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Opinion

  • Mr. President, we have a problem

    Dear President Obama:

    If you are serious about being re-elected, the door of opportunity has been kicked as wide open as the Montana sky.

    This isn’t about your ideas for handling our continuing economic morass, the ever-threatening swagger of Iran, the everlasting war on terror in Afghanistan and ever however much you think we should spend on the military going forward.

    Those are important, impervious issues, to be sure, but they’re not your real opportunity.

  •
    What we think: We need closure on...

    It was important to learn last week that a grand jury in Shelby County found that two Shelbyville police officers showed proper judgment and had no recourse in their deadly confrontation with a teenager last fall.

    We wish that the tragedy that spins around this horrible moment would have such a simple ending, but we don’t think it can.

    We cling to the hope that  the continuing debate also won’t have an equally tragic outcome.

  • We congratulate: New hospital...

    Shelby County’s community hospital now has new ownership, and we’re glad at least that piece of the drama about the facility’s future is complete.

    We don’t know what impact OneKentucky Heath System ultimately will have in Shelby County – and we remain concerned about that – but at least the merger processes surrounding its future are signed and, for the time being, sealed.

  • What we think: Here are our...

    It’s the time of year when we as individuals pause to organize our thoughts going forward, circle some dates on our calendar and prepare goals for where we want to be at the end of December. Some of us call these resolutions, but those tend to be tied to regiments that don’t really fit our lives and evaporate before the ground thaws.

  • Your dream is my nightmare

    Those of you who consider what happened on Saturday to be a dream game are, well, dreaming.
    You know who you are, wearing either red or blue and yelling like a banshee at that basketball cum football game you watched.
    Yes, Kentucky vs. Louisville – to let winners go first – was for decades a dream for fans of both schools, but except for the winning part, Saturday was something more akin to a nightmare for those who most wanted to see it played.
    To put it simply, sports fans, this was pure ugly.

  • The greatest story ever reported

    And in the same country, two editors were keeping track over the newsroom by night.

    And, lo, an angel of the Lord came before them, and the glory of the Lord shown round about them.

    But they weren’t afraid, because they knew this was Fred, a neighbor in St. Peter’s Loving Arms Apartments.

    “I have glad tidings of great joy,” he said. “Which shall be unto all people.”

    They shook their heads.

  • What we think: Lots of progress...

    When we first sat down to measure Shelby County’s success against the goals we had set for it last January, we were expecting to be disappointed. Had we really accomplished anything on our list other than getting a commitment from state highway officials to do an early remedy for the dangerous Exit 32, eastbound from KY 55 onto Interstate 64?

    That was stellar work, to be sure, but we also know that there could be difficulty designating the dollars required to accommodate a project we were told could begin next year. Does that tinge this tout?

  • Rhyme and reason for the season:...

    We’re here again with our holiday verse,

    To bring you a cheer or maybe a curse.

    But we hope for a smile from ear to ear,

    Our goal is only a bit of holiday cheer.

    So with only  apologies to Clement Moore,

    Our Night Before In Shelby is your reading chore.

     

    ‘Twas the night before Christmas,

    And all across the field,

    Holes and folds were numerous,

  • What we think: New judicial center...

    Shelby Countians awoke this morning to perhaps the most wonderful new public facility in the more than 200 years of our history – the Shelby County Judicial Center.

    We don’t know how residents in the early 1900s reacted to the opening of the Shelby County Courthouse, and we set aside the oooos and aaaaaahs for new schools, because those tend to happen and bring new educational wonders every decade or two.

    But we believe the center on the corner of 4th and Main streets in Shelbyville is a building of which all residents should be proud.

  • We congratulate: All the ways we...

    Some have labeled us as Sentinel-News Scrooges for suggesting that the Celebration of Lights in Shelbyville is scheduled too early and infringes on Thanksgiving.

    We still believe that it is, but we will set that aside for now to recognize another dead-on Santa certainty:
    Lots of people in Shelby County love to celebrate the holidays.

  • What we think: The Christmas story...

    In our annual pause to celebrate love and giving, we believe it is important that everyone remember the story that changed mankind.

    Luke 2

    1 In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered.

    2 This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

    3 All went to their own towns to be registered.

  • MY WORD: In defense of Officer...

    A letter writer supported Shelbyville Police Officer Suzanna Marcum (“About the shooting,” Letters to the editor, Nov. 30). I wish I would have written in earlier to show my support for Officer Frank Willoughby in the incident involving the shooting of teenager Trey F. Williams.

  • MY WORD: Moving Lifebridge is a...

    On behalf of Lifebridge for Animals, I would like to offer you a bittersweet “farewell.”

    The goal of Lifebridge for Animals has been unique in that we always have been focused on the future. We have worked diligently to move toward a day when there will be no need for animal shelters.

    Through curriculum-based humane education and spay/neuter assistance, that day can come. Sheltering is important, but it is not a solution to the problem of pet overpopulation, cruelty and neglect.

  • Crimes against the holiday: Here...

    This is the time of year when I hear that 4-letter word a lot. It’s awful that has to resonate right in the middle of the holidays, but that seems simply unavoidable, pounding into my head and creating all sorts of awful echoes.
    Wrap.
    Whew! Just typing it made me shiver and avert my eyes. Makes me gulp, turn that most embarrassing crimson, taste bile in my throat and, well, feel totally useless. Pardon me a second while I hyperventilate.

  • What we think: Fitness should be...

    Should we care about the physical fitness of our law enforcement officers?

    You have reacted strongly both in print and on the Web about why that question should or should not receive public scrutiny.

    You have been vocal about whether the mere suggestion that the physical capabilities of the two Shelbyville Police officers who entered into the deadly confrontation with a teenager last month might have been a factor in the way that confrontation unfolded and unfortunately ended.

  • We congratulate: New event to honor...

    We really like the fact that Shelby County High School created a day of basketball in honor of its most famous former player.

    The Mike Casey Classic, held for the first time this past Saturday, invited seven schools to join the Rockets for a day of basketball in the Mike Casey Gymnasium at SCHS.

    We commend Principal Eddie Oakley and Athletic Director Sally Zimmerman for having the commitment to Mr. Casey’s legacy to take forward their naming of the gym and court and building a showcase for the game he played with so much zeal and grace.

  • How about a little faith for the...

    For years, when asked what I wanted for a Christmas gift, I offered the same canned but heartfelt item:
    Peace on earth and good will toward men.

    Could there be a better present than wanting the world to reach its serene and sincere summit? I mean, what could compare? A new Countess Mara (look it up) or a sleeve of Titleists or one of those hot cars so many folks in commercials seem to receive?

    No, I thought nothing under the tree could be greater – until now.

  • What we think: Review or repeal...

    Why is shock probation part of the judicial landscape in Kentucky?

    There are only seven states that have such a program, which allow judges to release from prison convicted criminals – many of them felons – simply because they have faced the “shock” of life in a cell.

    Why does Kentucky’s having shock probation seem to be such a disservice to law enforcement, prosecutors and the judicial process in general?

  • NEIHOF: Giving gifts that last

    There is a scene in the movie Fred Clausin which Fred (played by Vince Vaughn) is responsible for determining which child makes the Nice List or which child makes the Naughty List. The older brother of Santa Claus tires of the situation and the choice process, so he stamps each and every child as Nice, meaning each and every child receives what he or she wants.

    I must be Fred Claus.

  •
    MY WORD: Think, shop and buy in...

    When dollars are spent in Shelby County, they can in turn be invested locally, raising the overall level of economic activity, paying more salaries and building the local tax base. This recirculation of money leads to an increase of economic activity, with the degree of expanse entirely dependent on the percentage of money spent locally.

    Buying away from home means lost revenue for local businesses and your tax dollars going to support some other community. I refer to the lost of potential-local retail sales, as “retail leakage.”