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Opinion

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    Legislators in the classrooms
  • Letter to the Editor - Pipe Dreams...

    Recently, I attended a presentation by Williams and Boardwalk before the state natural resources and environmental committee. The program began with an overview of their dream pipeline project by three company representatives. Predictably, this consisted of how much they care about safety, the environment, and how happy landowners will be with their pipeline and their perpetual relationship with the Williams and Boardwalk empire and whoever follows them.

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    Our population is changing and...

    In the broadest sense, the population changes Kentucky has seen over the last 50 years have largely fallen in line with the country as a whole.
    We have both become increasingly urban, for example, with Kentucky’s tipping point coming in 1970, when the U.S. Census found for the first time that more than half of our citizens lived in or near a city. Both of us are also witnessing the same graying trend, which is no surprise because of advances in medicine and the growing number of Baby Boomers reaching retirement age.

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    I share Bluegrass Pipeline concerns

    Since the Williams Company and Boardwalk Pipeline announced plans earlier this year to run a portion of a 1,100-mile natural gas liquid (NGL) pipeline through Kentucky and through our community here, I’ve heard many concerns by landowners and community members. Concerns that I share.
    The legislature has been closely following the situation and last week convened a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Energy focused on the issue. I am confident this is just the beginning of many conversations we will have in Frankfort about the pipeline.

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    Get out and enjoy what Kentucky has...

    With Labor Day behind us and a “biting cold and snowy” winter to come – if the Farmers’ Almanac prediction proves correct – the clock is ticking for those of us who would like to see some of what Kentucky has to offer during the fall.

  • License hemp but don't...

    From the Lexington Herald-Leader

    Goodness knows, a state that grows tobacco, which kills people, and champions products like gambling and liquor is hard-pressed to put on airs when it comes to industrial hemp, a botanical cousin to marijuana.
    So we stand by our longstanding support for legalizing industrial hemp production.
    But make no mistake about it, industrial hemp will not transform Kentucky's economy.

  • Letters to the editor - Sept. 11,...

    Proposed U.S. strike on Syria raises major concerns
    Perhaps my age — late 80s — leads me to reflect on the past even while I am gravely concerned about the present, specifically now the proposed U.S. strike on Syria. Memory brings up the key role of Damascus in the history of religion. And as I view the President and the Secretary of State declaiming the rightness of their call to arms, memory brings up their more enlightened years. To them I write:

    Let Memory Be the Light
    For John Kerry and Barack Obama

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    Pipe Dreams

    By Rick Arendt
    Guest Columnist

    I have attended three local informational meetings regarding the proposed pipeline project through our beautiful state and one in Elizabethtown, which was put on by the pipeline companies. I asked questions of the experts supplied and based on their answers I have concluded that absolutely no good can possibly come to the people of Kentucky by allowing this project to begin. It is a very bad idea for our environment, for our safety and for our land values.

  • Corrections and clarifications -...

    The last paragraph of two stories in last week’s edition were cut off accidentally.
    The end of, "Abell values team work" about Mike Abell, the new Marion County High School Principal should have read: “I want to be involved,” he said. “I want to make myself available to the community.”
    "More valuable than the dollar figure" about Marion County residents who do now want a pipeline on their property, ended on a quote from Dorothee Sheehan, one of the property owners.

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    Backdoor deals

    “Never pick a fight with people who buy ink by the barrel.” - Mark Twain
     
    “Sometimes the truth hurts. And sometimes it feels real good.” - Henry Rollins
     
    These two quotes resonate with me after last week’s school board meeting, and I’ll tell you why.

  • Letters to the editor - More books...

    More books wanted?
    The Marion County Heritage Center in Lebanon has asked for my book called "St. Francis of Assisi Beginnings" covering the 100th Anniversary of the church at St. Francis, Ky., in 1996. However, right away I sold all of the 1,000 books that I had printed and never reordered. I've had a few people over the years to call and ask for one but I didn't have enough names to reorder.  

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    Crime rate decreases, respect for...

    Every year since the late 1980s, the Kentucky State Police has published a highly detailed break-down of the previous year’s crimes, giving us a much closer look at – and appreciation of – the work done every day by our law enforcement officers.
    This information from local and state departments alike is also crucial for those who oversee the state’s criminal justice system, because it points out trends that might otherwise go unnoticed and helps us determine the effectiveness of programs designed to make Kentucky safer.

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    Redistricting plan is fair

    Many of you have called or e-mailed me over the last few weeks to share your thoughts on redistricting. I appreciate your involvement in the process.

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    A ‘fowl’ of the law

    By Kim Bell
    Guest columnist

    90.26 Except in agricultural zoning districts, it shall be unlawful to keep poultry within the corporate limits of the city at any time during any year. (Ord. 08-01, passed Sept. 8, 2008)

    In the Aug. 21, edition of The Lebanon Enterprise, on page A15, the headline reads “Chickens still an issue for city.” The article gave a brief but detailed description of the Lebanon City Council meeting held on Aug. 12.

  • Letter to the editor: Senators...

    In the name of Kentuckians all along the route of the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline, I write to commend Senator Jimmy Higdon and the other eight Kentucky senators who co-sponsored a resolution expressing the desire of the Senate to protect our state from abuse of eminent domain and from unscrutinized siting of and absence of regulation for the misguided and frightening project called the Bluegrass Pipeline.

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    Recent redistricting process went...

    Last week, the General Assembly returned to the Capitol to re-draw the geographic lines that govern the 100-member House of Representatives and the 38-member Senate.
    It’s something we and every other state are called upon to do each decade, to reflect the differences in population found by the Census.

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    A love of learning

    Terry Ward was like the uncle I never had.
    From basically the moment I was born he was like family.
    He and my mom and dad were the best of friends.

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    Zero tolerance

    Driving while under the influence is an avoidable, inexcusable crime, and I applaud any community that has zero tolerance for it.

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    Veteran crisis hotline here to help

    Rarely a week passes that I don’t receive a call or an e-mail from a constituent looking for contact information on a wide range of issues, including the critically important hotline to help prevent suicide among our veterans.

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    Rankings paint a clearer picture of...

    In today’s data-driven age, there is no shortage of comparative lists that states can use to check the progress they’re making. The rankings may not shed much light individually, but when enough are brought together, a much clearer picture begins to emerge.
    With that in mind, Kentucky and 14 of her fellow southern states got a chance earlier this summer to see how each stacks up in some especially crucial areas.