Opinion Pieces

Letters to the Editor

Thank you, Governor Beshear

Governor Beshear hired outside consultants, listened to health care advocates and hospital officials, did the math, and decided to expand Kentucky’s Medicaid coverage through the Affordable Care Act.  

Hunstad doesn't deserve harassment

Hunstad. Brother Bernie is one of God’s best I have been privileged to know. He does not deserve this present harassment he is experiencing.

Family Services has a strong local history

Recently, The Advocate-Messenger described a discussion of city commissioners about when the city began supporting charitable organizations. I do not wish to enter the political aspect of the discussion, but merely to report on the historical issue...

Thank you for making 'Spay-ghetti' dinner successful

The No Kill Central Kentucky Regional Humane Society would like to express our sincere appreciation to all our patrons and volunteers the evening of April 25 for making our first annual SPAY-ghetti Benefit Dinner so successful.

'Oz' shows community has talent

I had the pleasure recently of attending a performance of the Wizard of Oz pulled off with great skill by Danville High School students. 

Danville's public squabbles scare off business

Several weeks ago, I received a call from an executive at one of the major utility companies in Kentucky. After he identified himself, he said, “You do realize you live in the classiest town in Kentucky, don’t you?” 

Water safety program is important for children

The McDowell Wellness Center, McDowell Regional Medical Center, and some doctors, have started a program at the wellness center to help children in the second grade learn about water safety. The cost is only a dollar for one hour for five days. The...

Are lawmakers trying dodging Obamacare?

A rumor has been circulating recently that members of both the House of Representatives and Senate in Washington, D.C., have been meeting secretly to try and figure out a way to avoid public outrage when it’s announced that they and all their...

Appreciates city's fire clean-up

I think we speak for our whole neighborhood when we thank the administrators of the city of Danville for the prompt and efficient clearing of the lot on Venetian Way and Secretariat Drive where a home was recently destroyed by fire.

The ACLU is evil

On Wednesday's front page of The Advocate-Messenger, children were being taught about the pagan Mayan society and their human sacrifices, sun gods and temples. The human sacrifices were to appease their gods.

Show is a 'home run'

Run, don’t walk, to West T. Hill Community Theatre on Third Street to see “Rounding Third” — a terrific comedy/drama about two Little League coaches and their clashing personalities. This show is recommended for all parents of...

Facing up to terrorism and abortion

The people of the Boston area and across our country were outraged over the horrible and senseless deaths of innocent people in the bombings at the Boston Marathon. 

Redistribution in nature sounds familiar

Troubling times have been noted during this otherwise spectacular spring. A variety of birds have nested in some 80 mature hedges and trees on our two acres.  Upon a bit of research, fierce tension between starlings and robins was confirmed....

Thanks for helping Heritage Hospice with event

I would like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to everyone who so graciously supported Heritage Hospice Inc.’s third annual Memorial Auction/Blue Jean Ball and Drive 4UR Community Event.

Let them pray at graduation

I have seen on a local TV newscast that there is a scheme to do away with prayer at a nearby high school graduation in a couple of weeks.

Mayor's actions cast Danville in negative light

Recently I visited with an out-of-state relative who asked some troubling questions about Danville and the recent actions of our mayor. This relative happens to be a former City of Danville employee who keeps up with goings on here and knows what...

Glad to be a DHS Admiral

Recently, Max Ray, my former classmate and teammate, wrote a letter to the editor stating that he believed Danville High School didn’t prepare him well for citing references in his college course writings.  

Celebrate, enjoy all city's parks

Springtime has come to central Kentucky, filling our parks, playing fields, sidewalks and streets with people of all ages seeking exercise, fresh air and fun.  Millennium Park is in its 13th year as the centerpiece for this activity. And wow has...

Letter carriers to "Stamp out Hunger"

Saturday marks the 21st anniversary of one of America’s great days of giving — the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive.

Centre lecturer appears to be a blasphemer

I regret that I missed the lecture by Mr. Bart Ehrman last week at Centre College. I would have liked to hear his spin, supported by impressive research and published books on religion.

Many accidents on Fourth Street

I am employed at a business that faces Fourth Street in Danville. On almost a weekly basis now there is an accident in one little stretch of Fourth Street in front of our offices.  

Writer has faith in God and doctors

In early January I suddenly began to feel very listless and had a great loss of energy and appetite. I just thought it was something I would shake off in time. It was not.

Commorate Danville's Revolutionary past

On April 28, in The Advocate-Messenger included an inviting article by Lindsay Chelf about Bellevue Cemetery in Danville. She, so to speak, scratched the surface.  

Train could provide recreation for Parksville

There are no parks in Parksville — at least not the one here in Kentucky.  

Thankful for friends in time of loss

Having recently undergone the prolonged suffering and death of my husband of 34 years, Paul Powell, I wish to share the five stages I have experienced — and will continue to experience — in the foreseeable future and accept as ongoing.

Nation needs a little dose of truth

Once upon a time, this country showed great promise for its citizens. Today we are nothing more than a sinking ship and all on board are destined to drown. 

DHS should stress reference citation

I arrived at Berea feeling prepared to tackle the hard work of a college education. I felt Danville High School had prepared me for my college journey; my graduating class of 2012 had set the record for highest ACT scores in school history. Instead,...

Personal responsibility makes pedestrians safer

I read your editorial in the paper about too many people getting hit by cars. I believe you said something needs to be done, such as building better streets.

Cell phones and driving don't mix

In this age of modern technology, I see many individuals talking on a cell phone while driving. 

Cut useless government spending

I read this recently in a story posted on Yahoo.com: “Confronting bipartisan criticism, President Barack Obama conceded Saturday his proposed budget is not his ‘ideal plan’ but said it offers ‘tough reforms’ to the...

More Opinion Pieces

EDITORIAL: Civil discourse shouldn't mean shutting people up

Transparency and openness might be the most overexploited and undervalued ideas in the political lexicon, championed when it suits the current agenda and avoided at all costs when it’s not deemed — by those in power — to be in the...

EDITORIAL: Legislature needs to pass special taxing district oversight bill

With time running out on the short session, and Sunshine Week — a celebration of transparency — on the horizon, the Kentucky legislature should focus on salvaging what it can from its overstuffed and underproductive stint in Frankfort.&...

Danville mayor addresses alleged personality conflict with economic development head

The headline in Sunday’s edition reads the “EDP again on city’s agenda.” The City Commission will meet again on Tuesday and will pass a resolution in support of the EDP. I will not be voting in support of the resolution and...

Federal budget is "March Madness"

Congressional leaders have not passed a federal budget in four years and have continued to kick the can down the road with continuing resolutions rather than solve America’s spending and debt problems. If major corporations operated in that...

John David Dyche: Why is Hillary so popular?

A recent Gallup survey shows Hillary Clinton with a 64% favorability rating. She is the clear favorite for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination. But why is Hillary so popular?          

EDITORIAL: Fiscal court should have stuck with invocation policy

Boyle County Fiscal Court hedged against both political pressure and potential litigation Tuesday when it voted to begin meetings with a non-denominational prayer. This comes after a January decision to replace the opening invocation, typically...

EDITORIAL: Danville native Frank X Walker perfect choice for Ky. poet laureate

The "City of Firsts" added a big one to the list this week when Frank X Walker became the one and only Kentucky Poet Laureate to hail from Danville. That was far from the most impressive “first” resulting from his appointment.

EDITORIAL: EDP right to follow 'spirit' of open meetings law

We chastised the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership in these pages recently, so we are compelled to also give credit where it is due. The EDP board of directors should be applauded for agreeing last week to abide by the spirit...

John David Dyche: Let failing public schools become charter schools

The recently completed Kentucky General Assembly session was a relatively bipartisan and productive one. But partisanship and special interest politics prevented passage of some good bills. Senate Bill 176 was one.

EDITORIAL: Time for Danville to revisit alcohol fees

Several good ideas have been raised during Danville’s recent listening sessions, including calls for the city to take a look at alcohol fees and revenue.

John David Dyche: Father (of our country) knows best

In 1796, after heroic military service and two presidential terms, George Washington announced his retirement from public service. His farewell address may be the most underappreciated document in America’s political canon. 

EDITORIAL: Danville takes city manager saga to the (city) limits

Just when you thought Danville’s city manager situation couldn’t get any more peculiar, the man who currently holds the position came before the City Commission this week to ask a favor: Ron Scott needs the city to annex his property so...

EDITORIAL: Governments shouldn't foot part of environmental clean-up bill

In light of the economic doldrums Boyle and other counties have experienced in recent years, it was downright thrilling to hear even sketchy details about Corning Inc.'s plans for their once and future factory on Valksdahl Road. We are...

The great deficit debate: looking for money in all the wrong places

For the last two years we’ve heard the same mantra from the GOP and its mouthpiece, FOX News: “We have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.” It’s usually said with solemnity and sometimes a hint of compassion, as if...

John David Dyche: Democrat hijinks helped McConnell and Paul

Last week was a good one for Kentucky’s U. S. Senators. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul dominated the news. Despite hostile media’s best efforts to portray recent events as somehow damaging to the ubiquitous Republican duo, both men...

GUEST COLUMN: Counties should approve special district activities

I moved to Kentucky in 2008 when the economy crashed. Our family decided it was time for us to agree to, and live by, a budget in order to avoid our own fiscal cliff. My husband recommended each of us put our receipts in a jar. 

Who are the real 'takers'?

According to the GOP, right-wing think tanks and Fox News, the U.S. is on the verge of becoming a nation of “takers” who want to be given (as Mitt Romney put it) “free stuff.” These takers are flush with a sense of “...

GUEST COLUMN: Cuts to state programs will hurt children

On Jan. 29, the state announced an $86 million cut in childcare assistance for low-income working parents. Also included in the cuts are subsidies to relatives raising abused or neglected children. 

EDITORIAL: Look for ways to make pedestrians safer downtown

More needs to be done to ensure the safety of non-vehicle traffic in downtown Danville, where an overwhelming majority of  pedestrian-vehicle collisions occur.

EDITORIAL: Some hope for industrial hemp in Kentucky

You know an idea's time has come when those once among the most inclined to run from it are the ones leading the charge on its behalf. The recent support from federal and state leaders indicate hemp's moment has finally arrived.

EDITORIAL: Legislature earns some (polite) applause

Something rather amazing happened while we were sleeping Tuesday night. 

EDITORIAL: Danville meeting agenda needs to be streamlined

The practice of “hearing the public” has become a tradition of sorts in Danville. Unfortunately, it is a tradition given to an arbitrary and disjointed life of its own.

Hunstad clarifies views on EDP's move to Constitution Square

The Advocate-Messenger’s March 21 headline, "Danville's Mayor questions EDP's move to Constitution Square," is misleading and distorts the report. 

Chicken Littles lost out in telecom deal

I would have thought that current weather conditions make it too cold for Chicken Little to venture outdoors and hysterically declare the sky is falling in the commonwealth.

Industrial foundation responds to mayor's resignation from board

On Thursday, Danville Mayor Bernie Hunstad resigned from the Boyle County Industrial Foundation board of directors, claiming the “BCIF is a privately owned ‘for profit’ corporation and not a non-profit organization as represented.&...

EDITORIAL: Paul wrong about guns in schools

One of Kentucky's best known elected officials weighed in recently on how the state should prevent massacres like the one in Newtown, Conn. Sen. Rand Paul's ideas were characteristically bold, but also off the mark. 

EDITORIAL: Hemp bill should have its day once smoke clears

Kentucky’s chance to take the lead on legal hemp appears to be gaining new life less than a week after the legislation looked like it was going up in smoke. The legislature should pass the original Senate Bill 50, or at least allow a vote,...

EDITORIAL: When in doubt, agencies should leave doors open to public

It's not often we can applaud an elected official for his devotion to transparency and openness, so we jump at any chance to do so. Today we applaud Boyle County Judge-Executive Harold McKinney.

EDITORIAL: Time to address vision for parks and recreation

Signs of spring have been fleeting so far, but you can tell the season by our annual rush to patch Boyle County’s aging and leaky public swimming pool. Danville City Commission signed off on another temporary solution during its meeting last...

EDITORIAL: Danville must move beyond divisive arguments of the past

The city manager form of government has not been on the ballot since 2008, but it has been the large, ill-tempered elephant in the Danville City Commission chambers for every meeting the last several years.