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Columns

  • A VIEW from LICK SKILLET: We are thankful for the blessings of friendship

    Inasmuch as the elections are over, we feel free to look to other matters besides politics for a time, brief though it may be.

    One thing we have meant to write about for some time is the matter of the Harriman Hospital being converted to a V.A. hospital.

    We are highly favourable to this idea, and, despite the recent rejection, we think that it just might work, if the proponents of the idea will try to look at it from the viewpoint of the government officials who must ultimately make the final decision.

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  • You can change the tone of politics

    By LEE HAMILTON
    Center of Congress
    The election of 2012 has called attention to how difficult it is for Americans to talk reasonably with one another about public policy challenges.

    Our civic dialogue — how we sort through issues and reason with one another — is too often lamentable.

    We live in a politically divided country. Congress, which ought to serve as the forum where politicians of diverse views find common ground, is instead driven by ideological disagreements.

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  • Looseleaf Laureate: Elections not as tasty now

    I’ll never forget the first election I covered.
    I was a poor reporter, barely making more than minimum wage and trying to get by on it.
    Ground zero for election coverage was the courthouse in Pineville, Ky., and Election Day was the highlight of my professional calendar.
    The county clerk’s office — and many other contributors — brought in a feast of casseroles, meats, side dishes, snacks and desserts and shared willingly with all.

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  • A VIEW from LICK SKILLET: Whither the divided house of Republicans?

    Well, Gentle Reader, the old curmudgeon need not feel embarrassed by his prognostications that Barack Obama would be re-elected, inasmuch as he has been.

    Possibly even more impressive than the President’s win, is the fact that the Senate is firmly in control of the Democrats.

    The most perilous aspect of the election results is probably the retention of control of the House of Representatives by the Republicans.

    How did the Republican losses come about?

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  • Residents respond to ash cleanup

    REPORT FROM ROANE COUNTY
    COMMUNITY ADVISORY GROUP
    Roane County residents directly impacted by the 2008 catastrophic release of 5.4 million cubic yards of fly ash, expressed their disappointment in TVA’s most recent clean up plan.

    Last month, many of them submitted comments on TVA’s latest plan to clean up the fly ash that still remains in the Emory, Clinch and Tennessee rivers.

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  • A VIEW from LICK SKILLET: Shocking results of poll of racial attitudes

    Well, gentle reader, we near the end of another quadrennial collision over who should be the chief executive of this great republic, and all the pundits and prognosticators unanimously agree that it’s too close to call.

    Maybe so, and maybe not.

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  • Artificial cave could save Tenn. bats

    By CORY HOLLIDAY
    The Nature Conservancy
    Halloween conjures frightening images of bats emerging from dark caves looking for human blood.

    In reality, as the trick-or-treating begins, bats are settling into caves where they’ll hibernate for the winter and face something far scarier.

    White-nose syndrome, a deadly disease caused by the fungus Geomyces destructans, affects hibernating bats and has killed more than 5.5 million across 19 states since 2006.

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  • Looseleaf Laureate: Not raising stink over one little intruder

    I call him Scrappy.
    I guess I should have killed — or at least removed — the brown stink bug sitting on my kitchen window sill for the past four days, but I haven’t.
    For one thing, I don’t want to deal with the stink. For another, I figured he would  have died on his own by now. I’m still holding onto that thought.
    Scrappy is one of, I’m sure, millions of an invasive, transcontinental stink bug species that is taking over our country.

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  • A VIEW from LICK SKILLET: The Republicans were right about voter fraud

    Let us begin, gentle reader, with a bit of housekeeping.

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  • A fresher, more natural look coming

     

    For a long time, the Roane County News logo has included an anemic blue version of the county outline in its logo.


    Anyone who studies the points designating Roane County communities on this outline will notice they are more than a bit off.

    But it was familiar to you and to us, and so we kept it.

    After the 2008 TVA ash spill, when Chamber of Commerce and tourism officials decided the county needed a better image, we began to think about the same.

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