Yes, America now produces more oil than any country on the planet, but the lighter, sweet crude oil we are now fracking cannot be turned into petroleum by American refineries. They were built for an earlier, dirtier blend still also coming out of the ground and oil wells, while licensing and constructing new refineries can take decades. So we sell our newly sourced crude on the global market.

Our Strategic Petroleum Reserves also hold millions of barrels of older, dirtier oil, yet they are finite. And even if America were the sole source of oil and energy, that advantage can also be negated by other means, such as an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) weapon, which fries our electric grid and virtually all modern electronic equipment, not stored or protected from those EMP waves by a Faraday cage or container. Our U.S. Intelligence suggests that Iran and other adversaries likely possess that technology by now.

Iran and its existing drones and weapon systems might not pose a huge threat to America within their own region, but a country with virtually nothing to lose has much to gain by throwing out the rules of war and attacking America’s civilian population at its most vulnerable points. Remember how long we were staggered and wounded by 9/11, the thousands of American lives lost, and the deep recession that followed. Roughly 19 terrorists carried out that attack; most of them trained in America to fly civilian jet aircraft, with Osama Bin Laden as the planner and financier. Iran has had four decades to prepare, while growing its hatred for this nation, as well as holding the wealth of being one of the world’s top energy producers.

MANY POINTS OF VULNERABILITY IN A FREE SOCIETY-

Imagine the damage a few of those larger Iranian drones could inflict on a U.S. stadium during the coming FIFA World Cup. This year’s competition is jointly hosted by 16 cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico, with 11 of those host cities located in the United States, including Atlanta. The tournament will have 80 matches, 60 in the U.S., including the quarterfinals, semifinals and final match in New Jersey, a short hop from Wall Street. One of the Atlanta matches on a Sunday in June, nearly in the middle of the tournament (Match 38), will feature Spain versus Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Royal family is known to follow and be a fan of the World Cup. What better target for Iran than the Saudi Royal family, which they now view as betrayers, along with their U.S. Ally and host?

Each Olympiad begins with a worldwide armistice. There is no such agreement in place for the World Cup.

​Just as the original militia of the Revolutionary War, which became our Colonial Army consisted of trained farmers and volunteers, we now need to expand our National Guard, and entities such as the Georgia Defense Force, to ready ourselves and protect our assets and society as we know it today. I am not advocating arming every American or turning every family into warriors, but from neighborhood watches to better coordination of security camera system networks across the country, we need to take te time and make the effort, as well as plan for the shared sacrifice of the leisure time so many of us enjoy today.

BETTER SAFE…THAN SORRY-

And again, the best way to prevent these speculative tragedies from becoming grim realities is to prepare. Yes, I would love to be a fan in the stands as I am for our Atlanta United during the World Cup, but I am also willing to be trained to protect our MARTA tunnels, one of which runs east/west less than 100 feet from the eastern wall of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Are you getting the picture?

We cannot and should not expect our local law enforcement and military forces to completely handle our safety and protection in times of war. Neighborhood Watch programs can be reactivated, and again trained to look out for more than just someone unfamiliar walking down a neighborhood street at night.

SHARED EFFORT, VIGILANCE AND SACRIFICE WILL BE NEEDED -

During World War II, the American people rationed foodstuffs and raw materials of all types. War bonds largely financed the war, morphing later into the broader U.S. bond market of today, while American Savings Bonds and U.S. Treasury notes remain the world’s reserve currency since that conflict.

Because we are in an election season, talk and campaign messaging will more likely focus on affordability and attack ads. I remain hopeful that the better minds in our state and federal as well as local governments are looking at the bigger picture. And if they are not, it is again incumbent upon us as citizens, residents and Americans to raise these issues and questions now. NOT as conspiracy theory, but as points of concern, contention, planning, public safety and protection.

We can protect our water supplies from being poisoned. However, now that Atlanta has solved its ‘supply’ problem with a 2-billion-gallon reservoir in a former mine northwest of the city, a visit there on any day will demonstrate clear and easy walk up access to that same water supply...

Georgia Tech is less than a mile away from that same massive reservoir. I would hope the geniuses and engineers there are developing additional uses for AI to monitor cameras and public spaces for detection and protection. Again, we may need to train and deploy volunteers as lookouts to protect and surround our more vulnerable points of infrustructure and attack. As a nation of over 300 million people, we will all need to share the burden and make sacrifices to maintain the peace, prosperity and many comforts of life that we both take for granted and enjoy. God bless America, get ready to roll up our sleeves again, and remember Rosie the Riveter.

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One Man’s Opinion, “Good Time, Great Cause!” Tuesday, April 7, 2026

​Hopefully, most of you reading this just had a blessed or restful Good Friday and Easter celebration, or a traditional Seder Supper as part of a weeklong Passover commemoration or even a recent Eid al-Fitr feast marking the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

But unfortunately in the homes of thousands of Georgia families, instead of a joyous Easter brunch, an unprovoked punch in the face msy have come from a spouse ot partner. Alternatively, an elder, now sharing their home in exchange for familial support or caregiving, receives a scalding bath or other intentional elder abuse. And even worse, an increase in reported criminal acts indicates that children are being sexually abused or trafficked in urban and rural areas across our state.

Domestic abuse, in all of its horrific forms—mental, physical and sexual—is often a seldom-discussed, silent killer in the shadows, yet it knows no economic or demographic boundaries. In urban areas, many of these crimes are treated as misdemeanors—at least for a first offense or as part of a negotiated plea deal—which brings those victims and their abusers into the jurisdiction of your county Solicitor-General.

Living in DeKalb County, I am proud of the work our Solicitor-General, Donna Coleman-Stribling is doing to reduce these crimes and to protect, support and assist victims of domestic abuse. The Coleman family has decades of public service and leadership in our community. For the past 6-years, our Solicitor-General has chosen to shine a spotlight on this plight by raising spirits and funds through a ‘celebrity’ dance competition that benefits nonprofit and charitable organizations housing and assisting victims of domestic abuse.

Dancing with the DeKalb Stars, modeled after the ABC-TV competition, pairs local politicians, civic leaders and occasionally a media personality with two-left-feet with a professional dance instructor. They compete for the Grand Prize of a glaring, 1980s-era Disco Ball, as well as more importantly, bragging rights. Since not all of us are ballroom dancers, there is also a team competition raising charitable donations and ticket sales to benefit our two worthy causes.

​International Women’s House - A charitable organization offering shelter and comprehensive services to women and their children fleeing domestic violence. Since 1997, the IWH has provided hope and a safe haven to victims of domestic violence, sexual abues and sex trafficking, https://www.iwh-atlanta.org/

Women’s Resource Center to End Domestic Violence - A local nonprofit dedicated to providing safety, advocacy and support for victims of domestic violence and their families. Formerly known as the DeKalb Rape Crisis Center, https://www.wrcdv.

Ticket sales, donations and corporate sponsors make the event possible and annually raise between $60,000 and $100,000 for the benefiting nonprofits. Your gifts are tax deductible. I am of course slightly prejudiced in favor of one of the dance teams. And among my competitors is my WSB-TV Action News colleague, Mark Winne. Mark is an incredible journalist and a great guy, but he is also an Auburn Tiger, so I am going to need your help for my dance partner, Tanika Vincent and I, to beat Mark and the other teams in fundraising, just in case my missteps cost us in the dance competition. I am getting the moves down, but this isn’t a Beach Music Shag competition unfortunately...

Team Banika - Bill Crane & Tanika Vincent, Cha-Cha Sway

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1452804726588590

DeKalb Dance Teams

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1265036622250000

Gala Tickets or Making Team Donations -

https://cbo.io/app/public/bidapp/dekalbstars

“This event is about more than dancing.” It’s about showing up for survivors and ensuring that families in distress know that help is available. “Every ticket purchased and every donation made strengthens the safety net for victims right here in our community,” said Solicitor-General Donna Coleman Stribling.

​The gala begins with a Resource Fair at 5 p.m., followed by the Dance Competition at 6 p.m. Food and beverages will be served (no adult beverages). The program will be in the Porter Sanford Center, a performing arts center with theatre seating. We are going to have a great time, and hopefully entertain a packed house at the Porter Sanford Center, but the REAL DEAL is raising needed dollars to help these victims put their lives and potentially their families back together. I know I can count on you to lend us a helping hand.

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Porter Sanford Performing Arts & Community Center, 3181 Rainbow Dr, Decatur, GA 30034.

​Georgia Domestc Violence Hotline - 1-800-HAVEN (800-334-2836)

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Crane Covers Bush Inauguration-

No riots, no arm twisting, no martyr’s cry of a stolen election, no assaults on the integrity of multiple state Governors and election officials... What was different here? Two adults were in that contest, as well as on that Inaugural stage. Many Democrats said that Bush was an illegitimate President and that he would never be fully accepted as having won the office outright.

And then, something truly horrific did happen, early in year one of the first Bush Administration, the attacks of 9/11 would cripple our economy and paralyze much of the nation in fear, killing thousands in New York and Washington, D.C. And thanks to the heroic efforts of passengers on United Airlines Flight 93, our nation’s Capitol Building and White House were spared attack and further destruction. In the following months, our nation pulled together, preparing for potential additional attacks from external enemies.

Hopefully, it won’t take another 9/11 or outside threat to eventually heal the wounds we have more recently created and allowed to fester internally. As both Al Gore and George Bush seemed to understand clearly, the office of President means more to the American people and the world than any singular occupant. In 1961, forty years before that contest, Vice-President Richard Nixon received strong evidence that ballots had been manipulated and fraudulently cast in the states of Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas, organized by the Kennedy campaign, with the assistance of the incoming President’s father, Joseph Kennedy. Nixon’s supporters and advisors urged him to challenge the results of what was then one of the closest popular vote and Electoral College wins in our nation’s history, tipped by wins in the states of Illinois, Texas and Massachusetts. Nixon declined, later publicly stating that the office of the Presidency and the American people’s faith in their election process mattered more than the outcome of any particular contest.

Sadly in more recent quests for power and victory, that high concept seems to have been forgotten. As we look ahead to the fall Midterm Elections, economic turmoil and fluctuating energy markets due to the closure of the Straits of Hormuz—regardless of which ‘team’ you support—let’s remember the strength of this nation and the importance of placing trust in our Republic and the local and state officials who manage our election contests. Who wins matters, but not at all costs. And whichever side prevails does not mean the results were rigged or the contest stolen. And of course, there will always be the next election and the next opportunity. Nixon would win the office on his next attempt in 1968. George W. Bush, whom some considered the “accidental” and illegitimate president, went on to a mandate re-election win in 2004. His checkered legacy in the Middle East and elsewhere also certainly looks much better in retrospect now. I always pray for our Presidents. Their importance to our nation and the planet is simply too great not too, and despite my disagreements and reservations with his manner, I pray for this President now, even on those days when he so clearly does not deserve it.

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