Trent Knuckles

Should our local school calendars be influenced by Kentucky’s tourism industry? There’s a bill circulating right now in Frankfort to do just that. Essentially, it forbids the state’s school districts from starting the school year any earlier than the Monday closest to Aug. 26. Waivers could be obtained for districts traditionally impacted by weather or other factors. Sponsors and supporters of the bill say Kentucky loses out on hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from tourism between July and August each year because school is starting too early. They estimate it amounts to about $45 million in revenue to state and local governments, and equates to the shedding of around...

There needs to be a investigation of the way our local justice system handled the cases against Tristan Hall. If you read the News Journal at all, you’ve no doubt seen our reporting on Hall. He’s the local man that was accused of making a posting on the forums of the Internet website Topix (www.topix.com) in 2013 in order to hire a hitman to kill someone. He had some other charges piled on as well. He steadfastly denied all of them. He fought the system at every turn. He stridently contested every charge. He refused to accept even the most lenient and increasingly desperate plea bargain offers from prosecutors. They...

I love the newspaper business, but being a publisher these days takes a stout heart. Here in just the last few months, newspapers have come under attack from all sides in what almost feels like a concerted effort to sign our death warrant. The rules are constantly being rewritten, or attempted to be rewritten, on public notice advertising. Our state legislature is constantly doing things to roll back and weaken Kentucky’s Open Records Act. In addition, a bill has been filed this legislative session to, again, end the requirement that sample election ballots be printed in your local newspaper. Budgetary information and reports that used to be required advertising only a few...

Why do so many people seem to think it’s the funniest thing in the world to witness another person fall? First, allow me to fill you in a on a little personal history. There are moments in your life that, while they may seem inconsequential to some, shape your attitude about things forever. I remember vividly my first day of seventh grade. I was going to a new school and full of the nerves and concerns that sort of change in life entails for a young person. All students would congregate in the gymnasium if they arrived before the first bell. On this day, the gym was packed. I got to school via...

I know it’s not always the most popular profession, but I can promise you that those of us in the news media are constantly fighting to keep people informed. A vital part of that is access to public records that tell us what our government is up to. Back in 2012, a sneaky maneuver was pulled in the Kentucky General Assembly that provided a loophole to the states Open Records Act. Essentially, it allowed private entities that were performing traditional government functions, and receiving taxpayer money to do so, to shield their records from public inspection. Quite simply, this was wrong. The real impact was felt when a former Pike County magistrate...

I’ve been asked this probably 100 times over the last few years, so here it is. The manager of The Corbin Arena is paid a salary of $96,900 annually. That’s right. $96,900. So now, you know. No one has to speculate or guess. Just let it sink in. Bask in the pure opulence of that figure like a lizard lying on concrete in the hot summer sun. $96,900. It’s pleasant to think about, isn’t it. That’s a nice pile of cheddar. Allow your mind to marinate for a moment over the absurdity of it. Chew slowly on the fact that it’s more money than probably 99 percent of people who live in this area...