.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....

Columns

  • Cat on the loose sends him onto the couch

    My wife was doubled over, laughing hysterically at me. And I wasn’t the least bit amused.

    A recent storm had unhinged the door to the crawl space beneath our house. For a few days, our two Schnauzers, Max and Baylor, had been nervously smelling the floor vents. I finally put my ear to one of them and heard it: A faint but unmistakable meow.

    A cat was under our house.

    My apologies to cat lovers: I am not one of you. Cats and I have an understanding: I don’t bother them and they don’t bother me.

    Click here to read more...
  • Championship depends solely on victories

    Basketball can dominate any Kentucky conversation at any time of year. But in March, there’s really nothing else.

    Kentucky’s girls’ state champion was crowned Saturday night and John Hardin students will be living the fantasy this week as the Bulldogs participate in the boys’ Sweet 16 at Rupp Arena. But much of the attention surrounds the NCAA pairings being set tonight.

    The 68-team “Big Dance” determines the best in men’s college basketball and certainly fuels most every casual conversation for about three weeks.

    Click here to read more...
  • Greater commitment to mental health assistance needed

    In testimony Wednesday before a joint hearing of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, Richard L. DeNoyer, national commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars, urged Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of disabled veterans or on the men and women who continue to serve in uniform. Here, excerpted from his testimony, is what DeNoyer said about suicide prevention for veterans:

    Click here to read more...
  • Are you all there when you are there?

    “One thing about him, when he was there, he was all there.”

    I was listening to Dr. Gibson Winter, then professor for Christianity and Society at Princeton Theological Seminary. Winter had this wonderful way of sharing an aside — an “oh by the way” story — which would invariably have a meaning all to itself, staying in my mind long after the words of the lecture had been snuffed out by the stuffy air of Stuart Hall.

    Click here to read more...
  • Dispelling myths about Alzheimer's disease

    The advancement of technology is amazing. Information about any given subject is just a few keystrokes away; Google has become part of everyday language. Type in a particular topic and information about the subject instantly appears. If computers and Internet aren’t your forte, television also informs. News channels air a variety of programs 24 hours a day, covering topics from entertainment to current events to health information.

    Click here to read more...
  • Yes means yes on casino amendment

    For more than a decade, there has been extensive discussion regarding the expansion of gambling in Kentucky. The last five years has seen intense debate and several plans put forward regarding the issue. This year’s session of Kentucky’s General Assembly brings us yet another plan, Senate Bill 151 – “an act proposing a new section of the Constitution of Kentucky relating to casino gaming.”

    The persistent discussion of this topic has resulted in many state senators and representatives taking the position of “let the people decide.”

    Click here to read more...
  • Victims of abuse deserve true love

    “Look for the girl with the broken smile
    Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
    And she will be loved”
    - Maroon 5, “She Will Be Loved”

    Lowering her eyes, the young lady, still a teenager, turned away, trying to conceal the evidence: But it was unmistakably there. The marks on her face were painful reminders. She had indeed become another girl with a broken smile.

    Like thousands of other victims of domestic violence, her bruises would heal, but the scars on her heart would last a lifetime.

    Click here to read more...
  • Kentucky could have a GOP VP in the making

    Folks who follow politics closely got caught up in a premature conversation last week about potential Republican vice presidential nominees.

    The GOP convention in Tampa, Fla., will not affirm the presidential nominee’s selection for another six months. But Rand Paul’s name circulated as a possible way to shore up Mitt Romney’s support among conservatives.

    It’s impossible to know if there was any substance to the talk. After all, politics are like icebergs: Much of it operates below the surface.

    Click here to read more...
  • A unique politician provided life lessons in humility

    When evaluating elected officials, people use any number of methods.

    Some voters make a detailed examination of their voting record or stated positions. I’ve known others who are more interested in the candidate’s general knowledge about issues and agile mind. Many take into consideration the individual’s personality, charm or wit. Still others stop at their party affiliation and vote a straight ticket.

    I’ve always applied a unique measure learned at the knee of dear old dad.

    Click here to read more...
  • What becomes of the broken-hearted?

    His lips quivered as tears moistened his eyes. But maybe that was just my imagination.

    No, I could have sworn I saw his lower lip quivering. And no mistaking, I heard his voice cracking just a bit.

    It was all there: the suppression of grief, the futile effort to hold the emotions in check, the chin lowered to the chest. It was all exposed.

    His mournful tale has been told by others for eons: the friend who disappointed, a relationship destroyed, the future uncertain.

    Click here to read more...