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Opinion

  • EARLIER: What we think: Bypass...

    Now that we know for sure the Shelbyville Bypass will not be completed in 2009, we are left with a lot of fundamental questions, far more miles of them than there are of concrete poured on this roadway.

    But one question we don’t have is this: Who is in charge?

    State officials made the answer to that one abundantly clear last week when they explained that our bypass is being built under a so-called “working days” contract, which allows contractors to control the time frame, the work schedule and, ultimately, the completion date for the project.

  • Arguments about global warming seem...

    One letter arrives as if sucked into the vortex of another, something like two powerful thunderheads colliding over the middle of the county, creating all sorts of wind and havoc.

    They speak of data and experts and opinions. They portend great insight, laying out  science and history in detail. They are doused with perspective and seasoned with rancor.

    But these letters don’t address our heaviest matters, such as war, healthcare or human rights.

    No, their topic is climatology or, more specifically, global warming.

  • School may be out on the calendar,...

    If Alice Cooper had recorded his heavy metal anthem “School’s Out” in the new millennium rather than decades ago in the old one, its reprise may not have resonated for the nearly 40 years it has.

    Because judging from what I see, school really isn’t out for the summer.

    We’re now two weeks from the first bell of the fall – another fallacy of today – and it hasn’t seemed to be much of a vacation for the kids, much less the adults.

  • Shooting for the moon: 1 landing, 1...

    Remember in It’s A Wonderful Life when George Bailey says he’s going to “lasso the moon”? It gave us a sobriquet for what later became the cliché “reaching for the stars.”

    Well, on Monday, we could celebrate two men who did reach for the stars, one of whom did lasso the moon in a manner of speaking and another who just missed.

    One gave us a moment to study the past and what it has meant to the present and our future.

  • EARLIER: What we think: The bypass...

    Last week we implored you to call or e-mail Kay & Kay Contracting and ask those in charge why they aren’t here working on the Shelbyville Bypass.

    You are the taxpayers whose dollars are funding this project, and you have a right to know why nothing is happening. We told you that the contractors have a moral obligation to reply.

    Some of you took our suggestion, but the heavy equipment remains just as idle as it was last week.

  • EARLIER: What we think: It's...

    The construction project for the Shelbyville Bypass has skidded into a mountain of mud at the end of a dead-end street. What has appeared obvious to anyone who has taken a look at the empty roadbed and the lack of action is true: Gridlock has emerged on the construction of a highway that is supposed to prevent just that. There have been many questions from local residents and officials about the lack of progress they were seeing on a road that many hoped would completed soon, and now we learn that the contractor, Kay & Kay Construction of London, has worked

  • Learning humility fromeea Viking?

    Three boys were on the playground bragging about their fathers.

    The first boy said, "My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a poem and they give him $50."

     “That’s nothing,” the second boy said. "My dad scribbles a few words on a piece of paper, he calls it a song, and they give him $100."

  • My Word: When it comes to global...

     A letter featured in The Sentinel-News (“Problems exist”, June 17) was, itself commenting on the proposed energy plan of President Barack Obama.  I generally do not agree with most of the views of the aforementioned contributor, thus, my grievances are less with that writer than with the newspaper itself.  

  • We congratulate: Citizens who...

    Lost among the sparkles and thunder of the Independence Day weekend were the unselfish contributions of citizens who made sure Shelby Countians could celebrate the right way.

    If you recall, the Parks Board had announced it would not have a fireworks show this year because it was too expensive and too lightly attended. Too many citizens watched from their patios and decks, it seems.

  • The name game is a tough one

    One of the most basic facts a newspaper tries desperately to have correct is the spelling of a name. It’s a one of those slap-your-wrists fundamentals we learned at journalism school, because our errors endure in ink on paper.

    Even if every other fact is wrong, we want that one to be right. And, frankly, when it comes to cops and courts, we have to be extra careful. You wouldn’t want to have a wrong name in an arrest report of a serial killer.

    We know we sometimes err, but we sweat the small stuff all the time.

  • What we think: School board's...

    The Shelby County School Board’s delay on approval of the plan for athletic facilities at Martha Layne Collins High School has us a bit perplexed.

    The item on the board’s agenda Thursday was to approve the construction plan and to allow bids to be let on a football/soccer/track stadium and a baseball/softball complex. The action is required now to be able to complete construction in time for those seasons in the 2010-11 school year, when Collins will be open.

  • Michael: Another legend who will...

    Word spread by e-mail, phone and Facebook. It was a bolt of lightning, and each of us simply wanted to touch it and pass it along. Thursday night before the sun was close to the horizon, we learned that Michael Jackson was dead. If you’re younger than 25 or older than 65, you may not care so much.

  • We congratulate: A local guy who...

    Much has been written recently about the spendthrift ways in which the Kentucky Association of Counties has taken care of taxpayers’ money.

    The Herald-Leader in Lexington has examined – exhaustively – the spending practices of many organizations funded by taxpayers, and KACo, as it is known, has been squarely under its lenses.

    That group, a coalition of county officials from across Kentucky, has spent thousands on such frivolous concepts as tickets for board members to the Kentucky Derby and the Ryder Cup.

  • The Founders’ Declaration...

    This weekend as we celebrate the 4th of July, millions of Americans will have cookouts, go swimming, play corn-hole, and watch fireworks.  A few of them will actually pause for a moment to reflect upon what the day is all about.

    Of course, the 4th of July is our national Independence Day, memorializing the day our Founding Fathers declared their independence from Great Britain.

  • My Word: Iran's problems touch...

    During the last couple of weeks, the world, or my world rather, has been fixated with Iran.  The Iranian people, like they do every four years, went to the polls to elect a president.  Only this time it was predetermined.  The Iranian people didn’t have a say.  The government chose for them. 

  • We congratulate: Teamwork shown in...

    Law enforcement officials in six counties worked together recently to arrest a man they believe is responsible for dozens of burglaries.

    We shall see if their arrest carries through to conviction, but we are buoyed by the teamwork we saw from the Shelbyville Police Department, Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Simpsonville Police and agencies from around the region.

  • Auto vacations still aren't as...

     I remember when I was a boy bemoaning our 16-hour rides to visit my grandmother in south Mississippi that my Dad would tell me that someday, in my lifetime, I would be able to get in a car, tell it where I wanted it to go and just let it take me there. The roads and something we didn’t even know – technology – would do the rest.

  • What we think: Here's a sure...

    We would like to offer an entirely new plan for how to expand state revenue and subsidize the ailing horse-racing industry.

    Instead of installing slot machines at race tracks, how about we simply set odds on the actions of our state legislators?

    They seem to be more fickle than a filly, and you don’t necessarily need to know the pedigree or quarter-mile time to pick a winner.

    A $2 wager on any piece of legislation likely would return a handsome payout, and with each delay, amendment and revision, your betting options continually expand.

  • To answer many questions, we have...

    I read recently about a census taker who went up to a farmhouse in a rural area and knocked at the door. When a woman came to the door, he asked her how many children she had and their ages. 

    The woman replied, "Let’s see now.  There's the twins, Sally and Billy, they're thirty-two.  There’s the twins, Seth and Beth, they're twenty-six.  And there’s the twins, Penny and Jenny, they're twenty-four. "

  • What we think: Study of East end is...

    The City of Shelbyville’s plan to do an extensive study about its East end is an appropriate step toward fulfilling the city’s potential as a destination for both residents and visitors.

    This most historic area, somewhat preserved in the blocks from 2nd and 3rd Streets between Main and Washington, has an unexploited opportunity to become the eastern gateway into a thriving and eclectic downtown.

    And the timing for this new study could not be more appropriate.