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Spirited Blairsville has endless supply of Georgia’s mountain culture

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

BLAIRSVILLE, Ga. — Spring had come to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The rhododendron and mountain laurel were popping out in unreal shades of pink, and the massive hardwoods of birch and maple only recently bare-leafed in winter had begun their seasonal metamorphoses with emerald-green new growth. Somewhere in those forest-covered North Georgia mountains, slumbering bears were just waking from their hibernation.North Georgia is where flatlanders, and I am among that number, flock for fresh mountain air, cooler temperatures, and views to forever, all melded together with a heaping help of Appalachian lifestyle. It is where Brasstown Bald, Georgia’s tallest mountain, rises to 4,748 feet, a mere child compared to some Appalachian peaks, but a natural treasure and source of pride to not only locals but also to the rest of us Georgians.On that spring day I drove nearly to the summit of Brasstown Bald, and when I stepped to the scenic overlook to take in the beauty that is the Blue Ridge Moun...

Grandchild on the way? Plan for a grannymoon

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

Do you have a grandchild on the way? Are you hoping to assist when the new bundle of joy makes his or her debut on the planet? Here’s a way to make sure Grandma is rested and ready to be a part of the little one’s life. Put a grannymoon on the calendar. Plan for yourself or gift a soon-to-be grandparent.Here are five ideas to consider.Chill on a cruiseFor an over-the-top treat, take yourself to Tahiti. The remote islands of French Polynesia make for a dreamy getaway you will remember for a lifetime. Board a Windstar sailing ship and explore magical motus (small islets), crystal clear coves and palm-fringed lagoons under turquoise skies. Snorkel, scuba or paddle amid stingrays, sharks, turtles and other fish in water so clear and warm you’ll want to float in it forever. Or, discover a world of ancient treasures as you explore legendary Greek islands including Santorini and Mykonos. Your itinerary may include a visit to Rhodes, the largest of Greece’s Dodecanese islands, known for its...

New tour brings Blues Traveler back to Greater Boston

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

Chan Kinchla used to sequester himself in his room with his guitar for hours and practice. Four decades later, during the pandemic, Kinchla found that same teenage lust for his instrument.“When you are always preparing for shows or writing new songs, there’s not a lot of time to woodshed and discover new chops, new licks,” the Blues Traveler guitarist told the Herald. “I played guitar just for fun, learning solos from Steely Dan or Jimmy Page or Jerry Garcia, figuring them out note for note.”“I was doing [expletive] I used to do in high school,” he added with a laugh. “I had no agenda. I didn’t know when the pandemic would end. So I just started playing guitar everyday for hours.”Kinchla didn’t need much practice. Blues Traveler has recorded 14 studio albums including the six-times platinum “Four.” Since the ’80s, the band has played 2,000 live shows for 30 million fans – Blues Traveler plays the Lynn Auditorium Wednesday, May 17. But he enjoyed putting in the work.“I felt just like...

Gemma Whalen’s back on crime beat in ‘The Tower 2’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

For Gemma Whalen, who plays Detective Sergeant Sarah Collins in the second season of the BritBox police series “The Tower 2: Death Message,” research for her role was unexpectedly eye-opening.“I was definitely surprised by the number of murders and deaths there are each week in London. How many more there are than we suspect,” Whelan, 42, said in a Zoom interview from her London home, her well-behaved two-year-old son perched on her lap.“I’d thought like, one a week or one a month. But several? Several times that you just have to deliver a death message and have to confirm that? There’s so much more death and murder and bad [expletive] that happens than whatever you see in the news. Only any of the high-profile cases get through. I thought most people live and let live.”Whelan’s Sarah Collins is a former Murder Squad detective on the homicide squad in this second season of Kate London’s bestselling trilogy book series “Post Mortem.”A former cop, London gets points for au...

Shragg: Environment takes a hit from immigration surge

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

Americans recently celebrated the 53rd anniversary of Earth Day. The holiday has changed drastically over the past half century — and so has the natural environment that activists are seeking to protect.Today’s green activists tend to mark Earth Day by focusing on ways to minimize their personal impact on the environment — through regular recycling, cleaning up local parks, planting trees, driving hybrids, or shopping with reusable bags. These environmentally friendly behaviors are all welcome, of course.But the activists who celebrated the first Earth Day in 1970 had a much broader focus — they were primarily concerned about our collective impact on the environment. As Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI), the founder of Earth Day, put it in a speech, activists’ goal was “a new American ethic that sets new standards for progress, emphasizing human dignity and well-being rather than an endless parade of technology that produces more gadgets, more waste, ...

Dahkari & Kaleena seek forever home together

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

Dahkari and Kaleena are siblings who are looking for their family together. Those who know Dahkari best describe him as an extremely sweet, polite and well-mannered boy with a quirky sense of humor and a desire to please others. He loves to read, especially the Percy Jackson series, and also enjoys watching movies and playing video games. Dahkari makes friends easily and at school his teachers say that he is a wonderful child to have in class. They say he has a positive attitude and puts a lot of effort into his work. Dahkari’s favorite subject is math.Kaleena is a very kind and silly girl who can be a little shy. She smiles a lot and is always polite. Those who know her best describe her as a fun, sweet, and spunky child. Kaleena loves to dance. Her nickname is Shakira in her current foster-home, where she has also learned Spanish. Kaleena also likes imaginative play with dolls and playing with others. Kaleena just transferred to a new elementary school this year and has been thriv...

Expect the unexpected from Feist

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

Leslie Feist’s “Multitudes” is not an ordinary pop album, so don’t expect an ordinary show when she hits town this week.During a mini-tour last year, she previewed the album with an elaborate show that broke barriers between her and the audience. The Canadian artist, who performs under her last name only, has since adapted that show to larger venues, and will bring it to the MGM Music Hall on Wednesday.“I think that as an audience member myself, there’s something about disappearing into your velvet seat,” she said recently. “You arrive to receive something, but it’s up to you how much you’re going to give of yourself. (After the COVID shutdown) I felt more open to doing something that wasn’t expected. People had come through this transformative experience, so it was okay to be a little curious. So the show was an invitation to be delighted, and to check your irony at the door.”The live show is also tied to the themes of the album, which include her adopting a daughter and losing her...

Editorial: Eviction surge shows need for reforms to protect elderly

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

America’s system of caring for elderly people who need long-term care is strained to the breaking point.Assisted-living facilities and the federal-state Medicaid system that’s supposed to provide medical insurance for low-income people are at odds over reimbursement rates — how much the facilities should receive for caring for people whose bills are paid by Medicaid.People whose nursing home bills are paid by Medicaid are protected by federal law from eviction, but assisted-living facilities aren’t similarly regulated. Maybe it’s time they were.According to a report in the Washington Post, there’s a disturbing trend of elderly people being unceremoniously evicted from facilities that have become their long-term homes.Imagine: An elderly man or woman reaches the point where it’s no longer safe or even possible to live at home without some help. That person finds a new home at an assisted-living facility and, for a time, things go reasonably well.Then, often without much warning, that...

Watson: Corporations put woke initiatives before employees

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

Corporations are putting their political agendas before their customers, employees and shareholders. Political considerations aimed at pleasing the mythical “stakeholder” drive some of the most significant decisions companies make.The Claremont Institute uncovered an egregious abuse of shareholder and employee trust at the behest of the mythic “stakeholder.” Corporations like AT&T, for example, laid off 3,400 employees at the height of the COVID pandemic while at the same time dumping $3.1 billion into racial justice programs. Boeing laid off 26,000 employees and suspended dividends while giving $15 million to racial justice programs. General Motors suspended its dividend and share buyback programs while donating $10 million to racial justice causes. Uber laid off 6,700 employees while pledging $61 million to racial equity nonprofits.Yes, some woke policies have been instigated by company employees (like in the case of Disney’s public opposition to Florida’s “don’t say gay” bill...

On Mother’s Day, here’s the meaning of ‘bonus mom’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:42 GMT

With Mother’s Day here, all sorts of bonus mom articles and merchandise have been popping up all over the internet. This prompted me to Google the term — I was interested in what the results might say, since I made up the term over 35 years ago, and this contributed to a whole Bonus Families movement.At that point, society was changing, and I was living in what is now accepted as a bonus family. It was obvious to me and so many others who felt the term “step” did not describe their family that we needed a new term that positively addressed the way we truly felt about each other.“Bonus” became our word of choice.But, doing my research online recently, I see the term has morphed into an incorrect assumption, and I would like to correct this once and for all. The common definition you find when you Google “bonus mom” is “a mom who didn’t birth the children that she is raising. This can be in the form of adoption or as parenting a child of a spouse.”This is incorrect and misleadin...