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Editorials

  • Civility – is this America’s latest lost cause?

    By CHARLES C. HAYNES
    From Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson’s ad in Florida demonizing Republican Dan Webster as “Taliban Dan,” to Republican Sharron Angle’s ads in Nevada demonizing Latinos, negative campaigning reached new lows in the 2010 election cycle.
    Grayson and Angle both lost.
    But since their opponents aired their share of attack ads, it’s hard to tell what worked with voters and what didn’t.

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  • Throw up your hands (or just throw up?)

    The water department mess in Rockwood has gotten messier — and just when we thought the city council there had turned the corner.
    Here’s a quick summary:
    After some members of the city council focused attention on municipal utility director Rod King, he filed suit against some of those same people, accusing them of meeting illegally to discuss his fate.
    Last week, the council approved a $75,000 settlement with King, contingent on his resignation. In between, there has been much finger pointing, teeth gnashing and even plenty of back biting.

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  • YOU are a winner if you went to the polls and voted

    Did you vote?
    Kudos if you did.
    Whether your candidates were successful or every one of them was beat, you deserve credit for participating in the Democratic process.
    A democracy will quickly unravel if its citizens give  up their freedoms — and their obligations to participate in the selection of their government.
    Voters are the biggest freedom fighters of all.
     

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  • Misusing religion to bash for votes

    By Charles C. Haynes
    First Amendment Center
    Thomas Jefferson may be an iconic Founder today, but in the 1800 presidential campaign he was widely condemned for being an “atheist in religion and a fanatic in politics” who (it was rumored) had a secret plan to confiscate all the Bibles in the land.
    Sad truth be told, rumors, smears and nasty debates over the religious affiliation, or lack thereof, of candidates for office have marred American political campaigns since the early days of the Republic.

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  • Nice to be a part of Chilean miner rescue effort

    Many of us talk about being proud to be Americans.
    I hope most of us felt that way for our role in helping the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground for months, get back to their loved ones.
    In a real-life story of nearly epic proportions, the miners were trapped for 69 days in the copper and gold mine near Santiago.
    Americans were a big part of that rescue through NASA.

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  • Sophomoric speech is free speech, too

    By KEN PAULSON
    Some school memories are more golden than others.
    While we’ve all benefited from the good teachers and school administrators in our lives, it’s hard to shake the memories of those who either didn’t teach us very well or treated us badly.
    Students in the pre-digital era pretty much just had to grin and bear it. We would grumble to our friends or complain to our parents, but we weren’t going to get an audience with the school board.

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  • Oak Ridge 4-lane a two-way street to prosperity

    Have you driven to Oak Ridge recently? The new four-lane section from the old guard gates to Illinois Avenue has been opened. It is glorious.
    The road is wide and smooth, with generous and clearly marked bike lanes.
    It is a joy to drive, whether you are heading north into Oak Ridge or heading south to Roane County.
    More work is being done to widen the rest of the stretch so that the entire segment will be four lanes from Kingston to Oak Ridge. The work is expected to be completed in 2012.
    This work is good news for both communities.

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  • Understanding other religions will forge bonds

    By CHARLES C. HAYNES
    Beginning this fall, students in Jodi Ide’s class at Brighton High School will go beyond textbook discussions of world religions and engage directly with students in Pakistan, India and elsewhere who actually practice the faith traditions covered in the curriculum.
    And, yes, this is an American public school.

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  • Officials in Rockwood need to step it up

    We are deeply disappointed with some Rockwood officials in their handling of water department issues.
    Weeks after the Roane County News wrote about the existence of a letter from a state official telling the city it has been illegally mingling funds between the water and gas utilities, many of these officials have been burying their heads in the sand.
    We don’t have that letter, some city officals said. Then some of them, including utility director Rod King, seemed to want to continue to ignore its existence.

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  • Protectors of history deserve help, support

    We are pleased to see that Chancellor Frank V. Williams III is the guest of honor at the Roane County Heritage Commission’s gala to help fund needed repairs at the Old Roane County Courthouse.

    Williams and the group of other residents who rallied to save the old building from demolition a few decades ago deserve more credit than they are ever likely to receive.

    Not only is the old courthouse of architectural importance, but it also, as the storehouse of important records from the past, is a treasure trove linking us to those who came before.

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Copyright © 2013

The Roane County News is your source for local news, sports, events, and information in Roane County and Kingston, Tennessee, and the surrounding area.