Columns

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...

Years ago, when I was Chairman of the Corbin Tourism Commission, I signed a letter that was sent to Mayor Amos Miller telling him that the Commission had voted to give 75 percent of its restaurant tax money to the city for the purpose of reducing the debt on the new Arena. Without that money the Arena could not have been built. I wish we had included a provision that would have given tourism a voice in its operation. Tourism had discussed the idea of hiring a director that would oversee tourism’s operation and manage the Arena. I made several contacts with successful arena managers and received some good resumes....

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...

The most important item is first in this week’s column. I want to wish my wife Judy a great day on our 52nd wedding anniversary! It was on this day, June 1, 1964 when we said our vows. After three wonderful children and four out-of–this-world grandchildren we are still happily married. I was 24 years old (one of my crazy sisters said I was too young to get married) and Judy was my child bride. My friend Bill Crook said he didn’t know if I was going to marry her or adopt her. Judy had just graduated from high school and I had finished college. I am very lucky. Judy is as...

Thoughts after a long Memorial Day weekend: • I want to lead off by encouraging anyone and everyone who is interested in the least in “events, trends, issues, ideas and journalism about health care and health in Kentucky” to check out the Kentucky Health News online blog at kyhealthnews.blogspot.com. Al Cross, Director of Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, and an Associate Professor at the University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media, is responsible for the blog and he has many, professional contributors. These are real reporters working under the guidance of a true master of his profession. They work hard to provide accurate, and highly useful news about...

One of the biggest mysteries I will never understand is why the sounds of barking dogs do not bother their owners. They bother everybody else. There is an epidemic of barking dogs disturbing numerous people in Corbin and something needs to be done about it. I was made aware of the extreme noise level the first night my wife and I spent in our new residence right in the heart of Corbin. That was a couple of months ago before we had moved back here from Henderson. The next day I drove out the street to see where the noise was coming from and I discovered a dog lot a...

There is little reasonable or rational talk when it comes to annexation. There is only insanity. Rumors. Innuendo. Conspiracies. Hidden agendas. And a whole lot of misinformation. That’s what I’ve learned in 20 years at the News Journal. About 10 years ago, I covered a meeting in southern Laurel County where some homeowners there were FURIOUS over plans by the city of Corbin to annex them. It was nuts! There was no such plan. Nobody at that meeting cared. They fumed and yelled. It was a pitchfork and torch type of gathering. I had several guys come up to me with tattered scraps of paper with Kentucky laws printed on them that had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with...

I can’t let a baseball season go by without telling of my connection to Babe Ruth. No, I didn’t actually know him . . . never met him . . . never saw him play. But in a round-about way I really did have a connection to the Sultan of Swat. In 1969, I was working for Uncle Sam at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and while editing the post newspaper during the week, I would do little “stringer” jobs for the wire services covering sports here and there. But I wanted more. I wanted to write for a magazine, preferably Sports Illustrated. They already had one Kentucky boy writing for...

In July of 2014 my wife and I moved from Corbin to Henderson, Ky. to become full-time baby sitters. Our daughter, Amber, was about to give birth to her third child and we wanted to be of assistance. She already had two daughters, one four years old and the other who celebrated her second birthday the day after the birth of Atticus on Sept. 9, 2014. While my wife, Judy, did most of the chores with the new baby boy, I pitched in with the two little girls by playing games and keeping them occupied. We were fortunate to buy a home across the street from Amber’s. It was formerly occupied by...

Sometimes, you have to eat a little crow. I actually don’t mind to do so when I’m wrong. So here it is. Several weeks I blasted the addition of what is often called “The Stivers Amendment” to the Kentucky state budget. It’s the one that has a big impact on the outcome of the fight between Corbin and Knox County over occupational taxes that we dedicated gallons of ink to over the years. I’ve altered my view a bit. It still bothers me that the city of Corbin played by the rules, won in court, and was set to collect those taxes just like every other city in Kentucky in the same...