On Accountability  EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series of op/ed pieces that will provide readers with proposals to improve East Ridge by write-in Mayoral candidate Dick Cook, publisher of East Ridge News Online. The incumbent is welcome to submit his own op/ed articles, as are candidates for City Council. It is my belief […]

 Life in America over the past decade or two (at the very least) should have taught us all something about our elected officials: 1) the need for personal integrity and accountability and 2) the seeming total absence of it in the people we keep electing. This applies at the local, state, and national levels and […]

Dear Citizens of East Ridge, Please spare me a moment of your time to tell you about a candidate running for mayor. On one very hot day day in late August, my mother and daddy came home with my baby brother! I had been waiting nine months for his arrival. Since I was almost eight […]

This letter written to ask the citizens of East Ridge to consider casting their vote in the November 8, 2022 election for Dick Cook as the next East Ridge City Mayor. It will take a little bit of effort on your part to vote for Dick as it will be necessary for you to write-in […]

I was dumbfounded by the actions of our city last week when a neighbor called and told me he got a letter from the city saying he didn’t have street address numbers on his house or mailbox. He was in trouble. He received a citation. My neighbor said exactly what I was thinking: “Don’t they […]

When is anyone on the City Council going to address the issue with the terrible roadways in East Ridge? I have been talking to anyone and everyone that has anything to do with the roadways in East Ridge for over two years only to get excuses and broken promises.  Our roadways are terrible. Tombras at […]

If you want to know what’s happening in your town, vote for Dick Cook.  Dick has his finger on the pulse of East Ridge and understands the in’s and out’s of East Ridge politics. He’s  a long-time resident who graduated from East Ridge High School and is the editor and sole news source for our […]

I wrote the editor to this great online paper to express how atrocious it was to have children staring at liquor bottles while out at recess. Also, how repulsive it was to have a liquor store sign literally 10 yards from the entrance to an elementary school.  I couldn’t say if my letter brought it […]

On Transparency  EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series of op/ed pieces that will provide readers with proposals to improve East Ridge by write-in Mayoral candidate Dick Cook, publisher of East Ridge News Online. The incumbent is welcome to submit his own op/ed articles, as are candidates for City Council. One of the most […]

Coming down John Ross from Rossville, there is now a bright sign with liquor bottles to your left, and a beautiful elementary school to your right. The liquor store sign shines much brighter than the nice school sign. Now, when kids come to school, the kids eyes are drawn to a bright LED lit liquor […]

I’ve said for a very long time that the City of East Ridge has its priorities wrong. Job One: Public safety. Job Two: Pick up the garbage. Job Three: Keep up the streets. Job Four: Enforce codes that make neighborhoods and businesses nice. Job Five: Provide nice recreational opportunities, and do all this without breaking […]

As a homeowner and property taxpayer in East Ridge for the past 34 years, and after numerous complaints to the City of East Ridge Superintendent of Roads, complaints to the East Ridge City Mayor’s Assistant and complaints to the State of Tennessee, I am completely fed up with the potholes, the eroded roadways and especially […]

The city of East Ridge needs to empower Animal Services to help citizens be free from unwanted cats in their yards. It is a good law that dogs aren’t allowed to roam free and destroy property, and it is time these same rules apply to cats. The cats I speak of are owned by our […]

As a long time resident of East Ridge I feel it is a necessity of civic duty as citizens to ask pointed questions and expect factual answers of our elected officials. I did just that and was blocked, with no further response or discussion on the Mayor’s social media page just hours later. Can anyone […]

I grew up in the conservative south with many beliefs that today’s society considers too old fashioned and out of style. I do not take lightly my civic duty, or the selection of my representative. It is not enough to come from a family with a political background, or to be supported by a particular […]