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Columns and Editorials

  • General Assembly has come a long way with innovation

    By Rick Rand

     

    Kentucky has gotten a lot of attention over the years when it comes to finding innovative ways to govern.  Our education reforms of the 1990s were hailed as national models, for example, and we are the only state to permanently dedicate half of our annual tobacco settlement payments to agriculture, a move that has played a key role in the industry’s record sales in recent years.

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  • The sign and signs

    On a recent Monday morning, one of Donna’s friends stopped by the house to pick her up.  They were headed to Paducah for the annual quilt show held in that city.  I helped Donna load her luggage into her friend’s car and waved them off.

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  • There’s something in the air lately

    Economic development seems to be in the air of late.

    By way of a letter to the editor in our local paper a few issues back, a concerned resident from Pleasureville asked that the folks around town get together to discuss ways to revitalize the city. Apparently, they did exactly that at their last city meeting, and I say good for them.

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  • Scientific studies prove nature has healing power for your health

    By Candy Clarke

    Spring is here; the flowers are blooming, the wonderful world of nature is constantly changing, and the fish may be biting. The sun is shining, a gentle breeze is blowing and the water is warm. That’s reason enough for me to hook up my little boat, loaded with fishing poles and  a picnic lunch, and head for the nearest body of water. It has the makings of a perfect day. What more could you want?

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  • The doubter’s gift

    Most of us start out believing whatever we believe about whatever because someone we trust told us it was the truth.  For a while, it is enough.

    “The stove is hot.  Don’t touch!” Momma warned.  For a few people, the warning is enough.  For others, there will always be the necessity of testing the warning. 

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  • Curiosity for bugs leads to discovery

    By Candy Clarke

    They’re adorable. We all comment on how pretty they are, but then we promptly forget about them; moving on to life’s next activity. That was me for many years. I never truly stopped to think about the importance of the well-known ladybug. Sure, I knew, like most of us, that the cute little things help protect crops. That was about the extent of it for me. Well, this week, they made their presence known once again. With their sudden appearance, I decided it was time to end my curiosity.

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  • House Bill 1 and your primary doctor

    Katherine Jett

    In 2008 Kentucky had the fifth highest rate of drug overdose in the country.

    Kentucky has one of the highest rates of pain medication prescribed per capita in the country. 

    More than 54 percent of the state’s residents have been prescribed a narcotic pain medication within the past five years. 

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  • Well in a not well world

    Once upon a time, filled with youthful enthusiasm and naiveté, I believed that one day I would finally get life right ... that my life would be fully on target ... that I would be the person God intended me to be.

    There is nothing like adulthood to take care of youthful enthusiasm and naiveté. My life is not always on target. In fact, there are days when I can’t even see the target. As for being the person God intended me to be, this too, according to the standards of the young man I once was, eludes me.

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  • Past personal history speaks to our present

    Serendipity shined on me this past week.
    When I moved to northern Kentucky after high school, I always drove by a house barely visible from the road in Smithfield en route to I-71. In between the trees that lined the driveway, I stole glimpses of a Federal style house far back a gravel drive surrounded by fields. I could only see the house long enough to instill more curiosity, wonder and frustration, which taxed my curiosity in epic proportions over the last 20 plus years.
    Rewind with me back a couple of weeks.

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  • Gearing up for great gardening

    It’s time for gardening! For some of us, gardening is exciting; for others, it’s more drudgery than pleasure.

    I belonged to the first group until I moved to Alaska. Unsuccessful attempts year after year soon drove me to despair.

    Often times, we take the familiar for granted. I certainly did.

    I assumed gardening in Alaska would produce similar results to the gardens I had seen growing in Kentucky. Of course, I knew soil types, maturity dates, etc. would differ in the diverse geographical locations. I really hadn’t a clue!

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