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Opinion

  • Man of the Year does much to serve...

    Each year in June, the Central Kentucky News-Journal honors Taylor County men with a special section. The newspaper also asks for help from the community in choosing one man, in particular, who excels in his family, career, community and church.

    Residents send in their nominations for Taylor County Man of the Year and then a committee of News-Journal staff members chooses a winner based on those nominations.

    This year's honoree is Ben Martin.

    The decision was a difficult one for the judges. There were more than 10 different men nominated.

  • Davis shines in Kentucky All-Star...

    Tim Davis has coached the Kentucky All Stars to a split - and nearly a sweep - in their annual basketball all-star series vs. Indiana.

    Kentucky was in a tailspin, having lost eight straight and 18 of the last 20 before Davis guided them to a 95-78 blow-out win in Louisville on Sunday after dropping an 83-82 decision in Indianapolis the previous Friday.

  • The fairest of them all

    Summertime. The word alone conjures up visions of ice cream, fishing, swimming, picnics ... and county fairs.

    Kentucky is famous for its county fairs. And now that it's back in full swing, the Taylor County Fair continues to get bigger and better.

    This past Saturday marked the first events for this year's fair - the annual Taylor County Youth Horse Show and Tommie Johns Memorial Championship Horse Show. Tomorrow, fairgoers will start with dairy and goat shows, and Saturday features a beef show and - new this year - a corn hole tournament.

  • Maybe paper ballots will be better?

    Back to the Future. That's not just a movie title anymore. Now, apparently, it's going to be our voting system.

    As a story on last Thursday's front page explains, the County has approved the use of paper ballots for the November General Election. Federal money pays for voting machines, and counties can choose the system that works best for them.

    Taylor Fiscal Court has approved the purchase of machines that will scan paper ballots - ballots a lot like those we used years ago.

  • What kids want

    What has turned out to be a really good day for kids has also turned out to be a really good marketing tool for Taylor County and Green River Lake.

    Hundreds of kids (and with kids come parents) descended on Green River Lake on Saturday as the local chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation sponsored its 2008 Kids Outdoor Day.

    It's almost an accomplishment of monumental proportions - coordinating activities on the waterfront, in the pavilion area at Green River Lake State Park and at Camp Kentahten. It was hot, but the kids didn't seem to mind.

  • Relay for Life exceeds goal

    This year's Relay for Life not only topped last year's fundraising total, organizers says it beat the group's goal by more than $6,000.

    Wow!

    Combined with more than $50,000 from the St. Baldrick's cancer fundraiser in March, the total Campbellsville and Taylor County has raised for cancer research is awesome.

    Cancer affects all of us in one way or another, whether it's through ourselves or a family member. It's up to all of us to support the effort to find a cure.

  • Help make cancer a distant memory

    Cancer touches all of us, plain and simple. If only it was as simple to cure it.

    As the second leading cause of death in the U.S., cancer will affect all too many of us. We each have a risk - experts say half of all men and a third of all women will be diagnosed with some form of the disease.

    As scary as those numbers are, each year it seems as if cancer researchers have some good news for us.

  • City's budget statement...

    Has anybody been thinking what we've been thinking, that they'd like to have the Mayor and the City Council's help balancing our budgets?

    In a time when making ends meet seems like the struggle of a lifetime, the City approved a budget that, among other things, includes a 5 percent pay increase for all full-time employees.

    Before someone accuses us of eating "sour grapes" let it be known that the CKNJ Editorial Board holds no animosity for our fine City workers. We believe a financially strong municipality sends a good message to its constituents.

  • Memorial Day turns out to be...

    At Monday's ceremony honoring Taylor County war dead and those who have served and are still serving, the Junior ROTC from North Hardin High School performed a "Prisoner of War/Missing in Action/Missing Man" ceremony.

    No other editorial comment is necessary but to allow you to read the script as read that day:

  • Economic development needs to go...

    I think we could all agree that economic development is important to our community.

    Since Fruit of the Loom packed up its underwear and Batesville Casket Co. its caskets nearly a decade ago, developing the local economy has been one of our few salvations.

    One would think that hasn't changed. Economic development should be job No. 1 on everyone's mind.

    However, local governments can't seem to agree.

  • Road to the future is paved with...

    This week and next mark the official end of childhood for area high school seniors. They'll be considered "grownups" now.

    Sure, they have the summer to look forward to ... sunny days at the lake, sleeping late, last flings with their friends, but, for many, the dog days of summer are the last of the carefree times.

    Adulthood is now staring them in the face.

  • Like it or not, alcohol sales have...

    If one particular issue would split the opinion of voters in Campbellsville, we suspect alcohol might be it.

    The lead-up to this year's primary was about as tame as it could possibly get. Even though we witnessed way more letters opposing alcohol than approving of it, we suspect that there were a number of people who never really let their feelings be known until they stepped behind the curtain on Tuesday and punched "yes" or "no" on the referendum question about the sale of alcoholic beverages in restaurants.

  • It's time to perform your...

    Tomorrow is Kentucky's Primary Election. And it's up to us to see that those who we believe will do the best job get the most votes.

    Of course, without many local races, officials don't expect a large turnout. However, County Clerk Mark Carney said he believes we'll have a better turnout locally than the state as a whole.

    Apathy certainly won't get us where we need to be.

  • Budget cuts hit schools

    Parents, brace yourselves. State budget cuts are already slicing deep, and it's going to take a lot more than a few stitches to repair the wounds.

    This fall, your children will be affected.

    Schools across Kentucky are being required to slash their budgets. And that means fewer teachers and educational programs for our students.

  • Health care professionals have our...

    It takes a special kind of person to care for those who are sick or hurt. In addition to all the "learned knowledge," such as education and training, it also takes patience, kindness and genuine caring.

    A majority of the health care professionals in our community are exactly that, and none of them more so than nurses and nurses' aides.

    For all their expertise, doctors are often rushed to the point of checking on a patient, signing some orders and hurrying on to the next patient before heading to their offices.

    Nurses and aides, however, remain with their patients.

  • Hide your prescription drugs

    Last year, the News-Journal published a story about the results of the latest Kentucky Incentives for Prevention survey of local students.

    The survey results showed that prescription drug abuse is on the rise with teenagers. As a matter of fact, according to Karen Hayes with the Campbellsville/Taylor County Anti-Drug Coalition, one in every four teens uses prescription drugs to get high.

    No wonder Kentucky leads the nation in prescription drug abuse.

  • Taylor County: What better place to...

    We all knew it. But now others are learning as well. Taylor County is a wonderful place in which to live and raise a family.

    A story on today's front page tells about a family - a large, extended family - who moved to Taylor County from Las Vegas, Nev. last year. They did so because they visited the area and liked it. A family, passing through, gets the feeling that this is the place for them to live. Sounds like a made-for-TV movie script.

    They thought it would be a better place in which to raise their growing family than in the frantic, big-city atmosphere of Las Vegas.

  • Helping Food Pantry helps everyone

    "But just as you excel in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us[a] - see that you also excel in this grace of giving."

    -2 Corinthians 8:7

    There are many worthy causes in the community, but it would seem logical that the issue of children not having enough to eat should rank near the top of the list.

    If the Taylor County Food Pantry is just four weeks away from halting service due to a lack of funding, then it's obvious families in the community are going hungry - and it's going to do nothing but get worse.

  • The wart called homelessness

    Clad in several layers of mismatched clothing and a hat hiding her face, the woman pushed a shopping cart along North Columbia Avenue. She collected items that might be of use at some point and asked people for money.

    Many people avoided her, and most did not make eye contact.

    She continued to push her cart along the street toward the large grouping of cardboard boxes, where various people were covering themselves with threadbare blankets and plastic to keep the rain out.

    They were homeless, and the boxes were their beds for the night.

  • If you plan to have a say ... be...

    So, are you registered to vote? If not, you'd better be hustling down to the courthouse. You've got until 4:30 today to register or you won't be able to vote on May 20.

    And, believe us, there are plenty of reasons to vote.

    Whether it's the Presidential race you're interested in, the U.S. Representative or Senator's races, the State Representative's race, or the alcohol-by-the-drink issue, it's time to make your opinion known.

    The Democratic Presidential Primary is a hot-button topic no matter who you talk to. Even Republicans have an opinion on that race.