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Columns

  • Cleaning out my closet

    Lately, I’ve been trying to clean out my closet. The metaphorical closet in my head where I’ve stuffed any unresolved hang up over the years and left them there to rot in the back of my mind. The kind of stuff that you start thinking about on really long drives or sitting by the ocean at night, which I did a few weeks ago on vacation.

    A lot of times in life, I’ve shoved things aside so I didn’t have to deal with them and confront the issue at hand.

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  • Empower teachers, engage students

    By Kaelin Reed

     

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  • BackPack program provides needed hope

    Four little kids jump off the school bus in wild anticipation. It’s the Friday before a long weekend. It feels like the first three-day weekend would never arrive. It’s been eons since school started instead of just a few weeks. 

    Three of the children run excitedly ahead, their book bags light from the lack of books and homework. These three are off to ride bikes and do other fun things during their long stretch of freedom. 

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  • Live by example, Give by example

    My parents were broke when I was in middle school. 

    During my brother’s cancer treatment, they were really and truly struggling. I remember my mom talking about a time when she had panicked because a subscription service she had canceled had charged her account and she only had four dollars left, and we needed groceries.

    They relied on a lot of generous help to get by and they eventually rebuilt themselves to where they are today. But, that time in our life is not something we forget.

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  • Library’s genealogy room is stocked with local history

     Are you searching for your roots? The Marion County Public Library is blessed to have a well-stocked genealogy room on its premises. If you’ve not been in the genealogy room, allow me a moment to tell you about its contents, uses and how you can help out other researchers.

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  • Kentucky’s economy strong, but more work needed on workforce development

    Kentucky’s economy is booming.

    By every measureable standard, both the Commonwealth and our nation’s economy are growing at a fast rate, adding jobs and pumping new investments into rural communities. Our unemployment rate is at a 43-year low, businesses are expanding at record levels, and Kentucky saw an average of 5.7 percent growth in wages in the first quarter of 2018, the fourth highest in the nation.

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  • Tri-County United Way needs your help

     By John G. Mattingly

     

    For the last three years, since leaving the Marion County Judge/Executive office, I’ve been involved with the Tri-County United Way serving Marion, Nelson and Washington counties. This relatively new charitable organization has expanded its annual allocations to $200,000 to 35 different 501(c)3 organizations this 2018 grant year. These agencies serve our most vulnerable citizens - hungry children, low income senior citizens, victims of domestic violence, rehab services - the needs are great!

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  • More than a building

    The word library is defined as being: a building or room containing collections of books, periodicals, and sometimes films and recorded music for people to read, borrow, or refer to. "A school library" Please note I found that definition online, via the Google search engine. Not a book. Please note that the definition of a library didn’t even include the word computer as a resource. Please note this did not refer to a “public” library. More importantly, free, public library.

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  • ‘Drive slow and let them grow’

     Summer is coming to a close, and the children of Kentucky are loading up their backpacks with school supplies as another year of learning approaches. I want to wish both students and faculty good luck on what I’m certain will be a successful school year.

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  • Support your library

     I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and had a good time celebrating our nation’s independence earlier this month. A recent article caught my interest in The Washington Post about leisure reading in the United States. I wanted to share it with my constituents:

    Leisure reading in the United States at an all-time low

    The share of Americans who read for pleasure on a given day has fallen by more than 30 percent since 2004, according to the American Time Use Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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