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Guest Columns

  • Memorial Day: Remember the cost of a free republic

    For nearly 150 years now, our nation has set aside a day to remember those who paid the ultimate price to protect our freedom.

    It is perhaps fitting that Memorial Day, which traces its roots to the Civil War, was itself the source of conflict for so many years.  It is believed to have begun in the South, when Confederate widows decorated not only the graves of their loved ones but also those of Union soldiers, knowing their families were grieving as well.

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  • Time to recharge

    True fact: I am not a professional photographer.

    Another true fact: I am in desperate need of — something.

    As I write this I’m sitting in a park pavilion early on a Saturday morning. I’m supposed to be taking photos of a kids’ triathlon for the newspaper, but right now, as the littlest kids are in the pool and on their bikes and running their little legs off, I’m NOT taking their pictures.

    Recently, I bought a jazzy new camera, a red one, with a zoomy lens.

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  • When perfect isn’t enough

    A few weeks ago, I watched a movie on TV called “The Perfect Family.”

    Right away, just by the title, you know they’re not perfect.

    The main character is Eileen, the mother of the family. A devout Catholic, she attends Mass every day, and at confession she confesses every sin she can think of down to her gossipy thoughts.

    She serves communion and delivers food to the homebound. She’s careful to pray before meals and keeps a family altar in her home.

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  • What’s in a name?

    On Nov. 24, the Jameson family named their newborn baby girl Hashtag, after Twitter’s use of the (#) symbol.

    The year before, an Egyptian man named his son Facebook, and in 2011 an Israeli couple named their baby Like.

    These babies join celebrities’ babies Spec Wildhorse Mellencamp, Moxie Crimefighter Jillette, Pilot Inspecktor Lee and Audio Science Clayton, which makes Apple Blythe Alison Martin sound almost traditional as a baby name.

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  • Production stats for Kentucky industry quite impressive

    Kentucky is blessed to have not one but several “signature” industries, those areas of the economy where few if any states have a bigger impact.

    Since last summer, we’ve gotten a much clearer picture of just how extensive some of these industries are.

    The latest news about two of them, in fact, came last week.  First, we learned that Kentucky churned out more than a million cars and trucks last year, the most our four assembly plants have built since 2007.  Only three states produced more.

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  • A letter to my sons

    In Thanksgiving 2007, I had a disappointing experience in which my sons had planned a trip to see me on the holiday and they canceled at the last minute due to a confusion of agendas. This was my response in a letter to my two college age sons, Patrick and Kevin.

    To My Sons,

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  • The power of a soggy stamp

    Twenty years ago this year we had a devastating storm blow through our area that we call the No-Name Storm.

    I hadn’t thought about it in a while, but the other day a woman came into the newspaper office and mentioned it. She still lives in one of the hardest hit areas.

    When she left, I started thinking about that storm and its aftermath. For many people around here it was our area’s Hurricane Sandy or a mini Hurricane Katrina, blowing in and surprising everyone, wreaking havoc.

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  • Natl. Champ thanks Oberto Nation fan base

    “Well, that was interesting” might be the best summation I’ve seen of the 2012 Oryx Cup. All of Nature’s wonders were present: Fire, Wind and Water, just not always where or when you wanted.

    The H1 officiating team in concert with the QMSF conducted a masterful event in spite of challenging conditions. When the curtain fell after Saturday’s final heat, Jimmy Shane in the U-5 won the Oryx Cup and the Oh Boy! Oberto won the National Championship regaining the U-1 title for the 2013 season.

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  • Legislators face school safety, other issues in short session

    While most legislative sessions are often remembered for one or two major accomplishments, there are always other new laws that may not be as publicized but are important as well in their own right.

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  • Cursed, blessed law

    When my youngest daughter first moved away from home and I realized I could not control her every action (not that I ever could, but I deluded myself into thinking I could when she lived with me), I had a brilliant idea.

    She was home for a visit and when I brought her to the airport I said, “Let me give you a list of everything I think you should and shouldn’t do and then you can just do everything on the list and we’ll both live happily ever after, especially me.”

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