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Columns

  • Stories that stay with us

    As a reporter, I sometimes write stories that seem to stay with me and tug at my emotions, whether it's about someone dying in a car crash, a fire that left a family homeless or someone accused of hurting an innocent child. One such story that recently tugged at me was about child abuse. It gave statistics that show that the number of reported child abuse cases last year was higher - much higher - than in 2007.

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  • The difference between good ... and great

    When simply looking at a single photograph causes an instantaneous reaction, either physical or emotional, you know it's not simply a good photo, it's a great one.

    Sitting there in the small alcove, in the midst of a museum full of strangers, I both laughed and cried. I gasped and I winced.

    I spent nearly an entire day immersed in history last week. And I enjoyed every moment.

    I suppose I should mention that history ranks only slightly above math on my list of interesting things in life ... and math is dead last.

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  • Let's reform health care without growing the government

    The nation's preeminent business organization recently released a study showing that the high costs of the American health care system puts American businesses at a significant disadvantage.

    The Business Roundtable, which represents some of the country's biggest corporations, found that for every $100 the U.S. spends on health care, our main competitor countries - the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, France, and German - only spend about 63 cents.

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  • Health insurance options in a tough economy

    In the last four months, 2.6 million jobs have disappeared from the American economy. About half the people who had those jobs also lost their health insurance.

    But a job loss doesn't have to mean a loss of insurance coverage, too. A provision in the recently passed economic stimulus bill makes health insurance significantly more affordable for the involuntarily unemployed. The federal government will now subsidize premiums for insurance plans purchased under the terms of a law called "COBRA."

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  • Am I really getting paid for this?

    You know, sometimes I feel guilty calling what I do work. Sure, there are times when I feel like I'm not being paid enough. But there are also times when I have to stop and ask myself, "Am I really getting paid for this?"

    After a week of vacation, I returned to work last week with the dreaded prospect of two evening assignments.

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  • The older I get ...

    Why is it that the older we get, the more we cherish our youth?

    It's not that I want to be young again ... heavens no. I've just begun to cherish those memories of years past, which really don't seem quite as old as they really are.

    A couple of months ago, I found a friend from 30 years ago on Facebook and, just Monday, I joined an alumni group from the junior/senior high school I attended at Subic Bay Naval Base in the Philippines. My family lived there for two years in the 70s before my dad retired from the Navy and we moved to Campbellsville.

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  • New legislator makes his mark

    "I'm just a bill.

    Yes, I'm only a bill.

    And I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill.

    Well, it's a long, long journey to the capital city.

    It's a long, long wait while I'm sitting in committee.

    But I know I'll be a law some day.

    At least I hope and pray that I will.

    But today I am still just a bill."

    —School House Rock!

    I didn't really pay much attention to politics until I realized that the decisions politicians make actually do impact me.

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  • Medicare for all: It's time

    President Barack Obama has said repeatedly that he wants "ideas that work." In spite of this, leading Democrats are working hard on plans for health care reform that will fail.

    These plans, pushed by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and others, seek to extend coverage to everyone by mandating the purchase of private insurance, with perhaps an option to buy into a public plan. They would ease this purchase through an "insurance exchange," while subsidizing premiums for those with low incomes.

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  • We need farm policy reform now

    As our government enacts a stimulus package and President Barack Obama announces bold initiatives to stem home mortgage foreclosures, disaster still threatens family farmers and their communities. 

    The government's response to plummeting commodity prices and tightening credit markets leads to the basic question, who will produce our food?

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  • Pennies in short supply

    A lady called our office last week hoping to persuade one of us to "share" one of the new Lincoln bicentennial pennies with her. While we were sympathetic that she has not been able to find one, we weren't about to mail one of the keepsakes to a perfect stranger.

    It's not like the pennies have been showing up in pocket change.

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