A Letter from the Publisher – “Never”

 

Dear Readers:

 

I was born one hot August day in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1982. I grew up a healthy, happy child, and the word never was only really a part of my world in a positive way:

I was never worried that WHETHER I’d not have enough to eat.

I was never worried that WHETHER I wouldn’t be able to see a doctor if I needed one.

I was never worried WHETHER America was force for good in the world, flaws and all. My first real memory of the cold war was of the Berlin Wall coming down and it feeling like we’d won the war.

I never felt unsafe or personally threatened.

Now it’s “They’re never going to elect Donald Trump!” and “The President would never betray American interests for his own personal gain.”

In the event of an international health emergency, America would never abandon its long-standing commitment to world-class, science led, public health measures, particularly in an emergency.

The President of the United States would never attempt to prevent the peaceful transition of power to his successor. If one were to try, he certainly would never be elected again.

The United States Department of Justice would certainly never deliberately lie to a federal judge. American citizens would certainly never have to go around showing their “papers” like we’re in Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia.

And I was never going to start a newspaper. And I’m not. This is a rag, a source of local information and insight. We are absolutely going to be doing some hard-hitting investigative journalism, and I hope to speak some truth to power, but this is not about adding to the infernal internet hate machine.

Newspapers in the 20^th Century in America were largely invented in their modern form during the wars, and it was only in the  post-war economic bloat that that model could survive. Now, like so many other things, the bill for our profligacy has come due, and we’ve been so spoiled by all of the nevers we’d been promised..

This impacts everyone, but those of us who don’t live in a major metro area have felt the effects first. Perhaps that is part of why there is such widening gulf between the America that seems to exists for some people and the one that exists for others.  Augusta is not Atlanta, and we don’t rate coverage. People here are right when they feel like the news is nothing but stories about horrible things going on in other places.

It feels like the world, and Augusta and the rest of small town America, is crashing into chaos and catastrophe, and the only way out is by competing in an international “suffering Olympics” in the vain hope that our problems will garner enough attention from the remaining media to force the government to address them.

Our goal with Garden City Gossip is to offer the people of Augusta something we’ve lost: news articles and opinions written by locals, about local events.

Garden City Gossip is a platform for the people of Augusta who have something to say.

If you are one of these people, or would like to be, please send me an email. If you would be interested in promoting your event or advertising your business: definitely send me an email.

 

We are looking for local voices that should be heard and aren’t tied to social media or mega-corporations that make our decisions for us.

Joe White’s Metro Spirit was as an inspiration for this. I would not be doing this but for that inspiration, so I wanted to acknowledge that debt of gratitude right up front, and say that we will attempt to continue the best parts of that tradition.

This website is not part of some larger media group; there is no private equity firm backing Garden City Gossip, it’s simply what it appears to be.

It is one little candle in the local darkness. The hope is to gather all the other little candles and, together, we can shine enough light to cut through the darkness and see what is really going on in our city.

If we do this, perhaps, collectively, we can again say to the dark “Never Again.” We will not be left out of the light, lied to, and treated like ignorant children. We do not have to accept that accountability and journalism is dead, we just have to accept that times are changing, and we need to change with them.

Our first feature story  will be coverage of the trial of Leon and Tanya Tripp for the alleged murder of Ms. Tripp’s daughter, Janelle.

This trial has been delayed for so long, yet many aspects of it open windows for discussion about larger, systemic problems in Augusta, the Garden City, we intend to offer extensive coverage and analysis.

–

Please follow along at GardenCityGossip.com, drop me an email with your thoughts, and sign up for our forthcoming newsletter to get the latest stories in your inbox!

Charles Rollins

Publisher and Editer-in Chief

Garden City Gossip

February 16, 2026