Well, we made it. We successfully navigated another hectic holiday season and now we are just days into yet another New Year. This is a time both for reflection on what was, and more importantly, to look ahead to what the coming weeks and months hold in store for us all.
I have learned that looking ahead can be tricky. On one hand, I think that you have to stay mindful of certain possibilities and at least try to be prepared for whatever curve balls life may throw your way. With that being said, you also can’t allow yourself to ruminate on what those curve balls might look like, or when they might get thrown. There’s just no way to know.
As I move ahead into the New Year, I am praying for lots of help when it comes to how I approach future possibilities. The idea is to simply consider them without becoming totally fixated on what may, or may not, come to pass. Doing the latter gets exhausting pretty darn fast, so more faith and less fear is definitely the goal.
Unfortunately, it can be very difficult to stay positive when considering the political climate that we all currently find ourselves in. 2026 will be a very big year for politics in our country, in the Commonwealth, and right here in our local communities. My hope is that we can all stay civil, and that when the dust settles on the upcoming elections, we will have elected officials who are truly dedicated to doing the best possible job for their respective constituents.
I think this will largely be the case when it comes to our local elections. We have some good folks who have decided to run for various offices, and I’m sure we will see more come forward before this week’s filing deadline. The state and national elections will likely elicit different responses, however, as those do tend to bring out the worst of people’s personalities (especially on social media).
Regardless if your preferred candidate(s) win or lose this spring and/or fall, I urge everyone to remember that we’re all in this together. Let’s try our best to adhere to the productive approach of healthy discussion and debate, as opposed to insulting and name calling, which really gets us nowhere.
While we’re on the topic of elections, I would like to remind all of you candidates out there to make sure and reach out to us after filing in order to be sure that we have good contact info for you. We will need this in order to inform you about advertising and interview opportunities in the near future. As I have pointed out before, NEWSPAPER READERS VOTE IN ELECTIONS. This is backed up by lots of research, so you definitely want to get your name, face, and talking points in front of the people who are going to make all the difference for your respective campaigns. We can help make sure that happens, so if you haven’t already, send an e-mail to me at tsherman@corbinnewsjournal.com and I’ll make sure we know how to reach you when the time comes.
In other very important news, the 2026 legislative session is now underway in Frankfort. This promises to be another pivotal year for the Commonwealth, as the top item of business on lawmakers’ agendas will be to craft a newly updated state budget.
Legislative sessions are always difficult to keep up with. There is always so much information to keep up with, and that is doubly true in budget years. That being said, I am interested to see what announcements will be made in the coming weeks, what bills will be filed, what concerns will be raised, and what agendas will end up getting prioritized.
As always, we here at the News Journal will do our best to keep readers updated on the major developments coming out of the annual meeting of the Kentucky General Assembly. Specifically, we will keep an eye out for any developments that may be of particular consequence to folks living and working here in Whitley County and surrounding areas.
This promises to be an extremely interesting year. In the end, I just hope that it will be a good one for us all.
