Mark White

My friend Bob Osborne, who is in his 80s, would like to see a law passed so that people don’t have to pay taxes after they hit the age of 80 years old. No property taxes. No vehicle taxes. No income taxes. Nothing. His argument is that those people have already paid enough taxes during their lifetime. Such a law would make a lot of sense and benefit a lot of seniors, almost all of whom are already on a fixed income. It would keep seniors from losing their homes because they can’t afford property tax increases, which is happening more often. I have to say it is an interesting argument. As someone,...

It was a different feeling to walk into the News Journal office last Monday following the departure of News Journal Publisher Trevor Sherman. I am now literally the last man standing at the News Journal as the entirety of our remaining staff is female; not that this is a bad thing. We have Publisher Jennifer K. Perkins, Advertising Manager Melissa Hudson, Office Manager Linda Carpenter, Bookkeeper and Classifieds Manager Jennifer Benfield and Reporter Leeann Fragosa. Ironically, when I first started at the News Journal more than 30 years ago, most of the staff was male. I have told my female co-workers that they are more than welcome to use the men’s restroom,...

As the old saying goes, the teacher is disappointed when the student does not surpass them or in this case students. I am referring to now former News Journal Publisher Trevor Sherman and current News Journal Publisher Jennifer K. Perkins. Many moons ago, I can remember when Trevor started working here doing advertising and delivering the newspapers on Wednesday. He was a fresh-faced young kid, who was an incredibly hard worker. He persevered improving his sales skills and helping out with sports. A few years later after sports editor Jim McAlister had to retire due to illness, Trevor stepped into the sports editor position quickly becoming a first-rate journalist. A few months after...

At this point, much has been said about proposed efforts to lengthen Penny Lane in Williamsburg and particularly how it might impact the Zehr property. During a recent Williamsburg City Council meeting Mayor Roddy Harrison said that the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet wants to extend Penny Lane past the health department, have it turn left and eventually come out onto KY-92W. The new road would go through some of the Zehr property. Eventually, Penny Lane would become a one-way road. This is currently an eminent domain lawsuit pending in Whitley Circuit Court over efforts by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet to obtain the needed property for the road. The Zehr family, who I understand...

As the town motto goes, “Williamsburg Feels Like Home.” However, that home feels a bit sadder following last week’s devastating blaze that left a significant swath of businesses along Main Street between Second and Third streets destroyed. It also left several people without housing, who lived in upstairs apartments over those businesses. For those that don’t know, the fire broke on Jan. 20 about 10 p.m. apparently at or above the Law Offices of Croley and Foley. It quickly spread to other incredibly old, but beautiful buildings along Main Street utterly destroying several. Accountant Donna Guilkey and attorney Kim Frost lost their office along with Associates in Eyecare, Shale Oak Wine Tasting...

As the town motto goes, “Williamsburg Feels Like Home.” However, that home feels a bit sadder following last week’s devastating blaze that left a significant swath of businesses along Main Street between Second and Third streets destroyed. It also left several people without housing, who lived in upstairs apartments over those businesses. For those that don’t know, the fire broke on Jan. 20 about 10 p.m. apparently at or above the Law Offices of Croley and Foley. It quickly spread to other incredibly old, but beautiful buildings along Main Street utterly destroying several. Accountant Donna Guilkey and attorney Kim Frost lost their office along with Associates in Eyecare, Shale Oak Wine Tasting...

Like most drunk drivers, Matthew Paul Croley isn’t an evil guy. He doesn’t have a rap sheet a mile long. He would help a friend if he could, and he did not set out to hurt anyone. Thursday, he told jurors in his wanton murder trial that he regrets what he did. The prosecutor doesn’t doubt that he was sincere. I don’t doubt that he was sincere either. This doesn’t change the fact that if not for Croley’s actions and a “litany” of bad decisions, as the prosecutor Ronnie Bowling put it, then young Patrick Flores would likely still be alive today. On Jan. 31, 2024, Croley killed the two-year-old Flores on...

Like most drunk drivers, Matthew Paul Croley isn’t an evil guy. He doesn’t have a rap sheet a mile long. He would help a friend if he could, and he did not set out to hurt anyone. Thursday, he told jurors in his wanton murder trial that he regrets what he did. The prosecutor doesn’t doubt that he was sincere. I don’t doubt that he was sincere either. This doesn’t change the fact that if not for Croley’s actions and a “litany” of bad decisions, as the prosecutor Ronnie Bowling put it, then young Patrick Flores would likely still be alive today. On Jan. 31, 2024, Croley killed the two-year-old Flores on...

On New Year’s Eve, my wonderful wife, Cecelia, got a phone call from her dad that we had been expecting to get any time. Her 101-year-old grandmother, Mary Updike, had passed away after spending the past two weeks in a nursing home. For most of her life though, she had lived out on her own in rural West Virginia, in the home where she raised her two children. About six or seven years or so ago she went to live with my wife’s parents, George and Ruth, for a short time before going to live with Cecelia’s aunt, Carolyn. Grannie, as many of us in the family called her, was a character....

You just can’t fit all the news from a year into a top 10 list, like the one running on our front page in this week’s edition of the News Journal. Sure, we get the big news events in there, but that doesn’t mean there still weren’t quite a few other interesting and memorable news stories in 2025, such as ground being broken for an expansion of The Corbin Center, Williamsburg Agriculture teacher Toraleah Shelley serving as a guest Christmas decorator at the White House, the retirement of long-time Corbin Independent Schools Superintendent Dave Cox, and a former Laurel County Sheriff’s Capt. apparently killing his mother in Berea before killing...