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Columns

  • Oak Ridge Boys have Kentucky ties

    Had Duane Allen not become a mega-success with The Oak Ridge Boys, chances are he would have become a highly successful basketball coach at some level.

    At least, that is how he had it planned.

    "I get right into the very intricacies of coaching," Allen said recently before taking the stage at the Kentucky State Fair. "I had dreamed when I was in school that I would be doing this until I got tired of it. I never dreamed it would last as long as it has.

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  • Grandparents Day is Sunday

    Grandparents Day is Sunday. Although it has been an annual tradition since 1979, Grandparents Day is not a day I had ever given much thought to.

    Two of my grandparents live in other states, so I only get to see them about once a year, and two have passed on. It wasn't until last year, when my niece, Taylor, came into the world that I finally began to understand the importance of Grandparents Day.

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  • Mom's lesson pays dividends

     

    I can look back over the years and recall lots of things my parents taught me, but one has always stood out above the others. My mom always said that when it comes to money, it's easier to talk for it than to work for it.

    I've put that message to work many times over the years, and I've even used it a few times recently. I'll tell you about two of my experiences in the past month, and they may help you save a little money, too.

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  • 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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