The dawn was barely breaking, the morning just beginning to wrestle the new day away from the black night as the train traveled with a jolting purpose from Dublin to Belfast.

By REP. MATT RAMSEY and SEN. RONNIE CHANCE

It is hard to believe that it has been more than seven months since the Georgia General Assembly wrapped up the 2009 session. With the 2010 session right around the corner, we thought it would be a good time to provide an update on our state’s budget and economic picture.

Why did the Special Purpose Local Options Sales Tax (SPLOST) referendums in other counties pass, but not in Fayette? Ours was a vote of no confidence.

Every Veterans Day presents an opportunity to commemorate those who served in some faraway place long ago, many of whom paid that ultimate sacrifice. World War II offers its share of remembrances: Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941; Normandy, June 6, 1944; the Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 16, 1944; to name a few.

By Shiraz Karaa

As the nation welcomes the return of veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who will take advantage of the expanded GI Bill education benefits, Clayton State University, among other post-secondary education institutions, will see and has seen an increasing number of soldiers who are pursuing higher education opportunities.

This coming Sunday, Nov. 15, here at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Fayetteville, we will celebrate our 25th Anniversary and Homecoming with worship at 10 a.m. followed by a luncheon for all our members, former members, and guests. We invite all our former members and any of our friends in the community to attend and celebrate and reminisce with us.

Can you spell r-e-p-u-d-i-a-t-i-o-n?

That’s the resounding verdict of the voters of Peachtree City to the two incumbent City Council members running for another four-year term.

Some would say that it not surprising that the United States Marine Corps was born in a bar — a tavern, actually. On Nov. 10, 1775, the Continental Congress formed the Continental Marines. Captain Samuel Nicholas was commissioned as the first officer in the Corps on Nov. 28, 1775, and set up the first recruiting post in a tavern.

Yes, yes, says White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Congress has the power to make everyone buy health insurance. “I don’t believe there’s a lot of case law that would demonstrate the veracity” of comments to the contrary.

When I was small, my best friend suddenly stopped coming around to play. Mom said, “He’s moved on to a better place.”

We are incessantly being told that the cost of medical care is “too high” — either absolutely or as a growing percentage of our incomes. But nothing that is being proposed by the government is likely to lower those costs, and much that is being proposed is almost certain to increase the costs.

Steve H. Hanke is a professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., and writes frequently for Globe Asia and Forbes magazine. Professor Hanke starts off his “Hu versus Sarkozy” article (Globe Asia, November 2009) with a warning.

His apparent inability to control himself and to communicate clearly has earned grandson Samuel, 6, the title of “high functioning autism” or “Spectrum Kid.” He’s so incredibly smart, a happy little boy, but he is going to have to learn how to cope with life on its own terms. Not to mention the determination of his mother, our daughter Jean. Join their journey:

“Morning, Vern!” is heard over and over at Mimi’s Restaurant on Ga. Highway 54 in Peachtree City, as regulars roll in one at a time with the day just starting and chat with Suzy, Stephanie, Mimi and Vern when he takes a moment to turn away from the grill. But something more important than eggs and burgers is being cooked up at Mimi’s in November.

Does the U.S. Constitution stand for anything in an era of government excess? Can that founding document, which is supposed to restrain the power and reach of a centralized federal government, slow down the juggernaut of czars, health insurance overhaul and anything else this administration and Congress wish to do that is not in the Constitution?

This could be useful for newly elected politicians and students of political science as they will not learn this in class.

There’s nothing like a trip to Hollywood to remind you of the fantasies that grow there as rapidly as kudzu grows in Southern summers. There, I often find people who are not exactly my people.

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 congregations. Here are questions that I’ve gotten over the years and for this column.

I eyeballed the whole slate of Peachtree City Council candidates at the recent forum at McIntosh High School and came away impressed with the strength and substance of the field.

In some parts of the Church world, the “saints” are those men and women whose lives are so exemplary and in whom such love and grace was manifest that, after their death, they were declared to be “saints,” worthy of veneration and imitation.

The more fiscal details of the healthcare bills emerge, the more appalling they seem. The Senate Finance Committee bill includes a broad provision taxing all manner of medical devices.

The Holy Father — Pope Benedict XVI — offers to let Episcopalians and other Anglicans of Catholic disposition join the Roman Catholic Church, while retaining characteristics of their Anglican identity. And who in the booming pagan market cares a flying broomstick what the pope does about anything?

Cool mists of the fields lazily drifted across the road, but parted quickly for the deer slayer. The trip was about to prove fruitful. A grand trophy was close as the sun slipped past the horizon. For a moment the light refused to relinquish its grip on the day. Then the reds and purples of twilight spilled across the land. Three white tails flicked while antlers cocked, sensing the danger. The deer slayer shuddered with excitement.

Does anyone in Washington tell the truth? Why should Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid be believed when he promises states can “opt-out” of a public option on healthcare? This isn’t like opting out of sex education class. Individuals won’t be able to avoid the consequences of national healthcare once the government puts the insurance companies out of business, because there will be no other choice than the government program.

According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the Peace Prize should be awarded to the person who: “during the preceding year, shall have done ... the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

Faced with the imminent expiration of their publicly funded slush fund for profligate governments, the Fayette County Commissioners convened an urgent gathering, inviting all mayors in Fayette to bring in their Santa Claus wish lists for a big “renewed” SPLOST.

The cat, regarding the proposed SPLOST, is officially out of the bag.

Fayette County Commissioner Lee Hearn trudged out to meet with the disgruntled constituents, trying to prevent the natives from getting more restless. As fate would have it, some of the constituents had the audacity to actually read the 2009 SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) ballot and supporting materials, a commissioner’s nightmare.

Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many “czars” appointed by the President, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent?

When Mama died and the remainders and reminders of her life had to be sorted, distributed and, in some rare incidences, disposed of, my sister Louise and I marveled constantly at the historian that Mama was.

Seems to me the world is made up of the “cans” and the “can’ts,” and I am a “can’t.” Maybe more of a “won’t.”