Columns

Most of us are looking for ways to make fewer calories deliver more nutrition, and you should look for recipes that help you trim energy intake. Sometimes, you may need to use a little of the real thing to get the flavor you crave. Here are some tips for cooking to add flavor without too much fat or added sugar: • For some foods, like cheese or salad dressings, try reduced-fat instead of fat-free products. You may want to try using a ratio of two-thirds reduced-fat product to one-third real thing. • Try using one-third less sugar in your recipes or using a sugar substitute like stevia. • Make your sweet treats...

OK, here’s your chance. Voting begins this week in the News Journal’s annual People’s Choice readers’ poll. This is always a popular contest and we get many votes every year. I think it’s a lot of fun. Some folks get upset every year when the results are announced. Usually, it’s because they or their business did not win. It’s regularly the case that they didn’t bother to vote. Neither did their family nor friends. This is one contest where stuffing the ballot IS PERFECTLY FINE! Encourage all your employees, friends, family and neighbors to get a copy of the News Journal and fill out the survey. It’s good publicity if you win. The results...

First, praises to the individuals who are responsible for picking up the litter along the highway on both the Whitley and Laurel County sides of the 312 bridge north of Corbin. This is a heavily traveled scenic area that will benefit from your efforts. About three weeks ago I wrote about the litter problem in this area which now seems to be getting attention. Whether this column had any effect on it is irrelevant. The important thing is that people are reacting to the litter problem. I have had zero effect from my appeal to pave the section of Highway 312 from Barton Mill Road to the bridge. I started writing about...

Spring-calving Herd • Replacement heifers should be gaining adequately to reach target breeding weights by May 1. Be sure that their feeding program is adequate for early breeding. • Overall condition of the cow herd should be evaluated. Cows losing weight now are more likely to have weak or dead calves. These cows will likely be a poor source of colostrum milk for the newborn calf. Feed cows, if necessary to keep them in good body condition. • Have calving equipment, supplies and labor ready for the spring calving season. Some supplies which may be needed are: eartags and applicator (put numbers on eartags now), tattoo pliers and ink, record book, scales...

Many parents in today’s world feel like they barely have enough time to take care of everyone else. There never seems to be any time left to care for themselves. Parents may even feel guilty about taking care of themselves. It is critical to remember that taking care of yourself is part of taking good care of your kids. Here are some tips to try to build in self-care as a parent: • Change your priority list. Where do the things that are just for you fall on your to-do-list? Most likely they are at the bottom. Self-care is not something that should go at the bottom with any time that...

March in Kentucky means its basketball frenzy time. Even for those who don’t eat and breathe the sport, there’s no escaping it. For hoops it’s not a matter of choice. When it comes to high school hoops, most are familiar with legends King Kelly Coleman and Richie Farmer from the mountains of eastern Kentucky, but there’s another legend who for some reason hasn’t attained the status he probably deserves. You would think that if a player held the scoring record for every gym he ever played in, his name would roll off your tongue when naming the all-time greats. And what if that same player holds the national two season scoring...

The year was 2002. A committee consisting of about 40 volunteers were meeting at City Hall to plan for the 50th anniversary celebration of Corbin’s Nibroc Festival. Everybody was excited, wanting the festival to be the best ever. The committee wanted the festival for the first time, to be placed on Main Street. For years the planning committee had been told that the state would not allow the festival to be held on Main Street because it is a major highway. Prior to attending the meeting in 2002 I called the state highway department and asked why we could not hold the festival on Main Street. The man in charge told me,...

Everyone is familiar with Nike’s ad campaign that encourages people to “JUST DO IT”. I am officially adopting this slogan for my 2017 Frost Seeding Campaign. Legumes are an essential part of a strong and healthy nitrogen cycle in grasslands. In many cases they come by themselves when we start to manage for them, but in some instances, we need to introduce them back into our pastures. Listed below are a few steps that we can take that will help to ensure that our FROST seedings are successful: • Control Broadleaf Weeds.  Broadleaf weeds must be controlled prior to seeding legumes.  This is best accomplished by controlling weeds the season...

Tall fescue, specifically Kentucky 31, is a cool-season grass that is widely grown throughout Kentucky and the eastern United States, because it is resistant to many unfavorable conditions including drought tolerance and insect resistance. However, the very reason for its resiliency is also its Achilles heel. It contains a harmful fungal endophyte that causes fescue toxicosis in cattle and horses. Affected animals get sick, have reduced weight gains, reproductive problems and other issues. In recent years, researchers have learned how to introduce beneficial or novel endophytes into tall fescue varieties. These novel endophytes do not cause fescue toxicosis, but allow a variety to have vigorous growth and improved drought and insect...

Whitley County lost a couple of very good men last week with the death of former Whitley County Judge-Executive Leroy Gilbert and assistant Whitley County Attorney Gary Brittain. I met both men early during my journalism career. My second job out of college was working at a certain local daily newspaper that shall remain nameless (LOL) covering Knox County. At the time, Gary was county attorney in Knox County, and I dealt with him frequently. The thing that I will remember most about Gary is that he always returned my calls when he got the message. Sometimes he didn’t get the message until the next day, but he always called me back,...