Don Estep

Please join me in congratulating our news staff for winning 19 awards, including the General Excellence award for being the best large weekly in the state, at the recent Kentucky Press Association’s winter convention. I hope that I can impress upon you the fact that this newspaper has won the top award five out of the last six years and you have, right here in our area, one of the best weekly newspapers in the state. How do you do this year after year you may ask? It is a combination of things. For one, we have good reporters. They not only are good writers, they also cover the stories that...

Finally it is happening. The Tracy Apartment building in Corbin is being demolished. It is a story that has gone on for decades. The structure was condemned in 2005 and our newspaper carried a story in 2010 that it would be demolished in the near future. A “flaw” at the corner of the building started pulling away from the rest of the building and got worse over the years. There was no other option other than to demolish the building. I don’t know of its original beginning, but I do know of its second life when it was renovated and opened again for occupancy in 1964. The reason I know is because my...

I don’t know if it is a record or not, but I have won two microwave ovens. When I won the first microwave, back in 1983, they were big and cost about $500. At that time I was president of the Corbin Lions Club and we were having a raffle to raise money. Each Lions Club member was given ten tickets to sell for the microwave donated by the Hall-Watson Furniture Company. Before I left home to go to our Lions Club meeting, which was held at Yeary’s Restaurant in south Corbin, I had not sold a ticket. So, as president, I knew that I should sell all my tickets so I...

Happy new year and may everything good come your way in 2022. It marks the beginning of the 114th year of publication for this newspaper. Last year at this time we entered 2021 with optimism knowing we had a vaccine that could control Covid and things would get back to normal. Unfortunately they didn’t. In the comedy on Netflix, “Death to 2021” it is described this way. “The year 2021, a year that made 2020 feel like a mirror prequel.” For myself, I call it the worst year I have ever been a part of because of a variety of things. As I said, we started the year with a vaccine...

Joy to the World the Lord has come! It is a great song and it is a wonderful time of the year. If you have ever attended church you have heard many songs with the word Joy in them. The word Joy stands in our front yard this year as part of our Christmas decoration. I saw the sign in a store and thought there isn’t a better way to say Merry Christmas than with the word Joy. From us at the News Journal we wish you Joy this Christmas. We are in a period of time that it is hard to experience real Joy. This is the second year that...

Christmas is supposed to be filled with joy and the holiday spirit. But for the past two Christmas seasons we have had to deal with Covid-19, and now added to that this year the tornadoes in western Kentucky have put a damper on everything. I hope you don’t feel as down as I do. The above mentioned and other things that affect my life have me wanting to find a release from stresses that come at this time of the year. Last Christmas Eve I started coughing and was having trouble breathing. If you will remember it started snowing. My condition got so bad that my wife drove me around in...

Several years ago I stopped by my office on Main Street in Corbin around 7 p.m. and noticed a handful of people standing on the sidewalk. I asked them what was going on. To my surprise they said they were waiting on the Christmas Parade. We had not been notified at this newspaper and I had not heard a word about a parade. Skip to this past Saturday night. The street was crowded with people and Corbin had one of its biggest Christmas parades I have ever witnessed. It was excellent. Years ago when outdoor decorations were scarce our family would take a drive to see neighborhood Christmas decorations. They are...

Now that we are in the month of December the enthusiasm for the Christmas season is alive here at the News Journal. Jennifer Perkins, one of our reporters, has gone to great lengths to provide the boys and girls in this area with a rather unique headquarters for Santa’s elf, called Newsy. Not only has she made a Newsy elf, she has also filled one of our offices with decorations for its headquarters. You are invited to come by our office on north Main Street in Corbin and see the display. And by all means have your kids bring a letter and put it in Santa’s mailbox. We have never had anything...

Let’s talk garbage! The City of Corbin has been distributing new 95 gallon garbage carts to residents and businesses. This is a big job that will take a few weeks. Many of you have already received the carts and are wondering what to do with your old cans and asking questions about the new carts. The city will be sending you information about them. I will try to help answer some of your questions. Each resident will receive one cart by the end of January. The Public Works Department will assist those who cannot roll out their garbage cart and if you don’t generate enough garbage to fill this size...

When you are out in public, you get the feeling that the pandemic is about over. You see fewer masks and schools are starting to relax their mask regulations. I wish it was true, but unfortunately it is not over. Experts say that despite the decreases in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths since the summer, the pandemic isn’t behind us, and we need to learn to live with COVID-19. The state of Kentucky has gone past the halfway mark with 51.1 percent fully vaccinated. Here in the tri-county area the report is not as good. Whitley County leads the way in full vaccinations with 40.2 percent. Laurel County has 37.18 percent of its...