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Opinion

  • Pension system needs more...

    I can’t describe the emotion I felt when I learned of the state retirement system board’s decision to keep its current executive director, extend his contract for 30 months and award him a 25-percent raise – to $215,000 annually.

  • Foreign policy blunders threaten...

    Former President Jimmy Carter recently said of President Obama’s foreign policy that America’s “influence and prestige and respect in the world is probably lower than it was six or seven years ago,” adding “…I can’t think of many nations in the world where we have a better relationship now than when he took over.” Having recently returned from Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Afghanistan with Congressman Andy Barr and several of my Senate colleagues, it’s clear that Carter’s critique is devastatingly accurate.

  • Honoring our vets

    “In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”- Mark Twain.

    As each of us rise each day to go to work or school, or on Sunday when we gather our family and worship in our church, I wonder if we think about what those simple freedoms we enjoy like being able to major in whatever career we chose, or the freedom to worship our Lord, what costs were paid for those freedoms.

  • Finding the right balance

    Twice last year, Spencer Countians who live near creeks and streams had to move to higher ground when heavy rains turned those waterways into raging rivers that caused property damage and even threatened lives.

    Twice, residents had to clean up, dry out and rebuild fences, driveways and other property damaged by the high water. It left many land owners wanting to take action to try to prevent future flooding.

  • Take part in the political process...

    It’s hard to miss with the TV commercials, direct mailers and yard signs soliciting votes – but Kentucky is about to have a general election.

    The candidates, including those running for governor, have done their jobs. Now, it’s up to voters to do their jobs.

  • From our readers: Settlers Center...

    This letter is written to the owners or operators of businesses in Settler’s Center.

    Settler’s Center is the primary place where we all do our business: Salt River Electric, Froman’s Drugs, Taco Bell, Subway, Hometown Pizza, Dollar General, Riley’s Barber Shop, CUB Bank, CountryMart and Radio Shack. This amounts to more than a thousand dollars each month.

  • From our readers: Why did...

    I believe a magistrate’s job is to listen to the members of his district, and address their concerns. The magistrate should be an advocate for the citizens he represents by answering their questions and supporting their needs. So I was very disappointed with Campbranch magistrate Collis Rogers when he made a motion that effectively killed the issue of Tanglewood Drive maintenance at the last Fiscal Court meeting.

  • Bridges to education

    I spent nearly an hour on the old blue bridge Monday afternoon watching crews lower the first of four, nearly 70-ton beams, down onto pillars as they worked on the new span that will cross the Salt River when completed.

    I walked away with a renewed appreciation for knowledge, the kind not necessarily learned in a lecture hall or from a book, but from doing.

  • Social issues should never be off-...

    With the 2015 election season nearing the finish line, voter guides of all political stripes have made their rounds, including the Commonwealth Policy Center’s. It focuses entirely on social issues and asks candidates’ views on the defense of the unborn, opposition to the industrialization of gambling, the protection of religious convictions in the public square, and marriage between a man and a woman.

  • Preparing for ‘16 budget

    I found myself teaching elementary-age students about civics and public service in Casey County this week as part of America’s Legislators Back to School Program.

  • Is the Pope the authority?

    I was fascinated by the media coverage given to Pope Francis’s visit to America last week. I was even more amused by watching the differing groups in America lining up to use the Pope’s words to bolster their own agenda.

    Liberal groups were salivating for the Pope to echo their concerns about social justice issues like poverty and immigration.

    Social conservatives were there to shout a hearty “Amen” when the Pope addressed issues like abortion.

  • Moving to the head of the class

    Congratulations are in order to Spencer County. The Kentucky Department of Education last week released it’s report card on schools and districts across the Commonwealth, and Spencer County got very respectable grades. In fact, it could be said that Spencer County is moving to the head of the class.

    Out of over 170 districts in the state, Spencer County is ranked 38th in the latest report, continuing its steady ascent. For the first time, the district has earned ‘distinguished’ status.

  • From our readers: Principal’s...

    I would like to take a moment to bring to the readership’s attention the dedication of our middle school principal. I had a question regarding the middle school and decided to look up Principal Matt Mercer’s e-mail address and drop him a line. To my surprise, I’d hardly hit the ‘send button’ before a professional, courteous reply was returned.

  • Embrace the new

    I’m an old codger of sorts, and have been for a long time. I think old music is much better than the new stuff. Old cars and trucks turn my head much more than the newer models and they don’t make good television shows like Andy Griffith any more. Now get off my lawn!

    Ok, I’m not that bad, but I do have an affinity and appreciation for days gone by. I think we, as a culture, too often cast aside the old in preference of the new, often with little regard for how practical, useful and effective the old was.

  • What’s Kentucky offering?

    Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s recent stop in Kentucky to try and convince businesses to move south to the Sunshine State was met with predictable derision from the political establishment.

    Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer used Scott’s visit to remind people of the Florida governor’s baggage from his past tenure as CEO of the Columbia HCA hospital chain, which purchased Humana’s “Galen” hospitals in the early 1990s.

  • Comer thinks hemp has bright future...

    Hemp has come a long way, increasing from 33 acres in 2014 — the first legal crop in Kentucky — to more than 922 acres planted this year.

    “Welcome to Kentucky, the leading industrial hemp-producing state in the country. It feels good to say that,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer told a sold-out crowd Monday at the annual Hemp Industries Association Conference in Lexington.

  • Protecting the unborn

    In my travels I often hear about the many ways that Washington fails to stand up and fight for worthy causes. Among the most notable is the fight to protect innocent life. That’s why last summer I said that a new Republican majority would prioritize legislation that aims to protect unborn children after 20 weeks in the womb, and that’s why I will be proud to vote for it this coming week.

  • Clock bomb story a ‘dud’

    The most exercise many Americans today get is sitting in front of their computer screens or televisions and rushing to judgment or jumping to conclusions. While these exercises don’t help us burn calories, they do help agenda-driven journalists in their quest to fan flames.

    Last year we saw it in Ferguson, Missouri, and last week we saw it in Irving, Texas, where a 14-year-old boy was punished by school authorities for bringing a ‘clock’ to school that resembled a homemade bomb.

  • Ready for work

    Several years ago, this newspaper ran a photograph taken at the county line on Highway 155 going into Louisville. The purpose of the picture was to illustrate the seemingly never-ending string of cars that crossed the border each day, taking their occupants to jobs elsewhere.

    Of course, that was prior to the recession of 2008, when Spencer County was repeatedly listed as the fastest growing county in the state of Kentucky, and one of the fastest growing in the entire U.S.

  • High-Speed internet coming to every...

    Kentucky is embarking on one of the biggest infrastructure projects in more than 50 years – developing a robust, reliable, fiber “backbone” infrastructure that will bring high-speed Internet connectivity to every county of the Commonwealth.

    The network, called KentuckyWired or the I-Way in eastern Kentucky, will break down geographic and financial barriers to education and economic development by providing affordable, high-quality Internet service to connect Kentuckians to the world.