To the editor:

Every week I receive The Thomaston Times newspaper in my paper box, I use to look forward to reading the paper three times a week, now I just get mad. The content of our newspaper is so substandard it’s hard to put the disappointment into words. I have spoken with many other subscribers and they feel as I do. The Thomaston Times as we knew it came to an end when it was bought out and the new owners took over, the new publisher is out of touch with the information that the public wants to read in the newspaper - the key word being news. If you are interested in people profiles and biographies then the new Thomaston Times is for you. No more community news, no law enforcement news. I like to know what crimes have been committed so I can protect my family and my home. The city police and the sheriff’s department are out in force so they must be answering calls. And I’m sure 911 hasn’t gone out of business. We are not seeing police and incident reports in the paper because you choose not to inform citizens of Upson County. What the reasoning for this is I can’t imagine. It’s nice to acknowledge citizens in our community, but when it’s all a newspaper has to publish for it’s readers the publisher needs to hire reporters who don’t mind writing about something besides people, old buildings and by-gone days. That is one of the problems that has this town is so far behind the times. That is why we are a ghost town instead of a thriving community. Lead us into the future not the past. Reporting news is your job, so get your reporters out in the community, go to the city police and sheriff’s departments, and get their reports. This was never a problem before the paper was sold. I and many others will not be renewing their subscriptions unless we see drastic improvements made in our hometown paper — a paper we once looked forward to reading. Thomaston has a serious drug problem. Does this not raise enough interest in your reporters to go out and get to the root of the problem? Drugs are destroying families poor, middle and upper class, young and old citizens of this community. The child sex abuse is staggering for a town this size, these abused children need a voice, and that, Mr. Publisher, is a moral obligation, and by addressing this in your paper we will be helping these children. At least they will know that there are those in the community who do care. There are many more wrongs in Thomaston that need to be made right so lets begin with at least addressing them. Let the citizens of Thomaston know that the newspaper really does care about the readers.

(s) Kim Gladden