As director of the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, my goal is to build a better future for this state by developing the best child welfare agency in the world. It is a lofty goal, but it is equally worthy: One in five Georgians will come into contact with our agency over th…

In case you have not had access to any media outlet over the past week, let me share with you the predicament Officer Eric Casebolt of McKinney, Texas, finds himself in. Officer Casebolt responded to a call at a middle-class subdivision just outside Dallas to investigate reported teens jumpi…

The May 24 edition of The Walton Tribune showed the results of the previous week’s poll concerning the House of Representative’s vote to prohibit abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. There is a lot more that could be said about this bill and its exceptions, but in this article I will …

Growing up as a military child is not always the easiest thing to do, especially when it comes time to find a place to stay after retirement. For my family that place was Walton County. My family, consisting of my mother, Amy, my father, Michael, and my younger sister, Lindi, moved to Georgi…

This weekend millions of Americans will attend backyard barbecues. Perhaps take a trip to the beach or maybe enjoy some tent camping at one of our many state parks. The vast majority of these people know the reason they are allowed to enjoy an extended weekend each year somewhere near the en…

Where to begin with discussing the problems in Baltimore as related to the Freddie Gray case? Let’s start with the mayor, the same woman who publicly declared that protestors would be given “room to destroy” as part of their protests. This week, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake reque…

I promise this will be the last time I write about a bill passed by our Georgia legislature this year. Maybe. Although there are several more worthy of greater scrutiny I will let the matter rest after we discuss House Bill 91. Ready? Here we go.

On Thursday, April 2, the House and Senate completed the 40th and final legislative day. This last day of session is known as Sine Die, a Latin term meaning “without assigning a day for further meeting.” Being the final day of the legislative session, we worked late into the night to pass im…

When I am asked to teach an Internet safety class for parents and care-givers, I have to let the audience in on a dirty little secret: it is not a matter of “if” your child will see pornography — it is only a matter of when. Every time I expose that secret, no matter what church, school or b…

Let me first say this: I love youth sports. It develops young men and women in so many ways, ways that might otherwise be missed by parents and teachers. Do you know what can be life-changing for a young person? Being held accountable by someone other than a parent or teacher for the first t…

On Feb. 2 we returned to the Gold Dome for another important and busy week. My colleagues and I spent much of our time in committee and subcommittee meetings to review various pieces of legislation that have been introduced in the House. Chief Justice Hugh Thompson also delivered the annual …

Over the course of the last few years, I’ve been a bit of a nomad. I’ve lived in four cities in four years, moving for everything from school to internships, a job and, ultimately, for opportunities that I didn’t really have in my hometown.

As I write this sitting at my desk at the Walton County 4-H, the rain is coming down outside, the temperature has barely broken 40 degrees and all I can think about is Summer 4-H Camp. The weather and the groundhog may still be calling for more winter weather, but now is the perfect time to …

During the second week of the Georgia General Assembly’s 2015 legislative session, the House and Senate appropriations committees held a series of joint budget hearings. We began the important task of reviewing the governor’s budget recommendations and creating legislation that will direct t…

Over the past month, Tammy VanDongen and I have traveled hundreds of miles to Athens and Atlanta filming promotional material for WalkGeorgia.org.

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