Opinion

Our Governor is calling it the most widespread natural disaster in our state’s history.  This was my second widespread natural disaster since taking office.   In the case of the tornadoes of 2004 and this recent ice storm, I have been extremely proud of the caring and resourceful people of this county.  At this time I would like to thank a few of those who pitched in to make the best out of the recent event.

The recent power outage made me realize that perhaps my self-image has always been slightly askew. All my life, I have fancied myself the “pioneer” type; delighting in the sight of my baby’s freshly washed diapers flapping in the Kansas breeze, making jam out of the wild blackberries I picked myself on our farm, knitting cotton dishrags for the kitchen, and helping haul water when we still depended on a cistern.  I have always felt the simple life was for me, as if I could step into the pages of a Laura Ingalls Wilder book and feel completely at home.

I am a senior at Henry County High School, and I’m writing to bring awareness about the importance of pet owners getting their pets spayed or neutered.  Spaying and neutering a pet can make animals calmer and some animals feel less of an urge to run away from their home.  Pets that have had the procedure done can no longer reproduce, so spaying or neutering your pet can help control the pet population.  Needless to say, there will be no unwanted animals roaming the streets going hungry.

One of the most significant and damaging health care issues facing the Commonwealth of Kentucky is the abuse of prescription pain medications. Nowhere is this problem more evident than in hospital emergency departments.  As the predominate health care provider for families and employers of Carroll County and surrounding communities, the medical staff and board of directors of Carroll County Memorial Hospital are taking bold steps to address this drug problem in an attempt to protect our communities from this abuse.

When times are tough, the last thing a family would ever do is jeopardize the money it knows it can count on.

I believe the same should hold true for Kentucky as well.

That is why I have filed legislation during the current legislative session that would allow video lottery terminals (VLTs) at our horse tracks.  If we don’t protect and promote an industry that has a $4 billion economic impact on our state, we will lose far more in the years ahead than our reputation as the horse capital of the world.

This past summer, the Henry County athletic field house became a reality for athletes of the Henry County Public Schools. The indoor turf, weight equipment, lockers, training room equipment and various other items are top of the line, but would not have been possible without the tremendous outpouring of support from our community. A special thanks goes to the fundraising committee comprised of Mark Vaughn, Steve Williams and Lyndon Johnson. These gentlemen set and met the goal of raising $70,000 to fully equip the facility.

A recent movie called “The Bucket List” tells about two men, one terminally ill, who decide to take on a list of things they’ve always wanted to do before they ‘kicked the bucket” – hence the name. I am not terminally ill, thank goodness, but I have a ‘bucket list’ of my own. Unlike the goals in the film, mine are modest and inexpensive, even trivial, but then I never claimed that my life would be a blockbuster movie.

The 2008 election season has come and gone.  It is now time to start focusing on future elections, specifically those involving our local government offices.  We are less than a year away from the filing deadline for county judge-executive, magistrates, sheriff, county clerk, prosecuting attorney and many other county and city-elected positions.  The filing period is between Nov. 4, 2009, and 4 p.m. on Jan. 26, 2010.  Now is the time to get involved for anyone considering candidacy in any of these local government offices,

One of the more welcoming trends in Kentucky in recent years has been our declining highway fatalities.  Though one is too many, there is greater evidence that increased seatbelt usage and the relatively new graduated driver’s license for teenagers is having the effect we in the General Assembly had hoped.

In 2005, there were 985 people who died in automobile accidents on Kentucky’s roads, the highest total since the early 1970s. Fortunately, we have seen a steady drop since then, with last year’s listed at 822 – a nearly 17 percent reduction.