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Opinion

  • Finding humility in buried letters

    The two letters were the first I've written that I'm quite confident won't be read until after I'm dead. That prompted a bit of soul searching last week about how I want to be remembered by relatives and even the person who may be filling space on this page in 50 years.

    The two letters went into the sesquicentennial time capsule buried Monday evening in City Hall Park and were among hundreds of items squirreled away in concrete vaults that won't see the light of day until 2058. The ceremony was a cap of sorts of Tell City's sesquicentennial.

  • Nation's legal drinking age...

    College presidents from about 100 of the nation's top universities are calling for lawmakers to consider lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18, the Associated Press reported last week. However, their arguments in support of that position seem flawed.

    "This is a law that is routinely evaded," John McCardell, former president of Middlebury College told AP writer Justin Pope. "It is a law that the people at whom it is directed believe is unjust and unfair and discriminatory."

  • VX: Deadly to the last drop

    The last drops of 1,269 tons of a deadly nerve agent were destroyed at the Newport Chemical Agent Disposal Facility Aug. 8. This is a signal achievement for the workers at Newport, the community and our national security.

    Plans for destroying VX gas (which contracts of all the muscles in the body, including the diaphragm, causing death by asphyxiation) at Newport began more than 20 years ago. Throughout the years, I supported the Army funds for research and development of the best and safest way to get rid of the VX.

  • Let's keep the community...

    Tell City's sesquicentennial is behind us. It's natural for all of us who were caught up in the celebration as planners or participants to take a collective breath and relax after all the preparation and celebrating. The spirit of the just-completed festivities should be a beginning, however, not an end, of a renewed effort to make our communities the best they can be.

  • Turning bad decisions into hope

    I've seen too many men and women arrested, sentenced and carted off to prison not to know the dangers of bad decisions. I've seen them from a distance, and up close.

    I've known people, some friends, who died of drug overdoses, were torn to pieces in accidents because of drugs and alcohol or contracted AIDS due to risky behavior.

    But I've also seen people's lives redeemed, turned around and made better. The road to despair has a turn-around lane.

  • Thanks for making Schweizer Fest a...

    It's over. Two years of planning and hard work by numerous committees and organizations have come to an end.

    This year's 50th annual Schweizer Fest and sesquicentennial are sure to be talked about even 50 years from now for the city's 200th birthday, just as the events of 1958 are still talked about today. When the centennial celebration came to an end 50 years ago, Schweizer Fest was born and each year afterward, the city has been reminded of what makes Tell City the place it is today. This year was no exception with numerous events dedicated to its founding.

  • New Orleans still in recovery mode

    St. Paul's mission to New Orleans in the summer of 2007 was an eye-opening experience filled with tears, laughter and memorable moments that cannot be experienced more than once.

    For these reasons, and many more, St. Paul's 2008 mission was a completely different experience.

  • Memories of former classmates

    Class reunions can create ambivalence in one's feelings. What is the emotional situation? Is the reunion a celebration of our longevity? Is the reunion a memorial for those not with us?

    It is hard for the mind to entertain two ideas at the same time, especially life and death. The most typical response when presented with a dilemma is to choose one alternative and defy a satisfactory solution to the emotional situation. Life and death are a kind of divine conflict - a dilemma to be solved if one is to become complete.

  • Kast shares mission-trip reflections

    When asked to write a personal memoir of St. Paul's second mission to New Orleans, I assumed that it would be easy to assemble a few hundred words into an accurate depiction of my experience.

    But as I took the time to piece together all the tiny events that, when viewed collectively, made a breathtaking whole, I realized how unexpected my time spent in the bayou was.

  • Cannelton residents: How would you...

    I read with great interest the two articles on the front page of The Perry County News July 28, 2008, concerning Cannelton City Schools.

    Regarding the story headlined, "New law may spawn more school transfers," it is great news that apparently Indiana will soon join more than 40 other states in allowing parents to send their children to public schools outside of their own district.

  • My sesquicentennial suggestions

    Tell City's sesquicentennial celebration is in full march. Saturday's parade and community picnic are behind us and Kids' Day wrapped up Sunday evening. So what's next to do? Plenty.

    While some folks are free the entire week courtesy of retirement, summer break or timely vacations, most of us have to balance sesquicentennial events with the rest of our lives.

    Here are a few suggestions for each of the six remaining days of Tell City's 150-year festivities.

    Monday - Carl Hurley

  • We love it when pride comes together

    If a stranger from afar were to enter Tell City right now, he'd catch on pretty quickly that we're in the midst of a celebration. He wouldn't have to investigate too deeply to find out what we're celebrating.

    We think he would find it obvious that a lot of pride has gone into preparing for our sesquicentennial party.

  • Memories of simpler times

    Come with me now, back in time, back before the Internet. I'm talking about way back, back before Nintendo or Sega, herpes or AIDS, school shootings or political correctness.

    When you could buy stuff from the store without safety caps and hermetic seals, because no one had to worry about being poisoned by a perfect stranger.

    I'm talking about back to homemade ice cream on a Sunday afternoon, hide-and-seek, Simon says, red-light-green-light, climbing trees and making forts.

  • Tell City's festival stage is...

    Tell City's sesquicentennial is nearly upon us and the eight-day celebration of the city's founding, I'm sure, will be a grand success.

    As I pen this Friday morning, signs with historical photos of city landmarks are being placed across the downtown in preparation for historical society walking tours, grass along Main Street sidewalks is being mowed and the new banners of William Tell are glistening wet after a brief shower. Things are truly taking shape.

    If you haven't finalized your sesquicentennial plans, here are a few suggestions.

  • Federal shield law will protect...

    Hoosier citizens should be proud that three of our own congressmen are sponsors of a bill that would preserve the right to learn about malfeasance in government and elsewhere.

    The Free Flow of Information Act, a federal shield law for reporters, was written by Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., authored a companion bill in the senate and Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., joined as a co-sponsor.

  • Time-capsule items needed

    Fireworks over the Ohio River the night of Saturday, Aug. 9, will formally close Tell City's sesquicentennial celebration, but another event a week or two later might be billed not only as the final event of the 2008 celebration, but also the opening event of the community's 2058 bicentennial.

    That event, likely to take place in City Hall Park, is the sealing of a sesquicentennial time capsule packed with items from Tell City in 2008. It will be opened in 2058, the 200th anniversary of the city's founding.

  • We can all be partners in pride

    Small signs placed in the yards of a handful of Tell City homes, and accompanying photos in The News, won't make all the eyesores in Tell City go away. But recognizing everyday efforts at keeping the city beautiful remind us that we can all lend a hand in helping our communities look their best.

  • We need new, not old, energy ideas

    Our nation has entered a new phase in its history: the beginning of the end of cheap, abundant energy. Southern Indiana Power director Mike Hammack's column (June 30 issue of The News) rightfully points to this profound problem we are facing, an energy crisis.

    In consideration of where we go from here, we must be willing to take a more honest look and ask deeper questions than either Hammack or his Web site recommend.

  • Don't forget the turn signal

    Had the young-lady driver been able to decipher the words coming from my lips, she might have rammed her blue Buick into my front bumper.

    The woman's sin didn't justify the bad words or the fist-pounding I gave my steering wheel. But I was still peeved and wondered why the driver - and a growing number of others like her - don't use their vehicles' turn signals.

    The lady driving the Buick was coming down the hill in Troy, leading a parade of cars and trucks through the hillside construction zone between Troy and Tell City.

  • Hard work, time promise to make...

    This year has flown by and it's only a short three weeks until Tell City kicks off its 50th annual Schweizer Fest and sesquicentennial celebration.

    Here at The News, we've been working on a variety of activities to get ourselves ready for the event. We're all working on special publications and stories for the celebration as well as making and assembling items for our window display and a float for the Aug. 2 parade.