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Opinion

  • Girl Scouting forms future leaders

    Girl Scouts of Raintree Council recently joined nearly 4 million adult and girl members throughout the nation in celebrating Girl Scout Week.

    This year's national observance marked the 97th anniversary of the founding of Girl Scouting by Juliette Gordon Low March 12, 1912.

    Over the years, Girl Scout programs have made a lasting impact on girls' lives by providing activities that help build the courage, confidence and character girls need to grow into confident adults who make the world a better place.

  • Officials should approach...

    A proposal to provide low-cost public transportation in Perry County looks like a good idea, but should be approached with caution.

    Speaking for the director of Ride Solution, an agency providing rides in eight counties, Pat Glenn told county commissioners March 2 the county's transportation advisory committee wants to include Marksman Cab owner Jerry Sprinkle in a partnership they say would benefit everyone.

  • 'Tis the season for green

    I'm not much into green beer and while I'm a fan of corned beef, I can do without cabbage.

    Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and while lots of us will be wearing the green, a lack of Irish heritage doesn't inspire me to truly celebrate the day like those whose family trees have roots in the Emerald Isle. I enjoy reading about Irish history and the nation is near the top of places I still want to explore.

  • A vision that became a reality

    Each year the members of Leadership Perry County are charged with designing and delivering a project to improve the lives of the citizens of Perry County. Seventeen years ago a small group of emerging leaders from the first graduating class took on the task of creating the Perry County Community Foundation.

  • Our nation has survived worse...

    The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Or so many media reports about our nation's current economic condition seem to indicate.

    One of the latest stories to scare people was an Associated Press report last Monday by Tom Raum and Daniel Wagner, who said we may now be in a depression, not just a recession.

    Stocks tumbled most of the week - reaching 12-year lows Thursday - probably partially due to Raum and Wagner's report, as investors were selling and taking their losses, fearful that a depression like that of the 1930s was about to grip the United States.

  •
    Time more valuable than gold

    Life teaches us hard, but valuable lessons. One of the most valuable comes as a warning: don't take what we value for granted, especially people. Of all the commodities people put value in, the scarcest, and perhaps most valuable, is time.

    There's no futures market on extra days, months and years. We're only allotted so much of it and when our meter expires, so to speak, we're gone.

  • Join the adventure that is 4-H

    What is 4-H? I get that question a lot. I have two different answers. 4-H is a community of young people who are learning leadership, citizenship and life skills. But I can also give another answer - 4-H is fun.

    4-H is a chance to help others in your community - whether it is collecting money to purchase items for those less fortunate, going to a nursing home to play bingo just to keep the residents company for one evening or sending cards to troops or veterans. These are all community-service projects Perry County 4-H'ers have accomplished.

  • Who watches 'Watchmen'?...

    "Watchmen" comes out tomorrow, but many of you out there may not have a clue what it's about. Sure, there are costumed crime fighters and what appears to be plenty of action, but is this just another comic book movie? No, actually you might say it's the anti-comic book movie.

  • As stimulus dollars flow, will we...

    Perry County stands to gain hundreds of thousands - perhaps  even millions - of dollars in federal stimulus spending. That's good news. We welcome needed local investments in roads, streets, sewers and other infrastructure projects that will help our community prosper in the future.

  • Fish-fueled Lenten journey begins

    My cupboards are packed with peanut butter and jelly, mushroom soup and a few tins of sardines. My freezer holds  boxes of fish sticks and a sack of shrimp for some special pre-Easter occasion.

    Lent is here and that means, at least for me this year, abstaining from meat and amending unhealthy behaviors.

    In a quest to bolster my usual ho-hum approach to Lent, I'm trying to avoid meat through Easter. Yep, 40 days without steak, hamburger and pork chops. Call it an effort at self-denial and penance for years of eating poorly.

  • Fitness brings the blues

    A cause Tell City Councilman Tony Hollinden and others are pushing throughout the county is more relevant to many of us than we may realize.

    During each election season, the major media inform all of us Americans whether we live in red or blue states, depending on whether we're dominated by Republicans or Democrats. For the rest of the year, other colors matter more.

  • Proposed bill protects public'...

    Throughout the current legislative session, our state's elected officials are working to pass bills on varying issues, including state funding of schools, property taxes and economic development.

    Though it covers a topic not many Hoosiers think about on a daily basis, we feel Senate Bill 232 is one of the important bills introduced in the Statehouse. It enforces public officials' adherence to the state's Open Door laws.

    According to information provided tous by the Hoosier State Press Association, which is recommending the bill's passage, the legislation would:

  •
    Birds, omens and superstitions

    I don't like to think of myself as superstitious. I scoff at Friday the 13ths, including the one that passed this month without incident. I don't worry about black cats - there's one on Main Street that darts out in front of me at least once a week - and I don't worry about walking under ladders, breaking mirrors or stepping on a crack that might break my saintly mother's back.

    No, my venial superstitions center around birds.   

  • Honoring the work of Tri Kappa

    Tri Kappa members across the state of Indiana are celebrating Tri Kappa Week, Feb. 22-29. The Tell City Epsilon Omega Chapter of Kappa Kappa Kappa Inc. would like to thank the community for its kind support of the chapter's projects this past year.

    Our biggest fundraising projects were Kaffee Klatch held during Tell City's sesquicentennial and 50th Schweizer Fest, its poinsettia sale in December and the community art-prints project. Sketches of well known landmarks throughout Perry County, part of an ongoing project, are still available for sale.

  • Parents should know whereabouts of...

    Parents, have you ever dropped your kids off at a public place where you think they are safe, like a local ball field or a location where many kids gather to hang out?                                        

  • Commissioners' latest road-...

    We'd like to offer a tip of our hat to the Perry County commissioners for backing off from a $100,000 purchase two of them voted in early January to make.

    Commissioners Gary Dauby and Jody Fortwendel pressed for a Street and Road Management System offered by David Goffinet, now working for the Bernardin, Lochmueller and Associates engineering firm of Evansville.

  •
    Predator challenge lived up to name

    Some stories simply slip by me. One did last weekend, but I promise not to let it happen next year.

    I hadn't heard of the Indiana Predator Challenge until it was nearly over. The Friday- through-Sunday event drew more than 60 hunters, but as I pulled into the Branchville Conservation Club Sunday afternoon, the final contestants were setting off for home.

  • And the Oscar goes to ...

    Editor's Note: Eric Harris of Cannelton is a movie buff and blogger who posts reviews of recent films at http://middleofnowheremoviereviews.blogspot.com. At the newspaper's request, he previews Sunday's Academy Awards.

    The Oscars are this Sunday, but does anyone care? You might disagree with the nominations; I certainly do. "The Wrestler" should have been nominated for best picture, Bruce Springsteen should have been up for best song, Clint Eastwood for best actor, Darren Aronofsky for best director, etc.

  • Lincoln's local years source...

    Asked to name our country's 10 greatest citizens ever, any legitimate historian would put Abraham Lincoln first or second on his list. So southwestern Indiana has a right to be proud that Lincoln spent his formative years (ages 7 to 21) here, where he no doubt developed many of the thoughts and attitudes that would propel him to greatness.

  •
    Gaming laws lack common sense

    It's not often I use this space as a soapbox for pending legislation – or ask readers to contact their legislators to give it their support. Here's an exception.

    First, the issue.

    Many Perry Countians belong to nonprofit or religious organizations – churches, fire departments, civic clubs – that sponsor one or more festivals each year to raise money. Churches have summer picnics and shooting matches. Fire departments have similar events and other groups host charity nights, bingos, etc.