Just a taste of what can be found each week in the local newspapers of Jobe Publishing, Inc.
Each week publisher Jeff Jobe attempts to put the thoughts of the man on the street in print.
He invites all readers to send their views and he believes the best way to address our problems and recognize our accomplishments is to share them.

You can email him directly at jobe@jobeinc.com

Together We Grow!



4-16-13

The role of town-criers in history continues today

In history, town-criers were people of some standing in the community because they had to be able to read and write many of their proclamations themselves.  Reading and writing is something most of us now take for granted, much like we trust those we elect will serve us by using common sense.

Yet, common sense is perceived in many different ways these days bringing us to a point where what is common sense for one person is not common sense for another.

I agree with President Obama when he says it is common sense to remove guns from individuals legally prohibited from owning them. Yet, among those pushing for more stringent gun control laws are persons such as Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy who feels our Second Amendment “limits citizens to owning smooth-bore muskets.” I am not in agreement with that thought.

Here is one for Superintendent McCarthy, I feel it is absolutely common sense to remove someone from office who is not getting the job done.  Superintendent McCarthy is wanting more laws and yet he does not enforce the laws on the books in his own city regarding such things.  Chicago has some of the nation’s strictest gun laws and yet ranks among the highest in crime statistics.  Even his own city council members openly state that their laws are so absurd that average citizens ignore them.  McCarthy wants more laws and is not enforcing the ones he has.

Other national issues getting lots of attention these days might include immigration reform which many of our officials are tossing about like a hot potato.  Man, what an issue.  None of us has a desire to hurt law-abiding citizens, but from where I sit, it is just common sense not to reward someone who is breaking the law.  It appears this is what our own Representative Johnny Bell is doing by beginning to introduce bills giving drivers licenses to illegal immigrants.  

It is usually easy to be a town crier about such news items because they seem so far away.  Nobody could think here in south-central Kentucky that it may someday be illegal to own a 12-gauge shotgun and few of us would have ever thought our elected officials would be leading a movement to reward illegal immigrants.

The toughest crying we do relates to local issues like the new stormwater management “fee” imposed on all Glasgow property owners.  We were alone in detailing the facts of this “fee” and if God is willing, it may be the only government “fee” I outlive.

3-26-13

House and Senate leadership exposed

With only two legislative days left, the 2013 General Assembly Session has come to a major turning point in which I?believe the true colors of our House and Senate leadership is exposed. As I have reported as far back as 7 years ago, Kentucky faces an intense shortfall in unfunded liability because of our public employee pension system.

Senate Democrat and Republicans have agreed to a plan that will protect all those in the system now and also bring the out of control abuses associated with the legislative pension plan back in line with all state employees.  See who supports this plan and who is using politics to get their pet project, "Expanded Gambling," passed. 

For complete details pick up a copy of any Jobe newspaper on newsstands or online this week.

3-19-13

This week I share my thoughts on Helping good people in office stay honest.  I share an example of how an elected official of the past used his office to manipulate the law to hurt me and our newspaper.

This and more can be found on page 4 of any Jobe Publishing newspaper. 



3-12-13

This week in the Barren County Progress I share my thoughts on the never ending drama surrounding a headline grabbing magistrate, jail and the Barren County Fiscal Court.  

While inside all Jobe newspapers I take one more shot at encouraging our Democrat legislators to get on board with fixing their own pension abuses.  This column will give blatant examples of how legislators have abused our trust and put into place a pension for themselves sure to break our state if not fixed soon.

I am interested in your thoughts on these issues and any subject important to you.  Thanks for reading.

2-19-13

Publisher Jeff Jobe writes about the need for tax accountability.  He details a plan of action in which the politicians who vote to pass along tax increases and fees should be held accountable.  He compliments and shares the views of Auditor Adam Edelen in shining a light on "Ghost Government."

This and more on page 4 of all Jobe Publishing community newspapers and available in newsstands Wednesday morning or online at jpinews.com

2-12-13

Ethics, Rand Paul and community drama

This week Jeff Jobe questions decision of the Glasgow Daily Times to not cover a story they were positioned to have first hand knowledge, this story and more in the Barren County Progress.  He compliments those in attendance at the Lincoln Dinner and speaks of the attraction of Rand Paul in The Edmonton Herald-News and the Monroe County Citizens and he writes about behind the scenes community drama and what it takes to get beyond it to make a community strong in the Butler County Banner.

The Progress, Banner and Herald-News are available on newsstands Tuesday evening and delivered to mail boxes and on-line Wednesday.   The Citizen and News-Herald are delivered to newsstands each Wednesday and available to subscribers online and in the mail Thursday.

2-5-13

Can't seem to find the humor anymore

by Jeff Jobe

Over the years I have actually found it enjoyable to cover local news and sporting events.  But today I find myself so tainted with a feeling of disappointment it is a challenge to give our legislators the respect I know I should. 

It comes from the fact that every single legislator will quickly identify the main issue needing addressed this year is the pension problems with state employees.  We just can not continue as it is or we will destroy our commonwealth and they know it.

Yet, these same individuals have a pension plan that allows them to serve 22 years as a part-time legislator then take a full-time job (such as a judge)  for only 3 years and retire with FULL PAY and benefits for the rest of their lives.  Many of the names serving us are 1st, or 2nd term politicians because those before them took the bait and left for their 3-year full-time jobs so that us tax-payers can give lifetime $100,000 pensions and full benefits before we catch on!

Most our legislators inherited this situation yet they know it is wrong and have yet to speak out.  How in the world can they vote to address any full-time state worker pension when they willfully accept such an unfair perk themselves?  Retired reputable legislators right here in our region served with honor and dignity and those approached on this subject agree legislators are part-time and should get no retirement.  Call the legislative hotline at (877) 257-5541 and help us encourage our legislators to be leaders with ethics and make South Central Kentucky proud.  Our Legislators are Senator Mike Wilson and Representative C.B. Embry for Butler; Senator David Givens and Representative Johnny Bell for Barren; Senator Carroll Gibson and Representative Michael Meredith for Hart; Senator David Givens and Representative Bart Rowland for Metcalfe and Senator Sara Beth Gregory and Bart Rowland for Monroe County.

It is not a Dem. or Rep. issue because both sides are equally covered with dirt and neither have had the integrity to do what is right.  Other states have done this and now is the time for Kentucky to have elected officials to do the job they were elected to do.  Return honor to the offices they hold!

Jeff also shares his thoughts on celebrating milestones as the Glasgow High School nears completion, WKU-Glasgow Campus celebrates 25-years and his view on honoring open meeting laws in Barren County Fiscal Court.  Available on page 4 of the Barren County Progress, read online or buy a copy today.

1-29-13

Will Kentucky's true leaders please stand up

“The best way to get a better job is to be the best at the job you have right now,” is a comment my grandfather shared with me and one that I shared with my son, Wyatt, over the past weekend. It is a strategy that has served me well over the years.  In my own experience, back when I was working for large newspaper companies, several promotions came my way and I wasn’t even looking for them.

This is exactly what I believe Kentucky Auditor Adam Edelen is doing with his work on the Commonwealth’s “Ghost Government.” Would it not make since that somewhere over the past 25 years or so an auditor before him would have asked a simple question, “Who is looking at special districts?”

Read how Jeff Jobe is encouraging local legislators to be leaders on page 4 of all Jobe Publishing, Inc. newspapers.

1-22-13

Showing love - is a good place to start

Active duty military suicide must be talked about

As a small-town newspaper publisher I find myself very close to the happenings of our military. Whether it is press releases for events or casualty reports during a time of war, local publishers are among the first to know when unfortunate things happen our military men and women.  I would like nothing more than to never see another local service person lose their life for I?have seen far more than I ever wanted.

Our newspaper is not too different than most when it comes to this type coverage.  We promote all events out of respect in an effort to bring honor to those who have lost their lives.  We are proud to honor these heroes and their families when both good and bad things happen in their lives.  

However, a few newspaper opinion pages are beginning to write about a tragedy that is quietly happening and not making our front pages. The tragedy comes in the form of suicide. I suppose it is because suicide has such a stigma attached to it that few newspapers cover these type stories. As I write, I struggle with an internal dilemma because I know something must change.

Read what Jeff Jobe feels must be changed about Military Suicide on page 4 of all Jobe Publishing newspapers.

1-15-13

Embracing our opportunities

Well, it has finally happened. I am no longer the young, aggressive newspaper guy doing things that others wouldn’t dare do.

I remember the feeling of how easy it was to impress my higher-ups at the Courier-Journal back when I first started down a road in search of a newspaper career.  I was just out of college and had no idea what I was being hired to do and I didn’t care because I simply wanted a job and hoped it would be one that offered opportunity for advancement.

Honestly, the only reason I took the newspaper job was because I had a business degree with emphasis in finance and the only jobs at the time were in banking. Banking would have been a fine career choice, but not one I believed would be a good fit for me. I hated being in the office and when interviewing, it seemed no one would speculate on what I might be doing in 5 years. If the interviewers did care to speculate, their answer was always based on pay scales that came time with the company.

When I posed similar questions to interviewers at newspapers, I was told, “There are newspapers all over the world and always an opportunity if you become good at the job.”  I really didn’t like the idea of being strapped to an office and I was not thinking I would be staying in Kentucky my entire life when I took a job working for Barry Bingham, Jr., at the Louisville Times and Courier-Journal Company.

Having grown up in North-eastern Kentucky, I had no idea who Mr. Bingham was, but when sharing the story with friends in Louisville and Lexington, it seemed I had met someone who could help me create a career. He seemed like a pretty funny guy with a weird mustache and after meeting with about 10 managers I was offered a job paying $50 more a week than the banks were paying, so I took it.

Days later, I jumped into debt by buying a new Ford Topaz (what a ride), and found myself with the fancy title of Assistant Manager-in-training. Or, in terms that would best describe my duties for the first four months, “Door-to-door subscription sales representative.”

I was somewhat ashamed of what I did because some of my fraternity brothers were entering graduate school, taking over family businesses, or enjoying titles with larger and more visible companies. I shared this thought with a long-time mentor, John C. Grubb, and was told the best way to get a better job is to be the best in the job you had at the moment.

Guess what? It worked! I got a promotion or transferred to a new job no less than ten times over the next 14 years - all inside the newspaper business and working for large major newspaper companies. In essence, I took a job selling newspaper subscriptions and parlayed it into a career where I was managing 142 newspapers in 1997.

The success at the time came from being ambitious and not timid about taking chances on new programs, seizing marketing opportunities, and always remembering to surpass the previous year by just a little bit. I say a little bit, because I soon found that in large companies if you grow your district, division or newspaper by 30% this year, it meant you got the same bonus as the guy who grew his by 5% with the only difference my next year goal became 30% growth while his might be 6%.  After a while I was good at managing the system, so I would take a new job and clean up problems, set up a few new programs, and sit back and watch as growth was inevitable.

However, with the blessing of my first child’s birth, I soon realized while sitting in the third interview for a publisher’s position in California that I would be missing ballgames, school plays, and thousands of good night kisses if I took the job.   A family member suggested I take my experience and work for myself. I found a small newspaper in Butler County and in two months was closing a deal and establishing Jobe Publishing, Inc.  

Often, weekly newspaper corporate names are the same as the newspaper, but not for me. It was my goal day one to buy that newspaper, establish a corporate holding company and turn it into something more than a newspaper company.

My strategy was to simply do what had made me successful when working for others and this has been our driving force since that day. We were the first community newspaper in Kentucky to offer full-color front pages each week, advertising on page one, an editorial page and completely paginated on the computer instead of the old layout tables.

The difference in Jobe Publishing and other newspaper companies is we embrace technology and by doing so, it helps us accomplish our goals of creating more marketing opportunities for businesses, and growing more paid subscribers. But one must be careful because not all technology is friendly to the business climate of newspapers and this has proven to be deadly to some.

I watched as major daily newspapers embraced the on-line news sites and although the best intentions were planned, the strategy of giving news free and charging for advertising just doesn’t work. The absolute and only way to quantify your reach is through paid subscriptions and this is the only way at this time an advertiser can quantify how many homes or readers they are getting for their advertisement.

Jobe Publishing had a web site up long before most but it wasn’t until we perfected the ability to put our actual newspaper pages online that we began to see real opportunities. We got heat from small-minded competitors who made fun of us for requiring a subscription to read our news.   Some of those same competitors also laughed in 1998 when we sold our first front page advertisement across the bottom of page one.

I remember the threat of free distributed magazines in the 1980’s and that trend passed and so is the concept of free online newspapers because there is no independent governing body to monitor the numbers they boast as readers without a money trail.  That money trail cannot be beaten because of 32,000 individual subscribers have chosen one of Jobe Publishing’s community newspapers as their local news source.

The wonderful thing about technology is the opportunity to use it to better serve your customers.  JPI’s new mobile application is allowing us to do just such a thing. Anyone can get a taste of late-breaking news by going to www.jpinews.com and automatically have the easy-to-use free mobile app activated.  Just as it has been for more than 100 years, only those who truly value our hometown and don’t want to miss a single issue of hometown news can access our online pages through a subscription.

2012 was a good year for all of our company services. We saw strong growth in our business last year and I have no doubt that although our news, advertising, and printing are independent of one-another, business owners and managers today realize the best marketing strategies coordinate a common theme in all they do.  Jobe Publishing is the only company that can now design your advertisement, make sure the same logo is on all your printed material, help you write press releases and provide the most-used online and print distribution method in South Central Kentucky.

As a young newspaper professional I coordinated a program that secured donations to help offset costs to send active military personnel a copy of their hometown newspaper at a reduced rate and this made me very proud. But today, as a somewhat older newspaper owner, I feel blessed to able to provide all our sons and daughters serving anywhere in the world with ability to see all their hometown news on-line at no charge at all.  I’m proud that Jobe Publishing has been able to embrace technology to help keep our own business at the forefront as well as enhance the lives of our readers and the communities we serve.  We are proud to offer complimentary online subscriptions to the brave and caring men and women who protect and serve our country.

Just as our military serves us, Jobe Publishing, Inc., is committed to using every opportunity to serve you.

 

12-25-12

Where do you call home?

It is customary for our families to load the kids up and head home for the holidays. Over the next few days most of us will either do some driving or we are blessed with others driving to see us.

We enjoy visiting with family and friends in our hometowns. I have read more than once that the word hometown is described as where a person’s roots lie. But I think the word home has many meetings and even one’s hometown’ can be described differently as well. It seems we have a president who is attacked for probably the same problems I might have in describing my hometown.

For me, my roots lie in Northeast Kentucky in a town by the name of Greenup. My mother’s family pretty much still migrates back there for the holidays and for various visits throughout the year. But as our family gets older, with my grandmother no longer living, and my friends all busy with living life and growing their own families, I find myself being pulled to the area less and less each year.

Please don’t misunderstand, I love having grown up in this community and take pride in the values I gained from so many people.

Yet, I seem to miss the feeling of community because those I remember are no longer there.

Community is so important. I had all but forgotten how this feeling was until a few days ago.

In this business, it is easy to think people don’t appreciate you personally, but instead they appreciate what you do for them. I have actually had to remind a few misguided employees along the way over the years of this fact. I am often invited to some event and before I can even say I will have it covered I am told, “If you can’t make it that is ok, just have someone cover it for us.” I am ok with this because often I am busy and trying to drive hours for a single event when you have children, a home and a business spread over a few counties make it difficult to manage such things.

But a few days ago I found myself with a full day and nothing planned on my calendar so I made the drive to Butler County for a ribbon cutting.

I got calls from several friends asking me to come and this was nice. I had already promised it would be covered but these friends were asking for me to attend. It was a nice feeling.

I had all but forgotten about the event that morning when I was reminded again with a phone call so I jumped in my car and made the drive.

Before I even got out of my car, there were three vehicles waiting to speak to me in front of the Banner office. I hadn’t seen these friends for a long time and they noticed me and wanted to say hello.

A friend followed me inside and we talked for along time. It was a very nice visit. While there I was informed that the annual musical event held at Morgantown Bank and Trust was that afternoon and once again, I was asked to attend.

I had a few minutes before the ribbon cutting for the renovated antique shop donated by J. Marshall Hughes to the Boys and Girls Club so I thought I would grab lunch. I ate with another friend and again as I walked out to my car I had a couple of my more crazy friends act like they were going to have me escorted to the edge of town.

At the ribbon cutting I had the pleasure to visit with probably twenty individuals that I have not seen in years.

We shared old stories of some of the more memorable news stories, hunting stories, gardening fabrications and personal experiences from the years my family and I lived in Morgantown.

I’m not sure if there is any scientific explanation, but perhaps it is because my two baby girls were born in Morgantown, but I have a feeling for this community like no other.

I think perhaps it is because these friends don’t talk about a boy that is all but long gone, as my friends in Greenup remember, or the young man who aggressively chased a career throughout several states, but instead they know the man who had chosen to settle and raise a family. I wanted to live in Morgantown and will forever be grateful because of this community accepting and welcoming me and my family.

 
12-11-12

Pushing back Glasgow’s fiscal cliff or fixing it”?

Now that the election’s over, we have winners and losers. Now is the time for us to embrace open and honest discussions about the hurdles we are facing not only in Washington and Frankfort, but here at home as well.

We voters, the people who elect our officials, are sometimes treated as children as if we are not capable of understanding problems facing our communities.

This is a serious problem in Washington and Frankfort and it’s one that’s becoming very obvious here in Glasgow. It is not much of a leap to conclude that if twelve individuals and a mayor can introduce a federally-mandated program requiring additional fee revenue (tax) of more than $500,000 in a very short time period with little discussion and then vote quickly and loudly to ?move, it to a second vote that they’ve probably already discussed this one and had their minds made up.

This is what alerted me and our staff at the Progress to look into the ‘unfunded federal stormwater management mandate.’

It didn’t take too many calls to realize Glasgow already had a program in compliance and was doing more than most cities our size. So why would our elected officials want so badly to push this new fee on us if no real mandate for new costly projects?  Notice I wrote ‘fee’ rather than ‘program’ because that’s what the issue is the fee which is not mandated.

After taking a quick look at the proposed expenses for the new stormwater management program and the year-end balance sheets for the general fund, it was painfully obvious.  Glasgow has its own fiscal cliff approaching if something is not done to increase revenue or cut spending.

For the complete column subscribe on-line today or call 270-786-2676 for immediate access...  

12-4-12

Beware of the unfunded federal mandate

When you read the headline of this column I am comfortable most will think I am going to write about one of the perceived dozens, if not hundreds, of unfunded federal mandates that require our fine, upstanding, community-minded local leaders to impose increased taxes or new fees.

If you have heard it once, you probably remember hearing a dozen times of the mandate to raise taxes in order to get money to build a new school, make required improvements or comply with new government regulations. As of this date, I have not seen such a mandate in writing for any of them. It is nothing more than deception.

I would imagine compliance with some programs could perhaps necessitate additional funds to accomplish various tasks but saying it is a mandate to raise a tax or increase a fee just doesn’t hold to be true. This is what I have concluded after years of experience as community publisher. Because of this experience such a statement is a red flag for me to expose some smooth-talking deception about to take place if we allow it continue unquestioned.

When I asked Mayor Rhonda Trautman for an explanation for the new Stormwater Management fee she said, “Jeff, this is something the Infrastructure committee has presented and you should contact Doug Isenberg since he is the chairman of the committee.” She gave me his phone number and I have yet to get a return call for messages left more than a week ago. Upon further questioning, the Mayor suggested I speak with April Russell, the city’s Stormwater Manager and Grant Writer of two year’s service.
 
Ms. Russell is as sincere a person as anyone would ever want to speak with in regard to this program. I believe she wants nothing other than to do her job well.  After numerous emails and several follow-up conversations with state officials and several persons around the state with the same title as Ms. Russell, I?have concluded that the only piece of the puzzle Russell needs is a designated fund on the books showing Glasgow is indeed paying for what it says they are doing.

Glasgow is already doing more about stormwater than most cities while Trautman believes the rates proposed by Isenberg are “minimal compared to other cities in Kentucky.”  Council members Stacy Norman Hammer and Wendell Honeycutt told me individually, “none of us like fees or taxes, but this is a clear-cut example of an unfunded federal mandate.” These three capable community leaders are either being mislead to believe what they state, or they are as deceptive as Isenberg in knowingly making such untrue statements.

In a quote from a website detailing this program in Jefferson County, blog editors of an organization called badwater.com writes, “The path of least resistance for regulatory agencies and the way to retain your cush, high paying administrative job year after year, is to open a store selling exemptions from pollution regulation to developers, while transferring the actual cost of pollution control to the public, then flood the media with declarations of your dedication to environmental protection and goals to attain water quality.” This is how they describe what has happened in Jefferson County and this is what Isenberg and the quiet Infrastructure Committee is either allowing Isenberg to stand alone in his lack of understanding or his plan to justify raking in more hard-earned taxpayer dollars under the guise of a federal requirement.

Russell only wants to do her job.  Our research concluded that Glasgow is already more equipped and better-established than most cities our size. If Mayor Trautman would simply move the funds already listed in her existing budget and identify measures already in place when she took office and then establish a dedicated expense line for the Stormwater Management Program, this issue would be no more.

There is no need for additional funds to operate the essentially already-existing program and according to Abigail Raines, Kentucky’s Stormwater Coordinator, “If I were to check on Glasgow, I would expect a city this size to implement a program more in line with Elizabethtown instead of say Northern Kentucky or one of the bigger cities.” Elizabethtown is one of the 40 or so of the 50 MSV cities who chose to manage inside existing budgets instead of sell the program as an “unfunded government mandate.” Raines said, “They have a wonderful program and I would encourage anyone to speak with them before establishing a program themselves.”  Isenberg or none of those he speaks for spoke to a single city who chose not to establish a fee or tax.

It is now my opinion after extensive research, that our local developers do not need more costs, property owners do not need more government eyes looking for problems, and this newspaper staff will not allow ourselves to be used as a tool to promote ideals that serve only to increase the tax burden on families and friends who are already overburdened.

I share this column with other communities because if it passes in Glasgow, it is sure to come to a community near you....

11-27-12

Shopping at home is self-preservation

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, and we have seen and lived through another Black Friday, most of us will begin to put the finishing touches on our purchases for Christmas gifts.

Over the next few weeks we will open our wallets and deplete our checking and savings accounts and come closer to melting our plastic than we have all year long.

Our local newspapers have been promoting shopping locally for more than 100 years and to us it comes so naturally. I am comfortable that most any gift my family might want or need could be found with the help of one of our friends who own a local business.

I shop locally because I honestly feel good knowing I am helping a family just like mine. Each of them knows the challenges with making payroll, paying ever-increasing utility bills, higher taxes, and worry about what kind of special fee our elected officials might quietly throw at us next. Unless you have owned or managed a small business you have no idea of the stress these families endure.

But today I will simply put my thoughts about the importance of shopping at home into two very simple reasons.

The first was talked about heavily during the most recent election: jobs. Not just my friends, but your friends and neighbors, who work in local businesses depend on customers walking through their doors to make purchases to stay open. You don’t have to possess a degree in rocket science to understand that if enough sales don’t happen, friends and neighbors won’t keep their jobs. And just as you hope your friends and neighbors will patronize your place of work, they want to see you in theirs. I believe this is the biggest problem with local business owners. They seem to forget that if they know one business owner is not shopping with them, then it is only natural for that business owner to know where you shop. Each year at our Christmas luncheon I remind all our employees to support the businesses that support our company and to please let them know we appreciate their business at Jobe Publishing.

Most of us are to some degree emotionally invested in our friends and neighbors’ well-being. It’s just natural for us to care about the parents of our friends, the children of our friends, or the family who shares the pew at church.  I ask you, if we are going to spend the money anyway, why would we spend it with a stranger in Nashville or Louisville, rather than our friend from down the street?

The second clear cut reason in favor of shopping locally is one of self-preservation.

Yes, self-preservation in this tricky economy should be a priority. Our local governments receive money from the state, based in part, on how much money was actually spent in our town in the form of sales tax. Money spent in Louisville or Lexington, sends tax revenue to those cities and keeps it out of the coffers of governments in Edmonton. When those towns see that money supply dry up, they make up for it by raising other taxes. That means we pay to support people in Louisville and Lexington when we go there to do business and then turn around and pay more to support our local government services. Everything we know from local government comes from taxes, payroll taxes from those neighbors who have jobs here, property taxes from those businesses who choose to be here, and from the money we spend when shopping. Why in the world would we not shop at home, knowing that our hometown as we know it depends on our shopping choices?

So, this year, we hope you’ll care for yourself and a neighbor by shopping locally as much as you can. The impact is far-reaching, even if you’re talking about what seems like a small purchase.

Together we survive!

11-19-12

More fees for property owners in Glasgow?

Just as we all have known for the past few years, these are challenging times.  Residents of the City of Glasgow are about to receive a new challenge in the coming weeks with the potential for a new fee being placed on property owners.  Just like you, we have to ask, “Another fee?  You’ve got to be kidding!”

Like many cities across the country, Glasgow has been given a mandate by our federal government to better control stormwater and the resulting drainage issues in our fair city.  That mandate comes with no funding from our federal government to aid this or other communities in addressing these issues.  Stormwater is not a topic most people want to spend hours discussing.  However, now is the time for all of us to be discussing it and specifically how to pay for its management.

Our local government has been aware of this mandate and for some time now, and has been considering how to pay for these required regulations and improvements.  The City Council’s Infrastructure Committee has been working with the staff in the Department of Public Works to determine how to pay for this program.  The committee’s choice is apparently to add an annual fee to every property owner’s budget.

If plans proceed as anticipated, everyone in Glasgow will be paying a visit to City Hall next April to pay a portion of the costs associated with this program.  According to sources in our city government, the owners of some 7,000 parcels of real estate in Glasgow will be required to pay the fee.  According to those same sources, it’s not a tax, its a fee.  You see, if it were a tax, some individuals along with churches and schools, would be exempt; they won’t be so lucky, in fact their bills will be figured on a higher rate than residential properties.  Additionally, our coveted industries will have the fee placed on their property based on the size of their operation and the square footage of impervious surface on their property.

On the surface, the average monthly fee of $4 per month doesn't sound bad; however, considering that annual fee totals $48, it begins to look a little different.  In today's world, one can visit any grocery store and easily carry out a few bags full of groceries that cost $48.  That amount is almost the equivalent to getting two extra water bills per year.  It might pay for a tank of gasoline for some cars.  There are many things one can purchase with $48.  But, to many of our local citizens who live simply and frugally in tough economic times, $48 can make a difference ‘ such as not buying those groceries or your prescription drug co-pay, or your child’s extra-curricular fee at school, or not getting to take your family out for a simple, but nevertheless, special meal.

The city staff working on these plans assures us that our City Council members are well aware of the mandate and plans for adding this fee to our expenses as property owners.  We cannot help but find it interesting that these plans have been formed but only revealed the week following the election of twelve persons to the City Council, eight of whom were incumbents.

In reviewing the responses to The Barren County Progress’s candidate questionnaires prior to the November 6 election, only one incumbent candidate, Wendell Honeycutt, mentioned unfunded mandates as a coming challenge for the city.  Of all the candidates vying for a seat on the council, it was Earl Hammons, a political newcomer who didn’t make it to a seat on the council, who specifically mentioned the looming issue of paying for stormwater management.  Obviously, we’ll pay closer attention to Mr. Honeycutt and Mr. Hammons in the future.

The issue of stormwater management is an unfortunate necessity just as it’s necessary to determine how to pay for it.  It’s not an issue to be kept behind closed doors when it affects everyone owning property in Glasgow.  We think the community should have some input in the process rather than being run over roughshod and being ordered to pay yet another fee with little opportunity for education about the issue or for giving input.

We have to ask, “Where do all of the fees and taxes end?”  Earlier this year we saw passage of a rate increase that will help pay for our city’s aging water and sanitary sewer system to be gradually overhauled.  Last year we saw an order that a $2 surcharge be added to our monthly bills for garbage collection.  While city officials can boast that they haven’t raised taxes, they have certainly taken advantage of a means of increasing city revenues through backdoor measures such as fees.

As it stands at press time for this newspaper, the first reading and vote on the fee will come at the November 26 council meeting and the second reading and vote at the December 10 council meeting.

We encourage you to do your part as a citizen and let our Glasgow City Council members know your feelings on this issue.  Attend the meeting and let your opinion be known.  It affects you, it affects your family, and it affects your community.

11-13-12

Buy Local

“Buy Local” has been a catch phrase for hometown newspapers for as long as I can remember. It seemed only natural for my family to embrace the concept when we purchased the first newspaper in Butler County. My girls were born there and that community was so very important to us. It was our home and we wanted to show we cared about it.

We took pride in knowing everything we purchased came from local merchants and this has been a way of life for us since long before our children were old enough to understand why we shopped locally.

As a matter of fact, we built a home there and promoted it in the newspaper as the home Butler County built because every single item in that home was purchased locally. It was a home that when finished, appraised for much more than had been put into it because our friends who owned local stores helped us find the best deals.

When I first wrote about the importance of buying locally I put a little twist on it. I gave my comments a title of “Remember to dance with the fella who brought you.”

It seemed at that time everyone who owned a local store wanted the business but often those who had a strong business couldn’t be found buying locally.

I can’t count the number of times I would try to encourage one business owner to buy from another to only hear, “Are you crazy, that person has never stepped foot in my store.” I have no doubt that if you own an appliance store you know where every single friend you have, purchased their last appliance. Why would it surprise you if you own a tire store to have someone who owns an appliance store not buy from you when you have never stepped inside their store?

I give credit for the statement to my grandfather, but honestly I am not sure where I heard it first. Each of us should remember to be thankful for surviving some of the toughest years in locally-owned businesses in most of our lifetimes. These have been difficult years for us all but none more so than for the businesses right here in our hometown.

I am not a pessimistic man, I have seen very difficult times in my life but I feel our business future could be challenged. It is important to thank your friends and neighbors for supporting you and your family by giving the same respect back to them.

There is no better way to say thanks than to give business to the stores right here in our community. Do what I do, on your next purchase make it a point to introduce yourself and say, “I just wanted to buy locally.”

You may find it feels very good to support a local business.

11-6-12

Make Veteran’s Day meaningful

I grew up in a small community in northeastern Kentucky and can remember almost every parade and holiday function to be as much about our veterans as Veterans Day itself.

Having grown up in a family with strong military ties it was not uncommon for us to be present at most of these functions. But much like having brown beans and cornbread so often for dinner, I feel perhaps I missed out on truly appreciating much of life as a young boy because of routine. It was a routine I remember so much differently as a grown man today.

My grandfather, Joseph Miller, served in the Army and was injured in the Battle of Argonne and carried a bullet in his hip for more than 60 years, while his oldest son Happy Chandler Miller enlisted and served during the Korean War.  My grandmother, Mae Rose Miller, often spoke of how blessed she was because her husband and son came home from war knowing so many who didn’t. Clearly her appreciation for Veteran’s Day was more evident than most of my generation because we grew up without war or conflict.

A while back, I read "A veteran is someone who, at one point, wrote a check to the United States of America, payable in any amount, up to and including his life." I seem to have read many times, “Freedom is not free, it comes at a price - a high price.” Nothing could be truer than these statements.

Small town publishers are patriotic because any of us worth our weight in salt can’t do this job without seeing the love and passion many of those who served have for our country. I enjoy the stories and I wish I had written just a few of them down as they were told to honor the facts and to share with you now. But like the young boy I once was, these stories had no meaning other than just being stories because I hadn’t lived during a time of war myself.

For me and my generation September 11, 2001 was the day the stories we grew up listening to began to have a meaning.

With tension and unrest still in my heart, I remember sitting in the congregation of Morgantown Community Church holding my son Wyatt in my lap watching as our church introduced a young man, Andy Hocker. He was the son of a friend David Hocker and was leaving to serve our country in the war in Afghanistan.  Andy was among the first from that community to serve in a war specifically because of September 11.

As I sat and thought about this being David’s son and holding my own baby boy I felt my life experiences begin to change.

I will forever remember this day because it helped me understand patriotism. The war came to our country and into our homes on television that day. But on this day it was in my church and looking me right in the eyes. It was real and at that very moment it gave so much meaning to being an American.

Here it is now 2012 and that small boy on my lap is now approaching manhood. He is 17 and has announced his intentions to serve in the United States Air Force. With that said, I can only imagine the powerful realizations I am about to experience over the next few years.

I write today with appreciation in my heart for all those who served our great country in the past, for those serving at this time, and pray for the same blessings appreciated so much by my grandmother, for the safe return of my son.

God bless America!

10-30-12

Decisions need to be made locally

Leaders open to business concepts will excel in today’s climate of government.
 
Much like what Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker did for his state could be done for our Commonwealth and the United States if a truly qualified business-minded individual was our President along with a Congress agreeable to do the job instead of stopping someone else from doing it.

In February of 2011, Walker introduced a budget repair bill and he spoke time and again of what it would do to help cities, counties, and school districts take charge of their own expenses and run the day-to-day business. He gave them the flexibility to cut their own costs without having to negotiate every single move with union officials. To the point, he eliminated collective bargaining and I had not seen a politician bold enough to utter those words in public during my tenure as a small town publisher until just this year.

Local officials used this to their advantage and the results have been amazing. Local school boards, city, county and state governments could put out bids for healthcare coverage for employees and found that those special interest groups providing coverage like leagues of cities and state teachers unions were not a good deal as they had thought. How often do you read in the newspaper about the school board, city or county official asking for bids on insurance? You don’t, they are pressured to stay with existing providers and these providers are enjoying a non-competitive bid-free environment - something clearly not good for obtaining the best value.

(For the complete column sign up on-line today, email us at jobe@jobeinc.com or pick up a copy of any Jobe Publishing newspaper at the newsstand of your choice in Barren, Butler, Hart, Metcalfe or Monroe County.) 

10-23-12

We gave Rand Paul the opportunity and he seems to know it

Senator Rand Paul is back home in Kentucky asking for our thoughts in numerous round table meetings after having made a big splash nationally.

Paul made his national debut at the Republican convention of 2010 and soon became one of the neo-Republican mavericks in that fall’s election, making me proud to have voted for him. His speech was one that got attention and is building momentum to what I believe could prove to be the beginning of real change in our country.

I don’t take notes or even write about national events because I feel it is a waste of ink for me to do so about issues in which I have little or no real influence or relevance. I am often pulling items from being printed in our newspaper because we are a local newspaper and what we provide is local news.

But, when you watch a man on television and a few weeks later he is sitting in front of you asking you for your opinion, is it so profound I feel I must attempt to explain. I am proud to have been blessed in meeting many national, state, and local officials because of my work right here covering your hometown news. I actually consider some of them distant friends and offer coverage anytime they visit because I feel this is my job.

Yet the past few weeks I have had the pleasure to see a different kind of exchange coming from Senator Paul with his staff is coordinating round table meetings with small business owners, educators, medical professionals and various groups of individuals and actually taking questions from everyone in attendance.

Wow! What a concept: political leaders asking questions of those who elected them.  I was asked to sit in on one of those meetings in Barren?County for small business owners and feel many good questions were asked.  I was equally impressed with the Senator’s desire to respond to all of the questions.

I cannot remember a single time our Senator said, “We tried to do that but the Democrats wouldn’t let us.”  A new breed of politician, Paul appears to be building a good argument for his beliefs and we can expect him to take the fight to Washington for us.

He seems to understand the challenges we all face but is not going to get lost in any one of our causes. All of us may have to tighten our belts a bit down the road, but it will be for the good of our country and not any one of our special interests. Special interests are destroying our country because as long as they get what they want, they couldn’t care less what happens to the rest of us.

Senator Paul is openly discussing the size of government and its certain doom due to entitlements, and identifying examples of waste, and yet seems to understand the lack of confidence our business community feels.  Most importantly, he can respond to each concern with examples of what he is doing at this very moment to try to help those issues.

Like many of you, I love this country and feel ready to get back to work and agree with Senator Paul when he said, “You, the individual, are the engine of America’s greatness.”

10-16-12

Community is needed to stop bullying

 A few weeks ago my good friend, pastor and community columnist Oliver Hofmann wrote about bullying. Like Oliver often does, he shared some thoughts that challenged me to think a bit for myself.

The subject of bullying was not one I had really thought too much about.

As a young fellow I was the number 5 man on the basketball team, I lifted weights with the average guys, ran for distance in cross-country and played a trombone in the high school band. I enjoyed my middle school and high school days but as you can see, there is not really anything that would have had me step out too much to grab attention for I was your average kind of guy.

Heck, the entire Greenup County High School that I remember was just about filled with average kinds of guys.  We had our heavy, slim, short, tall, intelligent, not-so-intelligent, pot smokers, beer drinkers, womanizers, loose girls, church kids, gay, straight, pregnant, really lucky, handicapped, white, black, a few other nationalities, kids from good homes and kids from not-so-good homes but the bottom line was we were all Greenup County High School students and accepted one-another for who we were.

Back in those days students knew what was right and wrong and would never even think of allowing anyone to see them attack a person for any reason. Such actions would quickly find oneself in the front office with perhaps a 2-inch slab of wood burning your backside and a conference with your parent and the principal. Yet, I didn’t see much of that - it was just something you might expect if you did.

There were few fights because if you happened to weigh 70 pounds, you soon figured out not to bad mouth a 200-pound fellow. Just as important, you soon realized that even a 70-pound boy might have a 250-pound first cousin. It was just the code of living in a small town.

Bullying was not tolerated. But bullying back then was definable because it was open.  If there was a bully, everyone knew it. Usually it was the kid who transferred in that had moved from school to school and came in with a chip on his shoulder. Sooner or later anyone with a chip on his shoulder will have someone step up and knock it off.

This is not how it is today. Because of social media, smart phones, email, twitter, and sites where you can post without even giving a name, the game of bullying has changed. Bullying back in 1979 and even today has a common thread of envy. People attack those who often step out or choose to be different.  But unlike 1979, if you spoke against someone everyone would know it was you and you would be held accountable. Today an individual can attack someone and do it virtually in the dark.

This is what is happening across our country and beginning to find its way into our communities. Teachers and active school board members are self-educating themselves and are always on guard for such actions. But more is needed - parents and friends of all students must keep an eye open for such things.

In about 10 minutes of searching the web for “bullying” I found about 50 names, photographs and obituaries of some of the finest young people you would ever have wanted to meet. The smiles were so bright and the comments of friends on Facebook, Twitter, and in news stories about these 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, all the way up through college freshman-aged kids took their own lives because of nothing more than nameless bullying. Comments surely were never expected to be the cause for someone to kill themselves.

Children that stood out to me was a 13-year-old girl named Rachel Ehmke and a 15-year-old boy named Kenneth James Weishuhn, Jr. Rachel was targeted ruthlessly on various social media sites and Kenneth was from a community with a population of approximately 909.

I didn’t read enough to extract the bogus reasons given for why these two beautiful young people were targeted. But I can’t help think of how the teachers, parents, and friends of Rachel must feel knowing she asked numerous times for help. Or how painful it is for a community of only 909 people to know they did such a thing to one of their own.

Clearly, the families of more than these two children were destroyed because the identity of every one of the individuals who made each comment is now known. Just imagine the degree of denial and finger pointing. Within a few days of any suicide every single internet thread, post and comment is in the possession of the authorities and because of the seriousness of these matters some knowledgeable officials have begun to be very aggressive in identifying individuals and enforcing laws against such actions. I remember such a case in Hart?County where the Sheriff determined who made threats and the court had this person write a letter to the editor of our newspaper apologizing to the community for what they did and sign their name. This is a very lucky person and because of some fine police work, she too was protected from having her words do even more damage.

These attacks were once thought to be under the cover of darkness but now will be public for the world to see as evidence used to prosecute those who made the comments in a court of law.

I am not sure I have ever begged to readers to do anything, but today I am asking you to step up and speak with your children about this very serious issue. I am 100% confident there is not one man, woman, or child among us who would ever want to cause anyone such pain.

As the newspaper publisher, it would sadden me deeply to ever have to write a story of how one of our children was pushed to commit suicide by another one of our children.

10-9-12

Brighter outlook for SCRTC

The South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative election results were made official at the annual meeting and it proved to be a historic moment for the membership.

An election that replaced a 27-year board veteran who had served numerous terms as board president was beaten with a significant margin by an individual who openly discussed his desire for a transparent and member informed cooperative. 

Without a doubt the most compelling campaign issue for this election was whether or not to disclose board and board affiliate compensation and it appears those serving with the former president may have received the message because for the first time in the cooperative’s history board compensation was discussed (although in general terms) openly at the annual meeting. 

I believe Ronnie Tucker will serve as a breath of fresh air for the new leadership of Board President Zack Kender, Vice President Joel Dixon and Secretary-Treasurer Stanley Greer. 

General Manager Dave Davis said at the meeting, “We are a cooperative and we belong to you.”   These words have never had a better chance to become a reality than they do at this very moment and only time will tell if these men stand and deliver.

10-2-12

Could it be?
A politician with possible solutions?

Today I had the pleasure to join my Horse Cave Rotary friends for their Monday lunch meeting and we enjoyed a visit from our junior United States Senator, Randal Howard ‘Rand’ Paul.

Like most of our country, I am somewhat discouraged with both our Democratic and Republican leadership. Each can surely rally pockets of support by pointing out problems we have within our country. It seems just when you thought you knew enough to surely doom our American future, along comes another politician who points out even more problems.

I find it very easy to point out problems or what we believe to be problems. Anyone can say the rich pay too little in taxes. Just about as easy for anyone to say and get upset that 47% of Americans pay no taxes at all.

Over the years I have concluded that much of the Democratic philosophy is derived from believing that all of us are part of a group. This is how the political machine treats voters. As someone who used to blog a bit online, I used to pride myself on being able to smoke out the agenda in about three minutes for almost anyone who attacked me. The areas of interest that command greatest anger are no secret anymore, except among the most loyal out-of touch elderly voter. Whether it is social issues such as gay rights and abortion or personal ties such as big government or unions, it doesn’t take long before someone calls me a bad name.

It is not much different in the Republican world. The old play books of God, patriotism and less taxes no longer affect me and many of those like me. You see, unlike the Democrats elected, who without a doubt will never stop abortion or put prayer back in schools, Republicans have been in a position to do it and haven’t. So, I am tired of hearing about it.

In regards to taxes, who is kidding whom when they say they we are not paying more taxes? I predict more local tax increases this year than has been realized in 20 years. So, I am not too trusting of any politician who talks about not raising taxes.

The big issues to me are entitlements, lowering our debt and finding money to grow ourselves out of this flat-lined economy.

Then along comes the junior Senator Rand Paul who says just that - the same things I believe to be problems - and guess what? He is offering solutions to those problems.

Entitlements, as I see them, are retirement benefits and the problem is we have a growing number of Baby Boomers who have a retirement cost far greater than what we have available to pay them. There is not a thing wrong with expecting to have benefits. But, if we don’t do something soon we are on a path to destroy our own country, just as Russia and others have done and no one will have any retirement benefits. The 90-year old who worked for 30 years will find government can no longer pay for her food, Medicaid or any type of living. This is absolutely wrong and will be a sad day if not fixed.

The term entitlement is quickly becoming a bad word and this is so very wrong. What has tainted it in the eyes of many Americans has been facilitated by our distrust in and abuses by our own elected leaders. Many of these persons have finagled the system to provide themselves with healthy pensions which were not at all earned. There are few states with as a blatant disregard to ethics as our own Commonwealth’s retirement package in place for the
House and Senate office holders. They are making a mass exodus to full-time government jobs through political appointments to do nothing more than lock themselves into a healthy pension with as little as 3 years of full-time service.

I can think of a no clearer example of the abuses of power than a Democratic Governor appointing Republican Senators to department head posts or vacant District Judge positions. It is just short of a bribe of a life-time pension for the opportunity to win that seat. Sadly, no one wants to fix it at this time at that level.

Senator Paul offers a solution of moving retirement age back to 70 and his plan of only 2 months a year will allow it to happen gradually. His numbers show this alone will save enough to honor the obligations in place at this time and those of the future, offering us a staggering savings of $30 billion.

I believe Senator Paul is not only identifying problems as all political types do, he is identifying what I believe to be good common sense solutions for those problems.

9-25-12

Thanks for another year of reader growth

Each September newspaper circulation managers are busy auditing their distribution operations to determine the actual paid readership averages for their newspapers. I did it myself for many years and can honestly say I disliked nothing more in the business.

It's no joke, but when?I worked for The Journal Register Company, Thompson Newspapers and Gannett, if I did not show growth I made sure my resume was ready to fly. Readers are so very important to us in this business and back when I worked for major daily newspapers it was difficult to show growth.  However, as an aggressive young manager I was blessed to have achieved years of leading newspapers to do just that and because of it, I am now a publisher.

But for the managers of Jobe Publishing, Inc. it is a different environment. You see, we have had the same readers for 40 years because we virtually have no turnover or as it is known in our business 'churn.'  The daily papers know they will lose hundreds each month and their circulation managers dread each new month behind last year’s totals.  Because this industry is one that trends like the 'Titanic' if you don't stop losses soon, you may never stop them.
Sooner or later advertisers realize they are paying more money and getting fewer readers. This is happening in our competitive markets and because of it, smart buyers are moving. Just notice where you read about the farm being auctioned next door. We find it much easier to sell if we cost less and offer more.

Sadly, circulation managers have so much pressure today because some editor-types think they are smarter than the man on the dock or the family delivering newspapers. We are different at JPI because we take as much pride in selling newspapers as writing them. Everyone at JPI is involved and respects one another. We believe honest local news is what sells best and this is what we do better than all the rest in South Central Kentucky. Some scandal-loving types think it is blowing up a bad story, but we disagree - what grows readership is having people trust that whether the story is good or bad, you will cover them both.

I am pleased to report growth in all of our five newspapers but I am most proud that our largest gains in circulation come in communities with competing newspapers. Today in our five counties we have only Barren and Monroe with competitors but back in 2004 we had four. Readers are not bashful about choosing the credible news source and I look forward to what 2013 brings.

9-18-12

Let the votes be counted

Sometimes in the newspaper business you run the risk of writing too much about a local fella.  Even if it is correct because sometimes everyone already knows what you write and don’t care to read it.  It is also difficult to write about local people because we all have family and friends and some of those family and friends are mine as well.  

I don’t want to hurt anyone and this is why with every possible controversial news story I speak in person about the issue and then follow up with an email to confirm the conversation.

More times than not, the choice to hurt family and friends is made by the individual not me.  If Charles Knight had told members what he was paying himself instead of acting as if he was accountable to no one, his family wouldn’t feel the discomfort in knowing his character is rightfully questioned. This is but one election and it will take more and probably even legal rulings in court to re-establish a true member owned and involved cooperative. 

But it starts with you, if you sign your ballot and mail it in, the accounting firm of Campbell, Myers, and Rutledge can do their job and certify a vote they know to be fair.  A vote we all know is long overdue, the election of an honest man to serve all members and employees of SCRTC with dignity.

 
9-11-12

Charles Knight’s hints are nothing less than lies

Charles Knight has charged that disclosures in this newspaper are false, and are motivated by a personal vendetta.  I can assure the readers that I have no personal motives what-so-ever, and that everything that has been asserted, is backed up by documentation.

To fully disclose his accusations to readers we have scanned a full document and printed it in this issue.  He knowingly used the United States Post Office to deliver known lies about me and the business operation of my company.

Unlike Knight, I trust in the honesty and integrity of not only the employees of Jobe Publishing but those of SCRTC as well.

I have never asked for any free advertising from SCRTC for my personal political agenda nor am I upset about losing an election ran in 2006. 

Becky Williams was my SCRTC advertising contact and I am sure she could confirm nothing less than a professional relationship, one in which no mention of free advertising was ever discussed.  I am pleased with my election results because I carried all counties in which we publish newspapers and this will forever be appreciated. 

In regards to losing business, this is true.  Charles Knight and the trustees have stopped doing business with my company but not until I was threatened that it would happen if I asked a simple question, “What is the full compensation of SCRTC Trustees and the Board Attorney?”  If you are a reader of our newspaper you know that I have not only asked that question but I have asked it no less than a dozen times in the past 2 years. 

Knight knows without a doubt what he writes is a lie.  SCRTC’s Forrest Wilson and Chris Lawrence also know what he attempts to convey as a bitterness because of them stopping business or me having something more than a professional relationship that lead to benefit my company with Max Phipps is a lie.  JPI and SCRTC had a consistent business relationship that began when Forrest Wilson was general manager and it remained much the same for years until I wrote the story asking them for compensation details after Phipps was terminated. 

Stories we have printed are the absolute truth.  Max Phipps has sued the cooperative for wrongful termination and breach of contract.  Court records show that the case between Phipps and SCRTC has NOT been resolved.  The records also show that a motion is before the judge asking for a $2.5M settlement.  If you add attorney fees and interest to this amount, the total exposure to the coop will approach $3M. 

It is one thing for Knight to take pride in him wanting not to hire Phipps and then wanting to terminate him without regard to his contract, but it is not a complete picture without him disclosing that it was only him, Charles L. Stinson, Jerry Polson and Ralph Thompson who carried the vote to terminate Phipps.

Open court discussions hint that the termination was against the advice of their attorney and documents disclose the only attorney in the room was Bobby Richardson.  The way I see it, these men put our cooperative in jeopardy with a potential price tag of $3M.  A defense that put Richardson at a disadvantage because Knight takes pride in pushing an agenda against what he advised.  He clearly has the vendetta.

Phipps’ attorney Ron Hampton of Gillenwater, Hampton and Bell said, “Yes, we are aware of the Charles Knight letter, however, we can’t comment at this time because we are still in litigation and to do so would not be proper.”

I don’t feel I need to comment on the advances in SCRTC that Knight takes credit for nor the misrepresentations of not increasing rates.  If you know Knight and any one of the employees working for SCRTC you know who should be given credit and none of us believe our bills haven’t been increased since he took office.

Is there one among us who believe it is ethical for a trustee seeking election to use company stationery to discredit members seeking the office against him?  Is it wise to place the company in further legal jeopardy by throwing out lies that can be exposed by his own employees?  Surely, a long standing politically experienced official with Richardson’s tenure would advise against these methods as well. 

Because of a simple question not answered by Charles Knight “What are you paying yourself?”.  It is becoming quite clear these men have strong motives for not disclosing their compensation.  They have not only manipulated their own Bylaws with policies not known to employees to provide themselves with benefits, pay and various perks but in doing so they have exceeded the limits outlined by KRS laws established for telephone cooperatives.

Such an accusation is serious and one in which has taken me 2 years of gathering backup in order to realize.

I knew going into this situation it could be a challenge but hoped they would see that the easiest way to deal with the membership who elected them was to be honest. 

Instead we have realized the full impact of their threats and yet JPI continues to be blessed with growth.   We committed to our readers, friends employed by SCRTC and the member/owners of the cooperative to expose these men and we will not relent until the total compensation of this board is fully disclosed to all members. 

You have my word that what Charles Knight hints in regards to me and my company is absolutely not the truth and he knows it.

9-4-12

Tough coverage and cooperative change

At a time when mainstream news media are hemorrhaging and the doomsayers are spewing the death of journalism as we know it is gone...  pay very close attention.

The community presses are not only alive but throwing out printed copies like never before.  Small town America is growing some of the finest newspapers ever published and I am proud that our company is among those newspapers continuing to show year over year growth. 

The number one reason weekly newspapers are growing is because of the individuals who make up these small town editorial staffs.  Editors who believe in what they do and do it because of the respect they have for themselves and the readers they serve. They are paid little money and given lots of aggravation but the good ones keep on telling it like it is. 

Now before anyone gets too lost in this statement when I say tell it like it is I mean cover a meeting like it went.  If they say it, we write it.  I am often amazed at how blatant some so-called media providers can ignore large pockets of news simply because they feel it could hurt their business if they cover it thoroughly.

As a publisher I can assure you there have been stories we have covered and we have lost business because of it.  But without even the slightest hesitation I can say I am proud we covered those meetings or didn’t refuse the business because it is our job.

In the competitive world of local news you often find meetings covered by several media outlets.  I am often reminding our editors this competitive coverage is the best thing possible for us and our business. Our readers will see the difference.  Whether it is with a competitor ignoring stories involving their family or political favorites or shying away from comments that might put them in a negative light from an advertiser, this damages their credibility and promotes our own.

Perhaps one of the biggest local bullying operations for employees, the business community or those of us just trying to get readers answers is that of the South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative Trustee Board. ?

It is so clear to former employees and most of the ones there without family ties to these ole boys, that this company is being managed by a board who will stop at nothing to promote their own pocketbooks.  From removing member protections in Bylaws, to establishing policy’s for personal perks that go against Bylaw directives to hiding their own compensation from the members who elect them, these men are not good for SCRTC, or the employees and members who make up this cooperative. 

These fellas have used the business of the cooperative to pressure anyone who stands in their way, they have ignored contracts and destroyed careers of loyal employees and Jobe Publishing is the only media outlet who has chosen to print a single word on a situation so obviously wrong.

A few week’s ago Charles Knight chose to begin running advertisements in our Metcalfe County Newspaper, The Edmonton Herald-News.  

There is but one reason Mr. Knight ran advertisements with our newspaper over others and it is because it is the best value. We reach more readers than all others combined in our region and he wants to reach those readers. 

I’m not sure I can accurately convey my point but I am going to try. 

Knight like myself can separate news from advertising.  He knows when he gives us an advertisement we will run it as it is given and we will charge him the same rate as anyone else running the same size advertisement.  That is the ethical thing to do even if we know him to be the bad choice for SCRTC.

Yet, he reminds us because we write about him and his fellow SCRTC Trustees that SCRTC business has been taken from us.  Much like a parent might do to a small child.  We are being punished for not being a good newspaper.  The business once given to us because we were the only local news, advertising and printing company mirroring their service area is now given to various other outlets at higher rates with less penetration.   As a matter of fact JPI is the largest media company serving as a member of the cooperative and asking but one question.  A question we feel we have a right to know because we are a member.  
Charles Knight, what are you paying yourself for serving on the board of trustees for SCRTC?

When Knight is spending his own money he shops for the best value but when he is spending the money of the cooperative he uses it as a means to bully or punish. 

I am pleased to see that in Metcalfe County there are three candidates running for this position and because of this there are two candidates for members to choose in hope of changing the corruptive environment we know is in place at this time.   So whether you vote for Billy Branstetter or Ronnie Tucker be sure to sign your name because it’s one of those little facts they don’t share with members.  If you don’t sign it your vote is thrown away.  But don’t worry nobody on the board will ever know who you voted for so be bold and vote for change, our cooperative needs you.

 8-21-12

Another story of sin, arrogance, power and crime

As a young man I used to think the sins written about in the Bible were there as extreme examples because they were so obviously bad.  Real life couldn’t match them. However, with almost a half century of life behind me and nearly 25 years of newspapering I am not so sure I can’t name an example of each in real life.

You can see it today in so many ways if you just look for it. There are numerous examples of how power turns to reed and then unchecked power turns to crime.

In this issue of the Edmonton Herald News two oil guys have been taken into custody and charged with repeat felony crimes. Ralph Dowell of Edmonton and Charles Leonard Stinson of Horse Cave were cuffed by federal marshals and charged with repeating a crime two more times that they had already been indicted for earlier in the year.

Wouldn’t most anyone realize if you got in trouble for something that you should stop it; at least until you get through the court proceedings of the original charges? Most of us would but you see this degree of stupidity all the time.
The drug addicted criminal can’t help it. They get out of jail on Monday and often find themselves back inside Friday night.

I believe power and greed are as addictive as any man made drug. Power is intoxicating and comes when you believe you can not be stopped while greed manifests itself when you put yourself above those you should be serving.

Charles L. Stinson is also an elected trustee for South Central RTC. Not long ago Board Chairman Charles Knight; Stinson and a few others began to believe they can’t be stopped. For decades they have changed bylaws, omitted member protections, and put policy ‘s in place that increased their perk packages far above what any full-time employee ever had.

This is a direct violation of the bylaws established by those before them and actually the essence of ones still in place. This is why they refuse to share their compensation with members and employees.

In today’s society the most blatant examples of corruption involves personal perks and compensation for those elected to serve us and this is true for the members of SCRTC.

It amazes me how any man can sit in judgement of someone wanting to run for the board because of a late phone bill but ignore repeat felony indictments for another already sitting on the board.

Trustees Charles Knight, Stanley Greer, Charles L. Stinson, Jerry Polson, Ralph Thompson, Joel Dixon and Zack Kender believe they can’t be stopped and have clearly put themselves above those of us who have elected them and the employees we have trusted them to serve.

8-14-12

Most recognize what is right

I honestly do not really care what the owner of a national food chain believes as long as they go about supporting their chosen causes in an ethical and legal manner.

But this is something some attention grabbing political types could learn and make life a bit easier for themselves.
Of course, I am referencing the Chick-fil-A controversy, even if it's somewhat overblown, it can serve as a lesson on the fundamentals of free speech.

The privately owned chain of the better part of 2,000 restaurants has given millions over the years to organizations opposed to same-sex marriage. However, there is no evidence that they have ever discriminated against customers or employees based on that position.

Dan Cathy, CEO has said that he believes the "biblical definition of the family unit" and that "we are inviting God's judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, 'We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.' "

Some supporters of same-sex marriage were furious, and even some of their political allies chose to join the public rage.
I
 was amazed at the ignorance of the Mayors of Chicago, Boston, and San Francisco for hinting of blocking moves and growth inside their cities.  For making statements that the values of Chick-fil-A are not the values of those cities so they need not look for growth there. 

While these political types come off as attention grabbing thought police, people on both sides of the debate are showing the correct way to respond.  Only the most bitter biased left believers can’t see to make such statements and to try to hurt this company is wrong.  As a matter of fact, I have only had one, yes one family; a husband and wife team speak ill of the company.  I was amazed to listen as they slammed this man and his company; I am sure there are more of you, but I just haven’t witnessed the hate myself.

They and all those who support Gay Marriage have every right to not like the company’s views but to encourage politicians to speak against this law abiding private company is so wrong.
As a matter of fact many Chick-fil-A restaurants, including the ones in the Sacramento region, were swamped with customers showing their support for Cathy's stand, standing up for free speech, or both. They helped the chain set a sales record. ?It appears they have been blessed.

Much like the pressures my family got years ago for taking our first stand against local political corruption and what we are facing today from the Trustees of SCRTC’s we too know the feeling for doing what most of us know to be the right thing to do and have seen our share of blessings because of it.

If you choose where to eat lunch based on a company's political views that is your decision.   I am more of a location, quality and local-service kind of guy.

I  don’t support boycotts even though they are legal, but these mayors went way beyond a normal boycott of believers and tried to imply if you don’t believe as we do, don’t come here to do business.  Business in towns with a melting pot of beliefs.  Would it surprise anyone to read these same mayors would support most any anti-Christian company but not this man for his?  I think not. 

Not only was it wrong, it backfired.

I only boycott politicians who should know better and I believe these city mayors might have problems in the future.  Even though each of them soon backed away from the threats to block Chick-fil-A, any voter in these communities who share my beliefs will vote against them in the future.  Such a degree of ignorance is an embarrassment to us all. 

 
7-31-12

Government depends on business not the other way around

Instead of telling us how much we owe government, the progressive leftists and socialists should be thanking us. Without taxpayers -- especially high income business owners -- you wouldn’t be able to build roads, bridges, highways, schools or airports. Your infrastructure exists because of us and our employee's hard work. Our schools exist because of rich business owners who pay huge property tax bills. Our Social Security, welfare, Medicare, food stamps and unemployment insurance exist because of business owners paying into the system. Yet it seems
when there is a dispute; the business owner must defend himself instead of being defended.

Business owners are not dependent on government, yet every single over paid politician, un-needed perk, unearned entitlement and yes, every single dollar moved inside government began by being earned by businesses and passed along to government.

Like any smart business owner, government should be treating its customers with honor, respect and appreciation. All politicians from city hall to President Obama, should learn to say “please” when asking for our money and “thank you” after we give it. It is a simple concept to learn how to treat customers well -- or they will go away.

Some may say, “Businesses can’t go away”. But take a look around and ask yourself what you are seeing. You see businesses leaving our country, you see businesses refusing to hire new employees, most are working shorter hours, and doing only what is needed to survive at this time. Gosh, I know more business owners thinking of retiring now than I have ever known. They are tired of the hassle and disrespect.

Just when you think it is bad, we have our President say we should thank government for what our companies do.

Do we want our most wealthy business owners continue to deny US citizenship because of the heavy tax burden today and those Obama has coming? it has been in the news that one of the Facebook billionaires who loves Obama is leaving the US as well as other Hollywood types. But guess what? I honestly know a few right here in South Central Kentucky who are exploring such options at this time.

When smart taxpayers are unhappy they will find ways to lesson their taxes. If my readers become unhappy I will lose market share and if I lose market share, I will have no choice but to reduce debt or file “BANKRUPTCY”. This is common knowledge for all of us business owners. Yet, one that government may not realize until it is too late.

7-24-12

Some much needed light on Special Taxing Districts

The first-ever database and inventory of all special taxing districts in Kentucky should be completed by the end of this year, State Auditor Adam Edelen told a legislative committee and has made it known all will be available for the public to view and begin asking questions.

This past Friday me and 11 or so of my fellow Kentucky?Press Association Board of Directors
sat and listened as a representative from the Edelen’s office detailed how they hoped to have all taxing district budgets; proposed and actual in print and on-line by the end of 2012.

I have enjoyed serving as the elected print and online media representative for Barren, Butler, Hart, Scott, Edmonson, Warren, Metcalfe, Green and Simpson County but until recently it was much the same each year in and year out. 

The traditional historical mode of newspapering was unchanged.  But recently we are beginning to see a more aggressive board of directors and I am proud to be involved in this evolution. 

So far this year we have voted to endorse a stand against child abuse and the bureaucracy that puts all our children in danger because of the simple fact that all crimes involving children are not public.  We are not going to just look the other way anymore because a crime may have been committed by a  child because if this child is not stopped or helped all our kids are in danger.  Nor are we going to just take the word of a government worker that all crimes against children are taken seriously.  We are going to follow up with parents of victims to assure it is happening.  Sadly, the same laws in place to help children have become the cause allowing them to be ignored.  Darkness is the main reason for all our society’s continued crime growth; if a light is shined on any cause I believe there are enough good caring people out there to make a difference, but they have got to know the problem before it can be fixed.

And just this week we unanimously joined state Auditor Adam Edelen in his cause of requiring all “Special Districts” to disclose their financial details. 

These special districts can raise taxes and spend money, our tax dollars; any way they see fit.   Much like what is being seen today at one of our cooperatives here in our region.  The board members of South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative refuse, with full knowledge of counsel not to disclose their own compensation to the actual members who elect them.

Special districts include several taxes active here in SCKY including, library, ambulance, fire, sewer, and water districts; most any tax that stands alone on our property tax bills is one of these special districts.  These dollars have never been reviewed by anyone with any authority and because of it; there are communities with 9 fire departments just a few miles from one-another and filled with all the equipment, while buildings are going up all over our state with no bid processes and employees being paid more in overtime than regular pay because they can do as they want.

In the weeks to come we plan on assisting in both these causes and take our next step in helping the members and actual owners in realizing why they aren’t being told what they are paying themselves.

2012 has a lot of hard hitting news coming and JPI is proud to be the only source here at home joining these and other causes to keep you informed. 

Thanks for making us the growing newspaper serving this region. 

7-17-12

Can of worms

Last week Barren County Sheriff Chris Eaton took the lid off a super-sized can of worms when he suggested to Barren County Fiscal Court that the county should extract itself from the 911 Inter-local Agreement and operate its own dispatching center.  As those assembled witnessed during the court’s discussion, the inter-local agreement creating and operating the 911 Dispatch Center appears to be a tangled mass of worms.  In the past days we’ve spoken with several of the members of the 911 Governing Board and even they find it difficult to clearly explain the operation.

The inter-local agreement was originally signed by representatives of various local governments in July 1993.  Nearly twenty years ago the movers and shakers who agreed to the plan were Barren County Judge/Executive Woodford L. Gardner, Glasgow Mayor Charles B. Honeycutt, Cave City Mayor Chris Holder, Park City Mayor Albert R. Salley, Hiseville Mayor Billy Locke, Metcalfe County Judge/Executive Woodrow Wilson, and Edmonton Mayor, M.W. Patterson.  The plan was recommended by a sizable advisory committee with representatives from many agencies in the area.

When the document was inked by the above-named persons, the City of Glasgow was to provide office space for the 911 Center, which they did for a number of years.   Somewhere along the line, that changed and the city now receives rent at a rate of about $2,400 per month.  The City also agreed to provide ‘competent dispatchers’ from the Glasgow Police Department and the Glasgow Fire Department.  The dispatchers were to remain employees of their respective agencies (the City of Glasgow) and would be paid by the City.  Somewhere along the line Metcalfe County agreed to pay for its own dispatchers.

In the original document one finds the creation of a tax on all local telephone subscribers which the respective Fiscal Courts collect and then turn over to the 911 Governing Board  “for the costs of establishing, maintaining, and operating the Emergency Communications Center.”  For the past 19 years that tax has been collected and has been used for its intended purpose.

However, our world has changed greatly in the past 19 years.  For example, nineteen years ago cellular telephones were only beginning to be used by the general population “the owners of such phones were a minority; the very term “911” had a singular meaning and it had nothing to do with September 11, 2001. The same is the case with the 911 Emergency Communications Center.  There are thousands more 911 calls to be dealt with and our emergency responder agencies have all grown over the years.  It is easy to see that things have changed significantly and as a result, a thorough review of the inter-local agreement and how the 911 Center operates is of value to the citizens of Barren and Metcalfe Counties.

One of the situations that occur when we review operations such as this is that sometimes we secretly wish we’d left things alone.  We suspect that that is exactly what the case will be when the committee appointed by Judge Executive Davie Greer gets to work.  While some Barren County officials speak with great pride about “all the money we give the 911 board,” the reality is that Fiscal Court is a pass-through agency for the funds and the funds really are not the result of the county’s finance committee divvying up the citizens” taxes to operate the county.  The 911 Center funds are the result of a specific tax, not the beneficence of the Fiscal Court.  The last audited amount the county passed over to the 911 Governing Board was $198,978.

At the same time, the City of Glasgow agreed 19 years ago to provide the dispatchers for the 911 Center.  For the current fiscal year, those salaries and benefits amount to $725,535 that comes from the city’s general operating budget.  It is easy to see that the City of Glasgow is paying a rather large sum of money for something that benefits all the citizens of Barren County.  The Metcalfe County Fiscal Court and City of Edmonton split the cost of dispatchers servicing their county.  The local ambulance service also helps to pay for three dispatchers.

Clearly, the organization of the 911 Governing Board and its operation is complicated and confusing.  We suspect that the committee appointed by Judge Greer will find that some changes actually do need to be made.  It is obvious that the City of Glasgow is expending what appears to be an extraordinary amount of money providing dispatchers for the 911 Governing Board.  Perhaps that needs to be looked at and the personnel expenses divided accordingly between the city and the county.  At the moment, the 911 Governing Board is sitting on a nest egg of around $1 million dollars and that fact alone appears to be a point of concern among some officials.

Finally, we have the issue of various first responder agencies feeling left out and as if they have no say in the operation of the 911 Governing Board and very specifically, the dispatchers issuing the calls to the responders.  Obviously if so many persons are unhappy and confused, there needs to be more communication between all of the involved parties.

Jobe Publishing stands firm in its support of what is right and what is good for all of the citizens of Barren and Metcalfe County.  To that end, we challenge the 911 Governing Board to enter into a period of self-evaluation and use this fiscal year to determine if changes to the inter-local agreement are needed and specifically what those changes should be and then act on it.  Further, it is our experience when there is this much confusion about who is in charge there is more often than not individuals taking advantage of the system and ultimately our tax dollars.   Tough decisions must be made in our state and what better place to start than to make sure dollars are being maximized right here at home.  The 911 Center board has existed 19 years without bylaws and that is unacceptable in today’s world for a group handling matters of such importance and large sums of money that ultimately come from our citizens.

7-10-12

We need facts and assurances

It is becoming a big topic of whether or not the city should contract with the county for police protection. 

On the surface one could jump to conclusions that would warrant mass hysteria in either direction. 

But what we must do is calmly disregard the self-serving spin coming from those who have had their hands in tax payer pockets or those wanting to get theirs in deeper.

Keep in mind the people who are screaming the loudest about possible changes are the ones who put the city’s future in jeopardy by pressuring a vote for the un-needed hazardous duty pay in the first place.  Politics did this to us and if we allow politics to stop those in office now from finding solutions you can rest assured tax increases are coming. 

The cost of hazardous duty has went from about 8% just a few years ago to almost 40% now and estimates of 60% of each salary in the not too distant future.  This is an expense officers doing the same work for the Sheriff’s department are not paid.  I am told for Morgantown today this is an un-needed $140,000 annually.  A clear example of poor leadership and what a few politically connected individuals wanting more money can do to us if we allow it to continue.  Keep in mind, each hazardous duty officer who retires does so based on the higher compensation.  This is exactly the same problem all government agencies in all states are facing today.  Unfunded retirement packages promised and having no means of payment except for future tax dollars. ?The difference is Morgantown, Kentucky may have a city government trying to stop it before it consumes all our tax dollars as it is rapidly doing in other cities.

I am open to stopping the hazardous duty scam we are now in, I am open to saving money but I have concerns about guarantees for coverage for those of us who pay city taxes. 

I am ok with less young ladies being pulled over inside city limits but I have real concerns for the political corruption that has consumed our Sheriff’s department in the past as well. 

Show us where the savings will go and how you are getting assurances for protection and this issue is a no brainer...

6-19-12

Bluegrass Institute joins JPI and others

In my more than 25 years of working in the newspaper industry I have never found a more disgusting example of what is destroying our country than the legislative retirement packages here in Kentucky since 2005.

I have written and spoken to legislators so many times I sometimes think I am turning blue in the face about this issue.

I have promises from some and out right spin and deflection from others when discussing the abusive self-serving retirements they have voted in for themselves.  And every single one of our legislators know this is wrong. We need legislators who will break from Senate President David Williams and the Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo to put an end to HB 299. These men don't want it fixed or it would be fixed.

Everyone who votes against a bill introduced to fix should be removed from office.  The time has come to put Democrats and Republican politics aside and vote for leaders with the integrity and courage to step up and allow history to show them as men and women of strength and character.

Senator David Givens a second term Republican has promised me he would do just that this next term and I look forward to sharing with our readers him honoring his word.

It is a grand feeling to see our friends at the Bluegrass Institute join us in this fight.  Most of the hard work in understanding and calculating some of the more abusive packages comes from Lowell Reese, the editor and publisher of the Kentucky Roll Call in Frankfort and he is appreciated.

Keep reading for updates on what every single one of our legislators are doing on this issue in the coming year. Thanks for reading.

6-12-12

Bad management costing SCRTC members

Charles Stinson, Jerry Polson, Ralph Thompson, and Charles Knight’s refusal to honor former general manager contract places membership in financial jeopardy

In a page one story you will find that last week Judge Phil Patton was asked to rule on a few issues that ultimately affects the lawsuit between former general manager Max Phipps and the trustees of South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative. 

Among the requests submitted to Patton was for him to decide if Phipps had been terminated ‘for cause’.  Patton ruled in favor of Phipps on this issue because the facts simply showed these ole boys enjoying the top seats on the highly paid board have no idea what they are doing.

In this particular case, several over the years and more building at this time continue to place the membership in direct fire for unnecessary lawsuits and legal costs. 

They spend more time trying to figure out ways to hide the compensation and perks they are paying themselves than they do helping management move the cooperative into the future. 

Phipps had a contract with a clear path for termination ‘for cause’ yet there is a majority on the board who is to a point of total arrogance and indifference about wasting the cooperatives money.  They shoot from the hip and use the board room as a bully pulpit against anyone in the company or outside that might challenge their self-perceived royal way of life.

This time Charles Knight, Charles L. Stinson, Jerry Polson and Ralph Thompson have mismanaged the business of the cooperative to where what could have been settled by honoring an agreement in place that had a price tag of about $305,000.  But instead attempted to do to Phipps what they have done to others in our community and are building a cost to the membership sure to reach $1M. 

Even when board attorney Bobby Richardson recommended them to settle, they chose to refuse to do so and gambled cooperative profits because of a terrible deadly sin, pride.

We know that in Phipp’s absence all has not been smooth at the cooperative either.  They brought back a gentleman by the name of Dave Davis.  Mr. Davis had been terminated from the cooperative about a year earlier and had been given a severance package at that time.  He is from Green County, a small voting section of Charles Knight’s district.  Sources indicate Davis making a bit less than Phipps so let’s say $90,000 annually. 

From internal documents provided by company employees I have found that he is pretty much a figure head position with all decisions being made by a “Consultant” retired general manager Forrest Wilson at an annual cost of $120,000.  Mr. Wilson and his family are very politically connected in Metcalfe County and also inside the voting district of Charles Knight.  Knight will be up for election this year and has no interest of stepping aside.

Wilson is respected inside the cooperative and as Phipps had a good working relationship with other community businesses. 

In regards to attorney fees, interest on what should have been paid to Phipps, lost benefits, these additional charges for management and of course the 3, 4 and 5 special called meetings monthly at a price tag of $400 each for the trustees show everyone coming out of this situation with more money in their pockets except for those of us who take pride in being a cooperative member owner.

It is moves like this that puts strong companies in jeopardy. These same self-serving trustees refuse to disclose to the membership the costs of their benefits, vacations, expenses, and compensation in the form of meeting fees. 

I write this with a single motive.  To inform our readership/cooperative members that a local company who employs some fine friends and families are being held hostage by a system that allows greed and manipulation to change bylaws to stop members from challenging those in charge. 

If these men continue to manipulate and poorly manage the company retirements of those employed yesterday, salaries of those today and retirements for those of tomorrow will be squandered on the self-serving pride and perks for Charles Knight, Charles Stinson, Jerry Polson, Ralph Thompson, Zack Kinder, Joel Dixon and Stanley Greer.


6-5-12

Miss management biggest problem in government

Morgantown city officials explore ways to cut tax payer burdens

In a news story published in a December issue of the Lexington Herald-Leader they detail that hundreds of part-time elected officials in Ky. get taxpayer-supported pensions.  Other stories speak of how over-time burdens on miss-managed government departments are costing tax payer significant costs.  While across town the Kentucky League of cities are warning of increased costs coming for coverage for hazardous duty pay employees.

It is of no surprise to anyone who manages a business that the financial stability of our city, county and state is slowly being destroyed. 

We have part-time magistrates and even some city council officials pretending to work and average 100 hours a month in order to be included in the state health care and retirement programs.  Programs that cost us tax payers more than the pay ever promised.  I have written that 440 magistrates and about 150 city council members participate in the state retirement programs. 

We have most our state representatives and state senators being paid full-time healthcare and participating in the same type retirement programs and since 2006 these fine upstanding God fearing leaders have boosted their package to where they only have to work 3-years full time to convert decades of part-time to costly full-time retirements and life-time benefits. 

But back at home there is a thing called overtime and hazardous duty pay and the most ignorant and abusive examples of hometown management is we have individuals getting both.  By paying both today means they earn benefits on both in the future when retired as well.

It appears Morgantown, Kentucky has a hint of council members looking for ways to lesson the tax payer burden.  The sitting council has reduced their pay by 15% and promised a much deeper cut for the office of mayor in the near future.  This same council had sidewalks refurbished for less than other mayors paid to have studies done.  All with local people giving pride in a job well done.

The mayor and council are considering merging their police department with the county Sheriff.  I am and have always been one for looking for ways to cut costs but in small town America we need to be very cautious about such things.  The biggest promise I believe we are owed from paying taxes is to be safe and because of my experiences in this same town I have witnessed political corruption so strong that if you didn’t like the Sheriff you could pretty much guarantee not having help show up when you asked for it. 

Because the county had both, city and a county Sheriff you could call both and hope one would show up because even though both were heavily burdened with politics they didn’t like working with each other so there was some degree of competition.

I remember being assaulted by an individual in a public place with the man telling me I had upset a powerful person (The Sheriff) and I did this to myself.  I phoned both the Sheriff’s office and the city police.  I will tell you it felt pretty good to see the city police pull up even though I new the man assaulting me would not be arrested.  In a clean world with the elimination of politics having several witnesses such a crime would have had the man in handcuffs and carted off to jail.  But not here, he was sent on his way and I was told to file paperwork after the holidays if I liked.

It took the better part of 5-years to get the man to court in that politically corrupt time and place but it did happen.  God works in some strange and mysterious ways.  I could see justice had been served when he wheeled into the court room now in a wheelchair, so I waited for the judge about to rule and asked to have charges dropped.  

I was told by this man the day he assaulted me that I would never get him in court and I proved to him he was wrong.

I write about this because I want to commend Morgantown city council for looking at ways to lesson our tax burden but we must be asured safety no matter whose family we belong.  I would wake up tomorrow and stop the overtime pay.  Unless fixed recently it has been going on for years.  Plus, I would check into removing the city from a hazardous duty city; this was approved late in an election cycle because of political pressures.  I don’t have to write complete details because voters know why things are done.  Weak people who fall to such pressures are usually beaten and this is the case there.

I would then ask our Gideon friend County-Judge-Executive David Fields to quantify the 100 hours a month magistrates claim to be working.  He could say to them, “Next month I begin to honor my word and manage the office I hold as I did the body shop I ran when my friends elected me.”

For anyone who reads this outside Morgantown please know this is a wonderful town with great people and the future is as bright today as it has been in a very long time.  I write about such things because I care...


5-29-12

Local newspapers keep politicians accountable

Will Johnny Bell, David Givens, and others lead this term or continue to follow?

In areas where members of Congress get lots of ink in local newspapers, voters are more informed and representatives do more to serve local interests, according to a study to be published in the Journal of Political Economy.

"Our findings support the idea that press coverage is important for electoral accountability," write the study's authors, James Snyder from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and David Strömberg of Stockholm University. "Voters need information to keep politicians accountable and the press delivers this information."
However, the researchers say the findings also suggest that the current trend toward fewer local newspapers could make for less responsive politicians in the future.

This is an area where our company has attempted to make a difference at the local area and is gearing up to help expose and educate for an expanded market. 

In 1864 the community of Edmonton only had the Edmonton Herald-News and what they wrote had only to do with this community.  This strength and local news without a doubt helped change the face of local office holders.

Even today it comes to no surprise that the Butler County Banner, or the Barren County Progress will write about decisions of the local mayor.  Decisions that most certainly make a difference in whether that person is re-elected or not.

As a matter-of-fact without our coverage there are numerous stories that would have never been printed.  Seems some in the business are timid or have allowed themselves to get too close to the players to objectively write the news.

There are issue we know helped encourage turnover and although in any election someone gets hurt; our coverage is geared to help the majority by printing the truth.

I have personally spoken to our legislators over the past few months and gotten promises that they will stop being followers of their party and become leaders for our community.

I have had these conversations with Representative Johnny Bell and Senator David Givens.  These men know the demons that come with the out-of-control entitlements and union-like expenses being passed along to voters for most government offices and including their own.

Both men acknowledged that the retirement multiplier in place since 2006 for both the House and Senate are wrong.  But neither did anything because, “It is divisive and if they did something it would make some upset with them and may hurt them in other areas.”  What they are saying is either, “I like knowing I can do the work part-time for 26 years and find me a full-time job for 3 years and have a full-time pension at tax-payer expense”.  or “My leadership Greg Stumbo and David Williams will not let me do it.”

Neither will continue to get respect from this publisher and our newspaper editors this next term.  Both have strong political futures but in today’s volatile political climate sitting on the sidelines simply as a nice guy like so many before them will not work.

Senator Givens gave me his word in front of a group of Barren County voters and Representative Johnny Bell shared with me the same promise just days prior to the most recent filing deadline for the office he holds.

As a measure of good faith and neighborly support for these men as well as my integrity I put this in writing as a reminder to us all.  We have a job to do.  But it is now written, whether or not they do their job and address these issues we all know to be wrong I will do my job and keep you posted.

If they don’t keep their word we need to find leadership candidates who will. 

I am here to support those in office who wish to convey the truth and expose those who continue to fluff their own pockets and raising our taxes to do so.

While the trend is likely to decrease the news congruence at local levels," the researchers write. "This might not only affect congressional districts, but also that of municipalities, counties and other local government
units.” 

As far as the communities of Barren, Butler, Hart, Metcalfe and Monroe; hometown news coverage is stronger to day than it has ever been. 

Thanks for reading.



5-22-12

Memorial Day protocol may change

Times have changed over the past half century in our observance of Memorial Day. I am not writing as an expert by no means but I have lived the better part of a half century and with age comes some degree of experience and knowledge.  During my Baby Boomer days of childhood, Memorial Day was a day set aside to remember reverently the sacrifices of men and women in securing the blessings of liberty for the United States of America. Smaller towns were especially industrious in seeing that the day was observed properly and that the sacrifices of the “home town boys” were not forgotten. There were official ceremonies in the cemeteries as well as observances in churches. Many churches would publish in the bulletins a “Honor Roll” listing the dead.

Families had their own rituals that they observed. The lanes in the cemeteries were crowded with cars as families placed flowers, flags and wreaths upon the graves of those who had made the ultimate sacrifice in war. Some families had only markers because their loved ones had not been returned from foreign soil and the world’s oceans and seas. Still, the markers were a tangible reality in the midst of the uncertainty and the unknown.  Most of our families could name someone we had known or a family member our mother and father spoke of who gave it all.  The flowers and wreaths had red, white, and blue ribbons and there were tears shed as the flowers were lovingly placed. There would be a time of silence followed by someone recounting anew some story of the life of the remembered loved one.

During my impressionable years I was blessed because I was too young to know any of the boys personally.  My memories were of me just knowing to keep my mouth shut when my grandfather or grandmother spoke of lost loved ones.  I could see the hurt in the eyes and hear it in the voices when they spoke of these people.  I kept my mouth shut when we had family get together and such discussions would arise out of respect but also knowing that my grandmother was sure to be upset like no other time if I didn’t.  She was a soft spoken woman and stood all of 5’1” but you sure knew to give her respect. I know from experience how strong those little arms of hers were from years of wringing out quilts by hand.

Now, the real purpose of the day has to struggle for attention as the print and broadcast media bombard us with advertisements for every product under the sun and talk of Memorial Day Sales. Unofficially, Memorial Day is now the start of the celebration of the “lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.” The tragedy is that men and women are still dying in the cause of liberty and this deserves attention.   I don’t believe it cheapens the day to celebrate in a more festive manner than when I was a child.  I believe it is ok to celebrate the time we have together with family because this is exactly what those who served would want us to do.

This Memorial Day I remembered anew the cemetery trips, the American flags and the red, white and blue flower arrangements. I remembered all my uncles and their service and sacrifice. I remembered my grandfather  and the fact that, though he died when I was 7, he was still a casualty of World War I.  He carried a bullet for the better part of 60 years in his hip and over the years he made numerous trips to VA Hospitals where he would spend a few days and come out with a new cane or perhaps some pain medicine. 

A couple years ago my brother summoned me to the home of my grandmother, she had died a few months earlier at 99 years of age.  He brought tears to my eyes when he said, “I want you to take the writing desk in grandmother's front room.”  He said he remembered her saying she wanted me to have it because I always admired it.   It now sits  in my front foyer, the first thing you seen when invited into my home.  The middle drawer still contains several obituary cards from relatives and a few hand written letters inside it as it was the day she had it.  One of the letters is from my grandfather to my grandmother from one of his trips to the?Hospital.  He spoke of how he felt sorry for several of the soldiers there with him that would never leave, and of the pain he sees in others.  He closed each letter with a request to hug and kiss the kids and reminding her he loved her.  

My grandfather deserves remembering as all of those who served with him.  But as for me and my children we will do it most likely from Lake Cumberland or at the pool. 

I remember last year asking a group of my kids’ friends to share with me a story of a hero in their family and you know what?  They have them, they speak fondly of them and they are remembered.

So join me in kicking off what is sure to be the best summer of my life and give thanks to those who have done so much in making it possible for us to live such a wonderful life.

5-15-12

Worldly advice for the graduate

I will give some advice to the two thousand graduates who will be pictured in one of our newspapers over the next couple of weeks. The same type of advice I attempt to give my own son.

I feel often we forget to throw in some cold honest facts about life and I for one do not want to ever be accused of such a thing.

So here are a few fun but true life facts directed to our recent graduates.

At some point you will find yourself either unemployed, or live in your parents' basement,or be unemployed and living in your parents'
basement.

Higher education is the answer but think about this fact: Fifty percent of college graduates are unemployed or underemployed at this very moment. These individuals are living in what some have referred to as “multigenerational living arrangements”. This means, you are living in the same room you lived in when in grade school and the longer you stay in it the more you will come to hate those Teenage Ninja Turtle figurines sitting on a long forgotten shelf.

Later if you are one of the 6 lucky friends who graduate college you will find yourself booted from the work force for some reason. You see unless you work for government you can never really have peace in the work environment. And in the face of our state's abuses in place because of entitlements those in government jobs today are removing the safety net of those for tomorrow.

You will keep in touch with friends, but not the ones you thought.

This in not so bad at all. As a matter of fact your paths will cross with one of those people you never even spoke to in middle school and you will find out how two casual acquaintances can become real friends when removed from all other pressures of community.

When you hit a certain point in your 20's,everyone around you starts to get married. This is at first cute, then alarming, kind of like Justin Bieber.

At the first wedding you think: “This is nice.  Open bar!” Then all of a sudden, man everyone is jumping into marriage like they used to the city pool. You are surrounded by sappy tears of joy and people asking when you are going to get married. You will be frustrated, “This is fine,” you repeat. “They are my friends and I am happy for them! Plus, open bar!”

But by your ninth wedding you become the disgruntled person wandering unsteadily from table to table in a stained tux or uncomfortable heels, muttering that “You know, all relationships end in breakups or in death.”  On the bright side, you stop being invited after that.

You are no longer just you; you are a single person who needs to find a human companion (if only so she can accompany you to weddings). This leads to actual dates, where you have to sit at restaurants and talk about your hobbies and/or interests.

Adulthood consists of the creeping realization that the events you thought romantic comedies made up to generate conflict actually happen.

Something strange happens to music as you age. You can remember more and more of it,and you notice that the hip youngsters around you cannot.  Being young isn't everything, but it's a good thing.

Life can be divided into two sections: the years when you know that if you fall you are unlikely to break a hip, and the years when a broken hip is almost assured.

You are probably going to live a long time, thanks to modern medicine. You will spend most of your life trying to fund your politician and union friends retirement benefits, which are premised on the basic belief that until they die they deserve to live in a style generally reserved for 18th-century monarchs. Voting will not change this because they have you thinking they outnumber you.

Some days will be better than others.  If you are lucky enough to be graduating now, you can go to college easier than most of us before you. So, why not?  “No one who has this cool of a hair cut can be unhappy,” you will tell yourself. This is wrong. I have lived through several John Travolta hair cuts and still find myself sad at times.

Let yourself be unhappy because it will tell you what needs fixing. If small towns teach you nothing, let it teach you that problems not discussed do not go away; sooner or later a team of FBI agents show up and indicts most everyone.

Don't be timid about taking the less traveled path in life and above all remember to make your own decisions; this will lesson many regrets later in life.

Before you put this stupid little town in your rear view mirror take a good look at every business in your hometown, each of which cared enough to help us make this issue possible.

Your virtually free education and the salaries of every good teacher you ever had and all the self-righteous lazy ones who hide behind tenure were made possible because of the men and women who go to work each day at those very same businesses.

Do well in life, and to quote Mr. Feeny from Boy Meets World, “Do good”.

What now Lord?

All of us, whether you are just a pretty good guy, a new Christian or a lifelong believer, battle feelings of disappointment when life goes wrong. Deep down we think, hey I pray, I am doing my best and I want to do better should give us some amazing cloak against pain.  Much like Peter in the Bible asked, as if to remind the Lord, "We have left everything to follow you." (Mark 10:28). This was his way of saying, “Why”?

If you are like me you haven't left everything, but you have made some painful sacrifices. Doesn't that count for something? Shouldn't that give us perhaps a free pass when it comes to disappointment?

You already know the answer to that. As we’re each struggling with our own private setbacks, often what appears to be the most godless people seem to be thriving. We wonder why they’re doing so well and we’re not. We fight our way through loss and disappointment and wonder what’s going on.

Asking the Right Question seems to help
After years of hurt and frustration, I finally realized that the question I should ask isn't "Why,?" but rather, "What now,?"  Seems when we find ourselves most happy we need to keep this in mind. 

Asking “What now,?” instead of “Why,?” is a hard lesson to learn. It's hard to ask the right question when you’re feeling disappointed. It's hard to ask when your heart is breaking. It's hard to ask “What now?” when your dreams have been shattered.

But your life will begin to change when you start asking, "What is the right thing to do now?" Oh sure, you’ll still feel angry or disheartened by disappointments, but you’ll also discover that you have an inner strength or higher power (God) that is eager to show you what to do when you are ready to listen.  You will soon find you are equipped to handle it.

How to handle the heartaches
In the face of trouble, our natural tendency is not to ask the right question. Our natural tendency is to complain or feel threatened. Unfortunately, griping to other people rarely helps solve our problems. Instead, it tends to drive people away. Nobody wants to hang around a person who has a self-pitying, pessimistic outlook on life. I know I don’t.

But we can't just let it go. Sometimes we need to pour our heart out to someone. Disappointment is too heavy a burden to bear. If we let disappointments pile up, they lead to discouragement. Too much discouragement leads to despair. I am certain none of us wants this for ourselves now or in the future.

I am sure God doesn’t want that for us. Afterall, doesn’t he ask us to take our heartaches to him?

He'd rather have us empty our heart to him than keep that bitterness inside. He is not offended by our discontent.

Complaining to God is wise because he's capable of doing something about it, while our friends and relatives may not be. When we speak to God he knows all the facts, you know the little details we seem to forget when complaning to a friend.  God, knows all that we know and only He has the power to change us, our situation, or both.

How to find the answer to “What now”?
When we pour out our hurt and find the courage to ask, "What is the right thing to do now," we can expect answers. I believe we all know what is right inside us and when we calmly ask, it will come to us.  Either from friends you would least expect it, a mesage in a book, a stranger who saw you were in need; all of which could be described as messages from a higher power for those of us who believe.

I believe the Bible is a good read for us anytime, when we are happy and want to remain thankful for our blessings or when we are hurting the most. They say it is the Living Word of God.  Never thought much about it until recently and I now have come to the conclusion it refers to truth and consistent guidelines for living our lives.  But what is most unique is no two of us will pick up the same thoughts when reading. It affects all of us differently and will actually mean different things to us dependent upon what is happening in our lives at the time. 

Seeking the right answer to "What now?" helps us grow in faith not only in our spiritual walk but in who we are ourselves. Through experience, we learn that there are times in life that we may be the only person in the world who is thinking or caring about us.  I remember many times in my life thinking I was alone until I asked myself what now?

But it is my belief that when we ask ourselves during a quiet sincere frame of mind what must be done now, the answer will come to us.

I struggle with my personal life as we all do but I also have challenges in my business life. As a publisher I am expected to get answers and there are a few times where corruption, greed or the sin of power has such a strong hold on men that they refuse to do what is right. 

I find myself here with the elected Trustees of South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative.  I have asked as a member to simply disclose what they are compensating themselves and hear of meeting after meeting on how to not ever disclose this simple question.  Even discussions on how to move or manipulate how they are being paid in the event someone with more authority than a small-town publisher might ask.

My friends, neighbors, and the quiet voice from within tells me to take them to court. I feel perhaps the only disappointment we may take to our graves are the ones we know we asked for and were given the answer but chose not to do.  This is not going to be a quick or cheap fix  but I am stepping out and committing to begin this process this week.  I know in my heart every reader knows these men are wrong, every member knows they are wrong, and further each of these men know they are wrong.

Why would men risk something as valuable as integrity if they had nothing to hide?

Redefining What Is Important

I am sure most everyone who is reading this column has experienced a wake up call at some point in their life. 

Whether it was a marriage, a new baby, a divorce, a firing, or a near-death experience they tend to hit us like a ton of bricks and are not easily forgotten.

Personally, what I find interesting is that implicit in the idea of a wake up call is that we have, in some sense, been asleep. What is it that we have been asleep to? When I think of wake up calls, the word that comes to mind is “priorities”. Wake up calls tend to make us stop, pull back from the runway of life, and consider exactly what it is that is important to us.

Very often we realize that we have had our priorities upside down. Perhaps we have been spending too much time at the office, too little time with our kids, or have been neglecting our health. So to answer my earlier question, it seems to me that many of us travel through life asleep to what really is important. I am not so sure why I fnd myself at peace more today than yesterday but I do and for this I feel blessed.

If you are in a slumber, or feel you are still searching for a better place perhaps my guideines may help.  Or if not, you can do like a few english teachers, a couple of self-proclaimed scientists or the dozen or so wacko liberals that seem to stalk my every word; and make fun of my thoughts.

Connect to Your Own Mortality
Ok, yes some may find it depressing to think about death, but it can actually be a great technique to improve your life. Try, for example, to imagine laying on your deathbed. What could potentially give you cause for regret? Would it be all the money you didn’t make?  Or would it be the friendships you didn’t nurture, the time you didn’t spend with your family, and the places you didn’t see?

Now, consider if the way you currently live your life will give you cause for any regrets when you do actually come to lay upon your deathbed. My friend Senator Walter Baker shared with me the feeling of not being about to change the fact that death in imminent.  Remembering that death is soon will help make the big choices in life, because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important.  These words although not exact are the words of Steve Jobs as he spoke at the Stanford University commencement.  

Write a Personal Mission Statement
Being a single father for the better part of 5 years now I will admit one of the most lonely aspects of being divorced for me was planning the future.  I remember even as a young man, sitting and planning the next 6-months, year or even 5-year strategies with my wife. Finding myself alone I chose another approach, I read Stephen Covey’s advice in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and write a personal mission statement. In short, a personal mission statement is an individual statement of who you are, what you are about and what you value. The process of writing such a statement helps to clarify your inner-most thoughts and feelings, and once finished is something you can turn to for guidance.

Have a Meaningful Conversation with an Older Person
As you grow older, you naturally acquire experience and knowledge of what is important in life.  I have no doubt any of us could do someting different if we had known what we know now 10 years ago.  But we can’t relive the past, we must live today.

A great way then to acquire the wisdom that comes with age is to seek out an older person, such as a grandparent, and have a meaningful conversation with them. I am one of those people who don’t have living grandparents.  My grandfather died when I was young and my grandmother was very knowledgable about many things but not so much in business or areas important to a man. 

I find myself listening and compiling advice from my morning friends around the breakfast table at George J’s in Glasgow, much like the friends I used to enjoy at the Farmboy in Morgantown. There is probably a 1,000 years of living within a few inches of me each morning and none of them less than 65 years old.  I am surely the baby of the group and I enjoy listening to them and when I need advice I usually break one of them out of the pack and ask for it. 

Perhaps the most loyal to me is my friend, D.T. Froedge.  I would probably still be crying over the divorce if it were not for him.  He pushs me when I need pushed and he listens when knowone else will. 

Another wise man, John Grubb, once shared with me the secret to financial success is to simply outlive your investments.  Only time can make that happen.

I have found there is not a feeling, emotion, struggle or disapointment that is unique at our breakfast table. ?The guys have seen, lived and pretty much done it all.

Be silent or meditate
Usually the problem is not that we don’t know what is important in life, but that it is forgotten as we get caught up in the everyday tasks that comprise life. One of the best methods I have found to overcome this problem is meditation. Being silent, or listening is a great way to relax both your mind and body. Such a state is ideal for gaining a better understanding of who you are and what you value.  If you are a person with faith, these quiet moments will be the highlight of your day.

Pass along the advice
As a publisher for weekly newspapers in our region I am finding more and more reason to pass along the same advice I asked for just years ago.  I jokingly say I have a doctorate in what not to do because I have done it all.  Often making mistakes comes with thinking you must respond immediately to all problems.  As age comes into play I am finding not everything needs answered right now.  As a matter of fact, somethings are better answered tomorrow. 

I do not know what the future will bring for me but I can assure you if I am on course, I will be here a few more years writing about issues I can actually make a difference in, spending more one-on-one time with my children like last weekend’s trip to Chicago with my daughter, Reagan, and let’s just say; she will surely be beautiful.

Join me in outlining a better life for ourselves, and our community by encouraging every single graduate in the next few weeks and remembering to support the local businesses who give so much to improve the quality of life here in South Central Kentucky.
Together we grow!

What is political correctness?  Do we care?

What is political correctness, where did it come from, and why is it so influential in our country? It is the object of widespread ridicule, usually a very powerful weapon, so why doesn't it go away?

I used to think it was a simple matter of conformism, but there is a lot more to it than that. Political correctness is also sometimes regarded as synonymous with ``left-wing' politics, but I think it is a tool rather than a specific set of political positions, and it appears in apolitical contexts also.

Consider, for example, over the years I have gotten letters to the editor or a personal private note (from cowards) who say I am a bad man for publishing picture in the newspaper of children riding bicycles without helmets, of dead snakes, the first deer for children or photos of homes burning with someone inside. These letters criticize me for publishing the pictures. We may be justified in criticizing hazardous or reckless behavior, even those who disagree with our choices of hunting but why should a newspaper suppress the fact that people act that way?

Last week I had a lapse in my judgement and felt a little bit of political correctness judgement myself. I read another newspaper depicting how great our local sheriff is because he adopted children and this by itself would not be a problem.  Chris Eaton has every indication of being a good father and all around good family guy. 

But what the idiots who wrote the story did not understand it that because they called for his resignation a few days earlier that the community would turn on Chris because of this.  I don’t think Chris Eaton went down there and said; do a story on me saying I am a good guy.  This is where it is essential for a newspaper to understand political correctness because we can hurt people if we are not careful. 

Often I caution writers of letters or stories some want because I know it may hurt someone who wants to do good by it.  A few years ago, a pastor wanted to run a letter to the editor in support of the moist vote.  I said, I will run if you want but consider this; if I run this you may no longer be a pastor.  I asked him to pray on it over the weekend, and ask himself if he could do more as an employed pastor or one looking for a church.
 
A calloused or un-caring publisher might say, why should the public be denied the facts or opinions on a matter of wide interest? The reason for my reaction was that I was afraid the articles would hurt my friend.  So instead I took on the fight myself and when another pastor came in to submit a letter on the terrible sins of alcohol; and try to pressure me to take a stand against it. I said I would if he submitted to me what his church was doing with the money they collected each Sunday, detailed his pay and promised to put the next million into this community instead of building another multi-million dollar building.

If you are an avid reader of my article you know neither came back.  I honestly believe I kept the playing field balanced.  This is how I see my job, helping balance the what is write and wrong in a community and political correctness is a big tool in making it happen.

It is my belief you can not be a good man and knowingly deprive your neighbor of something they deserve especially if you have sworn to serve them. This is why I?continue to stand against un-ethical leaders such as those now choosing to represent and serve the board of Trustees for SCRTC.  These men are blatant examples of power and corruption.  They manipulate the bylaws, and the employees of the past, present and future to provide themselves  with life-time compensation packages sure to place an unnecessary burden on not only the company they were elected to protect but themselves for eternity.  

Together we grow!

Can this council walk the walk?

Once again the discussion of salary has made its way to the Morgantown City Council. We now sit and watch to see if this council can walk the walk.

It has been the better part of three decades of heated contention and still Morgantown voters must waite on elected officials to do what we all know is wanted.

Voters of Morgantown have voted and voted in hopes of finding city leaders who will put the integrity of the office above the amount of money being paid to hold that office.

What I write tonight is not about whether I liked or disliked former Mayor Eva Hawes, former Judge Executive Hugh Evans, or those in office at this time. It is about doing what the people who elect them want.

Without a doubt the voters of Morgantown want salaries set at a fair rate in accordance with all other 5th class cities. Morgantown is paying for a full-time mayor and 6 council members more than double what is being paid
as a state average.

Mayor Hawes and as far back as Mayor Charles Black stacked their city council decks with “Yes Men” or “Raylettes” who would vote time and time again for pay increases or attempts to keep this subject off the table in open meetings. I am amazed at how any man or woman can allow a few dollars to rob them of their integrity.

This past week the city council began what I believe could actually be the end of so much contention and it is amazing to watch as it unfolds.  When it comes to compensation of oneself it gets a bit touchy and this council has the potential to go down in the history as men and women who fixed a terrible crime against the tax payers of Morgantown, Kentucky.

Yet what could be misunderstood as community interest on the subject; only 5 individuals showed up at the Eva J. Hawes Agriculture and Community Center located conveniently inside the beautiful Charles T. Black City Park.

Among the 5 in attendance were former Mayor Eva Hawes, a woman who I personally called 3 times reminding her of the fact that she ran against Mayor Black making it known she would address this issue. The first 2 times she lead me to believe it was going to happen and not until I reminded her of the deadline did she say she wasn't going to address it and began her smear campaign against me.

Former Judge Executive Hugh Evans who Hawes indicated was going to run against her if she did not appoint him to the highest paid board position; along with Ray West and Roger Gaskey who fell from political grace because of among other things their decision to ignore the public outcry for justice in this single area.

This is not at all about the work this council is doing or the mayor in office at this time. I honestly think this one is doing as a good job as I have ever witnessed for Morgantown. Yet, I have made it known to this mayor as I did the former that this is a very important issue; voters are watching to make sure she keeps her word. Every one of them except for one who felt he deserved the pay and another who refused to discuss the issue until the time comes up made it known they were running for office with this issue as a top priority.

I am not at all discouraged by a small attendance because Morgantown knows they have elected officials who are supposed to do what is right and a newspaper not at all timid about reporting to you whether it is done or not.

I am hopeful we can put this behind us once and for all and continue working together to move Morgantown forward.

Costs of lawsuits to taxpayers - and more!
Good managment would save us millions

Public agencies such as cities, counties, and schools are often perceived to have deep pockets and because of this they are prone to frivolous lawsuits. 

I say frivolous not as an opinion on any of the ongoing cases we are covering at this time, just as an attempt to describe what it means to us taxpayers.  Heck in the past 12 months alone our company has covered, sexual abuses, wrongful termination, age and sex discrimination, abuses of power, and a very costly fact of having government agencies suing other government agencies.

When a government agency takes another government agency to court the costs are literally doubled.  Tax dollars pay for prosecution as well as to defend the same case. 

Litigation costs are unpredictable and very difficult to plan for, because how in the world can you budget your next sexual discrimination case?

But more times than not the final result for such cases comes right down to some simple basic management decisions gone bad.  Most these type decisions would never have survived in the business world. Quite simply because those of us who grew up on the business side of the isle know it is wrong to use our office, position or influence for personal gain in anyway.

Oh my gosh, what manager out here doesn’t know you can’t hire a relative to work for you?  What one among us would not realize we are putting our career in jeopardy to have a sexual relationship with a subordinate?  Is there a manager in America who doesn’t know you can not refuse to hire a person because of their age, sexual preference or race?

In the world of business such things are known to not be tolerated and this is why it doesn’t happen quite as much as it does in the world of government.

Whether it is the threat of lawsuit that removes teachers from one spot for such things to only make a spot for them elsewhere or the elected official who thinks they are above the law because it has been done forever elsewhere.  Bad managers are hurting us terribly.

This is what disturbed me most about the Greg Stumbo and Ernie Fletcher fight.  Hiring Republicans by a Republican was charged, when we all know you need not apply for a road job if you don’t have a D beside your name on a registration form.  If we are going to fix problems lets fix them.

How can we get upset with a jailer for having sex with a couple ole gals when our President and Governor did it just a year or so prior, right?  Wrong!  It is wrong and they know it, we know it and it should be stopped.

I am not sure whether there is a real problem at the Barren County jail or an extremely well-planned effort to discredit Matt Mutter but I feel some tax dollars are getting ready to fly away once again for something that a good manager could have handled with a quick reprimand, or termination months ago instead of trying to keep things quiet.

All our counties have their share of political drama, whether it is buying votes in Monroe, sexual mis-conduct in Barren, sexual-discrimination in Butler, or just any of the constant rumors of coverup and drama inside our schools, not handling problems quickly only costs all of us more in the end. 

If it is wrong for our Hart and Barren County PVA’s to hire relatives should it not be wrong for all elected officials?  I am asking readers to take a good look at your city and county government, and throw me a note in confidence on examples you know to be equally wrong.

We can’t help that Bill Clinton was allowed to redefine what sexual relations was but if we work together we can surely get the point across that here in our region we will not tolerate any subordinate being hurt or tax dollars wasted because of poor management. 

Good can come from tax increases

We can unite in getting rid of those who voted for them

One of the most humorous examples of misguided newspapering comes when an out-of-town newspaper reporter bases a story on a few conversations instead of knowing the facts that come from living in a community.

This was done a few weeks ago by the 6-day Glasgow city newspaper.

They referenced an example of an “Ambulance Tax” that had passed a few years earlier in Butler County, Kentucky. The story was all true, comments were made by people I know and I believe them to be honest. I know this because this county is where my company began and home to me and my family prior to buying the Aubry Wilson newspapers and moving to Glasgow.

But with every story written by an outsider there is risk of not getting the entire picture and this is where I hope to help those who might have read it and felt all went well after the tax increase there.

Much like the Judge-Executive and magistrates at the time in Butler County, President Obama has unveiled his budget for 2013 and his message was clear: higher taxes are in play.

The only difference between the Ambulance tax in Morgantown and what the President is asking for at this time is how it is being sold. As with most any tax it is impossible to isolate the affect on any of us. To say anything less is a spin or more to the point ignorance of how our free society works or at best deception.

Obama wants to put another tax on the rich – nearly 1.5 trillion dollars higher. Obama says he hopes this plan will ultimately lead to deficit reductions over the next 10 years, but increasing taxes is not a long-term solution to our economic woes. Instead, we need to focus on reducing spending, which is more likely to yield a stronger and more sustainable economy.

I am not surprised at all by the President's budget proposal; it plays to the tune of his party's rhetoric perfectly. That is, the plan implies that the wealthier part of the country should shoulder even more of the financial burden. However, little is ever reported on the facts. The upper 1 percent of the population (in terms of yearly income) pay on average 24.01 percent in taxes per year, compared to the bottom 50 percent, who pay just 1.85 percent on average.

Much like the Metcalfe-Barren Ambulance worker who called me to slam me for writing against a tax increase who couldn’t understand that if all property owners were to pay a higher tax, then rents, and costs associated with owning a building would go up. He was simply stuck on what it could mean to him if the service was transfered to a hospital. His words were along the lines of, “I will lose my hazardous duty pay because hospitals don’t pay this.” I asked what types of hazards he might encounter in his work and he said, we often are asked to lift 300lb. people. I suggested perhaps hospitals would offer you training like they do the 120lb. nurses who do such things. His next point was that he took a job with the Metcalfe-Barren County Ambulance service knowing the pay was less than he could have gotten if he had worked elsewhere. I had heard this before and believed it myself about the service in Butler County. Until one of their own brought a little thing called overtime to my attention. At that time, they paid the ambulance employees a smaller salary as well, lets say $25,000 annually but those same fellas also were blessed with a schedule that permitted them to work a couple days around the clock giving them most of the week off yet a guaranteed $16,000 in overtime pay. Ultimately, they got OT?for sleeping in some cases. When I asked this recent caller if he got overtime every week he was a bit hesitant to detail for me but I soon felt it was much the same schedule.

I never set out in life to write about such things, I don’t like it when someone attacks me for my opinions but I like it even less to find myself in conversation with a person who thinks of himself and no other.

What pushed me to do this story in Butler County came because I witnessed a restaurant owner being extorted. Kathy from Kathy’s Hillside Buffet was told by a prominate ambulance employee that if she didn’t give him and his staff a 50% discount they would not come back and would make sure other first responders knew about it.

I watched as she cried because she was having a difficult time making the restaurant pay it’s way and this conversation hurt her very much.

Not long after, I wrote an opinion, one of my first, saying not only should government employees pay the full amount but they should tip very well. After-all Kathy and all tax payers were helping pay their salaries.

Bad management and out of control self-ritious individuals with an entitlement mentality is as much a problem in our local departments with their $600,000 deficites as it is in our US government that boasts of $12 trillion.

I have written before, if you wish to ask for more taxes prove to your friends and families who elected you that you are managing the dollars you have already effectively.

But if there is a good thing that comes from tax increases it is that more times than not, voters step up and replace those who put in the last one. If the US Congress allows this tax increase to go into place we will get a new one. This was true for Butler County as well, voters replaced 4 of the 5 magistrates who supported the Ambulance Tax and Judge Fields has lost respect and supporters for allowing such a thing to happen on his watch.

Now you too know the rest of that story. Thanks for making us your local news source.

Kentucky/public education and accountability

Last week Metcalfe County Schools Superintendent Patricia Hurt had a full personnel review published in our newspaper.  I am pleased that our EHI editor Shirley Mayrand stayed for the conclusion of the meeting and was provided with the details.  However, I have no desire to reprint the statements found in the review as we have already provided citizens in the community in which it matters, Metcalfe County full disclosure.  This is our job whether I agree with it or not.

What I want to address is the crazy struggle now in place for this community.  It appears there are a few new school board members (3) who are not happy with Ms. Hurt’s performance, yet I am not sure they have a clue to the overwhelming odds of them doing a dang thing about it.

You see accountability in our public schools is a joke.  This is because the union mentality that runs 100% of all aspects of our education here in Kentucky has made it this way.  Now, before the union crybabies start yelling at me, I know Superintendents are not in unions. But they too have a powerful lobbying group, the same thing.

For the longest time, an overwhelming majority of teachers have rallied around the collectively bargained union flag, supported by union leaders that see their members more as steelworkers than the college-educated professionals I believe they could be.

They seem to want it both ways, but it can not happen.  This is true for Superintendents as well.  They have contracts and this is true for Ms. Hurt.  She will legally be required to continue on and shouldn’t lose a nights sleep.  I believe there was a time for movement against Ms. Hurt back a few years ago when the state threatened to step in, however most often when things are hitting the fan if falls on management to fix it.

I for one don’t like that she put a tax increase on one of the more financially burdened communities in SCKY and turned around and gave bonuses at the same time, but I said it then and have now moved on.

I would hope the community would remember the board members who voted for such things and remove them from ever doing it again.  Ms. Hurt like any manager wants a bigger budget to operate on but she also learned a valuable lesson.  You can’t buy loyalty with bonuses.  Dignity for teachers will come when they begin to realize their calling and demand to be treated as the professionals they are and break the chains from the unions who control them.

But in the meantime if they are un-happy with Ms. Hurt I would suggest finding her a nice office at central office like they have done for poor performing principals and teachers for years.  She would probably ride out her contract as long as she doesn’t lose any square footage for office space, has a nice parking spot and promises not to ever say anything to the media... 

A simple political conscience

In 2005, our Kentucky legislature made changes to their own retirement plans and for many of their fellow political types. It is so dirty I have a difficult time holding a conversation with any of them and not hearing my stomach turn.

Guess what they get to do?  They can add up to $17,000 a year in expenses to their salaries to artificially increase their retirement benefits.   Wouldn’t this be great for all of us?  Get to include a bunch of expenses to increase our base thus allowing us to retire with more money each year until the day we die.  But you know what?  If we did it, we would find ourselves in jail.  Much like if we didn’t pay taxes or lied on our time cards showing we worked enough hours to get full-time benefits when in reality we didn’t.

The problem is the biggest scammers in our system today are those we elect to serve us.  Much like the ‘ole boys at South Central Rural Telephone Cooperative; they won’t even disclose their compensation or perks and our legislators are as quiet as church mice when it comes to their own pockets.

How in the world can the “Trustees” of SCRTC continue to betray their members by such blatant abuses in power by paying themselves fees, retirements, insurances, and expenses estimated in the neighborhood of $65,000 annually simply for a monthly meeting?

Much like the fact that Kentucky is broke and as if the retirement manipulation for legislators is not bad enough they sweetened the pot even more in their favor for any of them who can slip into a full-time spot.  This will explain the mass exodus of legislators over the past few years.  Every single one of them, Republican and Democrats alike who took a job as industrial recruiters, appointed government department heads or make runs for full-time state level positions are positioning themselves for a full-time retirement with only a few years of full-time service.

I’ve been asked to explain again so let’s take Mr. Greg Stumbo who served as Attorney General and was paid $110,346 annually for those duties. His retirement will be $110,346 because of those higher earning years instead of his typical $66,000 salary plus expense years. Are we Kentuckian tax payers nice or what?  Think about it. If your average yearly earnings during your career were $50,000, but somehow you landed a job that paid $125,000 for three years, your retirement would be $125,000 per year. I no longer wonder why Kentucky is broke and in debt by $41 billion dollars. The enablers of our debt are our very own politicians.

I read the Facebook crap they post talking about how hard they are working to cut expenses and pretend to be victims in this process, when in fact they are indeed the villains.

There was a bill introduced to address this situation with legislative retirements but it never even got a hearing; sadly our Republican controlled Senate allowed Democrat State Senator Dennis Parrett to fight for the bill on his own and it never saw daylight.  While you read dozens on both sides of the isle are quickly stepping into retirements by beginning the process of finding a 3-year full-time job. 

I have repeatedly asked for SCRTC Board Attorney Bobby Richardson, and Trustees Charles Knight, Jerry Polson, Charles L. Stinson, Joel Dixon, Ralph Thompson, Stanley Greer, and Zack Kender to do what is right and share their compensation to the owners of the company in which they work.  I have asked every single one of our regional legislators to be noble and file or support legislation to fix the corrupt retirement schemes in place at this time.  Neither group seems to care.

Instead, I found SCRTC changed bylaws removing a safeguard for members to secure a spot at the election table and not a single bill has been filed so far in the 2012 session.

Remember, these are the dedicated public-servants who publicly proclaim that they received a calling to serve their communities.  I urge you to help them by calling SCRTC and both the House of Representatives and State Senate offices and inform we want this fixed.

My grandfather said to me when I was a young man, “Son, you can not be a nice guy and not pay your bills.”  These men are not paying their bills;  however, as a man with faith, I pray they change.  Would it not be grand to witness such a change to their children, neighbors and their God a desire to honor the positions they hold?
Together we grow!

Still looking for a few good candidates...

I have never in my life witnessed such a self Serving bunch of politicians than what we have in office at this very moment.

But rather than take my usual approach of pointing out disagreements I am going to ask you to help me seek out new candidates or encourage those in office to put the masses before themselves and lead by example.

Each year our legislators are given the challenge to offer input in preparing a balanced budget for our great commonwealth. Whether it is to cut spending or raise taxes these few weeks of service can affect all of us so very much.

I am comfortable in believing a large majority of us know without a doubt our families and businesses cannot afford anymore tax burdens.

So the only means to balance the tremendous deficits facing Kentucky is to cut spending.

I am seeking Senate and House candidates like Representative C.B. Embry and former

Representative James Comer who voted against the un-ethical pension and retirements in place for our legislators. How can anyone with good conscience vote to remove a single dime from educating our children, from the hard-working hourly employees in city, county or state government or eliminate a service to those in most need and continue taking such costly un-earned perks.

NOW is the time for them to lead by example and step up and help the friends and neighbors who elected them. So I urge those seeking office to commit to fix this problem instead of continuing to allow the betrayal of the double dippers, and office jockies who voted this into place in2005 and refuse to address it knowing Kentucky is already facing a $31billion deficit.

 

1-24-12

Still time for Statemen to file

Is there not a statesman left in our state government, or has the never ending influences of special interests and party organizations ground it right out of our political system all together?

For decades most adults with the ability to seek answers to questions important to them have known that once someone is elected, they go to Frankfort and/or Washington and vote loyal to the party they serve.
Most remember some of the more heated topics in our state such as same-sex marriages, abortion, gun control, casino gambling and taxes. Now notice I have not said how either party will vote, but I already have those involved in politics upset with me before I even finish this thought. Why would simply opening the conversation on any issue upset anyone? This idea amazes me.

I believe now is the time for us to seek out challenging candidates to run as “Statesmen” instead of “Politicians”. My definition of a “Statesman” is a person who understands the values and needs of the community and the responsibility for the office they hold. This person will understand the needs of the majority and use his or her influence to introduce, expose and promote the passage of legislation to address these issues. But most importantly this person will not sway on issues they know will hurt the majority.
Without a doubt this legislative session will have as much of a burden than any before it and the single most driving force as to why, lies in the fact that none before it addressed the real issues. The most mind boggling issues facing our state government is nothing new; it has destroyed numerous states before us but yet
our “Politicians” refuse to address them.

There is an estimated $31 Billion shortfall in future obligations for state pensions and retirements. Simply put, this means that sooner or later pensions and retirements for the city, county and state workers who devoted their lives to services for us will come to an end.  Yet those in office today refuse to address it and the reason is self serving.

The most corrupt legislation in our lifetime was introduced in 2005 with legislators enhancing their own retirements. This legislation was all about “Politicians” taking care of “Politicians”. Until then we had become accustomed to Democrats taking care of Democrats and Republicans taking care of Republicans. Just look at the voter registration for any of our county road departments or the list of names hired by former Governor Ernie Fletcher if you want to see abuses in political power. We have counties in our region with 86% Republican voter registration and 86% Democrats working to repair roads in the same county. And who among us can forget the mis-demeanor levied for Governor Ernie Fletcher by Attorney General Greg Stumbo alleging the same type issues?

The 2005 legislation is so dirty because it allows part-time legislators to base their retirements for the entire time in office off the 4 highest years. This will allow a one-term Governor, Attorney General or any cabinet appointee coming from either of the part-time House of Representatives or State Senate to have a retirement reserved for full-time government employees even though they may have only been full-time for 4 years. Greg Stumbo is expected to have a retirement in excess of $100,000 annually and only worked full-time for one-term as Attorney General; if Senator David Williams had been elected to Governor he could have expected a comparable retirement as well.

When you throw in the fact that all state and county part-time politicians are given full-time retirements and full-time benefits while those in the same communities who work for the road department or other branches of government must quantify every single hour worked, how can these people sleep at night? It is so terribly wrong!

The filing deadline is approaching and if we do not have "Statesmen" file it is very likely we will not have representation strong enough to step away from the "Political" machines to address the estimated budget shortfall of $300-$400 million, the mentioned $31 billion shortfall in future retirement obligations and don't even think about anyone wanting to discuss allowing women considering an abortion the opportunity to see an ultra-sound. These issues although would serve the majority have very strong minority's who control both our parties; the Democrats or Republican in office will not do it.

Together we grow!

 1-17-12

We all know life is short...

...so mean what you say and say what you mean!

The Christmas season has come and gone and as we have done for years we travelled to Greenup County for both holidays.

It seems the reason I go now is a bit different than what motivated me as a young man.  As a father who has children approaching the busy lifestyles of teenagers and young adults;
I am selfish with my trips to mothers. I want to witness to my children a son that routinely visits his mother on holidays. I even say, “We must go to moms because children must visit their
parents.” I want them to always come see me and if it takes a little guilt to make it happen, I am all in!

Not long into the visit with my mother she usually announces the name of her friends who have died. After years of arguments about why I don't remember this person I have now come
to the realization it is best I just say, “Yes, I remember her, she was a very nice lady.”

Death never means much to us when we are young, we don't have so many friends pass and our relatives are usually with until we are adults. But it seems as we grow older and care
for more people we are forced to deal with it more than we would like.

Over the past few months I have had several good friends lose loved ones and I have lost friends as well. I find myself at a loss for words and it is a terrible feeling to want to help
a friend who is hurting and not know what to do.

I am overwhelmed at how quickly life can be snatched from us. If there is anything of any value in this column today; I think it might be to encourage you - “To Stop And Appreciate Life
Today.” Speak out on how you feel and step up to show it.

For my friends who are hurting this evening I hope they know they are in my prayers. I believe people can tell you care and this is good but from experience there is no better feeling
than to know you had the opportunity to share it with them before they passed.

A friends parent passed not long ago and although I never had the opportunity to know them better I would have liked to; but in the case of two men who died this week, I am fortunate
because I knew them well.

Morgantown, Kentucky will always be a special place for me and my children. It is where we purchased our first newspaper and it is the birthplace for my daughters.

Mayor Charles Black passed away yesterday and he is as much a part of who I am as a publisher as anyone in the world. It is easy to do my work when challenged by arrogance and
greed. Yet, it is a burden to write about people you know and even more so for people you like. I liked Mr. Black and he knew it and sometimes I feel he used it against me.

I visited him 2 times in the past few months and on my first visit I asked, do you remember me Mayor and he said, “How the hell could I forget you.” He had a big smile and we both
laughed and spoke of nothing but good things about Morgantown. My last visit found him appearing very tired and not at all up to a chat, so I sat a few moments and watched as he went to
sleep. This is the last time I saw him.

The other is Garnet Vance, he inspired me to make my company better. We always spoke of ideas to promote the good of Barren County and our businesses. He believed in my company
and I believed in his.

In our last conversation he said. “Jeff, we need to take a day every so often and just grab lunch.” Although I called 3 times in the past 2 weeks and we wanted to make it happen, both
of us were too busy doing what we loved, making our businesses better.

We all have regrets but none will burden you more than not sharing how you felt about a friend who is taken from you without notice.
So, step up and step out on how you feel!

Louis Gatewood Galbraith

Louis Gatewood Galbraith was a well-known Lexington lawyer and a candidate for Kentucky Governor. He was born in Carlisle, Kentucky to Henry Clay and Dollie Galbraith and was the fourth of seven children. He was a self-proclaimed "Divorced man with three beautiful daughters." He spoke often of being born in a small town (Carlisle, Ky. pop. 1520) and living there until we moved to Lexington at 12, where he attended Lexington Catholic and graduated from Lafayette High School in 1965. He joined the Marines in 1966 for a short period of time but had an asthma attack on Parris Island and received an Honorable Discharge. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1977 and earned a law degree from University of Kentucky College of Law.

Galbraith is best known as a repeat candidate for Kentucky Governor, with a most recent run in 2011. He ran as an Independent and was often discredited by his critics because of his views in favor of the legalization of cannibas. However, what you didn't read in columns or articles pontificating his chances for election was his bold honest discussions of our state's problems.

It is only a matter of time before Kentucky legislators will be forced to discuss these problems. Galbraith and a short list of others were so bold to publicly challenge our growing pensions, out of control entitlements, "double-dipping" and bloated government with so much honesty and sincere concern. Only God and time will tell if those in office at this time will ever be so bold, or if like Galbraith said, " It will take electing people independent of the system and our political parties."

Who would have ever thought debate on legalizing gambling would be more main stream than the same discussion on the legalization of marijuana? At least with the second, it would have a much better chance of keeping some of the money here in Kentucky instead of moving it to Las Vegas.

Gatewood Galbraith died on January 3, 2012 at the age of 64.

Buying local is very important

Did you know that by shifting 10% of your annual spending to locally owned businesses, you can contribute to the creation of over 500 additional jobs in our region?

Please Note: it's only a 10% shift, not an increase, in spending which has positive effects on our community. This might mean something as simple as relocating the Starbucks portion of your daily budget over to a local coffee shop, so you still get your caffeine fix while helping a local business owner keep their doors open.

Doing business locally means building relationships.  My grandfather said to me; “Son, remember to dance with the girl who brought you.” By this he meant don't forget to do business with people who do business with you.  Back when I made every single sales call for our newspaper I can promise you there was not a single store running advertisements with us that I did not do business with as well.

How many of us have someone open our bills and have no idea who fixes our heating and air conditioning problems, or where we buy our gasoline? Business owners and managers know who does business with them but many have no idea who they do business with... this is our problem.

We will encourage the community to buy our products but then on Friday night jump in our cars purchased from out of town car dealers, drive out of town for dinner and enjoy a movie at an out-of-town theatre.

There is nothing more important to our community than sharing business. All of us must commit to going through all accounts payable each month and require our employees or ourselves to make sure each expense can not be done locally.

Now, get ready for some grumbling from employees because they will say, “I can get it cheaper there.” This may have been true a few years ago but today with fuel charges, shipping fees and the like; most all companies can meet or beat out-of-town suppliers and do it while knowing you did business with them.

As an owner of a locally owned newspaper and printing company I give you my word that our company as most those of my friends will do all they can to beat quality, service and pricing of any competitor.

Give your fellow business owner the opportunity to earn your business and help create or save jobs right here at home.

Together we grow!

Unanswered questions and future news

With the hint of Christmas and hope for new beginnings still in the air I am a bit timid about throwing out my usual styled commentary.  However, I can assure you with a January 31 filing deadline approaching for several elections I will find a few thoughts to share.

In an economy where families and every single business is watching pennies we need elected officials doing the same. This is the motivation for anger I often hear from readers who call to show discomfort with officials who put themselves or their causes above what is best for us all.

How can any self-respecting elected official vote to hide their compensation or mis-represent their pay from those who elected them? This story broke in 2011 with JPI being the only media source to disclose South Central Rural Telephone Cooperatives Board of Directors and their attorney's choice to fight to keep
compensation records hidden from the general membership and actual owners of the cooperative.
None of us know what 2012 will bring but I can not imagine such a blatant abuse of power being unchanged for another 12- months. There is sure more to be written on this story.

In a climate where most business owners and caring managers felt saddened because they could not give employees year-end bonuses; the elected members of the Metcalfe County School Board passed along a tax to these same people while giving bonuses of 1% to all full-time certified and classified employees.
They indicate the reason for the bonus was to show appreciation and as a means for retention. Superintendent Patricia Hurt said the bonus was probably long overdue but you have to work yourself into a position to be able to give some incentives and perks.

As the newspaper of record for Metcalfe County I invite Superintendent Hurt and/or her Financial Director Lauri Perkins to share with readers exactly how“They worked themselves into the position” to provide these bonuses. I would like to share with tax payers of Metcalfe
County that the $101,000 in bonuses passed out didn' t come from the recent tax increase property owners just paid. Our community is hurting and we need help.

Bonuses for those excelling are wonderful, and retention incentives to keep good teachers are warranted but the across the board bonuses and raises for such causes miss the mark. Often those deserving more are given less because some who deserve less are given the same. A retention program would be good except in most our communities any posted position could have hundreds of applicants.  Every single teacher on payroll should be thankful for the job and do it to the best of their ability.

With the offices of State Senator, House of Representative, Commonwealth Attorney, Circuit Court Clerk, city council members, several school board positions, and even a couple quietly held (highly paid) cooperative elections on the docket for 2012 you can be assured our pages will soon be filled.

Yet, balance is so very important in our work and with each issue you will find positive examples of coverage for our communities.

We reported it when the current Glasgow City Council chose to remove health care from their compensation packages that an earlier one put into place without a vote. You read it on our pages when Glasgow's Mayor Rhonda Trautmantook office and found thousands of savings for tax payers. But you will surely only read it in the Progress about how a reduction from 12 council spots to 6 is still needed.

We reported on how Morgantown City Council and Mayor Linda Keown responded to community concerns and began to fix sidewalks.  We will soon share with all our communities how they did it and saved thousands
while not taking a single dime of grant money and keeping all work local. Yet, we will be the only media to remind voters of other promises not kept if they forget to set a fair pay for the offices they hold. Without a doubt this 5th class city does not require a full-time, heavy salaried Mayor with full-benefits.

I pray for a good year for all of our families and businesses in South Central Kentucky. It is my pleasure to serve you and I take pride in partnering with you for your news, advertising and printing needs. Together we grow!

Businesses make community possible

It seems impossible that Christmas is here already. The time is flying by faster and faster.  We have covered Christmas parades in 8 communities and typed more than 5,200 Santa letters and being busy makes time go by even quicker.

Needless to say the Christmas holiday is among our most busy time of years here at the newspaper. But like other small businesses being busy is indeed a blessing.

None of us know what next year will bring and it is easy to allow ourselves to dwell on it and worry. Yet, I am writing today to remind you to slow down and enjoy what is left of 2011 and this Christmas season.

Our final issue of the year is probably not going to be our most professionally packaged, best written, or most controversial or life changing issue; however, it will certainly be the most read of all in 2011.

The clear to the point reason is because it is 100% about us, our families and the businesses who care about making Butler County a better place to provide and raise our families.

I am so thankful to be surrounded by strong families who support and appreciate our work in providing our news and printing services.  I believe in today’s economy more than any in my life business is about community and associations.

Being the leader in local news and the only provider who will stand beside you in a time of need has blessed us in so many ways.

This issue is all about hometown. From the Santa letters published free for every Kindergarten through 3rd grade student to the businesses and family who share a sincere wish of Merry Christmas, it is all about Butler County.  Please take the time to support the businesses inside this issue. If you are a mom, dad, grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle or teacher of any of the wonderful Santa letter writers in this issue, take a moment and say thanks to the businesses who care about Butler County. Not all but several of them actually say Merry Christmas in an advertisement and this helps us provide the space needed to print every single letter submitted. Enjoy and rejoice!

A political pledge to all our families

Today Republican presidential candidates are being asked to sign pledges - not to raise taxes, to oppose abortion, and ect..  This is done as a means to get open support from large pockets of voters who are passionate about these issues.  The latest pledge making itself around some circles entails promising to be loyal to marriage.

I can understand the motivation of voters to want such pledges because it seems most politicians do their best to smile, wave and commit to nothing.

I was advised not to discuss so many issues when I ran for Senate.  Senator Richie Sanders said something along the lines of, “Jeff, most people will agree with you on all issues, however, the more you talk the more likely you will find something they don’t.”  To me this explained why he said very little.

Any politician in this economic climate to pledge not to raise taxes will cross lines and get support from both Democrats and Republicans.  However, the new pledge may isolate a large portion of voters who feel they did all they could to save their marriage.

I grew up in a home with a divorced mother who raised 3 children on her own and today I share custody of my own three kids.

When I was a child being from a divorced family was more along the line of feeling like you didn’t have a father.  It was lonely not having a dad at ball-games, church events and end-of-year banquets.  It seems a higher percentage of divorced dads (and sometime moms) back then seemed to lack the skill-set needed to endure the discomfort of sharing children. 

My mother has said many times, it was difficult raising three children on her own but she thanks God she never had to go to sleep at night with her children not at home with her.

Fast forward 35 years and it seems the courts have done a much better job of helping moms and dads share the financial responsibility and this is a blessing for children today with divorced parents.  Yet, the courts have yet to balance the scale for parents in sharing time with those same kids.

When I was running for office 4-years ago I would have happily signed a pledge to marriage and family.  As a matter of fact, even though divorced, I still feel I would be honoring that pledge because I?continue to do all I can for my family.

I understand the passion behind such movements, we need leaders who can honor commitments.  If they can’t honor their own families  how can they do it for ours?

Yet, I think with almost 40% of American families having children being raised in homes without both biological parents a pledge to marriage may be one of those kind of issues Senator Sanders referenced.  The majority would agree with it but it is sure to pick up some who don’t.  Yet, I believe it is an important issue so something needs to be said.

How about this?  A pledge that states - “No matter what happens I will forever fight to honor my family and your taxes in a manner to provide and share fairly to all concerned.” 
I know I couldn’t ask for anything more...

Our region fairing better than others in state

Being thankful for living in America

Ask any immigrants from China, Haiti, Syria, and other parts of the world what their experiences are with the law and know without a doubt if it is un-checked we will see the same.

Equality. For most of history people were firmly assigned to a particular status -- clergy, nobility, and peasants. Kings and lords and serfs. If your father was a noble or a peasant, then so are you. The American Revolution swept away such distinctions. In America all men have the same opportunity to change their destiny; for good or bad.

Equality for women. Throughout much of history women were the property of their fathers or their husbands. They were often barred from owning property, testifying in court, signing contracts, or participating in government. Equality for women took longer than equality for men, but today in America and other civilized parts of the world women have the same legal rights as men.

Self-government. The Declaration of Independence proclaims that "governments are instituted" to secure the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and that those governments "derive their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Today it is clear that in civilized countries governments stand or fall on popular consent.  in time the will of the people will be heard.

Property and contract. We owe our unprecedented standard of living to the capitalist freedoms of private property and free markets. When people are able to own property and make contracts, they create wealth. Free markets and the legal institutions to enforce contracts make possible vast economic undertakings--from the design and construction of airplanes to worldwide computer networks and ATM systems. But to appreciate the benefits of free markets, we don't have to marvel at skyscrapers or using our ipad. We can just give thanks for enough food to live on, heat in the winter and coolness in the summer.

The same friend who seemed impressed with my honesty in answering what us American’s may be taking for granted shared with me a story of a Kenyan boy who risked his life to get to the United States. He said, “America is heaven.”  Comparing us to countries without freedom of speech and religion, law, equality and the right to prosper; I can only agree. 

Here is a wish of happiness and safety for all our families as we enjoy a day in which we can all be thankful we live in America.

Veterans Day - A reminder to remember

Sidewalks and salaries

Big contributors don’t want fairness they want assurances

Could this be a wake-up call for fair or timid Republicans?

Control what you can...

and choosing to make a difference

Adventure at home...

No comment!

Do voters really care...
about deficits; or privileges for few?

James Comer voted right on legislative retirements

Walker says Williams’ plan parallels his own
So why can’t he rally the troops?

WOW! What a wonderful feeling to be appreciated

Can Williams do what Walker did?

“Reform movement” begins at home

Refuse to look the other way

A cloque of secrecy and dagger of lies

The haves –vs the have nots

They just don’t get it

Let the sunshine in

MORE OF THE SAME
Just too much to ponder

The wait is like war

Clearing up some rumors

Eliminating magistrates is good

Intervention is so often needed

Breaking news and video expands local newspaper boundaries
“jpinews.com shares our community with the world”

Barren County Magistrates begin discussions of reducing their personal expenses

The fear of entitlement cuts are pushing more to retire and increasing burden

Metcalfe and Butler offering team approach

An educational challenge

The political storm has now calmed

Standing behind those who stand up

Pottersville or Bedford Falls?

A few days ago I witnessed as another group of newly elected hopefuls were sworn into their new offices.

Being Thankful; beyond the turkey

Kill all the lawyers and a few bad apples

Integrity and loyal

Ruling class destroying working class

Gossip site has no place in news