In June, I attended and delivered the invocation for the graduation exercises for police cadets at the Fulton County Public Safety Training Center in College Park, Georgia.

The Boy wanted to go fishing the other day; unfortunately I couldn’t. I had to go to work.

He asked me if he could use my fishing stuff. Being the wonderful dad that I am, I said, “Sure. But you’re not gonna catch anything. It’s too hot. Fish won’t bite when it’s hot.”

William Tidwell and Mary Amelia Jones, our current family of interest, had nine children, as previously stated. Seven were born in Putnam County and the last two were born in the Coweta-Meriwether area, according to Ettie Tidwell McCall, author of McCall, Tidwell and Allied Families, written in 1931. This book has been the basis for much of the information in this series on the Tidwells. These nine children were:

This election, life would be simpler if I were a Democrat. Few choices, few decisions, no thinking.

But I’ll be asking for a Republican ballot, as usual. And thus I’ve had to do some pondering on several of the races. My decisions, not easily arrived at, are as follows:

Well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it? And I really appreciate your patience as I recuperated from open heart surgery and had to drop the ball here, at least temporarily. I am doing much better, thank you, and am going to attempt to get these columns going once again, picking up where we left off with the family of William Tidwell and Mary Amelia Jones.

I was wondering the other day in my travels around South Fulton if there is anything else going this summer besides the mass of proposed annexations and the political maneuvering that accompanies them. It didn’t take long to figure it out. And some of it is worth a double-take.

This is the new South Fulton. Rapidly growing in number, they are articulate, informed and in no mood for political machinations or economic development projects that stand to compromise their communities. The most recent example of self-determination in the new South Fulton came only days ago at a public meeting over whether $16.5 million in revenue bond financing by the Fulton County Housing Authority should be used to help defray the cost of a 264-unit apartment complex near the intersection of South Fulton Parkway and Ga. Highway 92. Mainly at issue was the project component that would set aside 80 percent of the apartments for low-to-moderate income families with transportation costs for those residents provided by Fulton County Housing Authority.

Let’s think about some recent or ongoing local issues.

• Sewer system expansions. The Peachtree City Council woke up long enough to veto any sewer expansion to Coweta County neighbor, Senoia, although a transcript of that meeting suggests that Mayor Harold Logsdon was leaning toward approval until he discovered which way the wind was blowing.

There are a million pieces of news out there and a million people to talk to when trying to report it. Like every other area of life, it’s pretty easy to get things wrong and it’s even easier to miss the innuendo or the intent of a particular speaker when assembling a story.

Most everybody believes at some level that government wrongdoing exists. The day has long waned since Mark Twain said, “It can probably be proved with facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.” The decades since those words were uttered has been sporadically rocked with government wrongdoing, cover-ups and denial. This is nothing new, you say. You’re right. Yet once in a while some honest employee, government or corporate, will try to stand up for the truth, to expose wrongdoing. And for their trouble they often pay a price. Well, the price got a little heavier earlier this week when the U.S. Supreme Court slapped the American people in the face with a ruling that essentially gives government the go-ahead to punish employees who challenge wrongdoing and take it public.

It is true that South Fulton County is undergoing the most important metamorphosis in its history. Incorporation and annexation issues abound. And while we will continue to bring these issues to your attention, I decided to use this space to make a few observations on the national issue of immigration.

Fayette County’s future is coming into focus, and many of you — maybe even most of you — won’t like the view.

It’s the end of the road for Princess P; Paris Bennett that is. The 17 year old “American Idol” contestant from Fayetteville, Ga. sang her last songs on the Idol stage last night during the program’s weekly results show.

It was a Thursday evening a little over a year ago, and I had just finished checking baseball scores on the Internet and was ready to go to bed. My wife, Sabine, stopped me for before I changed into my raggy, blue Umbros and told me she thought her water just broke. We called the midwife and she told us to come on in to the hospital.

It’s down to the final five tonight on “American Idol” and with only three more performance shows and three eliminations until the finale, the contestants are gearing up to try and be one of the two who will compete on finale night, May 24.

History is being made all around South Fulton County these days. And that history is composed of three phases. One has come and gone, one is in process and the third will come next year.

A record breaking 47.5 million votes were cast last night for the six remaining “American Idol” contestants. That is the highest number of votes ever cast on a non-finale night. Judge Simon Cowell apologized to Katharine McPhee for his harsh critique of her on last night’s show, and was treated to a dazzling, white smile from Katharine.

From thousands to six, “American Idol” is entering the final stages of season five and only six contestants remain. Paris Bennett, Chris Daughtry, Katharine McPhee, Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin and Kellie Pickler are vying to become the next American Idol and with only a handful of performances left each is within reach of that goal.

Here is a quote pertinent to The Citizen’s Open Records request to the Fayette County Commission for a copy of the forensic audit of the Sheriff’s Department:

Is it arrogance or ignorance?

It’s a question I’ve often been asked after residents witness whacky, stupid or rude actions by elected boards. Fortunately, these are few and far between.

Though a decision has yet to be made in Gwinnett County over whether the Harry Potter books should be allowed to remain in the libraries of schools in that county, I would like to suggest some other titles from the Accelerated Reader list of Gwinnett County schools that should be removed.

Last week “American Idol” contestants performed songs from the legendary rock band Queen. This week, they softened things up with former rocker turned crooner Rod Stewart and his newest series of albums, “The Great American Songbook.”

The Fayette County Board of Commissioners is demanding accountability from the Fayette County Sheriff’s Department.

A few people have asked me why there hasn’t been an article in The Citizen about the 17-year-old Fayetteville resident and “American Idol” contestant Paris Bennett.

Queen ruled the night on the performance show of “American Idol.” The remaining eight contestants were put to the test with the challenge to perform the hits (as well as some of the more obscure songs) from this iconic rock and roll band.

Chris Rock and Whoopi Goldberg were among audience members at tonight’s live performance show of one of the nation’s biggest television phenomenons. It was country night on “American Idol” this evening, and the nine remaining Idols were guided by country music legend Kenny Rogers in their quest to make it one more week in the music competition.

April is a great month. One could even argue that it is the greatest month of the year.

April gives us the end of the NCAA basketball tournaments, the beginning of the Major League Baseball season, the Masters, longer days, warmer weather, a free large iced tea with the purchase of chicken strips on the Chick-fil-A cow calendar – the list goes on and on.

To all my fellow genealogy enthusiasts and readers: My deepest apologies for the recent temporary interruption in the columns. Believe me, it was totally out of my control.

I read a lot of newspapers, both in print and on-line. These are just some of the stories that found their way on to my radar and got me thinking.

I really considered not writing this column, but I realized that wouldn’t be fair. After having blasted the Union City Council and their city attorney, Dennis Davenport, a few weeks ago in our South Fulton Citizen edition for something similar, I would hate to give the impression of favoritism.