Don Estep

Planning for the future is very unpredictable because of the pandemic. I met with the Centennial Committee at Central Baptist Church to plan for our 100th year anniversary celebration of the church. The date selected for the occasion is Oct. 23-24 of this year. Of course it all depends on the severity of the COVID situation at that time. The church was established in 1921 so obviously we want to celebrate the anniversary during 2021. By waiting until late October, it is our hope that the gathering will be possible at that time. So, if you attend Central Baptist or have ever attended the church we want you to circle that date...

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday accused President Trump of provoking the violent crowd that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. “The last time the Senate convened, we had just reclaimed the Capitol from violent criminals who tried to stop Congress from doing our duty. The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people,” McConnell said on the Senate floor, marking the first convening of the full Senate since the attack. McConnell’s statements carry significance ahead of an anticipated Senate impeachment trial. The GOP leader has told colleagues he hasn’t yet decided how he would vote on a House-passed article of impeachment...

Radio was King when I started my career in 1961 working at radio station WCTT in Corbin. We didn’t have satellite TV, as a matter of fact most of us only received a television signal from a large antenna on top of our houses. We got three channels, WLOS in Ashville and WBIR and WATE in Knoxville. As a disc jockey and sports broadcaster I had a big audience. No iPods or iPads, nothing but radio locally. I started out working a night shift and at that period of time my biggest competitor was Dick Biondi of WLS in Chicago. At night that station had a good signal that reached...

By being over 70 years of age I am classified 1b according the Gov. Beshear’s recommendations for a vaccination shot for COVID-19. The planned vaccination phases are: Phase 1a: Long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities, health care personnel Phase 1b: First responders, Kentuckians age = 70, K-12 school personnel Phase 1c: Kentuckians age = 60, anyone older than 16 with U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) highest-risk conditions for COVID-19, all essential workers” I don’t have any problem with the classifications. But I do have problems with those that don’t fit these categories and have already received a vaccination shot. I have a problem with the senator who called COVID-19 a “hoax” and...

Following up on what Mark has written, yes 2020 stunk! To top it off I spent the holidays coughing my head off with bronchitis. Try to find medical help on Christmas Eve. Other than the Emergency room at the hospital you’re out of luck. I came back to the publisher’s desk here at the News Journal the first of March when Trent Knuckles decided to give it up. On the 14th of March everything shut down because of the coronavirus. I didn’t see this coming and since then it has been a struggle for ours and most businesses. Not only for businesses, it has been a difficult time for everybody. We’ve been...

Merry Christmas! This greeting is from the News Journal and all the businesses that have chosen to send you their special greeting in this issue of our newspaper. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I revert to my childhood. It was then when it was so special to me. When I was a child we didn’t have television or a mall Santa Claus. We had Montgomery Ward and Sears catalogues. Me and my sisters would turn through the pages looking at the toys and the delicious looking boxes of candy. Primarily the only store bought kind of candy we had were chocolate drops and chocolate covered cherries. We...

I am anxious to see the inside of the renovated home of Kentucky Fried Chicken in north Corbin. The outside looks great. Of course because of COVID-19 it could be a while before a grand opening happens. Nothing has been announced yet. I have taken enough trips on tour buses to know that this location should be a prime stopping place. The parking lot is marked for bus parking. Once this virus has been conquered and it is safe to travel people will be anxious to get on the road and go somewhere. I know I am. You can anticipate that the local KFC will vastly increase its business. With the new...

Your opinion is being solicited by the United States Postal Service. On a notice posted at the Corbin post office it reads,”The US Postal Service is proposing to relocate the Corbin, Kentucky Main Post Office at 301 Roy Kidd Avenue.” They point out that the existing location is no longer cost effective and they need a building of at least 16,000 to 17,000 sq. ft. with approximately 88 parking spaces. They can’t have a public meeting because of COVID-19 so they posted the notice and have invited you to comment by sending them to: Attn: Corbin, KY 40701-9998, Main Office Relocation, USPS, P.O. Box 27497, Greensboro, NC 27498-1103. I support the effort to...

It probably has happened to you like it did to me this weekend. You string up several sets of Christmas lights only to find out that half of them are not burning. After putting lights and greenery on the columns outside our house and covering several bushes with net lighting then, when I plugged them, half of them were not burning. On one column the top half was not burning and on another the bottom half wasn’t burning. No choice but to take them down and replace those not burning. Here is where it gets upsetting. I took those not burning back into the house and when I plugged them in...

It has been a tough year and when we think of things to be thankful for we pause because of the more than 260,000 people who have died from the coronavirus and the difficulties that it has caused. It became even more difficult last week when my niece Brenda Rains and friend Henry Martin passed away. Brenda was the daughter of my oldest sister Inez Young. She was married to Donnie Rains of Williamsburg for over 60 years. It is not often that a person has a niece one year younger than you, but that was the case with Brenda. We were more like brother and sister than uncle and niece. As kids...