Mark White

Only once in my more than three decades as a journalist have I been asked to demonstrate my knowledge about a subject before someone would let me interview them about it. It happened one day in late April 2017. I was sitting in my Williamsburg office after lunch when local horse enthusiast Phillip Perkins stopped by my office. Phillip told me he had a good story to tell me about the Kentucky Derby, but first I had to demonstrate to him I knew something about horse racing. Fortunately, I know a little something about the sport. I told Phillip I knew the first leg in the Triple Crown of horse racing was the...

When it comes to golf, I am what most people would call a hacker, or at least I used to be back when I played. There are a lot of us out there. For any non-golfers reading this column, a hacker is generally someone, who isn’t necessarily very good at golf most days but still enjoys getting out on the golf course to play. We enjoy spending time with friends or family while knocking the ball around the course on a pretty day. While we enjoy shooting the occasional good round and posting a lowish score – at least by our standards – we are not driven so much by our...

The political winds of change were blowing across the Tri-County area on Election Day as there were some big political shakeups in Laurel and Knox counties. In Laurel County, longtime Judge Executive David Westerfield lost a close primary election to Walter T. Hulett. Incumbent coroner Doug Bowling also lost his bid for re-election to challenger Mike Masters. In Knox County, incumbent Judge-Executive Mike Smith lost his bid for re-election to challenger Jeff Ketcham by a nearly two-to-one margin. By contrast, there wasn’t much political change in Whitley County on Election Day. Incumbent Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr. was not even challenged in his bid for re-election. Neither was Second-District Magistrate Mondo Cima. Third-District...

Recently, I had to say goodbye to a furry friend. I am not going to lie. I bawled my eyes out more than I have at the funeral of some human friends. It is amazing how close we can become with our pets. Gizmo lived a good life up until the very end. We got him and his sister, Gadget, approximately 18 years ago when they were kittens. They were so small back then they would have fun jumping through the holes in lattice under our back deck. During their early years they were inseparable and loved spending time outside. If we would have moved his food outside and gone out there to play...

Whitley County recently lost two pillars of the community with the recent death of former Williamsburg business owner Paul Steely and Corbin Dr. William Briscoe. Steely died at the age of 95 years old on April 28. He was well known in the Williamsburg community as one of the owners of Paul Steely Ford. He purchased the first Ford Explorer ever sold off the lot of Paul Steely Ford. He also purchased the last Ford Explorer ever sold off the lot on Sept. 11, 2009, right before it closed after more than 28 years in business. Steely, who was a lifelong Williamsburg resident, was much more than just a successful businessman. He...

The 2026 session of the Kentucky General Assembly was a very good one for Whitley County, which received nearly $11 million in funding for various projects in addition to millions more for various road projects. The Williamsburg-Whitley County Airport is getting $7 million for a new runway expansion. $1.5 million has been earmarked for a replacement water tank for the City of Williamsburg. An additional $1.5 million – on top of previous state funding – is going to help pay for the jail renovation and expansion project, and $950,000 is allocated to help renovate the old Williamsburg post office into an innovation hub. It will be good to see something positive...

What do you hear about this year’s election? This is a common question I typically get this time of year. This year I would sum up my answer with one word. Quiet. It’s a word Whitley County Clerk Carolyn Willis also recently used to describe the upcoming May Primary Election when I interviewed her, as well as various others. There just is not much buzz about it. This may have something to do with the fact many races are uncontested this year in Whitley County, such as judge-executive, coroner, district judge, county attorney, state representative and PVA. This is probably a sign most people are generally content with the job these incumbents are doing. This isn’t...

Court usually isn’t like what you see in the movies or on television. Truth be told, there is a lot of sitting around for sometimes hours waiting for a judge to call a case much of the time. The lawyers speak for a couple of minutes about motion or waiting on test results, and then the judge sets another hearing date. Big trials are another story. These can be interesting to watch sometimes. This is particularly true if you have a couple of really good lawyers going at it. Tom Handy, who died last week, was one of the best. Handy spenxt 28 years working as the Commonwealth’s Attorney for Knox...

It is kind of weird to look at a jail’s website and see your own name listed, even when you know it isn’t you. As a journalist, the first thing I usually do when I get into the office in the morning is check my e-mail. The second thing I usually do is check the websites of our local detention centers to see who got arrested. There are almost always a handful of people each day booked into the jails on various charges ranging from DUI and shoplifting to assault, sexual abuse, strangulation, etc. Last Wednesday morning, the name of one person in the Whitley County Detention Center grabbed by attention. Mark White. The...

As a journalist you get used to – I can’t say it is ever pleasant – dealing with politicians when something bad or controversial happens concerning their particular office or them personally. Some of them will make excuses. Some of them will blame somebody else. Some will try and say whatever is happening shouldn’t really be a news story. Some will try and spin what has happened. Some of them try to ignore you. You have some though, who are a no spin zone. They will just give you the facts of what has happened, both good and bad. They may offer reasons why something happened and factors related to it,...