Don Estep

Easter Sunday. Church goers all over the world will celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus three days after his death by crucifixion this Sunday. For Christians it is victory of life over death. During my lifetime this special day has changed so much. When I was young in the 1950’s, and a little beyond, Easter Sunday meant talking about getting a new outfit. Ads in newspapers were filled with “Easter Specials” and much of the talk was what you were going to wear to church. Everybody was dressed up. Later in life and most enjoyable for me was when my wife would buy those darling Easter dresses for our little girls....

In Whitley County, tourism is one of the biggest industries. When I was on the tourism commission I kept up with all the numbers and it was big then. But since that time it has grown by leaps and bounds. Kentucky Splash and the Corbin Arena are just two of the tourism draws that have been added. Right now, the Mint in Williamsburg is bringing in big totals. For the past several weeks we have had stories in our newspaper that point to this area becoming a bigger than ever tourism location. The stories range from the expansion of Kentucky Splash Waterpark in Williamsburg to a new Marriott hotel coming...

Warren Central won the Kentucky High School Basketball State Championship last Saturday. I would guess that most of you didn’t know that, and most of you don’t care. That is how different how things are now compared to when I broadcast my first state championship games back in 1961. I was working for WVLK in Lexington and the games were held in Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. The Ashland Tomcats, with Larry Conley playing, won the tournament that year. It was big news, and talked about all over the state. I continued to broadcast for WVLK in 1962 and 1963. The games those years were played at Freedom Hall in Louisville. My...

I had no intention of writing about the one-way street debacle in Corbin this week, but due to the response from my column last week I feel obligated to do so. I had telephone calls, comments on the Internet and since I attended the 13th Regional basketball tournament, I had several people making comments to me in person. I had several interesting comments, and one in particular that made so much sense that I wish I had thought of it first. You are probably aware that a portion of Roy Kidd Avenue from Kentucky Avenue to Main Street going west, and from Main Street to Depot Street going east was...

One of the reasons I do not like to go to Lexington is because I feel like I spend half my time waiting at traffic lights. For over 35 years and probably 15,000 times I have driven down Gordon Hill from my home to work and back, plus taking grandchildren to school. I feel like I have spent half my life waiting on the light to change, many times twice, at Gordon and Kentucky streets. Give the Dept. of Transportation credit, they have the lights timed properly to keep traffic moving from Kentucky to Main streets as best as it can be. Unfortunately, this situation could become worse because two...

Way to go Corbin Mayor Suzie Razmus and City Manager Marlon Sams! They sent Corbin Public Works out to Highways 312 and 770 to pick up trash that had collected to the point that Sams said, “It looked like a trash dump!” No, it wasn’t Corbin’s responsibility to clean up that area, but Razmus and Sams recognized that the “eyesore” was a reflection on Corbin. That area is the responsibility of the Laurel County government. It had been neglected so long that trash had built up and it looked like a garbage dump. It took seven workers 10 hours to fill 95 of 45-gallon trash bags with trash. Sams said they collected...

In an attempt to give you a better understanding as to what it means to a newspaper to win the General Excellence Awards from the Kentucky Press Association I compare it to a high school team going to the state tournament in basketball or playing in the football finals at Kroger Field. Well, the News Journal won this year’s General Excellence Award in the weekly three division at the KPA awards banquet held last Friday night at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington. That is the division for the weekly newspapers that have the most circulation. Not only did we go to the state, we have dominated the state. This is the...

Advertising! I have spent over 60 years selling advertising. I know it works for some and for others not so much because of the way they do it. Obviously, I am not an authority about advertising, but I have been to many seminars, studied it in college, and I constantly read about it, so I have a better than average understanding of how it works. I bring this to your attention because of the upcoming May primary election. On the Republican ticket will be several candidates. The nominee could likely be decided by the 5th Congressional District which is heavily Republican. No doubt a ton of money will be spent, mostly on...

Say it isn’t so Betty! After over 50 years of operating Gibson’s Music in downtown Corbin, Betty Comer is closing shop at the end of February. I completely understand at age 87 why Betty thinks it is time to quit. For 54 years she has operated the best music store between Lexington and Knoxville. Many customers are going to miss her and the availability of the products she sells. I miss the people who have come and gone in the downtown area. I started at WCTT radio, which was also downtown, in 1961. For most years since then I have worked in the downtown area, presently about 36 years at our...

As we start a new year, here are some of the things I would like to see happen this year. Realistically I know much of what I want will not happen, but let’s dream. First, I want the General Assembly to change the border of Whitley County. It should extend beyond exit 29 of I-75 and circle to Knox County to include Ohler Road and the Industrial Park. Many years ago Corbin officials constructed infrastructure and brought in the American Greeting plant in the north Corbin area. That area has developed mostly because of dollars generated from this accomplishment. The developments in Knox County, like the Trademart Shopping Center and other businesses,...