Opinion

Sitting in the gymnasium at Lebanon Middle Thursday afternoon waiting for a school assembly to begin, I watch as Trent Higdon helps the sound technician with the microphone. He's doing the mic test, making different sounds and saying different words, trying to perfect the volume.

Soon, Trent spots me with my fancy camera and reporter's notebook. He comes over to me and immediately starts asking me questions.

"Are you a newspaper reporter?"

During the legislative session that ended earlier this month, Kentuckians saw a textbook example of what positive things can happen when both parties in the General Assembly come together and work toward the Commonwealth's greater good.

The end result was a landmark law that stands as the biggest change to our criminal code since it was overhauled in the mid-1970s. It showed just how effective the legislative process could be when everyone has a seat at the table and a desire to do something truly meaningful.

In reading Stephen Lega's "Business as usual", the "Editorial" and the "Letters to the Editor" in the  March 16 edition of The Lebanon Enterprise, I could not help but notice the high level of emotions and the absence of a most important question: i.e. What type of tourism is desired?

Is it family tourism with little sales appeal for Lebanon, or convention tourism, which brings with it the inevitable prostitution and other crimes?

Last fall, when the General Assembly finalized the calendar for the 2011 Regular Session, this past week was scheduled to be one of the quietest of the year. It was set aside as part of a 10-day period known as the veto recess, which gives the governor time to consider legislation sent to him and then gives legislators a chance to use the session's final day to consider vetoes, if any occur.

Watching the television news, reading the newspapers and surfing the Internet, images of the disaster in Japan are everywhere.

On March 11, Japan was hit by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded. The magnitude-9.0 quake set off a deadly tsunami that crashed into the small island nation. Thousands of people are dead, many more are still missing or injured and almost half a million people are homeless. The country is also facing a nuclear crisis.

I was pleased to read Ms. Lowery’s opinion in The Lebanon Enterprise dated March 2. It is the same feelings that I have heard other people express about the tourism commission and the recent controversy surrounding this.  

After reading the Enterprise’s web story on the March 7 city council meeting, I am ashamed and appalled at all of you.

I worked for the Lebanon Tourist and Convention Commission for five years and have been with the tourism industry for almost six. I cannot express enough what a tragedy this would be if this tax and the office were taken away. I have seen firsthand all the wonderful things tourism has done for Lebanon and proud to say I was a part of it.