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Opinion
House week in review
There was a time when most people connected with their elected officials over landline phones or by sending a letter through the postal service. Oh, have times changed. Enter the Digital Age when most Americans—especially those age 50 and younger—communicate mostly from home or work PCs or from hand-held wireless devices like cell phones, smart phones, laptops, or iPads. Able to reach almost anyone from almost anywhere at any time via tex...
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Dancing around the First and Fourth Amendments
Whether you think spying is OK or not depends on your relationship to the information being collected. If you’re on the gathering end, the invasion of someone else’s privacy doesn’t seem like a big deal. But if you’re the one whose private life is being pried into, this kind of surveillance seems like a very big deal indeed. This dynamic is at work with the unfolding story about National Security Agency programs that vacuum up the telepho...
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Have you had enough, yet?
News last week that $2.5 million in multi-county coal severance tax money is being used to renovate Rupp Arena has ruffled quite a few feathers in the mountains, but the foremost question we have is one you might not expect. Had Eastern Kentucky had enough, yet? Eastern Kentucky has a long and not too terribly proud tradition of watching as the wealth created by our natural resources is hauled away by the trainload for the benefit of some...
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Apple tax dodging highlights need for reform
Talk about taking your business to “the Cloud.” In an ingenious effort to avoid billions of dollars in taxes, Apple, Inc., has been levitating subsidiaries between American and Irish soil, claiming that from a tax-law perspective, they exist in neither country and so are subject to neither country’s taxing authority. And, sadly, the scheme has worked: no taxes have been paid to the U.S., a relatively paltry sum was paid to Ireland. Though t...
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House week in review
In a little under seven months, more than 330,000 Kentuckians in need of health coverage will be able to buy insurance—many at reduced rates—through a state-based insurance market that will be available online. The state-based market, or “exchange,” is one of 17 state-based exchanges being organized in 16 states and the District of Columbia to comply with the federal Affordable Care Act, known far and wide as Obamacare, which requires most ...
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A legislative perspective
A little more than 30 years ago, Kentucky was facing a difficult problem: Too many of our brightest students were looking elsewhere after graduating high school. Education leaders decided that something needed to be done to counteract that trend, so in the summer of 1983, on the campus of Centre College, they debuted the Governor’s Scholars Program, which gave 230 high school students from across the state an opportunity unlike anything the...
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Magistrates respond to Judge Marshall
To the Citizens of Floyd County: We the duly elected Magistrates of Floyd County, Kentucky, find it necessary to respond to the “guest view” written by County Judge, R.D. “Doc” Marshall, and published in the Floyd County Times on Friday May 31, 2013. In the first sentence of his “guest view”, Judge Marshall actually told the truth - the budget that was approved was not the budget that he proposed. The budget that was proposed by Judge R.D...
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Michele Bachmann bows out
It looks as though we jackals of the “lamestream media” won’t have Michele Bachmann to kick around anymore. With just a hint of Nixonian rancor in her voice, she announced — via a lengthy YouTube rant in the middle of the night a short while ago — she would not seek reelection to the U.S. House of Representatives. More’s the pity. Bachmann is a master of the political theater of the absurd and a reliable source of mirth who provides a wea...
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Equal Pay Act anniversary renews push for law’s promise
June 10 marks the 50th anniversary of the federal legislation that required employers to give women and men equal pay for equal work. Newsflash: It’s not working. This golden anniversary is more call for action than cause for celebration because women are still waiting for the Equal Pay Act’s promise to come true. But don’t think we’re waiting patiently—or silently. And don’t think you are immune from this pernicious problem. The gender pay...
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House week in review
Sixty-nine years ago this week, nearly 160,000 troops of the invading Allied forces crossed the English Channel to take France—and, ultimately, Europe—back from Nazi Germany. The date was June 6, 1944, or “D-Day.” It was the initial assault of a two and half month operation to help the Allies secure northern Europe. It was also a deciding factor in the outcome of the war with Nazi Germany. By the end of the day, the Allies had gained a fo...
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A legislative perspective
Each year, 25,000 Kentuckians – nearly 70 a day – are given the one diagnosis nobody ever wants to hear from their doctor: Cancer. If there is a silver lining surrounding this sizeable cloud, it is that we are seeing true progress in making sure this word is said much less often. Nationally, deaths are down a fifth from their peak in 1991, and most types of cancers – but not all – are in decline. While Kentucky has benefited from this tre...
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Diabetes will remain a crisis until we choose otherwise
The Tri-County Diabetes Partnership took a significant step last month, by declaring the skyrocketing rate of diabetes in Floyd, Johnson and Magoffin counties “a crisis of epidemic proportions.” The declaration is sure to have raised a few eyebrows, but we think it was wholly appropriate. Partnership coordinator Deirdra Johnson explained the rationale behind the group’s decision. Diabetes suffers from the unique distinction of being more ...
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You decide who is at fault
I want the people to know that this is not the budget that I proposed for the good citizens of our Floyd County. Our county is faced with similar obligations as other counties across the commonwealth. Increasing costs with everything and decreased revenue from Coal and Mineral Severance Taxes. However, these counties have continually increased their revenues by implementing an occupational, transient, or insurance tax and they have dramatic...
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End result of Ky. Power’s plan unclear
An application for a plan currently on file with the Public Service Commission will likely result in a lesser demand for Kentucky coal and certainly higher rates for customers. But the big question is, when all is said and done, how much higher will the rates go? The PSC hosted a public hearing last week to gather public input on Kentucky Power’s plan to scuttle its largest generating unit at the Big Sandy plant in Louisa and purchase about...
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Bill Loftus
A student’s tribute to Dr. Bill Loftus
After 20 years on the job, Dr. Bill Loftus, a professor of psychology at Big Sandy Community and Technical College, is stepping down as advisor to the Alpha Nu Zeta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa. Under his leadership, the chapter’s annual membership has doubled and the number of actively involved members and officers has tripled. Outside of his students in the classroom, it is the active chapter members who receive the full focus of Loftus’ at...
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