Category Archives: Opinions
Shark bait
Every summer millions of people hit the beaches, looking for some fun and relaxation. You jog 
down the beach toward the ocean with your surfboard, just as a big wave rolls in — when the lifeguard suddenly blows his whistle and yells “Shark!”
Sharks have some pretty slick survival skills up their fins. Sharks have been around for 400 million years
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Remembering the cost of independence
This week we celebrate Independence Day which is also commonly known as the Fourth of July. It’s a federal holiday commemorating America’s independence from the British empire which over 
the past 250 years has maintained a public display of pride and patriotism. This past Sunday at church we sang a heartfelt melody of patriotic songs that declared, America. America, God shed His grace on thee, Glory, Glory Hallelujah His truth is marching
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Courier Letters to the Editor
Saitta says thanks and touts Market
Dear Editor,
I want to thank all for getting out to vote in the primary on Tuesday, June 11. I am humbled and thankful for all your support. Of all the county councilmen and council candidates up for election, you gave me the highest percentage vote. Additionally, the Pickens district had the highest voter turnout by far of the four council districts on the ballot.
Running for reelection, I knocked many doors, met some old friends, made some new ones and visited many stores and shops along the way. I was a guest on the Pickens Local podcast in late May. I got there early and was able to walk the grounds of the Market at the Mill.
I want to say how impressed I am by the investment David, Todd and the Hosea family put into the old and abandoned OWT plant. Surely they have put well over $1 million into the rehab. Nothing is cheap today. Just repairing and getting the sewer system right must have cost them a quarter of a million dollars. The plant sat vacant for six years.
So many businesses have started at the mill, have grown up and have since moved to Main Street Pickens. I was told it is up to nine so far. Keeping stores on and open on Main Street has always been a challenge, and the Market at the Mill has provided a minor league, so to speak, of feeder businesses for the city. It has not gone unnoticed. Thank you.
When I was asked, I was told there are 88 businesses at the Market at the Mill paying city business licenses and sales taxes. Impressive.
I like the indoor market, and it is now my flea market of choice. It is in town, indoors, has a better quality of merchandise, is open four days a week and now has air conditioning.
I do not want to overlook Bridge Brothers and their investment. The best I can tell is there are 50 to 60 employees there, making it one of the largest private employers in the city.
I’m looking forward to the grand reopening of the Market at the Mill later in the month, Saturday, July 20. I’ve been to a couple of cruise-ins, too. I want to praise Barry Crawford for keeping what is going on at the Market at the Mill fresh and interesting.
Alex Saitta
Pickens
New presumptive for VA health care
The VA has added three types of cancer to the list of presumptive illnesses and disabilities that it will consider to be service-connected. “Presumptive” means the VA “presumes” your condition was 
caused by your service, which means you don’t have to prove anything.
The three new conditions are male breast cancer, urethral cancer and cancer of the paraurethral glands.
If you were diagnosed with any of those three new cancers
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Getting by on a low food budget
I recently read a report about price increases and inflation. It was financially technical, meaning it used a lot of terms that regular people would need to look up to understand, which means most of 
us wouldn’t … which left the writer of the report free to come to conclusions not connected to
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Free will and the enemy within
Receiving personal revelations of God’s Logos and Rhema word throughout our lives is critical to say the least. To be satisfied with a general knowledge of a few Bible stories is not what God had in mind for the victorious overcomer. Studying and rightly dividing the word is hard work and was intended to be practiced as a daily requirement for spiritual nourishment and development. To renew our mind and conscience is our responsibility that all
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The art of war
John Trumbull understood the art of war. On June 17, 1775, Trumbull watched the black smoke rising from the chaos and confusion during the Battle of Bunker Hill. Trumbull, an artist and a Harvard grad, also served as George Washington’s aide-de-camp.
Trumbull’s painting “The Battle of Bunker Hill” immortalized the battle with dramatic majesty. It
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Letters to the Editor
Bowers says thank you
Dear Editor,
I sincerely thank conservative voters of Six Mile, Norris, Central and Clemson for their support in the Republican primary. Pickens County had the highest voter turnout of any Upstate county, so congratulations to voters for their engagement and concern for good government. My goal is to follow the Republican platform and effectively represent the people of the district.
This primary resulted in nearly 1,000 more votes than the previous primary when my opponent took the seat, so I
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Thinking about Abundant Living
One of the more popular verses about blessings in the New Testament is John 10:10. We notice Christ is speaking, “The thief does not come except to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But, I have come that they may have life
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Our capacity for peace
“The progress of the world, the development of nations, the tranquillity of peoples, 
and the peace of all who dwell on earth are among the principles and ordinances of God. Religion bestoweth upon man the most precious of all gifts, offereth the cup
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