Recent Articles

The United States Post Service is once again in the cross-hairs of the government that most of us persist in thinking it is a part of. It is. And it isn't. It depends on who you ask. And why you're asking.

The Postal Service suffers intermittently at the hands of elected officials that don't seem to want to ever understand or acknowledge that mail delivery is a government service. Unlike other government agencies, the VA, Health and Human Services, Transportation, the USPS is required to be profitable.

It's a "quasi-governmental" agency. That equates the USPS status to a factory floor temp - all the work of permanent employees, but few of the benefits.

(Clinton KY April 14, 2020) The story that follows are 12 of my fears for what may happen if President Trump is successful in "auctioning off" the assets and operations of the Postal System into very private corporate hands.

Many of these points have already been discussed within the past five years.

The Good: People and Tradition at Their Best

....And then there was Marie. I saw her, a lone figure in uniform, walking up and down the street.

She is our mail lady. Each day somewhere between 9:30 am and 10:15 am, she makes the rounds of our part of the universe... No matter the weather, rain, snow, and extreme heat or like today, perfect 50 degrees with bright sunshine, she always has a kind word for you and a warm felt smile...

"The men and women of the United States Postal Service provide an essential public service and bind the nation together as a part of the country's critical infrastructure. At least six days per week, and in some instances seven, Postal Service employees accept, process, transport, and deliver vital mail and packages like medicine, products that sustain us, benefits checks, and important information, in every community, to every home and residence, and we will continue to do so. As Americans are urged to stay home, the importance of the mail will only grow as people, including those in rural areas and senior citizens, will need access to vital communications, essential packages and other necessities.

We are at a critical juncture in the life of the Postal Service. ..

The Bad: Failure of Command, a Modern Day Fable

...The post office, like an aging battleship, is seeking a safe port in the storm. Of course the era of great battleships is long gone. But in their day, they ruled the oceans with their power and national pride. Progress and technical innovation (aircraft carriers) did them in.

Much of the same problem confronts the modern day post office...

New economy is a buzzword describing new, high-growth industries that are on the cutting edge of technology and are the driving force of economic growth. The new economy is commonly believed to have started in the late 1990s, as high tech tools, particularly the internet and increasingly powerful computers, made their way into the consumer and business marketplace.

In the most recent example of the Republican controlled Kentucky Senate truly having nothing to do, Senator Wil Schoder wants to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that will take out language in the Kentucky Constitution not cited since the 1940s.

Meanwhile the overachieving busy busy House is defunding libraries and destroying local newspapers.

***

1792 language targeted by proposed amendment - LRC press release

(Paducah, Ky.) March 10, 2020 -- Baptist Health is closely monitoring the evolving novel coronavirus (COVID-19) updates. In an abundance of caution, Baptist Health has activated the appropriate infection control protocols at each hospital until further notice to protect patients, as well as the staff and community.

Maternity and NICU: Only parents and grandparents will be allowed to visit the NICU. On the Mother-Baby and Labor and Delivery units, parents, grandparents, and siblings without a fever or runny nose will be allowed to visit. Please keep the number of visitors to two at a time.

All Other Adult Units (non-maternity): Patients in Intensive Care Units (ICU), Telemetry, and Medical/Surgical patients, and anyone having outpatient surgery or other procedures, will be allowed up to two visitors at a time from immediate family.

Clergy: We respectfully welcome clergy for Palliative Care, Emergent and Hospice Care patient family support, along with immediate family members only...

Word has reached me that the Republican controlled House Budget Committee, under the control of First District Representative Steven Rudy, has declared war on local rural libraries. Rudy sees fit to cut 2.5 million dollars from the Governor's requested state library fund of $7.8 million goal.

Why?

It's all about having access to books, to learning, to crafting knowledge, to seeking the world beyond rural West Kentucky...

Memories permeate our lives,

Our adaptive brains the optic lens,

Remembering the good, minimizing the bad...

(Paducah, Ky.) Feb. 24, 2020 - During Heart Month, Baptist Health Paducah wants to remind the public that knowing your blood pressure numbers is the first step to improving your heart health and protecting your vital organs.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney disease, vision loss, and other problems. High blood pressure, called hypertension, can cause damage in your body for years before symptoms develop...

Blood pressure chart and warning signs follow.

...Americans were asked, "What is the most important Amendment to the US Constitution", that may thwart totalitarianism?

The YouGov, a UK global public opinion firm, latest research shows that 41% of Americans say that the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of religion, free speech, assemble, press, and petition is most important...

Interestingly, last week in the Kentucky legislature, experts were called to testify about House Bill 67, and many voices were silenced. So much for the freedom of speech in Frankfort.

The Bill amends the state constitution to remove protections and funding for a women's right to choose. You would think that such a serious change would be fully vetted with lots of expert witness testimony on all sides of the issue. Unconstitutional?

Also, in KY Senate Bill 90, health care employees would get legal protections for those who declined to participate in actions contrary to "religious, moral, ethical, or philosophical beliefs." If passed, this would be the most extreme law like this in the country...

(Clinton, KY) - Many of us attending Dr. Brian Clardy's Black History Month program at Green Valley Missionary Baptist Church on February 20^th thought we knew history. It turned out that we knew some correct history but much that was not. Dr. Clardy knows a whole lot more. Fortunately for the thirty or so who attended, he was willing to supplement our lack of information.

ALL KENTUCKY DEMOCRATIC MEETINGS ARE OFF UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE

The Fulton County Democratic Committee will meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 12th at Citizens Bank(Side entry), in the City of Hickman. Those who want to support the Committee can send donations to 6989 State Route 125, Hickman, Ky. 42050, Checks payable to Fulton County Democratic Committee.

The Hickman County Democratic Precinct Convention is set for Sat. March 21st, 10 a.m. at Mary Potter's Law Office Conference Room, 113 N. Washington St. in Clinton.

At this writing, the Hickman County Democratic Convention is set for Saturday April 18th, 10 AM also at the Potter law office conference room.

We will post other county meetings as they are sent to us.

Geese and migratory tundra birds rush seasonally,

To where Earth's extremities expand and contract,

Ice fields laid back to expose feeding and breeding grounds....

The March 7^th meeting of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society will feature Christopher L. Thornock, an Archaeologist and the Heritage Program Manager at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, speaking on "African-American Lives and Landscapes on the Lower Tennessee River." The meeting will be held at the Hotel Metropolitan, 724 Oscar Cross Ave., Paducah beginning at 10:30 am. A brief business meeting will precede the talk. The program is free and open to all.

Admiral William McRaven brought his life story to Murray State University for the first in the re-instituted Presidential Lecture Series. For over an hour, he held an audience of over 800 students, teachers and graduates enthralled.

...Presidents' Day became the commonly accepted name, partly due to retailers' use of President's Day sales and the proximity to Lincoln's birthday. Thus, on the third Monday of February, we celebrate.

George Washington was highlighted in a recent column "The Man who would NOT be King". "To George Washington the key ingredient [for exercising power] was moral character which gave to his decision-making a quality of careful, good judgement and to his authority a generosity of spirit."

Our current occupant of the White House has neither moral character, good judgement nor generosity of spirit...

Editor's Note: In his column for the Murray Ledger republished here with his permission, Marshall Ward recounts what generals have said about the current commander in chief..

Paducah Tilghman senior Samuel Lambert has been named a semifinalist in the GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program. He is among 120 semifinalists nationwide in the scholarship program based on the attributes of leadership, drive, integrity, and citizenship demonstrated at school, at the workplace, and within the community. The GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program is funded by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, with up to 20 finalists receiving a total award of $40,000 on the basis of continued enrollment at an accredited four-year college or university in the United States.

Admiral William McRaven to be at Murray State University on Thursday evening discussing his military life as a SEAL and his connection to MSU through his father. The program part of the Murray State Presidential Lecture series begins at 7:30 in Lovett Auditorium and is free and open to the public

McRaven author of the best selling "Make Your Bed" and a biography led the special operations forces during such historic events as the raid that killed Osama bin Laden and rescues of Americans held captive by terrorists.

(Clinton, Hickman County KY) Like super spoiled teenagers who always want more allowance money, the Mayor of Lexington and the President of UK, have defined how they want to control of Kentucky's future.

Mayor Linda Gorton, City of Lexington and UK President Eli Capilouto, made the case in an editorial in the Lexington Herald Leader on February 6, 2020 that more state money and federal money will make their city and their university a high tech center..

Green Valley Missionary Baptist Church will host author, professor and distinguished scholar Dr. Brian Clardy on Thursday February 20^th at 6:00 pm at the church. The event, cosponsored by the Hickman County Historical and Genealogical Society, is free and open to the public.

The Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) has granted Knott County Water and Sewer District a rate adjustment that will increase water service rates by 45 percent immediately and another 15 percent a year from now...

For a typical residential customer using 3,500 gallons per month, the first phase of the rate change will increase the monthly bill by $12.19, from $26.70 to $38.89. The second increase a year from now will add another $5.84 to the monthly bill, bringing it to $44.73.

Since the very first day of its founding, America has been a nation in motion of trying to define itself through exploration of geography, settlement of frontiers, inventors of always new technology and a fear of what lies across the great oceans. For many, this fear comes from a primeval lineage of families fleeing hells of economic slavery and minority persecution for religion or culture.

Mosby, part of my spiritual connection with the rhythms of nature is no more of this world. He left me today at 11:35 am. I held him in my arms for the last time. Stroking his gray furry head, life left him battling a rare disease.

Mosby was my special gray Maine Coon kitten who grew over 12 years to be my personal side kick in pushing the boundaries of personal growth.