Mark White

In 2007, Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison had a problem. His police chief, who two months earlier had been suspended after a failed drug test, resigned after another drug test came back with a diluted sample. A year earlier, another officer resigned prior to a termination hearing after being involved in an on-duty crash where he struck another driver. A toxicology test showed cocaine and Oxycodone in his system at the time of the crash. Harrison needed someone to take over as police chief, who could restore trust and confidence in the department. He needed someone, whose reputation and character were above reproach. His choice was Russell Jones, a 20-plus year veteran of the...

This year I did something a little different to celebrate Independence Day. For the first time in about a decade, instead of heading to Williamsburg to watch the fireworks on the Fourth of July, I instead went to Corbin's Independence Day party on July 3 at The Arena. I have to say that Corbin Tourism Director Maggie Kriebel and other organizers (I saw City Manager Marlon Sams and Tourism Commissioner Alan Onkst there) put on a good show and a nice atmosphere. While I am not a big bluegrass music fan, "Timberline Road" had a nice sound, and I really enjoyed the southern rock band, "County Wide." My wife, Cecelia, made the observation...

Let's put Corbin's recent decision to stack an additional 1 percent payroll tax onto its residents in the Knox County side of town, but not onto the net profits of businesses there into some perspective. Starting on July 1, the woman flipping burgers at your favorite restaurant in the Knox County portion of Corbin, who is making minimum wage, will have to pay an additional 1 percent tax on her meager wages. The rich guy or multi-billion corporation that owns the restaurant won't have to pay a dime more in taxes on his profits under the Corbin City Commission's plan. The rationale for not collecting taxes on the net profits...

Is the Whitley County Health Department’s proposed needle exchange a good thing or a bad thing? There were some mixed opinions offered up during a Whitley County UNITE Coalition meeting Monday afternoon to discuss the issue. Personally, I think that it is a good idea for multiple reasons. Whitley County Health Department Public Health Director Martha Steele told me of a statistic recently that illustrates the problem pretty well. When someone is shooting up drugs, there are typically five other people at that same location sharing the same needle. Besides sharing drugs, this also means that they are likely sharing the same diseases, such as Hepatitis C and HIV. An outbreak of...

As those of you, who have read our front page this week know already, Williamsburg Mayor Roddy Harrison is headed back to the drawing board in his effort to place a measure on the ballot that would allow for packaged alcohol sales in stores and by the drink sales at smaller restaurants. The measure is identical to what Corbin has had for several years and what Barbourville and London voters recently approved. Harrison's alcohol petition came up six valid signatures shy Monday of the total he needed to get the petition certified and on the ballot, so he went back to work Tuesday on a new petition that he hopes to...

By the time the polls opened at 10 a.m. Saturday for the Republican Presidential Caucus at Whitley County High School, there were at least 100 people already in line waiting to cast their ballots. Mind you, there was no unanimous consensus on whom those in attendance planned to vote for, or whether Kentucky should continue with a Presidential Caucus instead of a Presidential Primary in the future. However, there was one thing nearly everyone I spoke to at the caucus Saturday was in agreement about. They liked the idea of voting for their party's presidential candidate earlier in the process while they could still have an impact on who the nominee...

Should Kentucky pass a law that bans school districts from starting classes in early August? This is currently a question that the Kentucky General Assembly is pondering after Sen. Chris Girdler, R-Somerset, introduced Senate Bill 50, which would prohibit schools from opening any sooner than the Monday closest to Aug. 26. The idea is certainly a proposal with some merit. A recent study for the Kentucky Marina Association and Kentucky Travel Industry Association estimates that the drop in tourism from July to August 2014 cost the state more than $432 million in lost business. The study also found that about 6,000 tourism jobs ended in August and more than $45 million in local...

With the battle lines drawn for the upcoming May Primary election, I thought now might be a good time to break down the only local race on the ballot, which pits incumbent 82nd Rep. Regina Bunch against challenger Alex Patrick. The winner will face Williamsburg teacher Bill Conn in the November General Election. Could Patrick beat Bunch in the primary? Sure it’s possible, but I don’t see a real viable path to victory for him here. My political assessment of Bunch has remained roughly the same for several years. I think she is vulnerable to a challenge from a strong candidate. For instance, someone like retired Whitley County Superintendent Lonnie Anderson,...

Did you know we are having a presidential caucus in March? What is a presidential caucus? For some odd reason, I got these questions multiple times from multiple people Thursday. So, for those that don't know, there is a presidential caucus next month and there are a few very notable differences between a caucus and a primary election for president, which I will try to explain below. • Why are we having a Republican Presidential Caucus on March 5 but a Democratic Primary Election on May 17? - In a nutshell, the answer to this question is U.S. Senator Rand Paul, one of Kentucky's two senators. Paul is one of several people...