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| 3rd District needs Weston Thu, 08 May 2008 02:03 EDT Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of talking and meeting with residents of the 3rd District. Throughout the meetings, a theme evolved with regard to concerns for our area of Lexington. The focal points of my campaign address many of the concerns: smart, sustainable growth; safe, strong neighborhoods; and a continued emphasis on public safety. My educational, professional, civic and community experience distinguishes me from the other candidates. The editorial board recognized my "impressive record of civic contributions." My civic involvement, since graduating from the University of Kentucky in 2000, has been focused in three areas: enhancing the health and wellness of others, providing for others through service and mission and working to improve the collegiate experience and development of young people. All three of these areas coincide quite well with the issues confronting the 3rd District on a daily basis. My direct experience working alongside the Lexington business community, UK's leadership and the ever-growing student population and having lived throughout the district's neighborhoods provide me with a unique perspective among the candidates. We need a council representative who is willing to roll up his sleeves and go to work for the district. We need someone who is ready to make the right decision, rather than the popular decision. We need someone who has broad-based experience, "a strong grasp of the issues" and an "impressive record of civic contributions." |
| A little history on Ky.'s finest library Wed, 07 May 2008 02:07 EDT Much more than a quiet place to find a good book, Kentucky's premier research library will be the site of a lively 10th birthday party of show-and-tell tours and speeches next Tuesday, May 13. The 1998 opening of the William T. Young Library at the University of Kentucky will be celebrated a decade later as a symbolic event in UK's campaign to win academic respect to match its reputation for basketball. Indeed, as memories of seven national basketball championships dim, the new library is a potent talking point in UK's efforts to exhort all Kentuckians to become Big Blue fans of excellence in academics. With its 3.5 million volumes, its 2 million-plus visits a year (the sum of daily use by thousands of students), 50,000 hits a day on the Web and a towering architectural presence on the Lexington landscape, the library is a thoughtful contrast to the piles of steel and concrete that Kentucky sporadically assembles for athletics at a cost of millions of dollars that it might otherwise invest in books and brains. William T. Young was a self-made Bluegrass business whiz who loved sports so much he bred a horse, Grindstone, that won the Kentucky Derby. But first he parlayed a UK engineering degree into a fortune built on diverse investments from which he consistently gave money back to education. |
| Let Henson keep council seat Thu, 08 May 2008 02:03 EDT There is no reason to replace Councilwoman Peggy Henson, whom Mayor Jim Newberry chose in January to replace Richard Moloney, who took a state appointment. Henson, assistant director of a job placement service, is learning how to make government bureaucracy work for District 11 constituents and is building a good reputation among other council members. With the decades she spent as a neighborhood leader, working with past council members, she is in the right place at the right time. District 11, especially the Cardinal Valley and Alexandria Road areas, is struggling to deal with significant crime, code-enforcement problems and other quality-of-life issues. Some of that is a result of the growing Mexican immigrant population in that part of town. But not all of it. |
| UK's pole-vaulting Thu, 08 May 2008 02:03 EDT It's a sad thing to say about university leaders, but it seems they never learn. University of Kentucky administrators have spent more than a year planning steel utility poles, some of them truly huge, along Woodland and Euclid avenues and Cooper Drive. But they never laid out their plans to neighbors, a city-university committee, the council member who represents the district or the mayor. There will be more chapters to this story, but we have the uneasy sense it will play out like too many others: with bitterness and frustration toward the university. The poles are being installed to carry high-voltage wires that will deliver power to the new UK hospital. UK will contritely say that this late in the construction schedule, alternatives will either cost too much or delay the hospital too long. |
| Wilkie flogs leadership as he exits House Thu, 08 May 2008 02:03 EDT At least one position in House Democratic leadership will be open next year. In a Tuesday e-mail copied to other leadership members, Majority Whip Rob Wilkey rather scathingly criticized the way the chamber's Democratic leaders handled this year's General Assembly session, accused them of failing to support Gov. Steve Beshear and announced his intention to leave the legislature at the end of the year. Referring to the obvious rift in House leadership that proved problematic during this year's General Assembly session, Wilkey wrote, "I thought we didn't serve anyone very well ... I also thought there was a conscious effort to embarrass this governor during this session. It worked. He could have done a better job of building a relationship with the House, but I also feel he was misled into believing that we would work with him. We didn't." In an interview Wednesday, Wilkey said his decision to leave the House was made easier by this year's leadership conflicts but was not caused by them. He said his decision was based on the "continuing challenges" of trying to balance his legislative duties with the needs of his family (particularly "my daughter and son who need me") and his regular job. His employer, Commonwealth Brands Inc., a subsidiary of Imperial Tobacco Limited, did not ask him to quit the House, Wilkey said. But he added that his position as a company officer and senior legal counsel required a lot of his attention. |
| Aniimal rights people Thu, 08 May 2008 09:18 EDT |
| Publisher’s Notebook: Being a Papaw comes with pressures, rewards At 12:05 a.m. on Friday, May 2, I officially became a Papaw. It feels strange to type the name and to hear someone refer to me as Papaw. It won’t take me long, however, to wear the name like a comfortable pair of slacks. |
| Direct Kick: SCW hopes to recapture glory days |
| CHEERS and JEERS: Here comes the storm Brace yourselves for Hurricane Hillary, or Hurricane Obama. |
| Here’s to you, Mr. Robbins I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect on the life of a man I never met, but who inadvertently paved the way for my entrance into the workforce. |
| Former junior high needs to be completed Fri, 9 May 2008 22:10:27 -0500 We’re not sure what, if anything, can be done about the ongoing lack of progress at the old Bowling Green Junior High on Center Street, but something has got to give. After going through several different owners, work at the site appears to have been idle for months and the building doesn’t appear much different than when it was bought by Ironwood Development LLC years ago. It is a shame that it has taken this long to get the mixed-income rental housing installed in the former school. In the beginning, a much different story was told about the finish time for the former school. Back in 2002, the Bowling Green Board of Education entered a contract to sell the building and adjacent parking lot to Ironwood Development of Roswell, Ga., for $800,000. Robert McMaster was the principal owner and director of Ironwood. His investors took over when he failed to finish the property after spending the initial investment. State tax credits have been issued for the project. The current investor in the building, Brian Doran, has a long way to go to complete the project. What is so disturbing is that in early 2003, McMaster said the project should be completed within 14 months. Now, it is five years later and all one sees is a temporary fence, no workers and a big mess. This is a sad situation. The old high school is a unique, historic structure and for the owner and his contractors to move this slowly is really a slap in the face to the people of Bowling Green and is a hindrance to a downtown that is undergoing significant revitalization. The question is, what can be done to get the project moving again? Mayor Elaine Walker said the lack of progress on the project has been disturbing and that there is little the city can do because the owner has a valid building permit. Walker said she believes there is an individual or two working there and one of the buildings is completed and rented, but admits that progress has been very slow. So long as the owner has someone on site doing occasional work, even if it’s just nailing a couple of boards together, the building permit technically stays active. That’s what prevents code and building inspectors from stepping in. She said Doran, who couldn’t be reached for comment, has been working with local contractor Buster Stewart to get the project moving again. Walker said she had discussions about the project with Doran and she has voiced her frustration. She said she was told that the project would resume months ago, but that didn’t occur. Walker said it’s especially frustrating because of the downtown redevelopment that is currently taking place in our city. “It’s a black eye on our downtown redevelopment,” Walker said. “Apparently, the deadlines don’t mean much. Right now, I don’t know when it will be completed.” Walker said she hopes they can find some type of solution. We agree with Walker - this project has taken entirely too long. Doran needs to live up to his commitments and move this project to completion. |
| Obama’s got it Fri, 9 May 2008 22:09:51 -0500 North Carolina and Indiana primary voters have moved the seemingly endless Democratic presidential race significantly closer to its end. But Tuesday’s split verdict did little to answer the question of whether Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. Hillary Clinton would be the stronger Democratic standard bearer against Republican Sen. John McCain. Obama won most of the 187 delegates available Tuesday, more than offsetting his Pennsylvania loss and nearing a majority overall. He also made it virtually impossible for Clinton to overtake him in popular votes. While Clinton reiterated Wednesday that she wouldn’t quit, those numbers probably will trigger further superdelegate movement toward Obama, as they will be reluctant to oppose the candidate with more elected delegates and popular votes. Yet the voting pattern Tuesday was less decisive, mainly confirming the contradictory data from earlier primaries and polls. Some indicators: |
| JCPS' new plan Fri, 09 May 2008 21:50:00 EST It's gratifying to see the community come together and move forward, despite the blow delivered by the U.S. Supreme Court in the historic Jefferson County Public Schools case. |
| Change will come Fri, 09 May 2008 21:52:00 EST President Bush isn't impressed with changes enacted by Cuban leader Raul Castro since taking over for his ailing 81-year old brother. |
| Reactions to the 134th Derby Fri, 09 May 2008 21:50:00 EST Two more catastrophic injuries on Churchill Downs' dirt course, and it doesn't seem to phase them. Would it grab their attention if horsemen finally stop running their horses at this track? |
| Redneck appeal? Fri, 09 May 2008 21:49:00 EST Is no one else upset that the Clinton campaign is trying to portray middle-age working class white men as redneck bigots? That is exactly what they are implying when they say Barack Obama can't get their votes. |
| Help mothers by protecting them from toxic coal waste Sat, 10 May 2008 02:04 EDT This Mother's Day, millions of moms across the country are getting more than they bargained for. In addition to flowers and cards from family members, they're getting a very dangerous gift from the coal industry: more toxic mercury that will put their children at risk. One in six women in this country already has enough unsafe levels of mercury in her body to put any children she may bear at risk -- and she might not even know it. Mercury is a toxin that causes learning disabilities and other developmental problems in young children and finds its way to our dinner tables via contaminated fish. Coal-fired power plants are the largest single man-made source of mercury pollution, and Kentucky has a particularly high concentration of emissions from these plants. When coal is burned, mercury is released in the atmosphere and falls back to Earth in rain, running into our lakes, rivers and streams. There, it is converted to the toxic form of mercury that accumulates in fish and shellfish. So that tuna sandwich you feed your kid for lunch could actually be doing more harm than good. Every stream in Kentucky is under an advisory for fish consumption. As a mother and a grandmother, I'm always looking for ways to keep children safe and healthy. We shouldn't have to worry that the food we eat can later cause learning problems, cerebral palsy, autism and other developmental issues in our offspring -- but already, about 630,000 newborns in the United States are at risk each year. |
| A boost for troops' mental health Fri, 09 May 2008 02:05 EDT A mental health crisis has been brewing for years in the U.S. military, despite commanders' best efforts to hide it. At long last, Pentagon leaders have begun speaking openly about post-traumatic stress disorder and encouraging troops to seek help. As recently as last year, according to a Pentagon study, the prevailing mentality at U.S. bases was to deny PTSD's existence and even punish service members who sought help. Troops say they fear losing promotions or security clearances if they mention PTSD. Many have suffered in silence, often with such tragic consequences as suicide, homicide or fits of violent rage. Attempted suicides among veterans now run about 1,000 a month, a grim statistic the Veterans Administration tried to keep secret until recently. Studies indicate that a quarter to 38 percent of the 1.6 million who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer serious mental health problems, but fewer than half are willing to seek help. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, launched a campaign last week to change the military's outdated attitude. |
| Cut tuition increase Fri, 09 May 2008 02:05 EDT The Kentucky Community and Technical College System and its president, Michael McCall, could do good things with the money from a 13 percent tuition increase. But sometimes the common good should come first, and this is one of those times. Kentucky ranks 45th in median household income and is the seventh-poorest state. But Kentuckians must now pay more than the national average to attend a public two-year college or university. Once low, tuition and fees have climbed 10 percent a year for a decade, while the state has not increased financial aid since 2006. The effects are showing up in flattening enrollments. |
| Keep Overly in 72nd House seat Fri, 09 May 2008 02:05 EDT The race to represent House District 72 is pitting a relative newcomer against two veteran officeholders. Sannie Overly, the Paris lawyer who won the seat vacated after Carolyn Belcher was elected Bath County judge-executive, is running to serve a full term. Her challengers are Jim Lovell, a Paris lawyer who held the seat from 1995 through 1998, and former Bourbon County Judge-Executive Roy Baber. The district is made up of Bourbon, Bath and Nicholas counties as well as three precincts in Fayette County. Overly deserves a full term to show what she can do for her district and the state. |
| War budget Fri, 09 May 2008 08:29 EDT |
| Direct Kick: Smith retires as South Laurel AD |
| The bridges of Laurel County The boyfriend is no longer the only man in my life. Yes, dear readers, from the deepest reaches of my soul I now pine for another. |
| An inspirational walk taken Cancer may not run in my family because there have been only a couple of instances that I can recall where family members have had cancer.That doesn't really matter because when I stood on the track at Glasgow High School on Friday night and watched the survivors and their family members round the lanes, I realized how many people I know in this community who have been affected by cancer. |
| Clinton’s final days are here FRANKFORTIt’s over. Kentucky voters hoped this would be the presidential primary when their votes actually counted. But Barack Obama’s big win in North Carolina and narrow two-point loss in Indiana last Tuesday pretty much sealed the Democratic race. |
| Bird watching is quiet fun According to a recent survey by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there are about one million Kentuckians who enjoy bird watching. |
| Mothers are special women Sunday is Mother’s Day. I am blessed to have several important women in my life, women who have helped me become who I am and women who continue to guide me. |
| YOUR VIEW: Judge pitches for Fischer As past-president of the Kentucky County Judge/Executive Association, I endorse a candidate for office only after careful consideration and measurement of that individual. |
| Damage control Mon, 12 May 2008 10:48:29 -0500 Oh, no, she didn’t. Or, as the young hip-hop generation might say, “Oh, no, she did-int!” But, oh, yes, she d-id. A day after her hoped-for monster triumph in the Indiana and North Carolina primaries fizzled, Sen. Hillary Clinton no longer seemed to care whom she offended. She dared to speak about race and gender in public with the candid language that even political consultants usually keep private. Despite losing big to Sen. Barack Obama in North Carolina’s Democratic primary and barely squeaking out a victory in Indiana, she said in an interview with USA Today that “I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on.” And who might that “broader base” be? She cited an Associated Press story “that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.” “There’s a pattern emerging here,” she said. Yes, there is a pattern here and it’s not a very pretty one. When Clinton is sounding like Ms. Cranky, implying out loud that her opponent’s supporters are not hard-working enough, white enough or undereducated enough, it’s hardly a high point in her campaign. But the former First Lady rejected the notion that her comments were racially divisive. “These are the people you have to win if you’re a Democrat in sufficient numbers to actually win the election,” she said. “Everybody knows that.” She has a point. Exit polls in Indiana and North Carolina showed her beating Obama among white voters, particularly white men, and voters who lack college degrees. She won about 60 percent of the white vote in both states, down from the 65 percent of the white vote she won in the Ohio primary on March 4 and the 63 percent she received in Pennsylvania on April 22. Black voters, by contrast, turned out nine-to-one for Obama in Indiana and North Carolina, which is close to the black turnout for Democratic presidential candidates in recent decades. Some white bloggers see some veiled form of black supremacy in that turnout. They might have a case among those who choose not to remember how hard Obama had to work to woo black voters away from Clinton before his South Carolina primary victory. Remember those days when everyone seemed to be asking whether Obama was “black enough” to win black votes? Now Clinton is questioning whether he is too “elitist” to win the votes of “hard-working people.” That’s the message of her a Charleston, W. Va., speech a day after her newspaper interview: “We need to bring back hardworking people to the Democratic Party. I’m winning Catholic voters and Hispanic voters, blue-collar workers and seniors. People Sen. McCain will need in the general election.” She’s right to observe that Obama has a challenge ahead in winning white swing voters, if he wins the nomination. But so does she, considering how despised she has been among conservatives over the years. Taking advice from Hillary Clinton on winning white males in light of that history sounds about as wise as taking child care advice from Britney Spears. Yet, as her relentless pursuit of the Democratic nomination has shown, she’s a fighter. Her recent populist pitch to “hard-working people,” “Some call you swing voters. I call you Americans,” she said in Charleston) is an appeal not so much to color as to culture. The great unspoken question in every voter’s mind is whether a candidate is on their side, understands their values and connects with the way they see the world. That big question turns Obama’s biggest asset, his being fresh and new, into a liability when it causes people to question how well they know him - and how well he knows them. Those doubts were enhanced when incendiary sound bites from his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, brought Obama’s approval ratings down to those of mortal people. His impressive showing in Indiana and North Carolina appears to have put concerns about Wright to rest for now, although they are certain to come back in attack ads in the fall if Obama is nominated. That will be a very different campaign from the one Obama and Clinton have waged so far. With that in mind, the most important moment for Democratic fortunes won’t be the selection of their nominee, but in soothing the anger and disappointment of the side that loses. Once the party’s leaders bring themselves back together, they’ll have to reach out and unify the folks who really count - the voters - regardless of race, color, gender or how “hard-working” they appear to be. |
| The looming threat to Israel lies within Mon, 12 May 2008 10:48:29 -0500 When Israel’s independence was proclaimed in Tel Aviv on May 14, 1948, as leaders of the nascent state sang “Hatikva” (Hope), few could have imagined the vibrant state that exists today. The Zionist movement was a reaction to European anti-Semitism and pogroms that climaxed with the Nazi slaughter of 6 million Jews. But Arab states and the Palestinians had rejected the 1947 U.N. partition of British mandate Palestine into two states, one Jewish, one Arab. A civil war between Palestinians and Jews had been raging for months, and the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq were poised to invade. Yet Israel survived that war and the wars that followed. On her 60th anniversary, however, a different kind of existential threat haunts the country. It is not a nuclear-armed Iran, nor a terrorist bomb, nor does it come from Israel’s Arab neighbors. The threat can be summed up in one word: demography. Unless Israel and the Palestinians can agree on a formula for two states living side by side, the number of Palestinian Arabs under Israeli control will probably outnumber Jews within the next two decades. And that could spell the end of the Jewish state. “If the day comes when the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights (for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip), then, as soon as that happens, the State of Israel is finished.” That statement was made by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, not by Jimmy Carter, whose comparisons between Israel’s behavior and apartheid have drawn fire. What Olmert fears is graphically illustrated by the numbers. According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, its population is 7,282,000, of whom 20.1 percent are Palestinian Arab citizens. On the West Bank and Gaza, according to 2008 figures in the CIA’s World Factbook, an additional 4.2 million Palestinians live. Hebrew University demographer Sergio DellaPergola projects that by 2020 Jews will compose only 44 percent to 47 percent of the combined population in Israel and the occupied territories. He also projects that by 2050 “the Jewish share might diminish to 35 to 37 percent.” If Israel keeps control of the West Bank and Gaza, the disenfranchised Palestinian majority will start demanding the right to vote inside Israel. And, as Olmert (not Carter) has said, the world will start comparing the Israel-Palestinian conflict “to a South African one.” Yet a Palestinian majority that voted inside greater Israel would seek a Palestinian Arab state, and an end to the Jewish homeland. In the bitter, tribal politics of the Middle East, ethnic groups seek communal, not individual, rights at the expense of other communities. Think Lebanon or Iraq, where voters cling to sectarian parties that cement ethnic and religious divisions. There is no way that both Palestinians and Israelis can pursue their national rights within one state. That demographic reality was why the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin endorsed the Oslo Accords, which aimed at creating two states. But Oslo failed, souring both sides on the peace process. Olmert, and former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon - both hawks on the Palestinian issue - also recognized the demographic danger. That is why they endorsed a unilateral Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. But this unilateral step - which undercut Palestinian moderates who favor negotiations - only wound up making the problem worse. So on its 60th anniversary, Israel faces a crossroads. The country is economically and militarily strong, despite the threats it faces from rockets fired by Hamas or Hezbollah. It reportedly has a second-strike nuclear capacity, which would sober any regional power that might acquire nuclear weapons, including Iran. But Israel has yet to find a route toward a two-state solution with the Palestinians that can resolve the Israeli demographic crisis. And in this critical endeavor, the Annapolis peace process godfathered by the White House has been a flop. Israeli and Palestinian leadership is weak and appears to have accomplished little on a final-status agreement. But the White House has been unwilling to press for the one gesture that might galvanize some progress and is required by Bush’s road map for peace: an Israeli halt to all building in Jewish settlements on the West Bank. So far, Olmert has insisted Israel has the right to continue building in some settlements, and the White House has remained passive. Instead, Condoleezza Rice is demanding meaningless declarations of progress by the two sides before Bush’s arrival in Jerusalem next week. Such window-dressing is pointless - a sad sign of an administration that fails to grasp the urgency of the situation. If the two-state concept is to be saved, a more active presidential role in the Annapolis process is crucial. On its 60th anniversary, Israel can stand up to external challenges. But, unresolved, the demographic challenge will eat at the country from within. |
| An Olympics gag order Mon, 12 May 2008 21:50:00 EST When Beijing was bidding to host the 2008 Summer Olympics, part of its pitch was that the games would help promote human rights in China, and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) bought it. |
| Holding the line Mon, 12 May 2008 21:47:00 EST The heady days of the Kentucky General Assembly passing House Bill 1 seem so far behind us now. It was a little more than a decade ago, in 1997, when lawmakers, Gov. Paul Patton and business people from all over the commonwealth came together to think really big about reforming the higher education system in this state. |
| Building better babies Mon, 12 May 2008 21:47:00 EST Louisville Metro Health and Wellness Department's federally funded Healthy Start program is a grand success by any measure. In a decade, it has helped 5,404 families in western Louisville. |
| Confronting evil Mon, 12 May 2008 21:48:00 EST Irena Sendler's 98-year lifespan in Poland encompassed some of the worst horrors of history, but she was neither a passive nor a fearful witness. |
| Words do matter Mon, 12 May 2008 21:48:00 EST Joseph Gerth, in his column yesterday, quoted Gov. Steve Beshear suggesting the world would be better off if Vice President Dick Cheney took President Bush hunting -- i.e., shot him -- and quotes former Gov. Paul Patton saying that Beshear would have had a better start to his governorship had he shot state Senate President David Williams. |
| Readers sound off about the campaign Mon, 12 May 2008 21:49:00 EST I am ready to ask Hillary Clinton if she wants some cheese with her "whine." I am tired of hearing her complain concerning the Florida and Michigan primaries. What's the problem? |
| In defense of 'Big Oil' Mon, 12 May 2008 21:49:00 EST With gas prices topping $4 a gallon in some regions of the country, now may not be the best time to say something positive about "big oil," but here goes anyway. |
| McCain must learn to inspire Mon, 12 May 2008 21:51:00 EST Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain is giving a speech to the National Rifle Association in Louisville this week. He will doubtless display his trademark self-deprecation. But McCain ought not have to carry that burden alone. |
| In Myanmar and in Frankfort Mon, 12 May 2008 21:42:00 EST |
| Pratt will be honest broker Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT Compromise demands participation, but the city government's hierarchy has intimidated and manipulated the Urban County Council. That's selling out, not compromise. Compromise means council members should not be controlled by myopic power brokers. Sadly, District 3 candidates endorsed by the Herald-Leader are obligated, as is the majority of the Urban County Government. City government needs courageous convictions, not resumes or mediocrity. Compromises, even pabulum, unethical and prejudicial journalism, have consistently brought Lexington wasted money, wasted time and wasted energy. The Web pages of the endorsed candidates are amateurish PR pieces that any candidate in any U.S. city could produce. |
| Norton will listen to constituents Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT As a lifelong resident of Lexington, I have the qualities and experience that will best enable me to serve the interests of the people of Urban County Council District 5. I have worked for many years in Lexington as a Realtor, which has given me excellent knowledge of and experience in zoning and housing matters. A Realtor's job is often described as "bringing about a meeting of minds." My real-estate experience will serve me well in collaborating and negotiating with other council members and the mayor to achieve solutions to matters such as fair taxation, public safety, transportation, sewer maintenance and appropriate infill development -- solutions that will allow Lexington to maintain its reputation as a beautiful, friendly, economically and culturally vital city that is the Horse Capital of the World. Additionally, I have worked for the past 12 years as an insurance professional, helping people achieve financial security for their families, while gaining insight into their concerns and worries, such as taxes, public services and civic issues. My slogan throughout this campaign has been, "Listen, Learn, Lead," and I pledge to do just that as I represent the people of District 5. The wishes and needs of the district's constituency will always be paramount in my decision-making. I am not and will not be controlled by any individuals' or companies' financial biases, thus, assuring the public of my objectivity in consideration of the issues. |
| Kiddie recruiting Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT Even in retrospect, it's often hard to define the moment when things began to spin out of control. It's even harder in real time. But the last several days of news about big-time basketball recruiting create an uneasy feeling. Nationally, there's the depressing ESPN story alleging that super recruit O.J. Mayo was "pimped" by a runner for an agent from his days as a ninth grader with gifts of money, a flat-screen TV and, no doubt, promises of greater riches to come. Closer to home, University of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie has reached agreements to play at Kentucky with two boys -- an eighth-grader and a ninth-grader. One of them did not know where he was going to high school until last week. UK also has made a scholarship offer to another ninth-grader. UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. initially seemed shocked that Gillispie was going after such young players but within a week had come around so completely that he spent a half-hour recruiting the ninth-grader. |
| No magic beans in education Tue, 13 May 2008 02:03 EDT Everyone wanted to believe in the miracle-working principal. Visiting dignitaries and aspiring politicians flocked to the scene of Principal Peggy Petrilli's successes at Lexington's Northern Elementary School and later at the Booker T. Washington Academy. The visitors basked in the notion that all it takes to overcome obstacles of entrenched poverty, racial bias and disability is a strong leader. Now we know that the successes, the meteoric rise in test scores, weren't what they seemed. The saddest thing about the allegations of cheating and abuse of power against Petrilli is that they will discredit educators' genuine accomplishments, including her own. |
| Dangerous growth Sun, 11 May 2008 10:26 EDT |
| Barrier cables could save a lot of lives Tue, 13 May 2008 10:51:16 -0500 As we have stated in earlier editorials, something has to be done about the dangerous stretch of Interstate 65 in Barren and Hart counties that has claimed many lives and injured countless others. With the state in a budget crisis mode and no money to complete the widening of I-65 until well into the future, less expensive safety options must be on the table to prevent further cross-over accidents. As you may recall, five people were killed in a cross-over crash in March in Hart County. One plan that we believe has merit is installing metal cable barriers. Such barriers, which are being used in Louisville and Lexington, feature three or four cables between regularly spaced poles. If these were in place at the time of the accident they may have prevented the cross-over that caused these tragic deaths. These barriers don’t, however, prevent cross-over crashes caused by large trucks. While that is an unfortunate weakness, the barrier could prevent cars from crossing over, which is a more likely scenario. Keirsten Jaggers, spokeswoman for the state Department of Highways, said that for the Louisville area, there have been 284 impacts to the cables on three interstates since they were installed. One of those impacts involved a tractor-trailer truck that went over the barrier system, but in all the rest the cable barriers have prevented vehicles from entering opposing lanes. These numbers show that these barriers have prevented a large number of accidents and have possibly saved lives and prevented serious injuries. Installing the cables would cost about $200,000 a mile. There are 50 miles of I-65 from the Cumberland Parkway to Elizabethtown that are still four lanes. Although this sounds like a large price to pay, it would be considerably cheaper than installing concrete barriers. The likelihood of this happening remains uncertain because of the budget crisis and Gov. Steve Beshear’s veto last month of the state’s road plan. We certainly hope that money can be allotted for this less expensive alternative. How many more lives will it take before someone acts? |
| Wetlands will be good for Lost River Tue, 13 May 2008 10:51:16 -0500 Installing a wetland at Lost River Cave is a good plan that will filter runoff from the heavily traveled Nashville Road, thereby protecting Lost River, which flows through the cave. On May 6, the Bowling Green City Commission approved a contract from S&R Excavation and Straeffer Pump & Supply of Evansville, Ind., which will get $304,936 for the work. Annie Holt, operations supervisor for Lost River Cave, said not only will it benefit the cave system itself, it will help the Barren River downstream and the also the karst system. Lost River eventually makes its way into Barren River near the city of Plum Springs, so it is important that those water systems downstream be as free of contaminants as possible. Holt explained how the wetland will work. Water first drains into a retention basin, then it flows into the planned wetland and then it flows through berms created in the wetland and finally is injected into sinkholes on the property as it is cleaned. Holt said it will do a lot to help the environment at Lost River Cave. She said the wetland, on which work is set to begin Wednesday, has been in the works for a long time. “We’re glad that it’s finally happening,” Holt said. We concur with Holt. Anything that helps improve the water quality in the cave system and the river is something we should all get behind. |
| The wrong stance Tue, 13 May 2008 10:50:52 -0500 With gas prices topping four dollars a gallon in some regions of the country, now may not be the best time to say something positive about “big oil,” but here goes anyway. Where is it written that the cost for a product or service should be frozen in place and in time, never to rise again, or to rise at a pace commensurate with our incomes? People who think this way know little to nothing about supply and demand and less than nothing about the profit motive. That’s because at least three generations have been raised on the notion of entitlement, and when one feels entitled to something, one believes someone else should pay. Senate Democrats last week sought to ingratiate themselves with voters, while doing nothing to produce more energy, with a familiar attack on “big oil.” They want to repeal $17 billion in tax breaks for the oil companies over 10 years and on top of that impose a windfall profit tax on companies that don’t invest in new energy sources. This is political expediency at its worst. Peter Robertson, vice chairman of Chevron, told me it’s a myth that oil companies are not investing in new energy sources. He says last year alone, Chevron spent $20 billion exploring new sources of energy. Robertson said President Bush’s trip this week to Saudi Arabia is “highly embarrassing” because he is “calling on the Saudis to produce more oil when we are not doing it ourselves.” The last refinery built in America was in 1976. Tighter government regulations are the main reason. That’s how unserious we are about our energy “crisis.” Robertson said there would be plenty of oil available to the United States if the oil companies were allowed to get it: “Eighty-five percent of offshore oil is off-limits.” Responding to objections to offshore drilling by environmentalists and their allies in Congress, Robertson noted that some of the strongest pro-environment nations in Europe - he mentions Denmark, Norway, the United Kingdom - lease offshore locations for oil exploration. The technology has become so good, he said, that during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, “one thousand offshore wells were destroyed (in the Gulf of Mexico), but not one leaked.” Australia, he said, has allowed offshore drilling for 40 years without any environmental damage. In addition to the sinking value of the dollar, here is the main problem: According to the Department of Energy, U.S. oil production has fallen approximately 40 percent since 1985, while the consumption of oil has grown by more than 30 percent. According to government estimates, there is enough oil in areas accessible to America - 112 billion barrels - to power more than 60 million cars for 60 years. The Outer Continental Shelf alone contains an estimated 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. Had President Clinton not vetoed exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 1995, when oil was $19 a barrel, America would currently be receiving more than 1 million barrels a day domestically, all of it taken by better technology than existed more than 30 years ago. That was when the Alaskan pipeline was built despite protests from environmentalists who claimed it would destroy the caribou. It didn’t, but the environmentalists are back with the same discredited arguments. Because most of the oil remains “off-limits,” we are becoming more dependent on foreign oil. No, we can’t “drill our way out” of our addiction to oil, but we can make the transition to other energy sources easier while lessening our dependence on foreign oil and propping up dictators who use our money to subsidize terrorists. A slow transition will also give us time to consider more fuel-efficient cars and greater use of public transportation, even bicycles for short trips. Bikes would help more of us lose weight and get in shape. A friend bikes to work every day, saving gas, car payments, insurance and repair costs. The specter of a president of the United States going hat-in-hand to Saudi Arabia to plead for more (and more expensive) oil from the dictatorship that underwrites an extreme form of Islam that is out to kill us is obscene. President Bush ought to be rallying Americans, not embracing people who don’t allow women to drive cars. |
| Voters and race Tue, 13 May 2008 07:53 EDT |
| Musings: A fish out of water The landscaping project started sweetly enough, but after three shopping trips, we were still empty-handed. |
| Action will give inspector more authority Wed, 14 May 2008 10:50:39 -0500 The Warren County Fiscal Court took the appropriate action Thursday by giving the county property inspector authority to cite property maintenance problems in Smiths Grove and Woodburn. The court adopted the 2007 International Property Maintenance Code on which Smiths Grove and Woodburn based their ordinances. The county adopted an earlier version a decade ago and hasn’t updated it. Now the county’s one part-time inspector, Alexander Maxwell, will have more duties checking violations of the zoning ordinance and basic maintenance in these two small communities. This is a good idea, although Maxwell, who has a large backlog of cases, will definitely have his hands full being the only inspection officer in the county. There are no plans to hire another inspector. This change will do a lot to help small, cash strapped communities such as Woodburn, Mayor Joe Wheet pointed out. He said hiring the city’s own code inspector would cost more than the little cities of Woodburn or Smiths Grove could afford. Wheet said fighting any legal reaction to a criminal violation issued by city police would break the bank, even if the city prevailed. This property maintenance ordinance will also help clean up dilapidated buildings, rusted vehicles and overgrown yards. It seems like a good solution. It’s not fair for someone to take good care of his or her property and have a neighbor next door or across the street neglect their own. This is where Maxwell comes in. He will operate more by responding to complaints rather than going around these cities hunting for violations. This will allow him to use his time more efficiently. Smiths Grove and Woodburn are beautiful communities, unfortunately there are some who don’t keep there property up as they should. This action by fiscal court will hold accountable anyone who doesn’t comply with these rules and do it without costing the taxpayers any more money. |
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