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A great opportunity was missed when the Herald-Leader failed to cover the April 11 Human Rights Torch Relay in downtown Lexington.

The event is part of the organization's international campaign that seeks to end all human-rights abuses in China, while highlighting the persecution of Falun Gong, the most severely persecuted group in China today.

During the runup to the 2008 Olympics, the organization is hosting events in 37 countries across six continents. The torch arrived in the United States in March and in Lexington on April 11.

People from various nationalities and faith traditions attended the Lexington relay and alternated carrying the torch from Triangle to Woodland Park, where closing ceremonies included speakers from the Jewish, Tibetan, Chinese and African-American traditions. It was inspiring to see people genuinely concerned about human-rights gather for this event.

Some would say libraries are obsolete, a quaint vestige of our past. This is not a view held by anyone who has visited a library lately. Use of Kentucky libraries continues to increase dramatically every year, serving more people in more ways than ever before.

The 50th anniversary of National Library Week ends today. Since Sunday, libraries of all types and the people who use them have been joining with the American Library Association to celebrate the contributions of all libraries, librarians and library workers in our nation's schools, campuses and communities.

It has offered a great opportunity to get to know the library of the 21st century. This year's theme has been Join the Circle of Knowledge -- Your Library; the invitation to do just that remains open.

By using a variety of approaches to meet customers' expressed needs and by providing programs and services that offer something for everyone, libraries have transformed not only themselves but the communities that they serve.

Of all the troubling aspects of the Lakeland, Fla., tale of thuggery and brutality that has recently made national headlines, that's arguably the most appalling. Not that there isn't plenty more here to disgust any observer with a conscience.

It's disgusting, for instance, that on March 30, 16-year-old Victoria Lindsay was allegedly lured to a home where six girls ambushed her while two boys kept watch.

Disgusting that the half-hour attack, recorded on video, shows her taking head shots and kicks while covering up, making no attempt to defend herself.

Disgusting that one of the girls yells that there are only 17 seconds of video capacity left, so "make it good."

Houlihan, a contributor of enthusiasm, vision and tenacity, died early Thursday of a brain tumor. He was 66.

Over several decades, he was engaged in civic life, pushing for Sunday alcohol sales, expanding membership to the local chamber of commerce as its president for 15 years, conceiving the idea for the Picnic With the Pops at the Kentucky Horse Park and organizing a downtown economic development committee.

His last big effort was establishing the Lexington History Museum in the old courthouse. And he allowed the museum to preserve a history beyond the blue-bloods and the well-connected, hosting various collections of African-American history and unusual collections such as historic voting machines.

To get so much done, Houlihan operated as a connector, putting the right people together to make good things happen. And he didn't always need to be the one taking the bows when it was done.

It's even more disheartening that it will close at the end of business today.

Although Rite Aid's departure is tied up in the controversy surrounding the proposed CentrePointe project, the problems raised are broader and demand the focused attention of planners and policy-makers in city hall.

With this one store gone, downtown's anemic basic retail scene is shrinking close to non-existence.

Residents of three downtown apartment buildings for seniors will no longer be able to walk to get a prescription filled. The bakery across the street from the Rite Aid will no longer have a place to dash to when milk for cappuccino runs low.

Total chaos. Utter confusion. An indifference toward legal niceties that led to a resurrection of the good old days of stopped clocks and floor sessions that ran beyond the constitutional midnight witching hour into the wee hours of the morning. (Darn those computerized time stamps.)

And most fitting for this session, the really good stuff was left twisting in the wind — a wind generated by excessive amounts of hot air — when the gavels finally fell.

Shoot, when sine die was uttered, even the roads portion of the projects package that was put together to buy House votes for an ugly budget was left hanging with the really good stuff.

If there is a telling vignette about the anarchy and disarray that marked this session’s final hours, it is the fact that lawmakers left projects on the table when they went home. The last time that happened, hell froze over, pigs flew, the sun came up in the west and earthlings carved up the moon for a feast of green cheese.