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Opinion

  • MY WORD: SCHS seniors: Alphabetical...

    This letter, signed by the 2011 senior class at Shelby County High School, was submitted for publication by Lane Taylor.

     

    Rockets say “thanks but no thanks” to the arrogance parade at graduation.

  •
    MY WORD: How Colonel Sanders...

    He called out, “Brother Collins!” This was my first interruption during a worship service in 18 years of ministry. I was surprised, to say the least.

    It was Easter, 1978. We were celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ at the First Christian Church. The music was fantastic, the scripture and sermon were inspiring, and the hymn of invitation brought nine people to the front of the sanctuary.

  • Promenade season is full of pomp...

    It’s prom season, as the parent of any high school student – or at least that parent’s wallet – likely knows quite well.

    Shelby County’s prom was Friday in the select and sensational Seelbach Hotel. Collins will celebrate this week at the magnifique and munificent Muhammad Ali Center.

    And we extend poverty-line pity for the family who has to pay the tab for a teenager who has a paramour attending the other school, because that’s a deep double-dip in the pocket.

  • What we think: Graduating seniors...

    Shelby County Public Schools officials say the decision is final about how graduating seniors will be seated for  graduation. They are moving on with their plans to eliminate seating the top students in ranking order and talking to them individually about that  plan.

    Seniors from Shelby County High School have submitted through a letter their feeling that the change is good and welcome. They, too, it seems, have moved on.

    But we don’t think most people are ready to move on.

  • We congratulate: Choice of Fonza as...

    One decision SCPS got right was the selection of Frances Fonza as its top teacher for this year.

    There are dozens of dedicated, talented and worthy teachers in our school system, but Ms. Fonza has stood out to us for years not only because she has drawn beautiful music from the throats of our students but because she has gone beyond vocal chords to produce good and talented human beings for the world.

  • This year's Kentucky Derby was...

    A sunny Run for the Roses is always a great day to be a Kentuckian, but that glare on our old Shelby County homes Saturday was even a bit brighter than usual.

    That’s because for the first time in decades we had someone local to root home, a personal chunk of us, a force to steal inside us and transform all those generic impulses of pride and emotion into true partisanship.

  • What we think: Debate about Ten...

    We are pleased to see that the conversation about whether the Ten Commandments should be posted in our state and federal offices has elevated and remained rational.
    Whether you are a proponent or opponent of these tenets being displayed, you have to feel good about a touchstone topic being brought to the public fore and the issue debated openly through our shared freedom.
    For all laws – all planks of the construction of our government – were built on your simple right to do that: disagree.

  • We congratulate: Character jockey...

    Jon Court didn’t ride off with the roses at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, but he is nevertheless a winner.
    His perseverance, his patience, his talent and his character shone beneath a strong spotlight in Louisville last week, and for that we congratulate him.
    Winning horse races, games, political campaigns, agricultural competitions and even beauty pageants all take talent, poise and commitment.

  • NEIHOF: Thoughts about a tough...

    The news from Frankfort regarding funding for education has been as gloomy as the recent weather. Last fall we received the news that half of the district’s professional development funds would not be coming from the state. In mid-winter we were notified that the school district was losing more than $500,000 in funding for the current school year.  Then about a month ago, we received notice of more than $300,000 in reduced state revenue for next year.

    How do we plan for such shortfalls?

    That’s a tough one to answer.

  • Bin Laden's demise: Numbing...

    This is how much one man’s perspective of the world has changed in nine years.

    On Sunday night, as my wife and I sat on our sofa awaiting President Obama to go live  with a stunning, sleep-stalling, late-Sunday-night announcement, we speculated on what awful message we would hear, saying silent prayers for our world, our country and our family.

    And we never, not for one second, not even in an idle thought, speculated that the news we would hear would be that this awful murderer of thousands, Osama bin Laden, had been brought to the ultimate justice.

  • What we think: Death of bin Laden...

    Americans awoke Monday morning feeling better about our world.

    No matter if you live in a metropolis that shook to its roots on Sept. 11, 2001, or in Harrisonville or Chestnut Grove, or anywhere else where residents have quaked in the aftershocks from nearly a decade ago, you feel better today knowing that Osama bin Laden, the dark assassin of this generation, is dead and gone and won’t be doing harm any longer.

  • We congratulate: Collins'...

    In the continuing debate among students, parents and administrators concerning the new graduation seating policy for Shelby County Public Schools, we now have a new and important voice being raised if not necessarily heard.

    Members of the senior class at Collins High School have delivered to the administration their considered request to have the seating policy returned to its former structure, which was to seat honor graduates in the order of rank.

  • MY WORD: Collins High School...

    his open letter of April 18 from the 2011 senior class of Collins High School to the administration at Collins High School was provided to The Sentinel-Newsby Elizabeth Sames:
     
    On behalf of the 2011 Senior Class of Martha Layne Collins High School, we would like to formally object not only to the decision to eliminate class ranking from the seating of graduation, but also the fact that our classmates including valedictorian, salutatorian, and class officers will not be able to speak to their peers as we come together this final day.

  • When it comes to our weather, it’s...

    Wednesday. 12:30 a.m. The tornado sirens are blaring through the wind and rain outside and windows closed against them. My wife’s voice is equally rousing, and I spring from my bed to see what is the matter.

    We grabbed up the kids and scurried to the basement, opened the door slightly and turned on the TV to track whatever mayhem was causing those sirens to blare.

    I’m sure many of you did the same, alerted, awakened and ambulated into early morning emergency response mode.

  • What we think: We must fund I-64...

    You had to be pleased and heartened by the news that the frighteningly short and deadly ramp from KY 55 onto eastbound Interstate 64 was on tap for repair within the next year.

    That’s what state transportation engineer Matt Bullock told Shelby County Fiscal Court, and we believe Mr. Bullock would not have been so public with his comments if the schedule were not indeed set in at least asphalt.

  • We congratulate: Circuit Court...

    The debate about whether the Ten Commandments should be displayed in governmental buildings is predictable because of its foundation in the conflict of human emotions and beliefs against legal interpretations by the courts.

    When letter writer Linda Allewalt last week again raised the issue about whether the commandments should be posted visibly in government offices in Shelby County, the response from many was equally expected: We believe in these commandments, and they are the foundation for our laws. Thus, they should be displayed.

  • MY WORD: Could we agree on posting...

    During the past several decades, we have had a number of court rulings:

    §       School-sponsored prayer or Bible reading.

    §       Removal of creches from public property.

    §       Ending the Pledge of Allegiance as mandatory.

    §       Removal of the Ten Commandments from public property.

  • MY WORD: 10 reasons why the...

    I wholeheartedly support Linda Allewalt in her efforts concerning removal of the Ten Commandments from the walls of Shelbyville’s government buildings (“Ten Commandments must come down,” April 20).

    I don't understand the reluctance in taking it down – unless it's a daily reminder to the religious government employees who might forget? Let's go through the list itself as it

    might apply to a government building:

  • A taxing process that really should...

    So you think the weather was nasty and no one showed up for your big event? This is how my weekend went:

    An emotional funeral for a beloved family member on Friday, then at my desk at home on Saturday and Sunday, bleeding on the tax altar.

    Please don’t tell me you’re sorry for my loss, but that the tax stuff was my problem for procrastinating. I’ve heard that. I understand. I didn’t mean for the process to be that way, but it just spiraled down that drain.

  • MY WORD: It’s time for the Ten...

    Nine years ago, as a newcomer to the state of Kentucky and a new resident of Shelbyville, I went to the Shelby County Courthouse to get a Kentucky driver’s license. On the wall of that office was a large standalone framed display of the Ten Commandments.

    To understand my reaction to seeing this, one must take the view of 1) a person who is non-religious and 2) a person who had at that time a budding awareness of issues of separation of church and state.