Opinion

Best wishes to my pal, Trent Knuckles, on his future endeavors now that he has left the News Journal. As many of you know, Friday was Trent’s last day as publisher. He is leaving after 24 years to pursue other interests. A part of me will miss him, while another part of me is happy for him to be making a fresh start, and taking on new endeavors in life. There are two things that are certain regarding Trent’s departure. The first is that our Corbin office will definitely be a lot quieter with Trent gone. The second is that it should be much easier to get through on the office telephone...

OP-ED by Eileen Recktenwald, Dorislee Gilbert, and Caroline Ruschell Sometimes simply having a voice in the process and being treated with respect makes all the difference. That’s something we’ve heard time and again from survivors as they navigate the criminal justice system. It’s also quite often the defining factor in whether they feel justice was rendered or if the very system in place to protect them made them feel even further victimized. As directors of three of the Commonwealth’s major victim advocacy organizations, each of us witnesses firsthand the profound and pervasive impact that acts of violence have upon victims of all ages. We also know that Marsy’s Law is a crucial...

Hello, and welcome to an all-new weekly column to be featured here in the News Journal. My name is Trevor Sherman, and many of you may know me either from my time spent selling advertising for this newspaper over the past several years, or from my time covering local athletic events as Sports Editor since late 2013. I am excited to begin this new phase of my career, which includes becoming a regular here on our Opinion page with What’s Happening, a column that I plan to use to share my thoughts on the many interesting and exciting events that we have happening pretty much all the time in our...

By Ben Chandler, Terry Brooks, Ed.D., Ashli Watts and Brent Wright, M.D. Manufacturers and retailers who sell Juul and other brands of e-cigarettes, or “vapes,” wonder why health advocates won’t just leave them alone. We have at least three reasons: Kids, kids and kids. Kentucky teens are using e-cigarettes at three times the rate of adults and many of them would never have touched a cigarette. Vaping manufacturers used the same marketing tactics as Big Tobacco to entice today’s kids to try their products. Now many are addicted. E-cigarettes have zero harm-reduction or cessation benefits for kids; in fact, they’re particularly dangerous for youth. We’ve heard the vaping industry question whether...

We returned to Frankfort for our first full week of legislative work on Monday, January 13. With all the administrative duties accomplished, House committees got down to work immediately. Several bills were taken for consideration and a number of them were sent to the full House for a vote in the near future. As the House Education Chair, I chaired our first meeting of the 2020 General Assembly this past week. We will meet each, Tuesday morning at 8:00 am, unless we call meetings at special times. At our first meeting, we approved legislation that would require that school behavior codes include standards for reporting bullying. This measure could help...

Over the last 12 years that Kay Schwartz has served as Whitley County Clerk, if you went into her office to pay your car taxes or any number of other things, you were just as likely to get waited on by Kay as you were one of her deputy clerks most days. I know. I speak from experience. If Kay was in her office, she was usually busy working either answering questions for somebody either in person or on the phone, looking something up on the computer or waiting on customers. She was the kind of official that wouldn’t ask her employees to do anything she wouldn’t do herself. A case...

We go about our daily lives in the United States of America. We read newspapers in the US and via internet we have access to myriad newspapers around the world. But how often do we stop and consider press freedom? How often do we count our blessings when we peruse social media news outlets? How often do we show gratitude to journalists and people that bring us the news? USA. The First Amendment, which protects freedom of the press, was adopted on December 15, 1791, as part of the Bill of Rights. UN. May 3 was proclaimed World Press Freedom Day the UN General Assembly in 1993. According to 2017 report from...

Before I ever cracked open U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s new book, “The Case Against Socialism” (released nationally Tuesday by Broadside Books), I wrote down a few things … • U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders • Venezuela • U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez • Sweden • Karl Marx These are all things I figured Paul would at least touch on within the first 50 or so pages of the book. I was wrong. It took until page 60 or so before he really delved into Sweden and Scandinavia. My point is, given the author, and the clarity the title gives to the book’s subject matter, you are going to get in “The Case Against Socialism” just about exactly what you’d...

Thank you for celebrating National Newspaper Week 2019 with us! If you have not read the other guest editorials posted over the past five days, they are still available for you now online. By David Chavern, President & CEO, News Media Alliance For centuries, citizens have turned to their local news publication for local breaking and investigative news, as well as to learn about hot-button issues in their communities. In the last 15 years, with the rise of digital communications, many readers have changed their preferences to digital formats and social media over print for their news. But long before social media came onto the scene, news media have enabled us...

With just 45 words the founders guaranteed five — no six — basic freedoms, fundamental American rights. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. This Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, was ratified to protect freedom, to ensure liberty and to define the Republic. These fundamental rights of freedom declare what it means to be an American. As Americans, we are guaranteed: — The right to freely practice religion — The right...