Lighting Lives

Lighting Lives By Joe Rector With a snowfall that this area hadn’t seen in a long while and the pouring rains that followed gone, I was feeling good about the warm spell that allowed me to be outside. Then over the weekend, a call came to my wife that darkened even...

Cable news isn’t news

Cable news isn’t news By Joe Rector I’ve always liked the news on television. My generation was lucky enough to have anchors such as Huntley and Brinkley, Frank Reynolds, and the GOAT, Walter Cronkite. Back then, we had a half-hour local news report, and then the...

Two Men

Two Men By Joe Rector I know an older man who has been around the area for a long time. He grew up in the Ball Camp community and went to the elementary school when it was grades 1-8. Like all the boys he grew up with, he played baseball, basketball and football,...

The Snow Did Return

The Snow Did Return By Joe Rector It snowed. I’d about decided that we humans had screwed up the environment so much that snow would never fall on East Tennessee again. I’m glad to see I was wrong. At our house, I took my tape measure and stuck it in the white stuff...

Can we survive another election cycle?

Can we survive another election cycle? By Joe Rector For most of us, the Christmas lights and trees are stowed away until next year. I imagine those who might have celebrated too much are now over any hangovers. Students returned to school on Thursday for the second...

Tired of three things

Tired of three things By Joe Rector I know that I’m at an age where no one wants to hear what I have to say on any subject. Most folks just call me grumpy, or worse. For years, I commented on most controversial subjects and spared no one’s feelings. I’ve mellowed...