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Opinion

  • Opposed to expanded gambling

    On behalf of the Kentucky Baptist Convention's Committee on Public Affairs, I want to express our strong opposition to the effort to expand gambling by bringing casinos to our Commonwealth. We realize that the current state budget situation makes gambling expansion an attractive short-term fix to problems. However, we believe the benefits touted by the gambling industry are more imagined than real.

  • The blogs are back. Now play nice

    For those of you who have been in withdrawal after the Sentinel-News message boards came down a few months ago, good news - they're back.

    Starting this week, readers will be able to post comments at the bottom of news stories on the Sentinel-News' website, www.sentinelnews.com.

    There are a few changes from the way the message boards were set up in the past.

    First, you have to register an email address to post comments. Nothing complicated or threatening. We do not want to know your bank account number or Social Security number. Just an email address will do.

  • Black History Month: Recounting a...

    February is Black History Month, probably as good a time as any to let Skip know I'm sorry even if the offense committed against him occurred nearly 50 years ago.

    The memory is as vivid as the permanent stain put on our society by the way black people have been treated for decades.

    My rural Kentucky hometown was probably little different than most other small communities across the South in 1959.

  • Keep farm programs

    Food is our nation's best buy, a better buy than health care and about one-half the cost of housing.

    According to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, by the middle of February, the average American has earned enough to pay their food bill for the year. It takes only 10.9 percent of your disposable income to get the best, most affordable, safest, abundant supply of food in the world. The United Kingdom gets close at 11.2 percent, France at 18 percent, all the way up to the Sudan at 60.5 percent. Imagine having to spend half of your paycheck for food.

  • Our affordable food

    The cost of food in America remains affordable. According to the latest statistics by the USDA Economic Research Service, families and individuals currently spend, on average, just under 10 percent of their disposable income for their food supply for the entire year. It only takes about 37 days to pay for our annual food supply.

    We must work much longer to earn disposable income for health and medical care (52 days), housing and household operation (62 days) and federal taxes (77 days) for the entire year.

  • East Kentucky Power violations

    This letter is in response to an agreed settlement reached in September 2007 between the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and the East Kentucky Power Cooperative.

  • Year of new beginnings

    The new year started with a bang. Several bangs. In the first week of 2008, I was offered, and happily accepted a staff writer position with the Sentinel-News. I received my journalism degree from Butler University in Indianapolis a few years ago, and as most journalism majors do, I was struggling to find a job in the field.

    A week after getting the good news, more celebration was in order, as I walked the aisle and married my longtime sweetheart, Stephanie. The following week we were enjoying an incredible honeymoon in Italy.

  • Not just buildings

    I read with great interest the article "Kentucky School Boards A Century of Local Leadership", which appeared in the Wednesday, January 16, 2008, edition of the Sentinel-News. I found it surprising to learn that our school boards have been in existence for 100 years. However, I found the comments from some of our board members even more surprising.

  • Thanks for donations

    Thank you to all who made donations to the "Santa Shop" at Norton Kosair's Children's Hospital, held December 14, 2007. A special thanks to Peggy Tschauner at Shelby-Fit for Life and members there who went over and beyond expectations.

  • Snow days... snow daze

    As I write this column, two of my kids are home enjoying their first snow day of the school year. Snow days are the stuff of dreams and memories. Sort of. This is my vision of an ideal snow day:

    Hop out of beds, 8 a.m. Make beds and start a load of laundry in the washer. Fix healthy muffins for breakfast. Use transfat-free margarine for muffins. Feed and water the dogs.

    Clean up kitchen and put laundry in the dryer, 9 a.m. Visit cheerfully with grandparents over the phone. Sing grandmother a Happy Birthday greeting while on the phone.

  • Triple S selling out

    Recent activity on the part of developers by the Triple S Planning and Zoning Board is a direct slap in the face to every citizen they are supposed to serve. I refer to the regulations regarding buffers and landscaping, adopted only two years ago, which are designed to provide protection to established neighborhoods, shielding them from the unsightly appearance of new developments, as well as to provide shading and green space, lessen the inevitable increases in noise and pollution due to added traffic, and offer at least some beneficial balance against the tide of urban encroachment.

  • Respect the countryside

    A few weeks ago I was the subject of a full page photo essay by your reporter, Nathan McBroom. The positive story was about my fiber business here at Sweethaven Farm which I operate with my husband, Jon. We also raise asparagus commercially. As with most feature stories it dwelt on the relative novelty of turning animal fibers (in our case mohair and wool) into yarn and eventually into wearable products. Understandably there is never enough room to discuss the negative side of farming or any farming enterprise. I thank Mr.

  • Forget casinos

    Our newly elected governor, hardly being in office a month, is already claiming the State budget is in the red. Just recently the State had a surplus and now with just a change in governor, we're suffering from a deficit. Go figure.

  • Politics and Jesus

    Religion, like it or not, is one of the underlining principles that will influence the way that many voters will cast their ballot this November. In local, state and nation contests, the candidates' religious affiliation, not the their voting record or previous experience, will be the determining factor for many voters.

    But this begs the question, "Would Jesus do that?"

    According to a poll released last fall by the Pew Forum and Research Center, 69 percent of Americans agree that it is important for a president to have strong religious beliefs.

  • The gift of the world

    In response to the local gift giving to the Reading Reindeer Program, I find it wonderful that the community can donate books to children.

    As a teacher of Reading, I see so many children who hate to read. Mostly, these children do not have a book to read, one that they would enjoy, only ones that they have to read for school. You can not imagine how the joy shines on a child's face who receives a book - especially a child who has none or few at home.

  • A story that needs telling

    As most of you may know, I am part of the Huber Family that has Huber Orchard and Winery and Joe Huber's Family Restaurant. They are located in Starlight Indiana 14 miles from Louisville. My grandmother and grandfather had 53 grandchildren. I am the oldest living male at 82 years of age, and I have gone back to work.

  • Also outraged

    I, too, am outraged by the recent displays of racism and xenophobia on this editorial page in the last few months. Natives of Shelbyville, you should be ashamed. Unless you are Native American, your ancestors were immigrants, too.

    Let me first state that I do not own a business and I am not making any "huge profit" from the immigrants. I am just a non-native resident with a job. However, I LIKE Hispanics. They bring their own rich customs and culture and it makes Shelbyville a better, more interesting place.

  • New Year's Resolutions

    Where did the last year go? Here it is January, and I barely had gotten used to writing 2007 on checks. Truth be told, I have barely have made it into the new millennium. You know how, when you are busy writing out a check with people six deep behind you in line, and you have to pause to even remember what decade it is?

  • Fed-Mexico deal to hijack Social...

    An email petition hit Shelby County last week urging the federal government to deny illegal immigrants access to U.S. Social Security benefits.

    No less than 931 people from 20 states -- including some citizens from Shelby County -- have already signed the petition, which will be sent to the president if Congress approves a contentious immigration bill.

  • Keep your eyes open

    Do you know how many Americans were living under the poverty line last year? According to the U.S Census Bureau 12.3 percent of Americans lived under the poverty line. This is about 32,274,223 people. We may not be able to get everyone out of poverty, but we can certainly do more than what we currently are to make a difference.

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