Published: May 04, 2009 02:12 pm      

In Your View — 05/05/09

Another month, another price hike

Here we go again: It’s the first of the month and the price of gasoline again has gone up. Talk about price gouging. I thought that was against the law.

I wonder why our lawmakers haven’t done anything about it. The price of gasoline goes up and down like a roller coaster at check time and during holidays.

With the shape the United States now is in, it looks like we could get some help from the lawmakers. It’s about time something good came our way. Please, no more taxes.

Iris Cordle, Flatwoods



Time to regulate and tax marijuana

Let me beat this drum more loudly then ever before. Events have already taken place that can be utilized to Kentucky’s everlasting benefits, including reducing poverty and physical suffering, crime, jail populations, taxation of the wage earners, health care costs and hard drug overdoses. The answer is to immediately tax and regulate marijuana and hemp as cash crops.

President Obama appeared with his attorney general and the head of the DEA and announced a new policy that no federal dollar will hereafter be spent “circumventing a state law.” Period. He turned it over to the states.

California immediately began studying ways to tax it. It will be first. The question is: Will Kentucky be the 2nd state or the 50th state to do it? If we are the 50th state, we would immediately realize about $500 million in new taxes off of the existing market. I predict, too, that we would save another $500 million in total health care costs.

However, if Kentucky is the first state east of the Mississippi River to tax and regulate it for just two years, the additional income from surrounding states would measure in the billions.

For 38 years I have tried to position Kentucky to take advantage of this transition which I knew would come eventually. It had to. Kentucky’s lawmakers should be educated and motivated to act in nonpartisan unison to take advantage of this epic opportunity. Time is of the essence.

For more information, check out the Web site of Kentuckians for Medical Marijuana at www.k4mm.org.

Gatewood Galbraith, Lexington



DJ is a casualty of the economy

A familiar voice to Tri-State radio listeners has been silenced after three decades of friendship and service. Gary “Music” Miller has been laid off from WKEE-FM in a sudden move by Clear Channel Communications, the parent company of WKEE.

Gary was an afternoon tradition to countless numbers of area listeners as they drove home from work. His name was instantly recognizable to many radio fans, regardless of their age or residence. One could never think of “KEE” radio without associating it with Gary or his “Drive at Five,” where he always took listener requests so cheerfully.

It is also important to remember that Gary was not the only casualty of the Clear Channel cutback. Announcers at other stations within the vast Clear Channel family holdings were also let go in this effort to economize. I am sure that Clear Channel will find that Gary and these other announcers had loyal listeners who may start listening to other stations now that their favorite DJs are gone.

Clear Channel should also realize that syndicated music programs and talk shows don’t always take the place of live announcers who develop a relationship with listeners and take their requests.

Gary will be missed by many Tri-Sate radio listeners of all ages. I’m sure the other laid-off radio announcers will be missed by their fans as well. Clear Channel should keep this in mind if it doesn't want to lose ratings and listeners to other local stations.

Lee Staley, Ironton



War memorial selling bricks

The Greenup County War Memorial Committee has decided to give people a chance to purchase memorial bricks at the war memorial.

Those wanting a brick should notify one of these committee members: James Timberlake at (606) 932-3239; Bill Fyffe at (606) 473-7903; Luanne Nickel at (606) 932-4098; Toby Burke at (606) 473-7235; Arnold or Nancy Litteral at (606) 836-3012; Bobby Carpenter at (606) 473-6440. A $50 donation will pay for one brick.

There also will be a Memorial Day service at the Greenup County War Memorial at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 24, with a wreath laying, a 21-gun salute and singing. Lt. Col. Vance Huston, a retired Marine Corps officer, will be the featured speaker.

Toby Burke, Greenup