Opinion – Constance Alexander: Dorian Hairston’s story of Josh Gibson delivers literary grand slam
Dorian Hairston’s poems in “Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow” should be required reading for everyone, especially those who strive to outlaw the concepts of Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion in education and everyday life. This striking debut collection introduces readers to Josh Gibson, the greatest catcher ever to play the game and one of the foremost power hitters in the Negro Leagues and...
Opinion – Ken Rechtin: Earth Day is a day to celebrate our plant — and resolve to do our part
Today is Earth Day. On this day we honor and celebrate our remarkable planet.
Even though our collective actions have damaged our planet, Mother Earth is resilient and self correcting. Through years and years of abusive treatment and neglect, our planet survives and continues to nourish us.
Ken Rechtin
But we must improve our relationship with the planet on which we sail through space. We can no longer...
Joe Heller: A cartoonist’s view of week’s news — Earth Day, dozing Don, Israel-Iran, the jury
Joe Heller was the editorial cartoonist for the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Green Bay, Wis., from 1985 until being laid off in July 2013. He still draws several cartoons a week and distributes them through his own syndicate. Through Heller Syndication, his cartoons regularly appear in more than 400 newspapers, making him the most successful self-syndicated editorial cartoonist in the nation. His cartoons...
Opinion – Al Cross: The political life and lessons of George Atkins, who died April 14 at age 82
George L. Atkins Jr., who died April 14 at age 82, was a politician for barely a decade. But he was a touchstone for modern Kentucky politics and historical currents that go back more than a century: the corrupting force of big business, voters’ desire for reform, the influence of the news media and the compromises made by people in public life.
Atkins’ political life began at the University of...
Opinion — Bill Straub: Massie cites three reasons for urging Speaker Johnson’s resignation; then what?
For a Whiz Kid with fancy-schmancy degrees from some snooty college in liberal Massachusetts who has more patents than Edison (okay, that’s hyperbole, but play along for a second), it sure seems like Rep. Thomas Massie has a problem figuring out 2 + 2 sometimes.
Massie, R-SomewhereorothwerLewisCounty, is, to put it nicely (as opposed to those who might prefer more scatological references), a gadfly...
Opinion – Al Cross: Do Kentucky legislators serve our well-being?
In a republic, the form of government that the U.S. Constitution prescribes for states, the will of the people is supposed to be exercised through elected representatives. In Kentucky, we call our government a Commonwealth, a term borrowed from our mother state, Virginia, meaning that it should serve the well-being of the people.
The people’s well-being, and their will, were not served on several...
Opinion – Amye Bensenhaver: Savor the moment but stay alert — as HB 509 died quiet death in legislature
In responses ranging from disinterested to comatose, Republican leadership registered little concern about the demise of HB 509 Monday night.
Could it be that the sponsors were unable to generate sufficient enthusiasm/votes in the Senate to justify calling the damnable thing? Or could it be that a bipartisan public expressed it’s opposition with such vehemence that lawmakers admitted their error...
Opinion – Stephen Voss: No, America isn’t ‘great’ — and many Biden supporters know it
Briefly, ever so briefly, one man had me thinking that Donald Trump could win back the presidency.
He wasn’t a political scientist crunching data to unveil a Republican path to victory. It’s too early for election forecasts to be reliable. Nor was he some Trump zealot spouting right-wing talking points while wearing a crimson Make America Great Again cap. Those yahoos are doing Trump more harm...
Opinion – Christopher Parr: Is Donald Trump the best spokesman for new Bible?
Former President Donald Trump and country singer Lee Greenwood have released the God Bless the USA Bible. With a price tag of $59.99, the volume includes the King James Bible along with the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, and a facsimile of Greenwood’s handwritten chorus to “God Bless the USA.”
In a video advertisement, Trump extolled Scripture and its place in...
Joe Heller: Cartoonist’s view of news — Minimum wage, End near, OJ Simpson, Arizona abortion ruling
Joe Heller was the editorial cartoonist for the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Green Bay, Wis., from 1985 until being laid off in July 2013. He still draws several cartoons a week and distributes them through his own syndicate. Through Heller Syndication, his cartoons regularly appear in more than 400 newspapers, making him the most successful self-syndicated editorial cartoonist in the nation. His cartoons...
Opinion — Ashli Watts: Civic engagement is more important now than ever, let your voice be heard
I love politics. I always have.
I remember growing up in the 90s watching presidential debates between Bill Clinton, George Bush and Ross Perot, and was a college freshman during the Bush/Gore election and learning all about “hanging chads.” This part of history was so formative for me that I received not only a bachelor’s degree, but a master’s degree, in political science.
Being a student...
Opinion – Bill Straub: Fathoming the unfathomable is just incomprehensible, no matter how you look at it
I confess to having spent a preternatural amount of time over the past eight years trying to figure out the nation’s obsession with a bloated, overweight, orange-hued man whose hair is of a color not found in nature.
And, I must admit, I’m no closer to reaching a resolution on this matter than I was at the outset.
Donald John Trump is an odd animal for anyone to hail as their hero. His sins are...
Opinion – Mitch McConnell: Remarks on the Senate floor on 75th anniversary of NATO, U.S. leadership
Last week, the strongest and most successful military alliance in the history of the world marked an impressive milestone. Seventy-five years ago, at the dawn of the Cold War, with decades of superpower competition on the horizon, the founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization convened here in Washington to formalize a commitment to collective security.
In the years since, NATO has...
Opinion – Constance Alexander: Willie Carver Jr.’s book ‘Gay Poems for Red States’ is a must read
No matter how hard the viewer strains to see the shadowy face obscured by the words, “Gay Poems for Red States,” the silhouette on the front cover of this stunning collection is unknowable until you open and book and read the poems.
Starting with his own backstory, Willie Edward Taylor Carver Jr. chronicles his fall from grace as a public high school teacher in Mount Sterling, Ky. Shortly before...
Opinion — Jamie Ruehl: We hold these truths to be self-evident. . .
Part of my morning routine is checking the headlines and delving into the news. In my adult life I’ve always found it important to know when/how the world is changing around me. Sometimes I chalk it up to my military training: Always maintain “situational awareness!” (or maybe I’m just nosy). Before the sun rises, I log onto a couple local/national/international news websites and see what is...
