There are a lot of hungry people in our area who don’t have money to buy food. If you don’t believe me, I refer you to the “From Truck to Trunk” event spearheaded by Action Church and held Saturday at East Ridge Elementary School. The organizers gave away – repeat, no charge, free – more […]

With early voting starting today, I wanted to express my opinion about the election for Tennessee Legislature.  On the ballot in my district, we have two seats on the ballot.  Both seats are currently held by very capable members of the Tennessee General Assembly.  Senator Todd Gardenhire and Representative Esther Helton both deserve to retain […]

With the East Ridge City Council election nearing, I would like to offer my perspective and personal picks for the City Council.  I know some of the candidates on the ballot and genuinely feel that each of them have East Ridge’s best interest at heart.   I am not aware of any evil intentions on any […]

The national observance of Imagine a Day Without Water asks all of us to imagine a day literally without water. From your shower to your coffee to your kids’ last glass of water before bed. Not even a drop in a lake or a firetruck’s tank. This is certainly a grim warning, and one worth […]

Sometime before midnight on Wednesday, October 7, East Ridge News Online surpassed two million views since it was established. That’s a lot of views … and to think that in late October of 2018 former Mayor Brent Lambert testified during the Tim Boyd extortion case that he was only vaguely familiar with what attorney Lee […]

I have received a lot of negative emails and comments from constituents about the recent wastewater rate increase effective October 1st asking me to do something.  I understand the frustration of those asking “…How can my sewer bill be several times higher than my water bill?…”  Within this post I am not going to address […]

A poll on East Ridge News Online about how our elected officials spend taxpayer money drew the attention of Mayor Brian Williams. The poll question asks:  Would you prefer $1 million of your tax dollars spent on improvements to Camp Jordan Park or be spent on a new ladder truck for the fire department? Readers […]

After writing a column about the two referenda on the upcoming November election ballot, I received a phone call from former East Ridge Mayor Mike Steele. I was preparing to hear the pros and cons of liquor stores in our city, and what might result from dropping the residency requirement for lawyers interested in running […]

These unprecedented times have altered the daily routines that often fill our days and our minds. With our own personal worlds upturned, we can find ourselves uneasy today and uncertain about the future. As we navigate the current world, where can we go to sort through our thoughts? Thankfully, our investments in the great outdoors […]

EDITOR’S NOTE: East Ridge News Online does not publish opinion pieces where the author is unknown. The identity of the person that penned this article is known to the publisher of East Ridge News Online, however, he wishes to remain anonymous to readers. I’m sick but it’s not from a virus… I’m sick of corporate […]

Earl Wilson did it, didn’t he? Wilson worked for the better part of six weeks to get more than 706 registered voters’ signatures on a petition calling for the sale of liquor in package stores in East Ridge. Now, the measure will appear on a referendum in the November election. The voters will decide on […]

Are you the kind of person that looks at a glass of water and sees it as half full or half empty? July has been a month in East Ridge that lends itself for you to come to some kind of understanding where you rate on the optimism/pessimism scale. Earl Wilson, he of the “liquor […]

Without a doubt, the most polarizing issue in the history of East Ridge politics is alcohol.  For a generation the issue of “liquor by the drink” split this city apart. At one point in the 1970s, East Ridge had the third highest concentration of motel rooms around an interstate exit in the country. It was […]