Fresh Loaf

Jason Pye at Peach Pundit posts an email from Susan Meyers that says Jim Wooten, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s lone conservative voice and a 30-year veteran at the paper, will retire this summer.

In news that may shock some, be regarded as inevitable to others, Jim Wooten, the voice of principled conservative thought at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, announced to the staff Friday he will retire this summer after three decades at the newspaper.

Wooten, an award-winning journalist, can be thanked for his years of columns and editorials calling on elected officials to spend taxpayer funds as if it were being depleted from their own wallets.

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As the Associate Editorial Page Editor, it is believed Wooten will continue to post a weekly Thinking Right column as he enjoys life as a Middle Georgia farmer. To read Wooten’s bio please click here.

Who’s gonna take Wooten’s place? DaleC?

UPDATE: Here’s where to go for details if you’re interested in becoming the paper’s new conservative columnist.

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Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears says she’ll leave the highest court in the state when her term as Chief ends on June 30, 2009.

Appointed by then Gov. Zell Miller in 1992, Sears became the youngest and first woman to serve on the state Supreme Court. In 2005, she became Chief Justice — the first African-American woman in the United States to do so.

Sears’ exit also means she will step down as chair of the Judical Council of Georgia. She says she has no plans to retire and will weigh opportunities in law, business, academia or non-profit organizations.

“I believe we all have a purpose in our lives, and mine is to serve,” Sears said in a statement released by the court. “Achieving justice, equality and hope for our nation, our communities, our families – that’s what I was put here to do. And whatever I do next, I will not waver from that course.”

Sears’ name has been mentioned in some circles as a potential Supreme Court nominee should Barack Obama be elected president. Sure, you can say we’re banging the hometeam drum — yes, we were guilty of parroting the “Gov.-Perdue-might-be-McCain’s-running-mate” meme — but it merits a mention.

Full release after the jump.

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