By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
DEC. 9, 2025 | One of the most compelling stories of the year must be one by Tatiana Schlossberg in the Nov. 22, 2025 issue of The New Yorker.
It’s entitled “A battle with my blood,” telling the story of her being diagnosed with leukemia. She writes: “My first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me and my family.”
What makes this reaction to her cancer so gripping is that she is the granddaughter of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and former President John F. Kennedy. Her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is the U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. He is the one responsible for halting medical tests that might save Ms. Schlossberg’s life.
She is 35 years old, and learned about her plight just after giving birth to her second child, a girl. Because of her illness, she has not been able to care for this daughter herself. As an environmental journalist, she tells of her situation in a most heartfelt way.
It’s not often that we have read such a captivating story.
FORMER PRESIDENT Dwight Eisenhower signed the bill creating the Interstate highways.
But do you know the story of the first east-west highway across this country?
In 1912, Carl Graham Fisher, who made a fortune supplying headlights to auto makers (Prest-O-Lites), proposed raising $10 million for a graveled two lane road from New York City to San Francisco, and suggested raising this money through donations. Many gave (Henry Ford did not). By 1915, work started on what became known as the Lincoln Highway. Soon it was evident there was not enough in donations to complete the project.
But Fisher had another idea. He developed “seedling miles,” finding a one mile section of the proposed road between two smaller cities, and paved that one mile. This made towns near this “seedling” want more traffic, so many towns raised local funds to bring that paved road to their town. It took a while, until 1923, but soon the Lincoln Highway was completed across the country.
And from this eventually the federal government got into road construction, and has been expanding the system ever since.
HAVE YOU NOTICED what’s happening to some cereal boxes? What has long been a standard 2.5-inch width box size is now on some brands only two inches wide. (See side-by-side photo.) Any guess what this new wrinkle is effectively called? You could call it “increased cost per ounce!” It’s a sneaky way to raise profits!
TWO GWINNETT high school football teams will play for state championships soon.
On Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m., Buford Wolves (14-0) will play the Carrollton Trojans (14-0) at Mercedes Benz stadium for the Class 6A title. It should be quite a game, as both schools have a long football tradition of winning, and both teams are ranked nationally. Interestingly, it will be the third straight Gwinnett team Carrollton has faced, having eliminated Grayson (34-14) and North Gwinnett (48-21) in the last two weeks.
Then on Wednesday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m., Hebron Christian Academy of Dacula will play Calvary Day School of Savannah for their 3-A Private state title. Last week, Hebron beat Greater Atlanta Christian School (50-24) to reach the championship. Calvary Day is 12-1 on the season, having lost only to Jenkins High. In 2024, Hebron’s football team won its first state title.
All championship games are being televised on Georgia Public Broadcasting.
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