Talking Points on Polk Today

This year, we wrap up Season 2 and the year with a return to a holiday tradition: reading some of my favorite Letters to Santa submitted for 2021! Check out this holiday special and enjoy the various wishlists to Santa! This holiday episode is sponsored by GFL Environmental. Become a Polk.Today sponsor by visiting https://polk.today/advertising to learn more. Want to support Polk.Today? You can make a direct contribution as a listener and give $5 a month to help ensure local news remains free for all. Click this link to provide support: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=66ZJL3ZB4VEFS

The Tallapoosa Circuit Drug Court program's 37th graudation ceremony was held on October 6, 2021, and gave participants and a local official the opportunity to speak out about their struggles with addiction and the recovery process. Make sure to listen in to this special episode of Talking Points on Polk Today, sponsored by Floyd Medical Center and Gammon, McFall and Villerreal, Attorneys at Law in Cedartown. Become a Polk.Today sponsor by visiting polk.today/advertising to learn more. Want to support Polk.Today? You can make a direct contribution as a listener and give $5 a month to help ensure local news remains free for all. Click this link to provide support: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=66ZJL3ZB4VEFS

Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's town hall meeting in full is available in this special episode of Talking Points on Polk Today, sponsored by Floyd Medical Center and Gammon, McFall and Villerreal, Attorneys at Law in Cedartown. Become a Polk.Today sponsor by visiting polk.today/advertising to learn more. Want to support Polk.Today? You can make a direct contribution as a listener and give $5 a month to help ensure local news remains free for all. Click this link to provide support: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=66ZJL3ZB4VEFS

State Senator Jason Anavitarte joined me by phone for this latest episode of Talking Points on Polk.Today, discussing various topics of interest from voting legislation to the challenges of expanding rural broadband and more. Listen in to the latest episode, made possible by sponsors like Floyd Polk Medical Center, Gammon, McFall and Villereal, Culver Exterminating Company and the Development Authority of Polk County. Become a Polk.Today sponsor by visiting polk.today/advertising to learn more. Want to support Polk.Today? You can make a direct contribution as a listener and give $5 a month to help ensure local news remains free for all. Click this link to provide support: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=66ZJL3ZB4VEFS

Pizza Farm owner Tommy Sanders - also a member of the Polk County Board of Education - lost his business to fire on January 9, and has plans to rebuild in the coming months. Listen to this interview from his kitchen table in Rockmart where he discusses what happened that night and his issues with the Polk County Water Authority in this latest episode of Talking Points on Polk.Today. Want to support the podcast and free local news on Polk.Today? You can become a contributor now for $5 a month and help ensure free local news stays free. Click the link to make a contribution via PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=66ZJL3ZB4VEFS. Check out the companion story to this podcast on Polktoday.com! Sponsors for today's show include Gammon, McFall and Villereal in Cedartown, Culver Exterminating Company in Rockmart, Croker's Hardware in Cedartown and more! Make sure to click on ads on Polktoday.com to support our sponsors.

The Rockmart Parks and Recreation Department is hosting a basketball tournament continuing today, and more is happening in the department as new director Jeff Holstein looks to push forward following much of 2020 without any youth sports, and a 2021 that is getting ready for the return of some normalcy with a spring schedule. Today's episode of Talking Points on Polk.Today focuses also on the future of youth sports, how Holstein wants to include more opportunities for adults to have recreation sports, and much more in a conversation at the Recreation Department. In the meantime, consider helping out Polk Today by making a monthly contribution to the site of $5 and get access free of charge to a forthcoming subscriber-only site, Kevintheeditor.com. Make sure to send commentary, ideas, any information you want to share about why you should be on the podcast or if you're interested in becoming a Polk Today sponsor at kevin@polk.today.

The Georgia General Assembly is set to take up debate on new laws this year as they make their way through committees in the State House and Senate this year over an issue that some citizens will want, and others won't: gambling. More specifically, this episode hopes that you'll gain a greater understanding of a new bill making its way through the state house that will allow websites to take payments from Georgia residents - technically illegal at the moment within our borders. Joining me to help explain what's happening is Billy Linville, spokesman for the Georgia Professional Sports Alliance. Want to help this podcast and free news on Polktoday.com grow? You can make a contribution directly via PayPal. Sign up now for $5 a month to support free local news for all, and you'll get free monthly access to a subscriber-only site coming soon as a new Myrick Multimedia product. Also, lookout for a new podcast launching today as well: PolkSportsWire Roundtable, the first item for the forthcoming Polksportswire.com

Today's episode of Talking Points on Polk Today is focused on education, and comes in two parts. In the first half of TPPT's fifth episode of season two, Ferst Readers Regional Program Coordinator Debbie Ross talks about the upcoming An Afternoon with the Authors fundraiser for the organization coming up on February 21. The event is raising money to help Ferst's goal of providing books for youth from birth to age 5 to help increase literacy rates locally for youth entering school for the first time at Pre-K or Kindergarten levels. This year also provides an opportunity for a community-wide reading of Karen White's "The Night the Lights Went Out." Part 2 of the episode focuses on the Polk School District and a presentation was given on February 2 by Assistant Superintendent Dr. Katie Thomas over why students should remain on a four-day week during the coming 2021-22 academic year. You can directly support this podcast and free local news at Polktoday.com with a contribution via PayPal. Email show ideas, commentary and more to kevin@polk.today. Also, please consider supporting local sponsors like the Development Authority of Polk County and Main Street Realty in Cedartown, who support free news at Polk.Today and this podcast as well.

Some weeks back, Floyd Medical Center's Daniel Bevels (who provides public information for Polk Medical in his role) came to take part in a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Polk County to talk about the hospital's response to COVID-19, how they are handling an influx of patients, and a discussion of vaccination. Want to support this podcast and free local news on Polk.Today? You can make a contribution to Polk.Today via PayPal and help ensure that local news remains free for all. Check back later in the week for Episode 5 of the podcast.

Rockmart Mayor Sherman Ross joins us on the long-delayed third episode of Season 2 of Talking Points on Polk Today to discuss projects underway and those coming in the future ahead for the city, along with other topics of import that are notable for local residents and visitors alike. Also, take the opportunity to help out and volunteer for cleanups and more happening within the City of Rockmart. Today's episode of Talkings Points on Polk Today is sponsored by Gammon, McFall and Villerreal Attorneys at Law in Cedartown and Culver Exterminating Company in Rocklmart. Those who want to make a contribution to Polk.Today can do so and help with the growth of free local news of everyone to enjoy. Note: this episode was recorded on location at Pizza Depot in Rockmart, so there might be some heater noise from where we were sitting.

There's a lot going on in the Polk School District over the past few years. From big SPLOST projects adding facilities to Cedartown and Rockmart High Schools and across the district, to new programs that are making a difference in the life of youth. On this past Tuesday, January 5, Superintendent Laurie Atkins and Superintendent-in-waiting Katie Thomas were both invited to come talk to members of the Polk County Rotary Club for their first meeting of 2021. Atkins and Thomas provided a presentation and conversation about the district's response to COVID-19 and numbers of cases found within students and staff (177 by their figures combined) along with the expansion of facilities through the use of Special Purpose, Local Option Sales Tax funds that were approved in recent years, plus programs like Graduate Polk and what's happening with the graduation rate, which is above 90% at Rockmart and increasing into the mid-80% range at Cedartown High School. Talking Points on Polk.Today is made possible by local sponsors like Culver Exterminating Company, Floyd Medical Center and Croker's Hardware in Cedartown. Those who want to make a contribution to Polk.Today can do so and help with the growth of free local news of everyone to enjoy. Thanks to the Polk County Rotary Club, Superintendent Laurie Atkins and Assistant Superintendent and PCCCA CEO Katie Thomas for providing the opportunity to share this episode with all.

This new year is well underway, and everything seems to be happening at once just like in the year previous. But the first guest of Season 2 understands that progress works at its own speed, marching ahead toward project completions without thinking anything of what day or month it might be. Just before the year got underway recently appointed Cedartown City Manager Edward Guzman took a few minutes out of his day to talk about what's in store for the New Year for local residents to expect, and more. Tune into this first episode of Season 2 of Talking Points on Polk.Today to hear from Guzman about several project, how downtown might develop further with the update of alcohol ordinances, how infrastructure looks in 2021 and much more. Today's episode of Talking Points on Polk.Today is brought to you by local sponsors like Main Street Realty in Cedartown, who can help you get a great offer on your home or find the perfect place for you to live in Polk County and the surrounding area. Find out how much your house might be worth by calling Michael Tinney at Main Street Realty in Cedartown at (770) 500-8443 or at www.mainstreetrealtyga.com. Additional sponsors include Croker's Hardware of Cedartown, Floyd Medical Center, Sherman Ross State Farm Insurance of Rockmart, and Sew Purdy! Check out these and more sponsors by clicking on ads here on Polktoday.com.

This episode of Talking Points on Polk.Today is a celebration of my favorite thing about Christmas: Letters to Santa. Listen in for a selection that were received in this first year of gathering letters from Polk.Today readers and educators across Polk County. You can help Polk.Today directly without having to purchase advertising by going to this Paypal donation link. Every dollar you contribute stays local and ensures that Polk.Today content can be enjoyed by all free of charge now and in the future.

In this special edition of Talking Points on Polk.Today, former Coroner and now Probate Judge Tony Brazier talked about what it feels like to have COVID-19 after he fell ill and tested positive for the virus, why we all need to be careful, his concerns over long term impacts and more in a phone interview for the podcast while he remains in isolation. His goal in participating in the phone interview despite not feeling his level best was to ensure the public is fully aware of the dangers of COVID-19, and that people need to take it seriously and take precautions. Especially those who might be susceptible to other ailments during the winter months.

Hometown Pizza and Grill owner Rick Smith and I sat down in the dining room of his restaurant in Rockmart to talk business in this latest episode of Talking Points on Polk Today, along with an upcoming promotion he's running on Nov. 16 through Nov. 20 to help the band.

In this latest episode of the podcast, I sat down with Polk County's Airport Manager Chuck Beavers to talk about the Runway Extension project, operations and more. Check out free news, sports, videos, podcasts and more at Polktoday.com!

Tune into this episode to learn about the mission and work being done by the LMO Pregnancy Care Center in Cedartown, Georgia in an interview with Executive Director Heather Blackmon.