Recent editorials from Kentucky newspapers:
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Aug. 26
The Daily News on two school districts in Kentucky allowing in-person classes amid the coronavirus pandemic:
Since the COVID-19 outbreak early in the year, we have been living in very scary and very different times.
People have been staying in their homes, and we’ve been wearing masks and applying hand sanitizer for months. We’ve practiced social distancing for some time and waited for restaurants and businesses to reopen. Meanwhile, children have been stuck at home since mid-March when schools were dismissed in the state.
While the country and its people have been dealt a blow with this pandemic, life has to go on, especially for the lives of our children.
Our children had to do their homework on laptop computers from mid-March to mid-May. This had to be very hard on them as it was with their parents as well. What was probably most difficult was not seeing their friends every day at school. We know this had to be extremely hard on them.
So when we learned last week that the Bowling Green Independent School District and Warren County Public Schools were going to have in-person classes, we were ecstatic, cautious, but more ecstatic.
We learned the city and county school systems were going to start Monday and operate days of learning alphabetically by last name so not as many kids are in the same school each week until Oct. 2. Safety precautions such as masks, hand sanitizer and social distancing will all be practiced in our schools. Parents who don’t want to send their kids to school have the option of doing a virtual academy, where their kids can do their homework through a Chromebook or a laptop from home.
We think this was a very good strategy by the superintendents and the school boards as they are being proactive and looking out for the health of the kids by allowing more time to pass in hopes that COVID-19 will subside with lower numbers of students in our schools while also giving people the option to keep their kids home while still doing their instructional homework.
Sure, it’s not perfect having to get a temperature check every day before entering school, wearing a mask in the classroom and having to social distance from their friends, but at the end of the day if it keeps the kids healthy it’s a wise strategy.
Our kids needed a return to normalcy by getting back in the classrooms. We once again applaud our two school superintendents and their respective school boards for realizing that and getting our kids back into school with appropriate safety precautions in place.
Online: https://www.bgdailynews.com
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Aug. 24
The State Journal on a rally held in Kentucky in support of the U.S. Postal Service:
Amid an outcry over mail delays and warnings of political inference in November’s general election, roughly two dozen local residents rallied in front of the Frankfort branch of the U.S. Postal Service on Saturday to show their support for the government agency.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has faced public scrutiny from both sides of the aisle for cost-cutting initiatives - including the removal of a number of blue sidewalk mailboxes and back-of-shop sorting equipment and limiting employees’ overtime and late delivery trips - he has employed since being named to his post by President Donald Trump in June.
“The mail is stacking up and things that used to be there in three or four days is taking three weeks,” said Sylvia Coffey, a Frankfort resident who with the help of Karen Armstrong-Cummings, co-founder of Together Frankfort, organized Saturday’s rally as part of a nationwide protest to support postal workers.
The president has said he wants to block emergency funding to the postal service, which would help the agency handle the influx of mail-in ballots expected in the weeks leading up to the election due to pandemic-related fears associated with crowded in-person polling places.
Rally-goers worry such a move could have a direct effect on election returns.
“Politics has to stay out of this. Too many political fingers in the pie and it gets messed up,” Coffey added.
Former presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, agrees that the public’s concern is understandable given Trump’s efforts to stop universal mail-in ballots.
On Saturday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to block postal cutbacks and funnel $25 billion to shore up operations.
DeJoy said Monday that voters should request mail-in ballots at least 15 days before the Nov. 3 election to ensure they have enough time to receive their ballot, complete it and mail it back on time.
Perhaps more important than the election is the lifeline USPS provides for many Americans with the delivery of prescription drugs, Social Security checks and other essential mail, especially during the global health pandemic.
With roots dating back to 1775, when Benjamin Franklin was named the first postmaster general, USPS employed nearly 470,000 career employees and more than 136,000 non-career employees as of 2019. The postal service is legally obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price and quality.
“It’s something we do not want to lose,” Coffey said. “It would be a devastation worldwide. The postal service is a huge government service and it runs efficiently if they allow them to run it.”
We couldn’t agree more.
Online: https://www.state-journal.com
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Aug. 20
The Daily Independent on the family of a Kentucky official testing positive for the coronavirus:
Gov. Andy Beshear shared a quote about patience to begin his Wednesday press conference.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen once said, “Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is ‘timing.’ It waits on the right time to act, for the right principles and in the right way.”
Put yourself in the shoes of Rocky Adkins, Beshear’s senior adviser, for a moment. (Granted, you may have been in similar or worse shoes already regarding this novel coronavirus.)
Adkins, the former Kentucky Minority Floor Leader and a well-respected man in northeastern Kentucky, revealed his own battle with COVID-19 - no, not directly, but as a son yearning for time once again with his virus-stricken father.
Jess Adkins, the 84-year-old dad of Rocky, tested positive on Aug. 6, three days after saying he wasn’t feeling well. Rocky Adkins’ son, Brandon, who drove his grandfather to the hospital, has been asymptomatic but also tested positive.
Today marks two weeks since Jess Adkins tested positive. The road’s been a rough one, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel - more than can be said for many families affected. For that, Rocky Adkins acknowledged, he feels blessed.
However, patience could’ve worn thin for the governor’s senior adviser and several other relatives as they endured time away from Jess - for Rocky, it’s been three-plus months.
Jess Adkins is at UK Medical Center, but he was being transported to Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation in Lexington. He will return home soon.
Rocky Adkins said the virus “separates people instead of bringing people together.”
He urged Kentuckians to wear a mask, wash hands and social-distance.
We at The Daily Independent can’t speak for all of our readers, but we can safely say most are genuinely thankful to Rocky Adkins for sharing his personal story. It’s one that some readers can and some can’t relate to, but it’s one that we should all take in with listening ears and an open mind.
We at the newspaper wish Jess and Rocky Adkins, and the rest of his family, well going forward as Jess recovers.
This pandemic has certainly created a new meaning for “patience.”
Online: https://www.dailyindependent.com
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