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Do officers on-campus keep our children safer?
SROs do not prevent crime, increase student misconduct, exclusivity Kentucky schools are required to hire and train enough school resource officers (SROs) needed to place one at every school by Aug. 1 as a result of an amendment to the School Safety and Resiliency Act made during the state Legislature’s 2022 session. While having an…
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Always leave them with hope
Many years ago, I was in the audience when the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the legendary civil rights activist and election mobilizer, gave a speech. He often used the catchphrase, “Keep hope alive!” when he spoke, and he did so that time. The audience picked it up as a chant. “Keep hope alive!” they called. “Keep…
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Kentuckians seem convinced that COVID is over, but they’re wrong
BY KEVIN KAVANAGH This month my family had encounters with two Lexington doctor offices. In one the staff rolled her eyes when asked about masks, parroting the misinformation that viruses are too small to be filtered, ignoring the fact that what is floating in the air are larger viral-droplet aerosols which N95 masks efficiently capture.…
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The Spirit of ’76: Protecting us against the Putin Playbook
BY KEN PAULSON As we gather to celebrate Independence Day, it’s a good time to reflect on how our most fundamental freedoms have served this nation well. It’s an even better time to think about what would happen if those liberties were taken away. Sadly, the latter doesn’t take much imagination in…
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Why is U.S. Postal Service ignoring reform legislation?
BY KEVIN YODER After the massive mail slowdowns and postage hikes of 2021, Congress took action to financially stabilize the U.S. Postal Service by passing a historic, bipartisan postal reform bill. The bill freed the Postal Service from an unreasonable 2006 law demanding that it pre-fund retiree health benefits 75 years in advance—a requirement that…
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What to do about our pool
BY NINA MCCOY On May 31, a required “public meeting” was held to see what Martin County citizens thought about filling in the county swimming pool and then using the space and $122,787.00 of the taxpayers money to match a $122,787 grant from the Land and Water Conservation Fund from the National Park Service to…
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Gun rights and the Second Amendment
THE EDITORIAL BOARDMOUNTAIN CITIZEN Gun rights have been a highly debated topic lately and for many years. The two recent mass murders at a grade school in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 were killed, including 19 children, and at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y., where 10 black citizens were shot and killed, have increased the…
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What is Memorial Day, and why should we observe it?
The Memorial Day weekend is upon us and many of us will enjoy some time with friends or family, a long weekend and no work Monday. Many families will have their first cookout of the season with burgers, hot dogs and all of the side dishes and beverages. However, many younger generations may have no…
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Governor could legalize medical marijuana
‘Constitutional chicken’ BY JIM HIGDON Gov. Andy Beshear is the first governor in the history of Kentucky to call for legalizing cannabis. Following the failure of the Kentucky legislature to pass a medical marijuana bill last month, the governor has asked the public for input on what he can do by executive order. It’s about…
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Post-Roe: Rural women would face more obstacles
“Trigger laws” would make abortion in Kentucky and 12 other states illegal in almost all cases if Roe v. Wade is overturned. That would disproportionately affect rural women, who are more likely than their urban peers to be impoverished, less likely to have the time or money to drive long distances across state lines to…