Opinion

Somehow we fail to see the problems that are plaguing the city of Shelbyville and its leaders in regards to getting a curbside trash and recycling franchise agreement put together.

Once the ordinance was approved this spring, all that was left was for the council to submit the Request for Proposal and wait for the bids from Republic, Rumpke and Waste Management to come in.

A new name will quickly be acquainted to Shelby County as Betty Springate takes over as our new Distict Court Judge serving Shelby, Anderson and Spencer counties.

Mrs. Springate takes over the position after longtime judge Linda Armstrong retired in March.

Mrs. Springate brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position that she will hold until the first of the year. And she will alleviate a great deal of pressure and work from Judge Donna Dutton, who was serving for both Division I and II.

As you plan your holiday weekend barbeque – or hot dog feast, whichever (see our Neighbors Section) – and family get together, take a minute, or more, to remember that this is more than just a day off from work.

So often Memorial Day, Labor Day, Veteran’s Day and the 4th of July are treated as mere days off work, a way to jump start a weekend or plan a party or extended weekend out of town, but we’d all do better to take time to remember what those days mean and why they’re recognized as days off.

Francis Regis McKinley Jr. is listed among those soldiers who fought for our freedom during the Vietnam War and who earned a Purple Heart… well, two to be exact, except both are for the same artillery attack in which he was wounded.

He was embarrassed to be singled out for his service since others in the county were in Vietnam and even wounded. Plus he said, “That’s all in the past. You have to live for the now.”

Family history in Shelby County is a cottage industry. The heritage of so many goes back not only to the days of Squire Boone and his bedrock but seemingly to the founding waters of Clear Creek itself.

Names such as Meriwether and Ballard begat Shannons and Matthews and Van Stockums. You read this history, and you connect dots. As my friend Brig. Gen. Ronald Van Stockum often has told me, the things we learn about our heritage in the Internet-driven world is amazing.

The Flying Tigers

In Bob Pearce’s June 4 My Word column [“How Japan used WWII to win the auto battle,” June 4] it was erroneously stated that the pilots of The American Volunteer Group (AVG) “Flying Tiers” were successful against the Japanese pilots because the Japanese equipment may have been “junk,” and because the American P-40 Warhawk fighter airplane was “so far superior to anything” the Japanese had.

As a “second shift” parent – an older adult who is now parenting a second family – I am rediscovering the joys of parenthood, as well as the occasional frustrations. 

Young children take a lot of time, patience, attention and energy. When you are dealing with two children under the age of three, these resources can seem to be in short supply.  This supply and demand problem is further complicated because the kids are seldom on the same page.  Most of the time their needs are in direct opposition.

Before the outlet mall

Dear Editor:

Here is a recent picture of the riotously yellow field across from the dreadful outlet mall development. Everything in this photo will soon be destroyed and replaced by hotels, fast food, gas stations, traffic, etc.

Maybe someone someday will ask: “What was here before all of this ugliness? Was it anything beautiful?” Which do you really prefer?

Every time Howard Pearce and I had an opportunity for a serious discussion, which was rare, I would often say something like “that isn’t fair.”  He would say, “Life was not meant to be fair.”

He never got around to explaining why. That’s rather like saying to a child who asks one those inscrutable questions, “It just isn’t” or “Because I said so,” then end the discussion by hiding behind a newspaper.