Opinion

There is an enormous hole in the roadside on the south side of Sawridge Creek Road across from the Monterey Firehouse and the soccer fields and the Artifacts store.

It’s been there a while. When things get busy, which is not too often but not rare either, people and horses fall into the hole.

So far, no one has died or been permanently injured by the fall as far as I know (I’m not sure about the horse), but it will happen again if the problem isn’t fixed.

In a few weeks, Owen County families, some of whom have traveled many miles to return home, will gather to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Most dinners will feature “Mr. Turkey,” complemented by potatoes and gravy, vegetables, rolls, and a variety of pies served in the good old-fashioned Owen County way.

The Civil War tore at the very fiber of America. And though the state of Kentucky initially declared neutral, it soon found itself embroiled in the battle, with loyalties dividing families, friends, and neighbors.

 I am writing to voice my support for Neese Chilton who is running for Owen County School Board for district five. I have had the honor and pleasure of knowing Neese and her family personally for five years since she has trusted me to watch her son during the day time (I have known Neese for much longer but the past five years I have gotten close to her and her family).  Neese is from Owen County and lives in the Wheatley area.

I hope that four to five years from now, we’re on our way to a strong recovery, based on the fact that a record number of voters embraced their rights and made an informed decision at the voting booth in 2010.  

There couldn’t be a more important election than this one.

The corporate power behind many of the candidates is not out of generosity, but out of greed and the need for control. 

John Waltz in campaign literature claims that Congressman Geoff Davis “refused to help him get treatment he needed from the VA.” When an experimental anthrax vaccine caused Waltz health problems.

There is no record to tell us what Congressman Geoff Davis did, or did not do for Waltz, just the claim to by Waltz, who is running for congress against Geoff Davis.

I have noticed in the News-Herald that many animals in several counties in Kentucky are being mistreated. Many dogs and puppies are being abandoned in our area. The Owen County Friends of Animals Inc. — (502) 514-1439 — has several dogs for adoption. They do a wonderful job taking care of homeless dogs, but financial help is needed. Please help “Man’s Best Friend.”

The following by an unknown author was found on the Internet:

A Dog’s Plea

At the beginning of time — so the stories went — my people decided to leave the faraway land of Virginia, and made a great pilgrimage across the mountains, and through the gap, seeking our “Promised Land.” It was the singular most extraordinary event in our history. Our people became legends, our stories myths, our places hallowed.

With these words, columnist and Kentucky author Georgia Green Stamper, who will be the special guest of the historical society Thursday evening, describes her forefathers’ journey from Virginia to Owen County, Kentucky.

Recently, we learned that another young person in our nation took his own life after he had been ridiculed, shamed and publicly humiliated because he was gay. He was 18 years old, a college freshman and an accomplished violinist. Within the last three weeks, we learned that at least five young people in our nation, who were either gay or labeled as gay, committed suicide because they were treated so despicably by others. Two of them were 13 years old. Are you as heartsick to hear this as I am?