Don Estep

One of the casualties of the pandemic is the cancellation of the 59th season of the Fine Arts Association of Southeastern Kentucky’s concert series. Betty Hamilton, who passed away in 2011 at 80 years of age, was the driving force behind the organization which she founded in 1962. She and her surgeon husband, Dr. Harry Hamilton, had moved to Corbin and she was quoted in the Louisville Courier-Journal as saying, “All my life I had lived in cities where concerts were taken for granted. I didn’t want my children to grow up without the same advantages.” And because of her they didn’t! Because of her dedication to the cause and the...

As a young boy I delivered the Corbin Daily Tribune to customers in the downtown Corbin area. I have been in many of the buildings which housed apartments at that time. I climbed many steps on my route. After graduating from college I worked at WCTT radio station, which was associated with the newspaper. I associated with many of the newspaper’s staff. Jack Thurston was the Sports Editor. Foley Ruggles was an Associate Editor. Kenneth Mauney was the Mechanical Superintendent. Warren Cummings set type and Will Brafford, Paul Eaton and Ray Frye were part of the press crew. Years later I was hired as the advertising manager when the newspaper was called...

COVID-19 is far from being over. Although the United States has only 4 percent of the world’s population, it has 25 percent of coronavirus cases. As Americans, we pride ourselves at being number one. Well, we’re well on our way to being there with this virus. While most countries are flattening the curve, ours is spiking. Why? We Americans are stubborn. We don’t want anybody telling us what to do. We think we are invincible. You hear, “how dare you ask me to wear a mask or avoid crowds.” I saw a picture on Facebook of a kid with this message, “So me, wearing a bulletproof backpack to school with metal detectors,...

It is primary election time again. You have about a week left to cast your ballot. Voting has been rather easy this year with the changes that have been made. Many have already cast their ballots and you can vote now or on Tuesday. It is not a big election year, but it is an important one. Deciding who to cast your ballot for has changed from when I was a young boy. I was fascinated by the colorful cards that were handed out at the polling locations. As kids we made a game out of it by seeing who could collect the most cards. Campaigning continued right up to...

Good cops, bad cops. Around here we only know those descriptions from watching television. As far as our local situation goes we only have good cops. The scenes we view on TV are very remote from what we experience locally. I really like living in an area of the country where we have policemen like Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird and Corbin’s Police Chief Rusty Hedrick and their police forces. We are more like Andy Griffith’s town of Mayberry than we are Minneapolis. When I was growing up in Corbin we did have what we referred to as “good cops” and “bad cops.” But that was a far different description than...

If you have ever read the book Bloody Harlan and thought it was rough, then wait until you read Gary West’ newest book, Murder on Youngers Creek Road. Murders, bombings, car thieves, gamblers, bootleggers and more are involved in a true story of a murder-for-hire gone wrong that involved a well-known automobile dealer, two hit men hired to kill him, and a pair of high-profile business partners. It took place in the late 1960s and the mid 70s in western Kentucky. This is Gary’s 15th book. Previously he has authored the Terry Forcht story, Start Right. End Right which is available now. (See the ad on page A-2 for ordering.) Gary...

Rodger Bird loved Corbin. He loved it as much as anybody I have ever known. About six years ago, when my wife Judy and I moved to Henderson, Ky. to be with our daughter and grandchildren, on the day we moved in there was a knock on the door. It was Rodger Bird. From that day forward he became one of the closest friends I have ever known. Not only that, he and his wife Sally became such good friends that Judy and I felt like they were family. The reason Rodger knocked on my door that day was because he knew I was from Corbin, and everybody in Corbin was...

Graduates, even though you are being denied the ceremonies that all of us have enjoyed in the past, the News Journal is making possible a special page for all of you, from kindergarten through college. View the ad on page A-3 for details on how you can be recognized. I said “enjoy” but when I think back over 60 years when I graduated from high school I didn’t really enjoy everything about it. While the speaker was probably good, I remember wishing he would hurry and finish so we could get our diplomas. Back then graduation ceremonies for Corbin High School were held at the First Christian Church. It had the...

It was in the late 1960s that my wife and I decided that we wanted to have our first Will written. So, we started looking for a lawyer and stopped at the office of Terry Forcht on Kentucky St. in Corbin. That was the first time I had ever met him, but not the last. About 20 years later I sat in his office discussing the possibility of becoming the publisher of the Whitley Republican. And 33 years later I still hold that position. Thus, in reading the newly released book about him, written by Gary West and Eddie Woodruff, I have an up front and personal knowledge, an amazement of...

Thirty three years ago when I became publisher of the Whitley Republican the owner, Terry Forcht, supported the idea that we could start a Corbin edition of the newspaper called Corbin! This Week. It was the first of June, and our first time to publish the Whitley Republican on our new Mac Plus computers. I had convinced Terry this was the new way of publishing a newspaper. Corbin! This Week was planned for an introduction three months later. It was a Tuesday night, about 4:30 a.m. when I walked to the front office of our building on south Second Street in Williamsburg and looked at the night sky and said...