[Editor’s note: This week marks the anniversary of the fall of Saigon. For most historians, this event in late April 1975 marked the end of the Vietnam War for the United States, but for Earl Tilford, closure would come much later, “on a cold Monday afternoon in late November 2007 at a lonely, windswept graveyard in Celina, Ohio” where he at last found the woman he had loved and lost so many years before.]

[Editor’s note: For a different perspective on former President Carter’s trip to the Middle East, read the online comments by his son, Jeff Carter, a Peachtree City resident and participant in his father’s negotiations. The Web address is thecitizen.com/~citizen0/node/27663#comment-72184]

Not long ago, I found myself in the midst of one of life’s great treasures.

It all came about because Mama had her annual physical that required her to fast. Mama doesn’t do well when she doesn’t eat – she gets “swimmy headed.” So, she had her blood work done and with enough time remaining before her appointment, we headed out for breakfast.

Over the last 25 years, our county has seen explosive growth, with our population multiplying close to five times in that time frame.

By Keith Lockitch

On the evening of Saturday, March 29, cities around the world turned off their lights for one hour to “raise” awareness about global warming. In observation of Earth Hour, iconic landmarks such as the Sears Tower and the Sydney Opera House went dark, while participating individuals turned off residential lights.

Like most kids, we had to do a lot of listening while we were growing up. Some of us did it better than others. Mom used to say we needed to listen twice as much as we talked.

Several years ago, when my mother passed away, my brother and I were faced with the seemingly impossible task of dealing with all her “stuff.”

So much for Jimmy Carter’s triumphal peace mission in the Middle East. Like everything else he has done on foreign policy, the world’s biggest tool for jihad propaganda created yet another bloody mess. Quick review:

Over in Pennsylvania, Barack Obama was saying of Hillary Clinton, “She seems to have a habit of saying whatever it is that folks want to hear.” And Clinton was saying of Obama, “He has sent out mailers, he has run ads, misrepresenting what I have proposed.”

A front-page headline in the New York Times captures much of the economic confusion of our time: “Fewer Options Open to Pay for Costs of College.”

As our InsiderAdvantage polling showed over the past week, there was never any doubt that Hillary Clinton would win the Pennsylvania Democratic Primary by a margin of between 7 and 10 points.

Dr. Thomas Sowell’s recent column, “Republicans and Blacks,” (April 10, 2008) pointed out the foolhardiness of Republican strategy to secure more black votes. He pointed out that it is a losing strategy to reach blacks through the civil rights organizations and black politicians. It’s like a quarterback trying to throw a pass to a receiver surrounded by a bunch of defenders.

Her plans were specific, but we kept warning my oldest friend Carol Dannettell that the distances are longer than she remembered. She planned to visit a former college roommate in Marietta, then to Peachtree City, then to cousins in Greenwood, SC, Parkersburg, WV, and New Cumberland, PA, with a stop to see a grandson in Washington, DC, before flying home to San Diego from Baltimore.

Any person who can have a “builder” business card printed can construct homes for others in Georgia giving little assurance of competency since no builder licensing program exists.

One day I ran into my precious second grade teacher, Mrs. Rudeseal, in what used to be called the dime store, but in these times of economic advancement is now called the dollar store.

By Larry Pratt

April 16 was the anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre. We have heard about the need to keep guns out of the hands of bad guys. Of course, that means more gun control.

One of the issues I hear about most frequently from citizens in our community is concern about crime and public safety.

The clock is counting down to the most exciting play that ever happens on a football field — the march of high school seniors moving down the field to receive their diplomas.

The Supreme Court has ruled 7-2 that the death penalty by lethal injection in Kentucky, which uses a cocktail of three drugs, is not a violation of the Constitution’s prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment.”

Answers to your questions about

life, religion and the Bible

Pastors get some of the most interesting questions from people they meet and people in their churches. Here are a few questions that I’ve gotten over my years of ministry and via email since this column started.

WARNING: this story is very timely, but it’s far from being funny. Funny will return next week; serious is here this week.

Well, I sure found out who the heck Richard Cole was, didn't I? I heard from many of you about Richard and his family, did some checking on the Internet, and did a lot of research at the Coweta Courthouse(s) and have pretty much exhausted my local resources on this family.

“Bitter,” says Sen. Barack Obama, the man of hope and change, about those who live Pennsylvania, small towns and the Midwest.

Here’s to the truckers of America! I have to admit that I haven’t always thought about truckers, those men and women who drive the “big rigs” all over the country, bringing all types of goods to every kind of market.

Here comes the Pope, whose disposition for bad news, one may hope, is a strong one, inasmuch as the U.S. media keep dishing out the bad tidings. The media theme is that, whatever else His Holiness may find here, in addition to an endless diet of presidential campaign news, he will find a flock looking askance at him.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The bad news last week for conservative Republican Rep. Mike Pence was private confirmation that his proposed law protecting journalists from runaway judges was opposed by President George W. Bush himself, not just inflexible Justice Department lawyers. The good news this week for Pence was an unexpected public endorsement by Bush’s successor heading the Republican Party, John McCain.

An email from a reader said that, while Hillary Clinton tells lies, Barack Obama is himself a lie. That is becoming painfully apparent with each new revelation of how drastically his carefully crafted image this election year contrasts with what he has actually been saying and doing for many years.

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, pandering to anti-trade activists, suggest that should they become president, they will restrict trade agreements. Before you buy into their promised paradise, there are a few trade questions you might consider.

We’ve heard about Barack Obama’s hope from his bestselling book “The Audacity of Hope.” Now we are getting a glimpse of his audacity.

Thank you, Rahm Emanuel! Mr. Emanuel, a Democratic congressman from Illinois and former senior policy adviser to President Clinton, recently published several election-year policy proposals on the opinion page of The Wall Street Journal.