Incentives stress retention of jobs
EPA’s ‘finding’ will encourage lawsuits
The six-day trial that resulted in Elliott County Jailer Charles F. Howard being convicted of raping a female prisoner he was transporting to the Boyd County Detention Center on Aug. 31 exposed several troubling issues beyond the crime itself.
Elliott County Jailer Charles F. Howard — who should immediately resign from his elected office — is now a convicted rapist.
We find comfort in the fact that the coal ash storage area at the Big Sandy Power Plant near Louisa is one of 44 sites that will be inspected by the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
In many ways, this year’s Summer Motion is not that much different than the previous 20 years of this community’s most popular annual event. There will be three excellent nights of concerts by well-known performers, lots of booths selling delicious food, two days of arts and crafts festival, a petting zoo, inflatables, a car show and lots of other activities in Central Park, and this region’s best fireworks show. And best of all, it is all free to the public, giving area residents a fun way to spend the Independence Day holiday without burning much fuel or cash.
In upholding the 2007 wanton murder conviction of Charles Allen in Greenup County Circuit Court, the Kentucky Supreme Court rightly ruled T-shirts worn by the victim’s family members were improper but were not the reason the jury found Allen guilty.
On paper, the “cash for clunkers” program approved by Congress looks good, a way to get gas-guzzling older cars off the highways and to encourage new car sales at a time when they are most needed. In practice, we suspect the $1 billion program will deliver far less than promised
The already strong case for federal inspections of coal ash impounds just got a lot stronger with the release of a $3 million study of the Dec. 22 dike break at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston, Tenn., Fossil Plant.
The Longest Day of Play is one of the good things to come out of a grant proposal that was not funded. That’s because those responsible for it recognized a good idea that was possible to do even without funds from the grant.
At the same time legislators are meeting in special session to trim nearly $1 billion in spending from the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, leaders of the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives are spending some $230,000 to renovate office space at the Capitol Annex.
While the placement of video slot machines at race tracks is now a dead issue in Kentucky, neighboring Ohio is moving forward with a proposal to place slot machines at its race tracks.
It’s too bad that Monday’s vote by the Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee that effectively killed the House-approved bill to allow video slots at Kentucky race tracks could not have been taken much sooner. If it could have been, it would have saved the state thousand of dollars by greatly shortening the length of the special session.
If Kentucky Republicans choose someone besides incumbent Jim Bunning as their candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010, it won’t be Kentucky Senate President David Williams. The Burkesville Republican — the most influential Republican in Frankfort — announced earlier this week that he would not challenge Bunning for the Senate seat. Instead, Williams said he will seek re-election to his seat in the Kentucky Senate.
These are the times that call for frugality in government spending on the state and local level. Yet, at the same time legislators were meeting in Frankfort to trim nearly $1 billion in spending from the second year of the two-year budget they approved in 2008, the Ashland Board of City Commissioners were approving the spending of a whopping $48,000 for a new vehicle for City Manager Steve Corbitt.
While many others are looking at wind and solar power and other alternative sources of energy to reduce this nation’s dependence on fossil fuels, Duke Energy is returning to another more tested and proven source of alternative energy: Nuclear power. It’s a move that is a positive not only for this region’s economy, but also for the environment.
Every decade seems to coin new words that help define the times, and a new one to us is “staycation,” which means saving money and fuel by staying close to home on vacation.
In naming Robert Clark the 31st winner of its Father of the Year competition, the Ashland Breakfast Kiwanis Club paid tribute to what can be one of life’s most difficult challenges: That of being a stepfather.
When the Ohio River Sweep was first organized more than two decades ago, the response from this area was immediate and enthusiastic. Scores of residents of Ashland, Catlettsburg, Ironton, Huntington and other river communities spent a few hours on the third Saturday in June picking up trash from the banks of the Ohio River.
In an ideal world where fiscally responsible legislators committed to doing what is best for Kentucky served in the General Assembly, the question of whether to expand gambling in Kentucky by allowing video slot machines to be placed at race tracks would be decided on its own merits with other issues being kept out of the debate.
While legislators are meeting in special session to consider, among other things, a controversial proposal designed to “save” Kentucky’s signature industry — the breeding and racing of thoroughbreds — the Kentucky Horse Council has launched a campaign to discourage the overbreeding of other, less desirable types of horses in the state.
The Boyd County Fiscal Court has just done the impossible: It has unanimously approved a $22.2 million county budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 without a word of public discussion.
That tells us that one or two things had to occur:.
In announcing steps to reduce the environmental destruction caused by mountaintop coal mining, President Barack Obama said he is attempting to establish clear standards that will ensure the environment, economy and health of Appalachia are adequately protected. Finding that balance between the environment and the economy could well be the president’s biggest challenge.
For the first time since World War II, the sale of alcohol soon will be legal in Paintsville. By a narrow margin of just 56 votes, voters in last Tuesday’s special wet-dry election agreed that the Johnson County seat would be “wet” for the first time since 1944 — not just “moist” but “wet.”
That Rowan County High School senior Amber Riddle was named Miss Softball 2009 as the best player in Kentucky should surprise no one. In fact, with the kind of numbers she put up this year and throughout her career at Rowan County, it would have been a real shocker if some other player had been named Miss Softball.
Just days after universities and community and technical colleges reported awarding a record number of degrees, diplomas and certificates this spring comes more encouraging news concerning education in Kentucky: The state ranked third among the 16 states covered by the Southern Regional Education Board in improving its high school graduation rate. In a state that has one of the nation’s highest percentages of adults without a high school degree, that’s important.
On the same November day in 1988 that Vice President George W. Bush defeated Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis for president, slightly more than three out of every five Kentucky voters said “yes” to the following amendment to the Kentucky Constitution:
“Shall Section 226 of the Constitution be amended to provide that the General Assembly may establish a state lottery; may establish a state lottery to be conducted in cooperation with other states; and that any lottery so established shall be operated on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky?”
Howard K. Osborne’s future as superintendent of the Boyd County School District could be decided by an as yet-to-be appointed member of the Boyd school board. We find that unbelievable. From our vantage point, Osborne has done an excellent job during his four years at head of the county school district and his contract — which expires at the end of June — should be extended.
Mike Duncan has proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone from a small town tucked in the mountains of eastern Kentucky can rise to a position of national prominence and influence. Just four months after losing a re-election bid as chairman of the Republican National Committee, the Inez banker has become the new chairman of the board for the Tennessee Valley Authority. And, just as his behind-the-scenes brought a different management style to the national GOP, Duncan is quietly changing the role of members of TVA’s board.
A 2005 state law had an immediate impact on reducing the number of meth labs operating in Kentucky. The number of illegal labs destroyed in the state dropped from 604 in 2004 to 302 in 2007.
The manner in which the Boyd County Fiscal Court rejected a request by the Boyd County Soil Conservation District for a one- to two-cent per $100 valuation property tax is appalling.
Our first reaction upon learning that the city of Ashland was considering assuming operation of the Ashland Cemetery was: Why? City government has no obligation to operate a cemetery. Why would it want to assume that additional responsibility?
We applaud one line item in the proposed Ashland city budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1: $235,000 for the demolition of the former Sears building at the corner of 17th Street and Winchester Avenue. To be sure, that’s a lot of money but we see no other viable way to eliminate what has become a glaring eyesore in the heart of downtown than for the city to invest the money to do the job. In addition to city will place a lien on the property to protect its investment.
To be sure, farming is not a major part of Boyd County’s economy. But, in a sense, the lack of farming in this corner of Kentucky makes events like the annual 4-H Farm Day even more important. It helps show young people the importance of agriculture, and it may even inspire some to test their own “green thumbs.”
Congress approved the $787 billion federal stimulus package to boost a sagging economy, but it is difficult to see how the national economy is going to be helped if that money is used to help the economy of one community at the expense of another community.
While Kentucky is likely to fall well short of the goal set by the 1997 Higher Education Reform Act to double the number of college graduates by 2020, the state is moving in the right direction by producing more college graduates than ever.
For more than half a century, Hitchins School was the center of social life in the small Carter County community. A group of dedicated volunteers now are working to again make the old school the center of activity in Hitchins.
Gov. Steve Beshear says a projected $996 million shortfall in the state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 demands that he call a special session of the Kentucky General Assembly, and he will bring legislators to Frankfort beginning June 15.
For the sixth time in nine years, Kentucky Adult Education has qualified for additional federal fundings through a competitive program based on performance. Clearly, when it comes to reaching adults who need additional education, Kentucky is doing something right.
While at this point it does not appear that swine flu will have a major impact on the health of more than a handful of Kentuckians, the University of Louisville has received a $2.3 million federal grant to help the state be better prepared for the next pandemic outbreak.
Tax reform reminds us of that old adage about the weather. Politicians love to talk about radically exchanging our system of taxation, but they seldom, if ever, actually get around to doing something about it. That’s why we are skeptical about the renewed talk about tax reform in both Congress and the Kentucky General Assembly leading to anything more than minimal changes in the status quo.
The Kentucky State Police’s decision to begin offering written driver’s tests only in English was nixed by Gov. Steve Beshear before it was ever implemented. The lack of proficiency in the English language should not be an impediment to obtaining a legal Kentucky driver’s license, particularly since traffic signs have the same symbols and are the same shape throughout the world
After successfully escaping an invasion of the emerald ash borer in 2008, the dreaded parasitic insect has been identified in two Kentucky counties. State forestry officials are expecting the invasion to quickly spread throughout the state.
Univer
The $400,000 loan Ashland has received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is an excellent use of federal stimulus funds that attacks the most serious infrastructure problem in the city: Aging sewer lines. Not only will the loan — 50 percent of which will be forgiven — benefit city residents by reducing the cost of federally mandated improvements to its sewer lines, but it will benefit other river communities by reducing the amount of untreated sewage Ashland dumps into the Ohio River during heavy rainfalls.
There is another bad habit too many Kentuckians have that is causing too many of us to die prematurely. However, unlike being too heavy, smoking too much and not getting enough exercise, it takes just a few seconds to end this bad habit.
The state’s 2009 Behavioral Risk Factors confirm what most of us already knew: As a state, too many of us are too fat, don’t exercise enough and smoke, and we are paying a high price for that with high rates of diabetes, stroke, heart disease and cancer.
Obama is trying to save the planet
Jury duty should be encouraged
No doubt 81-year-old James Stacy of Akron, Ohio, thought he was being a good citizen when it took it upon himself to help the city fix a pothole near his home.
One would think that anti-smoking forces would be elated if the Kentucky General Assembly were to enact a restriction on public smoking similar to what was recently approved by legislators in North Carolina. Not so.
Students attending Kentucky’s state universities and community and technical colleges will have to dig a little deeper into their pockets this fall to pay for their education. The good news is that they will not have to dig as deeply as they have in recent years,
From a new study by the Southern Regional Education Board (SERB), we learn that a number of states in the southeast have taken steps to control an often overlooked, but rapidly increasing, cost of receiving a college education: The price of textbooks. Unfortunately, Kentucky is not one of those states.
Last month’s respectful 17-minute ceremony honoring a fallen 30-year-old Air Force sergeant’s final return to his native land took on added significance because it marked the first time in 18 years that the press was allowed to be present — and to photograph — the arrival of a flag-draped military coffin at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
The annual Repair Affair has been so popular in Ashland that organizers are considering making it more than just a one-day, once-a-year event. If so, the city could qualify for more money, but more importantly, the homes of far more low-income, elderly and disabled Ashland residents would receive needed repairs and new coats of paint.
If it’s true, as Shakespeare said, that misery loves company, then Kentucky has no reason to feel lonely during this recession. Kentucky was one of 44 states to report a decrease in jobs in April.
It is safe to say that many Boyd County residents have never heard of the Boyd County Soil Conservation District and that many of those who have heard of the district have no idea what it does.
Nevertheless, if the leaders of the conservation district get their way, every property owner in the county soon will be paying higher taxes to support the district. The district has asked the Boyd County Fiscal Court to approve a 2-cent-per-$100 property valuation tax levy to support the district.
The state’s top number cruncher is retiring after 21 years of providing valuable information concerning population trends in Kentucky. Ron Crouch, 62, executive director of the Kentucky State Data Center at the University of Louisville, is leaving his post May 29.
Gov. Steve Beshear is attending the Biotechnology Industry Organization’s (BIO) international convention in Atlanta in hopes of luring biotech companies to Kentucky. However, one of the best ways for Kentucky to convince cutting-edge biotech companies to locate in the state would be to improve the test scores of Kentucky students in the biosciences.
While the Consensus Forecasting Group has yet to officially release its projection concerning the revenue shortfall for the fiscal year beginning July 1, that group’s chairman, Lawrence Lynch, has said that Gov. Steve Beshear’s warning that the budget shortfall could top $1 billion “seems plausible.”
With a new location and less operating revenue, Summer Motion certainly will be different in 2009, but one thing will not be different: It will remain an excellent free concert series and an excellent reason to spend the Independence Day holiday right here in Ashland.
The Kentucky Supreme Court will hear arguments Aug. 19 about the legality of allowing parole credits approved by the 2008 Kentucky General Assembly as part of the biennial budget.
What many deemed politically impossible just a few months ago has happened: Legislators in North Carolina — the nation’s top tobacco producing state — have approved a bill banning smoking in bars and restaurants.
Six months after Boyd County Fiscal Court agreed to contract with Southern Health Partners to provide medical services at the Boyd County Detention Center, the new system has reduced medical costs at the jail, decreased the county’s liability in providing health care to inmates and likely resulted in improved medical care for those inmates who most need it.
Thumbs up to Light Enterprises and its owner and founder, Mike Light, for being honored as a Pacesetter Small Business by the Kentucky Small Business Development Center in Frankfort.
Doug Campbell, the new president of United Steelworkers of America Local 1865, is right when he says Wednesday’s announcement that the steelmaker “likely” will idle most operations at its Ashland Works in late July or early August is not the least bit surprising.
When it comes to reducing the federal deficit, President Barack Obama’s actions fall far, far short of matching his words.
Former Elliott County Clerk Reeda S. Ison has pleaded guilty to 40 misdemeanor charges in connection with her operation of the clerk’s office, but in accepting the plea bargain in the case, Special Judge John David Preston clearly indicated that Ison’s misdeeds had much more to do with ineptness than criminal intent.
If the efforts of members of the Cannonsburg Optimist Club are successful, the Boyd County War Memorial in Armco Park will look much different on Veteran’s Day on Nov, 11 than it does today. By then, the club hopes that a World War II mobile artillery unit now in Central Park will have been moved to the war memorial, and a replica Civil War cannon and bricks bearing the names of Boyd County veterans will have been placed at the memorial.
When it comes to shooting a bow and arrow, Brianna Gilliam may not be on a par with the legendary William Tell and Robin Hood, but the Elliott County Middle School student is way above average for female archers her age. And it doesn’t seem to matter whether she is shooting at a stationary target or one that is moving: The 14-year-old daughter of Kevin and Lisa Gillam of Isonville is more likely than not to hit her target.
Whitney Conlin has an added reason to celebrate Mother’s Day this year and every year: Her mother, Gara Stewart, remains an important part of 14-year-old Whitney’s life.
With gasoline prices suddenly increasing to well above $2 per gallon, the timing was perfect for the expansion of bus services in rural Carter County.
The 2009-10 fiscal year budget for the state of Kentucky will not take effect until July 1, but already Gov. Steve Beshear is sounding the alarm: If you think the $456 million revenue shortfall for the current fiscal year’s budget was bad, just wait until next year.
As if we did not have enough to worry about, researchers at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, have found that childhood injuries from falling furniture and appliances have increased by 40 percent since the early 1990s.
Letters received by area residents warning them that the water coming from their taps was not always as pure as it should be led many to conclude that even the treated water they purchased may not be safe to drink. The letters — required by the federal government when the quality of drinking water falls below accepted standards for even short periods — put operators of water treatment plants on the defensive and caused bottled water sales to skyrocket.
Secretary of State Trey Grayson insists that he has no intention of challenging U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning for the GOP nomination in 2010, but Grayson certainly has let it be known that if Bunning should choose not to seek another Senate term, he is eager to be the Repubican Party’s nominee.
By failing to state unequivocally that his administration will not prosecute Bush administration officials who advised the former president that torture was legal, President Obama missed an opportunity to silence the demands of those within his party for criminal investigations into torture during the Bush administration.
If it is allowed to stand, Pulaski Circuit Judge David Tapp’s ruling Thursday declaring a statewide parole credit release program for state felons illegal will further strain the state’s already tight budget. It could force the governor either to make cuts in other programs to pay for the increased cost of housing prisoners or to call a special session of the General Assembly in an effort to increase revenue to pay prison costs.
As much as anything, modern technology and increased “competition” has led to the demise of the Kentucky Unit of Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic in Louisville. The recording studio closed Thursday.
Credit seventh-grader Forrest Graves with single-handedly keeping a new skate park in Chillicothe, Ohio, from closing. At least for now.
Architects for Sherman-Carter-Barnhart of Lexington listened as teachers, administrators, parents and others gathered to share their vision for the new Boyd County High School to be built on now-vacant property across Ky. 180 from the present high school.
The Kentucky Correctional Institution for Women at Pewee Valley near Louisville must be doing something right. After all, it just received a near perfect score in a review by the American Correctional Association.
In his final weeks of office, former President George W. Bush added to his administration’s already terrible environmental record by approving a number of regulations designed to weaken existing restrictions, including one that lifted at 25-year-old ban on coal companies dumping waste within 100 feet of a stream.
A bill now making its way through the Florida legislature could do more to curb the illegal trafficking of prescription drugs in northeast Kentucky than anything area law enforcement officials can do.
For the good of the school district he has led since 2003, the time has come for Jeff May to step down as superintendent of the Lawrence County School District. As long as he remains, the controversy surrounding the superintendent will dominate public education in the county and thwart progress on other, more important issues.
Louisville is 11th among the nation’s 50 largest cities in the percentage of students who graduate from high school. However, lest one get too excited about that somewhat positive statistic, consider this: 36.6 percent of the high school students in Louisville and Jefferson County fail to graduate.
A year after experiencing the nation’s largest percentage increase in prison inmates, Kentucky’s inmate population has dropped for the first time in many years. Legislators say that is a result of a new program that allows for the early release of selected inmates and offers alternative forms of punishment to others.
In the midst of National Volunteer Appreciation Week — which ends today — comes news that the number of teenagers who volunteer their time for the community good has dropped for the second straight year. However, we suspect the decline has more to do with the increased demands on the time of teenagers instead of a more selfish attitude among the young.
Cave Run Lake near Morehead celebrated Earth Day Wednesday in a way that was not possible on the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970: By watching the majestic flight of the bald eagles that have made the lake home.
Unlike Catlettsburg City Councilman David Marushi, we think those who owe back taxes to the city should receive one final opportunity to pay up before their unpaid accounts are turned over to a collection agency.
With the city of Ashland facing millions of dollars in sewer line improvements to bring the city into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act, the Ashland Board of City Commissioners could be forced to approve a hefty increase in sewer rates to pay for those improvements. However, if state and federal officials approve the use of money from the recently
By shifting $2 million from a state account to the public defenders office, Gov. Steve Beshear did what he had to do: Assure that indigent Kentuckians charged with crimes will receive legal representation for the final two months of the fiscal year that ends June 30.
Treatment instead of punishment for inmates who are addicted to drugs and alcohol has been promised for many years, and the new in-house substance-abuse treatment facility at the Boyd County Detention Center helps fulfill that promise for inmates convicted of non-violent felonies. However, Senate Bill 4 — approved by the 2009 Kentucky General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Steve Beshear — has the potential of expanding the program by offering treatment to addicted inmates at the time of their arrest instead of waiting until they have been convicted of a felony.
The findings of a new study by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety should surprise no one: Americans are sacrificing safety for fuel efficiency. Vehicles are traveling farther on a gallon of fuel than they ever have, but drivers and passengers are more likely to be seriously injured if they have an accident in a vehicle built more for fuel economy than safety.
While the nationwide recession began months before the end of 2008, the annual wage and benefits survey of members of the Kentucky Association of Manufacturers indicates a manufacturing economy that is somewhat stronger than many believe.
It has become increasingly clear that the greatest threat to our forests may not be irresponsible and greedy men and women armed with chain saws. Instead, it is tiny insects that are barely visible to the naked eye.
In opposing a bill to place video slot machines at race tracks, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland has established a standard Gov. Steve Beshear would do well to follow in neighboring Kentucky: No expansion of gambling without the approval of voters in a statewide referendum.
It was the kind of news we love: Unexpected and positive. And hopeful — perhaps an early sign of better times ahead.
Efforts to have the northern Kentucky counties of Boone, Campbell and Kenton to enact identical ordinances to restrict smoking in public places have made little progress in the last year.
With no elections in Kentucky this year, it is a safe bet that most Kentuckians are enjoying the break from the constant campaigns and not thinking much — if at all — about the offices that will be up for grabs in 2010. But the political insiders certainly are thinking ahead to next year, and the race for the U.S. Senate seat now held by Jim Bunning already is intriguing.
The Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport is discovering something the much smaller Tri-State Airport discovered with the arrival of Allegiant Air: Offer competitive rates and the people will come.
There is a big difference between eastern Kentucky’s two biggest natural resources: Trees can be replanted, but coal, once it is mined, is gone forever.
Landowners in eastern Kentucky have long realized that there was money to be made from the trees that cover the region’s hillsides. But to turn the trees into cash required that they be harvested and made into wood products, which, if done properly, can be a rather costly process and, if not done properly, can cause long-term damage to the region’s environment.
