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Columns

  • Don't underestimate those nuns

    A very telling scene occurs in the movie "Promised Land," the film about two corporate salespeople, Steve Butler (Matt Damon) and Sue Thomason (Frances McDermond), who visit a rural town in an attempt to buy drilling rights from the local residents. They represent an energy company specializing in obtaining natural gas through a process known as fracking, which critics claim involves a variety of environmental hazards.

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  • The nine-dollar prayer

    I don't believe God ever created anything evil. I think he created man with an intellect to live as independently and as self-sufficiently as possible. In our haste and greed, I think we began to short circuit God's creations, and thus bad things evolved.

    My experience with cancer began with a simple blood test in Lexington this past December. I was diagnosed with anemia, or more simply, low blood. I was given a handful of iron pills and told to come back in three months.

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  • 'Drive sober or get pulled over' in Taylor County

    We all feel sorrow when someone is killed due to impaired driving. Unfortunately, this senseless loss of human life is a daily reality all over the nation - year after year.

    In 2011 alone, the latest year for which we have national data, more than 9,800 people died in crashes that involved a driver or motorcycle rider who had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher - the legal limit in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

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  • Election talk already circulating

     

    There won't be one this year, and the next one is still a ways away, but I am already hearing some buzz around town about next year's elections.

    "Who do you think will run for this office?" has been asked, and "Do you think he will run again?" has also been a popular question.

    Elections bring a lot of excitement and apprehension — excitement for those hoping for change and apprehension for those in office who worry they won't win their seat again.

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  • What I learned from my father-in-law

    They let her know he wasn't her "real" dad when she was a little girl.

    It stung, at least for a while. "I always thought I was my daddy's 'real' little girl. I guess I was afraid that might change."

    But it didn't. Not even for a moment.

    This dad - legally her stepdad until he adopted her - treated her as his own, no different than he did her two younger siblings, his biological children. Like a "real" dad, he made her take out the trash, set the table for dinner, clear it afterwards, clean her room.

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  • Speed thrills

    If you're like me, going fast is fun, and going even faster is, well, more fun.

    I've always liked to drive fast, and I've been fortunate that I haven't had too many traffic stops, and only one speeding ticket. As I've gotten older, I realize safety is more important than the thrill of speed, at least behind the wheel of my own car, so I've slowed down a little.

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  • Experiencing Mammoth Cave again

     

    As I made my way down the nearly 300 steps, I was starting to wonder what in the world I was doing there.

    I could see the bottom of the cave through the steps as I plunged deeper in. An important note, I have a minor fear of heights.

    Hearing that it would take medics three hours to get to someone in need of medical attention heightened my fear a bit.

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  • When you can't care enough to care

    You can often see it in their eyes, if you take the time to look. That far away gaze tells you they are somewhere else - maybe in the future or the past, but not the present.

    Or sometimes their eyes dart this way and that, like those of a trapped animal searching for an escape route.

    And if you have occasion to be with them for very long, you'll notice a restlessness, an inability to move forward with any kind of fruitfulness, even though they might exhibit workaholic tendencies or conversely, extreme lethargy.

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  • Ironing seen as a form of torture

    Tonight, I ironed some clothes. If you don't think that's worth mentioning, it's either because you've never ironed any yourself, or because you're a lot better at it than I am.

    There are jobs to be done in life that I'll never master and ironing is one of them. I enjoy the idea of pressing something to make it look better, but as soon as I start, I remember all over again how impossible ironing is for me. I think there is a special place in heaven for those mothers and wives that spend days of their lives ironing clothes.

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  • Protecting our parks is everyone's responsibility

    Drive by on a sunny afternoon and you're sure to see children climbing across the monkey bars and fitness enthusiasts walking around the track or playing tennis at one of our local parks.

    Frequent hotspots for fun seekers of all ages, Miller Park, Veterans Memorial Park, Trace Creek Park and Green River Lake State Park offer family-friendly recreation for little or no cost to visitors.

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