Mark White

Whether your candidate won or lost during Tuesday’s General Election, there are a few things I think nearly everyone can agree upon. At the top of this list is the fact everyone is happy the election is finally over. Thank goodness. Can I get an amen? It seems every election season gets just a little bit longer. The political ads start sooner. In particular, the ads in the state and national races often get nastier as the election gets nearer. The posts on social media are more plentiful. The posts and the comments seem to get a little bit meaner every day. Often, the run up to elections seem to bring out the worst...

Last year, then Publisher-Sports Editor Trevor Sherman started writing the weekly Par for the Course golf column talking about all things golf. I thought he did a really good job with it writing about how he wanted to learn how to play golf. He even took a lesson or two describing the process of learning how to play golf. He also talked about his experience in a golf simulator, which sounded fun. He never quite made it out on the golf course, as far as I know. He wanted to. He just never had the chance with work, a wife, two kids and, well, life. (We have all been there…LOL.) Trevor also...

If you do not go vote, then do not let me hear you complaining about government. This is my message to those out there thinking about skipping voting this year, particularly those social media warriors, who regularly take to Facebook to complain about government. For anyone, who does not know, the General Election is Nov. 3. Statewide, there will be races on the ballot to decide, who will replace long-time Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell next year. Republican candidate Andy Barr is facing off against Democrat Charles Booker and Kentucky Party candidate Christopher Campbell. Also, there will be an important constitutional amendment on the ballot statewide. The amendment would limit a sitting governor’s...

I spent a decent amount of time Sunday trying to come up with something to write my golf column about this week. The thing about writing columns of any kind is it is pretty easy if you have something you really want to write about. Whether you are writing a sports column, a human interest column, or a political column, it can be on the tough side to do when you are struggling to come up with topic. (If you have ever been reading a column and thought the writer really struggled to come up with a column idea, then, truth be told, you were probably right…LOL.) I finally decided to write about...

Let me offer a word of congratulations to our local school districts, on their 2025-2026 Kentucky Summative Assessment Test results, which were released last week. Corbin High School, Corbin Middle School and Corbin Elementary School all had blue ratings. This is the highest rating a school can receive. Corbin High School knocked it out of the park ranking seventh among all high schools in the state. Williamsburg High School did just a little bit better with the sixth highest overall score among Kentucky high schools. Williamsburg High School almost doubled its overall score going from a 46.0 the prior year to 90.4 overall last spring. Now that is an increase to brag...

When you organize an outdoor event in the spring or fall, the weather can cooperate, the temperature can be perfect, and things can sometimes go great with numerous people turning out to take part like Williamsburg’s Oktoberfest a couple of weeks ago. Sometimes though, you have weather like we had Saturday for Corbin’s October Fest. (Each of them spell Octoberfest differently…LOL.) It was rainy pretty much all day up until about 2 p.m. It was a bit on the cool side. Despite the weather, some vendors still turned out, but, unfortunately, there were few visitors. Corbin Tourism Executive Director Emily Roberts ended it early. Just about everybody was packed up and out...

Congratulations to the Corbin Lady Redhounds Girls Golf Team, which finished eighth in the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s 2026 state tournament. The team shot a two-day total of plus 198 during the final two rounds of the state tournament, which was played at Bowling Green Country Club Friday and Saturday. Conner shot a two-day total of plus 212 to finish ninth. Corbin golfer Makena Myatt finished tied for eighth place shooting a two-day total of 151 or seven over for the two days. She finished tied with Caroline Lankford of Lexington Christian. Sacred Heart’s Keira Yun shot a five under two-day total of 139 to win the individual competition. Her next...

During the first 40 years of Jellico Hospital’s history starting in 1974, things went well. Adventist Health Systems operated the hospital. There was not much controversy. Things seemed to go smoothly. In late April 2014, Adventist Health informed the hospital’s board of directors it was severing ties with the hospital, and it had one year to find a new find a new healthcare partner. Adventist cited healthcare reform and financial reasons as the causes of the move. On May 1, 2015, the first of what would become a handful of new companies took over running the facility with varying degrees of success. None lasted more than a few years. The hospital...

If you are going to shoot your personal best, then the first round of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association (KHSAA) Championship is a really good time to do it. Kudos to the Corbin Girl’s Golf Team, which advanced last week to the final round of the state tournament. Not one, but three players shot their personal best with Kylie Cuel shooting a 98, Brooke Kfoury shooting a 102, and Paige Kfoury shooting a 103 at StoneCrest Golf Course in Prestonsburg. I imagine this was a tough course. Talk about peeking at the right time. The team placed third out of eight teams. Makena Myatt shot a four over 74 to tie...

Judging by the comments on the News Journal’s Facebook page last week, people certainly have strong feelings about the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s plan to make a portion of Corbin’s Main Street a one-lane road with parallel parking on both sides. “Who comes up with these ridiculous ideas? Traffic downtown Corbin is already a nightmare when they have any kind of event downtown and now this?” Deborah Sharp Taft wrote. “What a brilliant plan.......I'm assuming that whoever came up with the roundabout plans all over SEKY came up with this plan,” Bob O’Neill wrote. “Sounds like the State just asked AI how to do this and it spit it out,” J.D. Bonza wrote. Not...