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The Dade Planet was published from 2016-2020 by Robin Ford Wallace, P.O. Box 173, Trenton, Ga. 30752, (423) 364-4386, news@dadeplanet.com. The Planet has stopped publishing for the present but may return in the fullness o'. Meanwhile, please enjoy access to its archives.
Parting Shots, Part 2: Some Picks and Some Pans on Election Eve
One of the perks of getting out of the newspaper biz (see Part I) is that I hope to pay less attention to politics. I really do love this...
Robin Ford Wallace
Jun 8, 2020
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Parting Shots, Part 1: Planetset
My darlings, I am shortly to leave you! These years I’ve run The Planet will always be four of my faves, and I have no regrets, but I am...
Robin Ford Wallace
Jun 5, 2020
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Letter to Editor: Mills Claims Endorsement by Pro-Life Group
This is a letter to the editor from Georgia statehouse candidate Vikki Mills claiming endorsement from the Georgia Right to Life PAC. The...
Vikki Mills
Jun 1, 2020
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Letter to the Editor: What Does a House Rep Do All Day?
Editor's Note: This is a letter to the editor from John Deffenbaugh, who served several terms as Dade's district rep in the Georgia House...
John Deffenbaugh
May 27, 2020
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Hartline Endorses Moore for State Senate
Editor's note: The following is an open letter from Dade District 2 Commissioner Phillip Hartline. May 16, 2020 Dear Citizens of Dade...
Phillip Hartline
May 18, 2020
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Announcing Rising Pines Farm Market
Editor's Note: This is an open letter from Connie Ward, who is opening a new Thursday farmers market on Lookout Mountain. The idea of an...
Connie Ward
May 18, 2020
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Letter to Voters: Vikki Mills Announces "Pro-Life Certification"
Editor's note: This is an open letter from Dist. 1 Georgia statehouse candidate Vikki Mills. The Planet, which by no means endorses or...
Vikki Mills
May 12, 2020
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Letter to Voters: Candidate Mills Announces NRA Endorsement
Bulletin: The NRA on May 7 sent Ms. Mills a letter announcing that its endorsement of her was "an administrative error" and it had meant...
Vikki Mills
May 5, 2020
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COVID-19 Patients: Want to Talk About It?
Dade County is now up to 16 COVID-19 cases, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report. So far, there has...
Robin Ford Wallace
Apr 24, 2020
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“All Workers Essential": Candidate Mills Wants Georgia to Reopen
Editor's Note: This is an open letter from Vikki Mills, a candidate for the Republican nomination for Georgia State House District 1....
Vikki Mills
Apr 16, 2020
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Statement by Public Health Regional Director Voccio
ROME, Ga.--Just about everyone in our public health office is feeling that knot in our stomachs, so we know a lot of other people must be...
Dr. Gary Voccio
Apr 6, 2020
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An Open Letter From Vikki Mills
Editor's Note: This is an open letter from Vikki Mills, a candidate for the Georgia House of Representatives District 1 seat. Dear...
Vikki Mills
Mar 31, 2020
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Coronavirus We Have to Take Seriously, But Toilet Paper? Really?
This coronavirus shutdown is one of the more peculiar periods of history I've lived through, and I'm old enough to remember dancing the...
Robin Ford Wallace
Mar 17, 2020
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Op-Ed: Candidate Fuller Discusses Drug Epidemics
With drug overdoses harming the families of our nation and hindering economic growth, Clayton Fuller, Republican candidate for U.S....
Clayton Fuller
Feb 24, 2020
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Have You Got Pics, Stories From 2011 You'd Like to Share? Call The Library.
This photo from the subsequent cleanup was the only one The Planet could readily lay hands [planetary rings?] on nine years after the...
Robin Ford Wallace
Feb 20, 2020
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Why We Struggle with Athletics: An Open Letter to the Dade School Board
Editor's Note: This is a letter Tony Moreland wrote to the Dade B of E that he is sharing with the local media as a letter to the editor....
Tony Moreland
Feb 9, 2020
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Letter to the Editor: Duncan Seeks Coaches, Players, Volunteers for Alternative Baseball League
Greetings! My name is Taylor Duncan! I am 24 years old from Dallas, Georgia, and I have autism. I am also the commissioner/director of...
Taylor Duncan
Jan 22, 2020
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If You Haven't Got a Ha'Penny, We Take Credit Cards...
The other day in the courthouse a woman asked me if I was "semiretired." I must have given her a blank look because then she said, "I...
Robin Ford Wallace
Dec 24, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Wooten Thanks Expo Participants
Editor's Note: This is an open letter from Nathan Wooten, organizer of the Dade Small Business Expo, which took place on Saturday. Thank...
Nathan Wooten
Dec 16, 2019
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A Sort of an Editorial: The Story of Caliban and Sleekit
This is my favorite picture of Caliban and Sleekit. They liked to sleep curled up together. At the end of the day, if you're a couple of...
Robin Ford Wallace
Nov 25, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Trenton UMC Invites You to "Parade of Mangers" Before Christmas Para
Start planning your Christmas activities now! Plan to come by Trenton United Methodist Church before the Christmas parade on December 14...
Dottie Abercrombie
Nov 19, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Come to Expo!
Registrations are RED HOT for vendor spaces at the upcoming DADE SMALL BUSINESS EXPO to be held at Dade County High School on Saturda,y...
Nathan Wooten
Nov 18, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Miz A Urges You to Support Library Friends Group
The Dade County Friends of the Library have their very own national week of celebration. On the week of Oct. 20-26, they will join the...
Dottie Abercrombie
Oct 24, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Homeschool Group Recommends Forester Apiary
This is a letter to the editor from Sophia Price, who gives this report on a homeschool group's recent field trip to Ed Forester's bee...
Sophia Price
Oct 22, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Dade's Scenic Beauty in Peril
Editor's Note: This is a letter to the editor from the Wildwood Preservation Alliance. To Our Neighbors in the Independent State of Dade,...
Robin Ford Wallace
Sep 20, 2019
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The Mary Poppins Zone: Zonin', Listenin' and Why I Changed My Name
This is an editorial about the current zoning issue in Dade County. But first: a confession and a funny story. Confession: For 29 years I...
Robin Ford Wallace
Aug 30, 2019
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Suck My Dixie! Truth, Justice, the TennCare Arrests and What I Did On My Summer Vacation
"The world is too much with us," Wordsworth wrote famously. In my case, I don't know about the world but The Planet has been coming out...
Robin Ford Wallace
Jun 27, 2019
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Dear Readers: A Note on The Planet's April 1 Edish
Dear Readers: If I have a vice--and I do, I do, I've got like 48--it's a tendency to go for the Cheap Laugh. I love jokes and spoofs and...
Robin Ford Wallace
Apr 2, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Mom of Child with Seizures Challenges Sheriff on Cannabis Oil
Editor's Note: On March 5, the Georgia Legislature passed House Bill 324, which would legalize the cultivation and harvesting of cannabis...
Sheli Gilley
Mar 7, 2019
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The Planet Looks at Tax Services
It's tax time again! For small business owners, that can mean Schedule Cs and SEs, bagfuls of receipts and so many headaches that many...
Robin Ford Wallace
Feb 27, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Coach Poole Eager For Semi-Pro Recruits
REGISTRATION UPDATE (for The Wolverines semi-pro Dade team) We certainly realize that your time is valuable and so we want to make this...
Coach Skip Poole
Feb 12, 2019
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An Open Letter to Dade County from Coach Poole
Editor's Note: Coach Skip Poole is owner of the Chattanooga Steam semi-pro football team, which is planning to relocate to Dade County....
Skip Poole
Feb 8, 2019
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(Republication) Build Thee More Stately Mansions, O My Soul! (And Tax The Crap Out Of Them.)
Editor's Note: Superintendent Jan Harris and the Dade Board of Education convene this afternoon at 6 p.m. for a special called meeting to...
Robin Ford Wallace
Feb 4, 2019
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Letter to the Editor: Fredock Amazed at Nonworking Hydrants, Logging Mess
Thanks for the article on the nonfunctioning water hydrants. I'm amazed that water hydrants are not functioning at such an alarming rate...
Robin Ford Wallace
Jan 30, 2019
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2018 In Review, or: Why You Should Send The Planet Money
This is the time of year when newspapers review their headlines and remind readers of the news they've delivered in the preceding 12...
Robin Ford Wallace
Dec 29, 2018
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Letter to the Editor
Editor's Note: This is a letter to the public from Nathan Wooten, organizer of the annual Dade Small Business Expo, at which he is...
Robin Ford Wallace
Dec 27, 2018
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It Is, Too, My Damn Business
This is not fixin’ to be one of those long, florid editorials I feel called upon to write sometimes, stuffed with Shakespeare quotes,...
Robin Ford Wallace
Nov 14, 2018
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Open Letter: Anti-Lookout Logging Activist Responds to Online Critics
Editor's note: Jennifer Blair spoke at the Dade County Commission's Nov. 1 meeting to ask the commissioners' help against the wide-scale...
Robin Ford Wallace
Nov 13, 2018
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Open Letter to Dade County: Speak Up to Stop Deforestation
Photo: Runoff from the logging operation swamps the big horseshoe switchback on Highway 136 East near Cloudland Canyon State Park. Dear...
Robin Ford Wallace
Nov 7, 2018
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This Week, Dade (and The Planet) Will Honor Veterans!
November is a happening kind of month, but without enough daylight to fit all the happenings into. The time switch at the first of the...
Robin Ford Wallace
Nov 6, 2018
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Letter to the Editor: Deffenbaugh Urges Dade to Vote
John Deffenbaugh is Dade's current voice in the Georgia House of Representatives. This is his letter to the editor. I would like to take...
Robin Ford Wallace
Oct 29, 2018
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The Language Nazi: Putting the UGH Back in Donuts, Or: Why Nobody Invites I Anywhere No More
I have been criticized for being too liberal to run a newspaper in a place like this. As it happens, I’ve noticed that most people who...
Robin Ford Wallace
Oct 25, 2018
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Dr. Harris Congratulates DCHS on Stellar Graduation Rate
Letter to the Editor: Before we go to sleep tonight.... I have good news to share with you. Please join me in congratulating Mr. Fahrney,...
Robin Ford Wallace
Sep 20, 2018
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Maj. Tommy Thanks Dade For Tsunami of Love
Maj. Tommy Bradford, pictured here with his wife, Mary Ann, wrote the letter below to the area residents who showered him with love and...
Robin Ford Wallace
Aug 23, 2018
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Car Carrier Crash Complicates Commute; Or Why I Didn't Go To The B of E Meeting
Law enforcement and recovery personnel converge on a car carrier that crashed on 136 East. NEWS/V I E W P O I N T S I keep trumpeting in...
Robin Ford Wallace
Aug 21, 2018
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IDA, Ag, Sewers and Pol Pot: Questioning Basic Ec. Dev. Wisdom
V I E W P O I N T S The Cambodian dictator Pol Pot was famous for marching city dwellers—doctors, lawyers, university professors—into the...
Robin Ford Wallace
Aug 1, 2018
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Health Providers Clash Over CHI's N. Ga. Cancer Facility
V I E W P O I N T S Editor's Note: This is a press release from CHI Memorial Hospital that I think requires a little explanation, and to...
Robin Ford Wallace
Jun 27, 2018
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The Public's Right to Know (Or, Anyway, The Planet's Right to Tell 'Em)
V I E W P O I N T S There’s a woman out there mad at The Dade Planet for covering her trial last April. She feels that the DA’s office...
Robin Ford Wallace
Jun 27, 2018
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Letter to the Editor: Jeffares Endorses Shafer for Lt. Gov.
V I E W P O I N T S To the Editor: I am grateful to the nearly 135,000 Georgians who gave me their votes in the Republican primary for...
Robin Ford Wallace
Jun 19, 2018
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Letter to the Editor: Dunn Protests Vinyl Siding Tax Assessment Increase
V I E W P O I N T S Editor's Note: Dade Chief Appraiser Paula Duvall addressed the issue Ms. Dunn is talking about in this letter to the...
Robin Ford Wallace
Jun 8, 2018
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