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Opinion

  •
    Protests change one man’s...

    Alright, I will admit it.

    I was wrong.

    A few weeks ago, I wrote a column decrying the uselessness of Twitter, the Internet service that allows people to send short blasts of information to a list of people who sign up to receive them. In most cases, these 140-character blasts are used to carry irrelevant tidbits like “home from work now. going to take a nap” or “wearing my new sneakers and they are GREAT.”

  • Owen County continues to grow -...

    Owen County may not share the doom and gloom stories that we hear from some areas of our county and really worldwide.

    We should be very thankful here in Owen County with the many projects that are under way or have been recently completed.

  • Teachers are heroes in the real...

    Letter to the Editor:

    I am writing this letter because I am proud of my son, Seth Edmonson, and also our school system. In March I was called to attend a meeting with some of the school staff.

  • Owen youth take pride while &...

    Letter to the Editor

    On May 16, we had the privilege to help in our county by picking up trash on Greenup Road. We had several of our youth help in the clean-up. They worked very hard and vowed not to ever throw trash out of their cars. It was quite a learning experience for each person who helped. Some questions that were asked were, “Where does all this trash come from?” and “Why do people throw trash out on the side of the road?” It is sad to say, but most of the trash is thrown out by people who do not realize the impact it has on our county.

  • Stray dogs are a menace in Monterey

    Letter to the Editor

    You know, sometimes, I’m not proud to live in Monterey.

    When I moved to Monterey, almost 13 years ago, it was the greatest place in the world. People were so nice, yards were kept up, and it was a great place for a family.

    But now, there’s nobody willing to help us uphold the law. Not even people paid to do the job. We have dogs running this town.

    Now I know it could be worse, but I pulled in town last week and before I got home, (I have to drive on two streets before my own) there were four dogs running loose.

  • Gambling is stealing from the poor

    After 43 years of experience in printing and marketing I have no problems spotting a marketing scare tactic when it appears. On May 29, I received a mailer from the Kentucky Equine Education Project stating that the horse industry was struggling and therefore is leaving the state of Kentucky. I ask you, fellow Kentuckians: Who isn’t struggling in these artificially created hard times? This slick promotional piece concluded that the remedy to this problem was to allow slot gambling at the race tracks.

  • Take pride in Owen County truck...

    In the twilight years of my life, I have discovered the competitive sport of truck pullin’.

    My son and grandson bought a pulling truck, and they have spent hours working on it, getting it ready to pull. Their first pull was in Cloverdale, Ind., and when they went, I packed my bag and headed for Indiana. I have been to two pulls now, found the fans to be enthusiastic, courteous and of all ages. I was pleased to find out how many Owen countians were involved with this sport, and how good they were.

  • The $1,000,000,000 question facing...

    Late last month, Gov. Steve Beshear announced he will call the General Assembly back into session to tackle what is one of the most underappreciated stories in several years.

    While George Bush and Barack Obama were handing out billions and billions of dollars in bank bailouts and economic stimulus packages, somewhere along the way we apparently lost track of exactly how much money we are talking about.

    Kentucky is facing a nearly $1 billion shortfall for the next fiscal year.

    It’s almost an unfathomable amount of money.

  • Make sure to keep your name in the...

    Today, as we begin to look toward the year 2010 and the May Primary Election, it is clear we must continue to improve the management of voter registrations. The State Board of Elections has reported that they have mailed 441,000 voter postcards in the state of Kentucky, and 142,000 were returned as undeliverable. In most situations, the correct address of the voter is not available. These postcards have been returned to the State Board of Elections and the board, in return has mailed the cards to the County Clerk’s Office in the county where the voter was last registered.

  • Georgia: On my mind

    “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

    William Faulkner wrote that. I’m not sure I know what the line means. Faulkner’s mind was complex and his words nuanced and layered. But he was born in Mississippi in 1897 where the Civil War could break loose at the turn of a prepositional phrase over supper most any night of the week. And I was born in Owen County, Kentucky, where we identify the names of fields on our farm by the names of men a century dead.

  • Take a moment to remember

    For the most part, I have been one of those people who sees the main significance of  Memorial Day as being the start of summer.

    For me and a lot of others, whether or not they would admit it publicly, Memorial Day has been little more than a nice three-day weekend – a good time to sleep in late, get outdoors, grill some brats and maybe have a family reunion or go for a swim.

    I know the history of Memorial Day.  Somewhere, squirreled back in the file cabinet of my brain, I recall hearing people call it Decoration Day. 

  • Letters to the editor: Most litter...

    As I was driving to Frankfort one Sunday afternoon, May 17, I saw two groups of dedicated people picking up trash on the side of the road.

    I would like to say a huge thank-you to those people for caring enough to take the time to help make our country a better place for everyone. I’m sure that they were not the ones who put the trash there, but yet they took the time to clean it up.

  • Letter to the editor: Karate isn...

    I think it is great that Mr. and Mrs. Runion have started this karate program here in our community. It does give the kids who don’t want to play sports like football or baseball another thing to do.

    But I don’t think it was fair that they act like they are the only martial arts program in Owen County.

    I have had several students of the Owen County Judo team come to me today and ask why the Runions act like the judo club doesn’t exist.

  • Georgia: On my mind

    My book club was planning to read Barbara Kingsolver’s new book “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” – the one about eating locally grown foods exclusively and only those in season – and so the discussion leader turns to me, and says, “And so Georgia, why don’t you make Kingsolver’s ‘Month of May’ recipe for Rhubarb Crisp on page 89 for our refreshments next month.”

  • There should be a penalty for...

    Where do you stand on officeholders who switch parties?

    For me, these people should be forced to sit out a year.

    When a 19-year-old college basketball player decides it would help his career to transfer to another school, there are all sorts of penalties including the possibility of sitting out a year.

    But if a politician decides it will advance (or continue) a career, they are allowed to turn their backs on the voters who put them in office and the party platform they agreed to support.

  • New taxes threaten livelihood

    Growing up in the 1990s, there were cigarette ads everywhere. I can plainly recall the dazzling young women who showed off the fact that they were smoking a Misty Light on the back of my mother’s endless supply of home and garden magazines. I remember Joe Camel at the pool, playing a mammal who wore sunglasses and was always suavely dressed. And oh, how I remember the Marlboro Man – that handsome guy on horseback who just happened to always have his picture taken in the middle of he desert – firing one up.

  • Despite woes, baseball is back

    I face a conundrum next week. You see I am a baseball fan and I am not sure how I should feel at this time of the year.

    The season opens up next week. It should be a time when I and other fans stop and celebrate what a great game baseball is. There is no question that the game itself is special. It is the only sport that is not timed. It is one of the few sports where the defense has possession of the ball before each play.

  • There is a price for failure

    There is a lesson to be learned in the firing of University of Kentucky Basketball Coach Billy Gillispie.

    If you don’t succeed at your job, you will be fired.

    With the failure to reach the NCAA tournament, Gillispie’s fate wasn’t hard to guess. There have been rumblings around the Big Blue faithful for weeks that Gillispie’s time should come to an end.

    Everyone has an expectation of success. Some teams would be excited to make it to the National Invitational Tournament but none of those teams are headquartered in Lexington.

  • Robert C. Haydon

    Robert C. Haydon, 83, died March 30, 2009, at Golden Living Center.

    He is survived by his wife of 37 years, Nelba Bourne Haydon.

    He was a member of Graefenburg Baptist Church since 1972. He retired with 33 years of service as an engineer with Blue Grass Energy.

    He was a World War II Army veteran, serving two tours of duty overseas, and was an avid hunter and fisherman.

    He was preceded in death by his son, Dan Haydon.

  • American Idol 101

    Although I consider myself current with pop culture, this is the first season I’ve watched “American Idol.”

    In years past, I’ve seen the last 15 minutes of some of the final shows to see who wins, but not knowing who’s who, I didn’t really care one way or another.

    This season, mostly because I hate being left out of the water-cooler conversation, I decided early on to watch every episode – from first auditions to finale – and I even hope to buy tickets to see the Top Ten Idol contestants when they go on tour this summer.