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

Columns

  • A historic moment


    The word ‘history’ was used a lot on Monday evening at St. Catharine Hall.

    I think I’m correct when I predict that the word was used fittingly.
    On Monday, a partnership was officially formed between St. Catharine College and The Berry Center.
    The Berry Center is based on supporting sustainable agriculture.
    You may have heard of one of the Berry’s.
    His name is Wendell. He’s an internationally-known author.

    Click here to read more...
  • The Alltech Challenge: Opportunity Knocks


    I’m a 37-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and now the U.S. Army Reserve. 

    My misson for the past several years is to teach future officers in the ROTC program at Centre College in Danville.
    My students are extremely intelligent, disciplined and athletically-gifted individuals.  
    The truth is, this worn- out old sergeant has little he can really teach them.
    Yet, there is one area I feel strongly about and I stress over and over again.

    Click here to read more...
  • Legislative update from State Senator Jimmy Higdon


    We have reached the half-way point of the 2012 General Assembly Session.

    There are daily committee meetings, policy briefings, visits from constituents, and meetings with various advocacy groups.
    Early in the week, the Senate passed Senate Bill 103 in a bipartisan vote that will require a doctor performing an abortion to first perform an ultrasound (which is done anyway) so that the woman may view it, if she wishes.
    The woman will not be forced to look at the picture.

    Click here to read more...
  • A day that lives in infamy


    Our office changed last Wednesday.

    It was not a good change, in my opinion.
    The sniffles heard outside my door that day indicate I’m not alone.
    Kim Hupman, a long-time employee of The Springfield Sun, walked out the door for the last time.
    Kim didn’t retire and she still has a job in the company. Things could be much, much worse.
    She’s been relocated to Bardstown, to the office of The Kentucky Standard.
    Lucky dogs.
    She’ll still be doing Sun ads as part of a centralized graphics team.

    Click here to read more...
  • The Messenger


    A lot of times I love to use this space to write silly little stories that I hope will make you laugh.  

    Afterward, people frequently ask me, “Did that really happen?” Of course, most of it didn’t. My column is just another version of the funny paper in those cases.
    But every now and then, I do write deeply-personal stories that have touched my life or those I love very intimately.  Today is one of those stories.

    Click here to read more...
  • Winter is for nesting: Take time to examine your life


    Because we spend a lot of time indoors during the winter, we can channel these increased hours spent nesting to allow for a thoughtful examination of our life and goals.

     Often, resolutions to change financial burdens or eating habits are made in the beginning of the year, but it’s also a great time to assess life goals and priorities, and how they relate to happiness.
    This year, following several trying economic years, offers an opportunity to reevaluate what you want out of life and how you can find happiness with what you have.

    Click here to read more...
  • Legislative update from State Senator Jimmy Higdon


    Greetings from Frankfort!

    Anyone visiting the capitol this week would have enjoyed watching democracy in action, both on an individual level, as well as a grander level.
    We passed legislation that made road travel safer for the Amish as well as the “English,” we moved forward in education, and we found consensus on congressional redistricting, even as legislative redistricting moved to the courts. It was a full week.
    First, let’s look at how a small group of dedicated people can work to pass legislation meaningful to them.

    Click here to read more...
  • Physician praises Passport


    When I started practicing medicine in Bardstown almost 35 years ago, I was optimistic about my opportunity to make sick children well and to watch healthy children grow into strong adults.

    Even though I started out with a slightly naïve view, I’m very proud to say I’ve had a hand in caring for thousands of Kentucky’s children.
    I made a commitment to serve Medicaid patients at the very beginning of my career, but I was not enthusiastic when managed care arrived in 1997.

    Click here to read more...
  • Days of youth in Springfield


    The mailbox posted at the old farm entrance was labeled, “DR McMurtry.” 

    I caught myself daydreaming, once again, back to a time when days turned slowly under the Springfield sun.  
    I think of it fondly and often, now that I am far removed from the life it supported during the era of two-cylinder tractors, tenant farming and hard labor.  
    The caretakers of the land were people of strength and diversity in every way imaginable, yet they were all the same to me, at least as I understood them.  

    Click here to read more...
  • Disconnected, unplugged, recalculating


    Several years ago, I spent family time with my three daughters navigating Pittsburgh’s downtown streets, a city between two rivers, with a convoluted grid of traffic patterns. 

    I sat in the back seat and watched in amazement as my tech-savvy daughters produced a new electronic gadget, a GPS, equipped with a very friendly, very British-accented voice named Emily, that guided us through the maze of streets.  

    Click here to read more...