Opinion

I write these comments with all due respect to Sentinel-News columnist Chuck Souder. As a person of faith, I take exception to his position on faith and politics as espoused in this paper during the past six weeks. While Souder’s arguments are grounded in an understanding of God and Scripture, his is not the only valid understanding of God’s authority, creation and the way faith informs our lives and actions.

In his My Word article Neihof (“Believe in students; believe in schools,” Oct. 17), Shelby County Public Schools Superintendent James Neihof describes what many state and county school officials are feeling: excited and jittery about the soon-to-be-released Kentucky public school testing results.

When you have a special celebration, don’t you like to do something unique and make some personal history? There’s nothing like putting a red-lettered date in neon and setting a bar that you may not reach again, is there?

The election process would not be the same in Shelby County without the commitment of the leadership of the Shelby County Organized for Preservation and Enhancement – or SCOPE – and that organization’s commitment to this process.

Once again this year, SCOPE organized and sponsored with The Sentinel-News the annual Candidate Forum. This has been happening every two years since 1988, and it is an established part of the election calendar.

I did not speak to the issue before the Triple S Planning Commission on Oct. 16 for a number of reasons: I hadn’t prepared anything, I wasn’t sure what the format would be, and I wanted to hear the presentation. However, in listening to the presenters for the zoning change request by Trio Development for its outlet mall project in Simpsonville, it occurred to me that we were taking a lot on faith and that some of the premises for this change were illusory.

Did Susan King of Mount Eden murder her former boyfriend Kyle “Deanie” Breeden of Shelbyville in 1998?

That question, which for years haunted investigators and Mr. Breeden’s family, was thought to be at rest in 2008, when Ms. King was sent to prison.

But now we have our own new set of questions about this case, including not only how the investigation has been handled but also who has a responsibility to ensure that Ms. King in fact did commit this crime.

Herbert T. Riddle from Shelbyville was known as “Herb,” and I want to share his story, which is a story of how fate extended his life. He is 85 years old, but for a twist of change, he might not have reached that age.

Mr. Riddle joined the Navy and was stationed at Barbara Point Naval Base in Hawaii. He was a tail gunner in a naval fighter plane that was to fly over the oceans and beaches around the islands of Hawaii.

We were pleased to learn recently that the number of registered voters in Shelby County has increased since we last elected a president.

That’s always encouraging, and because as our populace grows, we need those of age to do their constitutional – and moral – duty by becoming involved in the electorate process.

The number of adults in Shelby County who have filed their paperwork to vote in this election is nearly 28,000, which is a strong percentage of those who are eligible.

That’s the good news, but it also is not enough.

I keep saying to myself, I don’t understand! I really don’t. I am a dairy farmer’s wife in Shelby County, and we produce a high quality, wholesome product that sells in the stores today for $2.49 a gallon. In 1997 this same gallon of milk sold for an average price of $2.36 in Louisville, according to a 2000 summary by the Federal Milk Market Administrator.

Dairy farmers have no say in those prices either at the store or the farm. We take the price given to us for our milk. The people who set those prices must think inflation doesn’t affect us.