In Your View — 12/21/09 » Editorials » Daily Independent (Ashland, KY)

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December 18, 2009

In Your View — 12/21/09

Anonymous The Daily Independent Fri Dec 18, 2009, 02:36 PM EST

No alternative to power of coal

In this Christmas season, I remind each reader that electricity made from coal is the most economical of any other power source in this part of the country. In all probability, your electricity is produced from coal. The twinkling of the lights on your Christmas tree, house decorations and yard ornaments shine as a result of coal being burned at a power generating plant.

Even so, the current administration in Washington would like to stop all use of coal. Government regulators are “sitting” on environmentally sound mining permit applications, forcing some mine operators to send people home. Coal mining is needed now as much as ever, as there is no alternative energy source in place to meet the demand for electricity now being produced from coal.

The FACES of Coal (Federation for American Coal, Energy and Security) organization was recently formed to educate and rally all walks of people around coal and coal mining (www.facesofcoal.org/). As a member of FACES, I urge everyone to visit its Website, review the information presented there, and consider becoming a member. Join us today and keep your Christmas lights shining brightly — with coal.

John F. Enyart, Ashland

Some ways to help military families

During the holidays, national attention often turns to supporting our military men and women serving in foreign lands. But let’s not forget our soldiers’ families still at home. The recent decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan leaves thousands of families facing New Year deployments, as everyday Americans search for ways to help military families separated by war.

Here are some ways ordinary citizens can help ease the burden and stress of deployment and separation through the non-profit National Military Family Association.

‰Connect and invite. Often, people in civilian families hesitate to reach out to a military family. Reach out to military families and invite them to coffee or dinner.

‰Ask military families what you can do to help. Military families are strong, healthy and determined. They're also stressed by multiple deployments and the strain of extended absences. A simple offer of help can mean so much. If you know someone connected to a soldier, offer to help during this holiday season. Don't be surprised when your offer is accepted.

‰Lend an ear. Deployments are especially difficult on teenagers. Military teens shoulder a lot of additional responsibilities and are faced with some strong emotions at a pivotal time in their lives. Listen to what they have to say and be a role model. Share your gifts and joyous holiday spirit.

‰Encourage! Although service can be tough, military families are proud of the difference they make. During the holidays more than ever, encourage our military families with gratitude and camaraderie.

‰Learn more about the people protecting your freedoms. On the Website of the National Military Family Association — www.MilitaryFamily.org — there’s a link to a new study on military children from the RAND Corporation and many resources regarding military families.

Joyce Raezer , Executive Director, National Military Family Association, Alexandria, Va.

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Editorials

Charles Chattin
Before it merged with Ashland Community College to form Ashland Community and Technical College as a result of the 1997 Higher Education Reform Act, the Ashland Area Vocational-Technical School compiled an impressive record for teaching job skills to young adults and placing more than 85 percent in jobs for which they were trained.

February 10, 2012
Try again
It is time for Kentucky Speaker of the House Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, and Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, to cease playing political games and redraw district lines that are compact and are based far more on population changes during the first decade of this century than on partisan politics.

February 9, 2012
'Asset poor'
More than one in four Kentucky households are “asset poor,” meaning that they are living from paycheck to paycheck with little or no financial cushion to fall back on should they suddenly lose their jobs or have another emergency resulting in a temporary loss of or delcine in income.

February 7, 2012
Safer mines
The head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) says coal operators throughout the country are improving their operations and, as a result, mines are becoming safer. However, MSHA chief Joe Main said too many coal operators still “don’t get it” and are continuing to cut costs by ignoring safety. That’s why MSHA plans to continue targeting mines with a history of repeated violations for additional inspections.

February 7, 2012
Not far enough
For the past three sessions of the Kentucky General Assembly, bills that would raise the minimum dropout age from 16 to 18 have been approved by the Kentucky House of Representatives by wide bipartisan margins only to die in the Senate without even a vote.
Now the Senate Education Committee has unanimously approved a dropout bill hailed as an alternative to the House bill, but it does not go nearly far enough. It is a halfway measure that would have only a limited effect on preventing teenagers from quitting high school before graduation and virtually assuring themselves of lives on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

February 6, 2012
Not their job
The local government committee of the Kentucky House of Representatives has wisely killed a bill — dubbed “Cooper’s Law” — that would have allowed the family of the Lexington toddler with cerebral palsy to have a playhouse on their property despite a deed restriction that apparently prohibits such structures.

February 6, 2012
Keeping FADE
Despite an increase in cost to the department, Carter County Sheriff Casey Brammell told the Carter County Fiscal Court that his department will continue to be active in the FIVCO Area Development Drug Enforcement (FADE) Task Force — at least for now.

February 4, 2012
Needed changes
The soaring enrollment that Kentucky’s community and technical colleges have experienced in recent years could come to a sudden end — or at least be slowed — as about 5,500 students in the statewide system that includes Ashalnd Community and Technical College are expected to lose their financial aid under new rules being implemented by the federal government.

February 3, 2012
Released early
While it is disappointing that 75 of the 952 prisoners granted early release in January have violated the terms of their releases, the good news is that none of the former inmates have been charged with new felonies. That’s an early, but positive, indication that the nonviolent felons released before their sentences were up have been carefully selected and are among those least likely to return to a life of crime.

February 2, 2012
Obese children
Almost a decade after former Gov. Ernie Fletcher called childhood obesity an “epidemic” in Kentucky, a majority of Kentucky adults still think that there are too many overweight children in the state and they place the bulk of the blame squarely on the shoulders of their parents.

February 1, 2012
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