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Opinion

  •
    Return to Haiti, the 12th edition

    Stepping off the plane in Haiti, David Montgomery first smelled the trash.
    “I’d been through some poor countries before, but when I hit Haiti, just the smell, the trash was everywhere, just like a tour of the landfill out here,” Montgomery said.
    The Anderson County magistrate’s memories of all he’s done, seen and heard on the Caribbean island run together.
    After 12 trips to Haiti in 14 years, it can be difficult to keep his timeline straight.

  • I’ve found the enemy, it’s us

    Bending paperclips calms me.
    Fragile metal contorted into shepherd’s hooks or misshapen cranes lay inert beneath computer paper shrouds.
    Their broken limbs of snapped, twisted metal litter my desk.
    They are the leftovers of trying to wield control in an uncontrollable world.
    Destroying something that can’t ever be made whole again relieves stress.  
    It always has.
    When I was a child, usually sitting in the left outfield wearing my baseball mitt as a hat, my fingers happily found grass to destroy.  

  • Lawsuit blessing in disguise for...

    The Anderson Public library’s board of trustees will apparently wait until a court orders it to comply with the statute that governs how it’s supposed to set tax rates before doing so on its own.
    And that’s a shame because by doing so the board is missing out on a great chance to reinvent its image and survive what will otherwise be a devastating financial blow.
    The order to lower its tax rate has already come for a library in northern Kentucky and, trust me on this, a similar order will eventually be issued here.

  • He’s for equality, but against gay...

    Dustin Burley is gay.
    Dustin Burley is also against gay marriage.
    So don’t expect him to change his Facebook profile photo to a red equal sign
    Originally designed by the Human Rights Campaign, the equal sign has become a virtual and viral banner of one’s social media support for marriage equality.
    Burley says he’s definitely for equal rights, just not gay marriage.
    And if you ask him why, Burley won’t hesitate.

  • Large tax increase a bad idea for...

    Column as I see ’em …
    It’s fairly surprising that the health department director is pushing for a 33 percent revenue increase in the agency’s next budget. (See A1 for details).
    I get why he’s doing it; the department took a major revenue blow this year thanks to a Medicaid insurer that is refusing to pay its bills, and he’s right that those who work there should not have to endure another year of furlough days.

  • How not to give constructive...

    Column as I see ’em …
    Remember the column I wrote a couple of weeks ago about my trip to the dentist? The one that began with my dentist jokingly calling the newspaper “goofy?”
    Well, a coward chastised me with an unsigned letter this week, claiming that my dentist was actually trying to tell me that I’m a “dumb***.”
    Language, madam, please!

  •
    From Germany, with love for...

    In a German town about 4,000 miles away, Chelsea Schedler analyzes Lawrenceburg cul-de-sacs.
    Researches the county’s curved roads (iconic design unique to subdivisions, Chelsea says) that double back to marked entrances.
    Studies American suburban home floor plans essentially worshiping, in Chelsea’s words, “the sanctity of the automobile.”
    They say write what you know.
    Chelsea, an architecture student and intern living in Germany, dissected what she knew — Lawrenceburg.

  • Pig poop throwers just common...

    Poop washes off.
    My dad’s use of that phrase is always a bit more colorful, but the word poop instead of the less family-friendly version doesn’t alter its meaning.
    In short, it means never be afraid to get your hands dirty, be it from shoveling manure or any other task that might result in greasy hands or dirty fingernails.

  • Easy question, hard answer

    I probably ask more questions than I get answers.
    Because I’m sympathetic to those who want answers, I’m fairly good at answering questions.
    Except for one.
    “Do you like being a newspaper reporter?”
    Pause.
    Sometimes I really need to think about that one.
    Not that I dislike my job. I definitely don’t.
    But it feels wrong to talk about my job in a manner of liking.
    Liking is something you do on Facebook photos.
    I like eggplant lasagna.

  • Birdshot, booze case to be tough...

    Someone could have knocked me over with birdshot from 190 yards away last week when I learned that the trial is off for the man charged with hunting drunk and shooting Rex Burkhead.
    Just days before the trial against David Gaines was to begin, misdemeanor charges were ratcheted up to felonies after the case was presented to the grand jury.

  • 30 seconds to understanding

    Harlem Shake.
    Reading these two words may have just produced the following thoughts:
    What in the world is the Harlem Shake?
    Is that a new beverage?
    Wow, you’re writing about the Harlem Shake videos? That was like, so Feb. 2.
    Yes, I am writing about the Harlem Shake meme.
    Not because I want to appear cool (which I am certainly not), or in step with contemporary youth culture (which I am certainly not).

  • We’re not weird, we’re wonderful

    Stoned on laughing gas and thick-tongued from Novocain, I said “Lawren-th-burg” when the dentist asked where I’m from.
     “Oh, I have friends from Lawrenceburg,” she said, the cruel whirl of the drill screaming in my ears as she leaned in to fix a troublesome tooth. “They’re always sending me that goofy newspaper with all the weird stuff in it.”

  • Meatballs horse, of course

    No one likes liars.
    Particularly when your food is lying.
    Not laying on your plate, but masquerading as something it’s not supposed to be.
    Horse meat in beef’s clothing, for example.
    Imitation may be the finest form of flattery, but except when we’re not aware of the cuisine mimicry.  
    In earth-shattering headlines, media outlets pick up on the latest click-bait “you won’t believe what thing you won’t want to eat next!” and reveal another food isn’t what it said it was.

  • Business licenses, insurance fees...

    Column as I see ’em …
    It was disappointing to learn that the fiscal court won’t do away with its ridiculous business license requirement simply because it includes an equally ridiculous insurance premium fee.
    Frankly, magistrates should get rid of both.
    The first is an inexplicable tax on local businesses put in place, apparently, because some people have the audacity to open a business in our fair town. The second is equally inexplicable and in place simply because people own things they either want or are required to insure.

  • Hemp law makes headway

    Hemp production in Kentucky may soon become more than a pipe dream.
    Back in November 2011, I wrote a column about industrial hemp as a source of biofuel.
    Now in 2013, industrial hemp is fueling conversations from the state senate to FFA debates at Anderson County High School.
    Last Monday the state senate passed Senate Bill 50 to allow the licensing and of hemp growers, should the state eventually receive a waiver from the federal government to produce industrial hemp.

  • Reverse foolish federal policy on...

    Count me among those who wish the federal government would for once listen to Sen. Rand Paul and lift its ridiculous prohibition on industrial hemp.
    Count, too, our sheriff and judge-executive, both of whom have climbed on the hemp bandwagon based on the opportunities it provides for jobs and industry.
    All of Kentucky is buzzing on hemp, although not the way you might think. Unlike its ugly sister marijuana, hemp is the none-dopey version of the plant that can be used for everything from shingles to clothing to oil, plus it doesn’t get people stoned.

  • Put taxing districts under control...

    I moved to Kentucky in 2008 when the economy crashed. Our family decided that it was time for us to live by a budget in order to avoid our own fiscal cliff.
    Each of us puts our receipts into a jar. At the end of the month, we painstakingly open the lid and review each receipt to match our credit card statements, and to see how we are doing in meeting our budgeted expenses.
    By careful examination, we discovered unauthorized charges. We also realized that certain months we had to spend less in order to stay within our budget.

  • A sports lesson the news media...

    That one little piece of journalistic advice offered on a hot August morning nearly 28 years ago is still the one that drives my career as a sports journalist.
    I was attending my first University of Kentucky Football Media Day gathering at Commonwealth Stadium. Looking for a chance to be known as a hot-shot writer, I made my way over to the best in the business: Cawood Ledford.

  • When faith and news collide

    This column doesn’t usually tackle religion.
    But religion found me this week in an unusual place.
    The news.
    First, the facts.
    I am a pastor’s daughter.
    As well as sister, daughter and sarcastic lackwit, I’ve also claimed the title of pastor’s daughter for almost a decade now.
    Therefore, I know a little bit (not a lot mind you) about how the religious sausage is made.
    And everyone has an opinion about religion. Including pastor’s daughters.

  • All quiet on the Interstate

    The most frightening sound is silence.
    Especially four hours of silence.
    Sometimes, during a game of hypotheticals, I like challenge myself to choose what traditional sense I would be able to live without, one I wouldn’t miss more than the others.  
    Smell. Taste. Touch. Sight. Sound.
    Last Thursday night, as I was caught in the hard place between moving forward on icy roads or driving my car in a ditch, was no game.