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Today's Opinions

  • Withholding news right call under rare conditions

    Journalists are in the business of telling the news, not hiding it.
     But there are times — very few times, despite conspiracy-and-bias claims fueled by a media-criticism cottage industry — when news organizations do decide to hold the news that they know.
    These instances are rare enough that when they happen, it’s news in itself.

    Click here to read more...
  • Roane County Executive Ron Woody: A national park for Roane County is in the works

    Continuing with the Five Point Star management approach, one of the current focuses is industrial and economic development.

    There are many aspects of economic development, one of which is tourism and overall livability for the area.

    This piece focuses on making the Manhattan Project a national park, helping not only tourism for Roane County but also adding an important aspect of culture, history, art and livability.

    Click here to read more...
  • Time to stand in defense of religious freedom

    The subject of our freedoms, or lack of them, is getting totally out of hand.

    For me, as a God-fearing person, this situation is hard to tolerate. I grew up in a time when God and His teachings were followed as best we could.

    By the way, it was a much a happier time! There was stability in most things, especially family. As you well know, most stability in anything has disappeared, gone by the wayside.

    Click here to read more...
  • Here’s why you should ease up on mother-in-law

    In the spring of my 51st year, I find myself facing another Mother’s Day without my mom. I wish I would have spent more time telling her how much she meant to me.

    I’m writing this letter to all the people who disparage their spouse’s mother. I suspect that most are young and can’t yet appreciate the wisdom which comes from experience. As for my own mother, I don’t think there was a woman in the world that would have been good enough for her baby, but after 15 years, she did learn to respect my decision and love my wife.

    Click here to read more...
  • Texting Titanic captain cartoon showed bad taste

    The cartoon on the Opinion page abut the Titanic (...what the captain was texting at the time...) was very mean and cruel and in very poor taste.

    Capt. Edward J. Smith of the Titanic had gone to sea as an apprentice at the age of 12.

    After getting his certificates, he signed on with the White Star Line at the age of 27.

    He was much admired among professional circles for his seamanship.

    Twenty minutes before midnight (April 14, 1912) Frederick Fleet grabbed the phone in the crow’s nest and shouted “Iceberg ahead!”

    Click here to read more...
  • GUEST OPINION: When zero tolerence is zero judgment

    By DAVID L. HUDSON Jr.
    First Amendment Center
    Kids shouldn’t be suspended for relatively innocent acts, particularly if they involve speech not intended to cause harm. Yet many public school officials overreact, even imposing suspensions or expulsions on kids for what often are innocent comments or juvenile acts.

    Click here to read more...
  • A VIEW from LICK SKILLET by Gerald Largen: A tale of extraordinary courage and achievement

    Come August of this year, one of the alumni of the class of 1984 of Roane County High School will be a member of a team of 20 or so climbers who will scale Africa’s tallest mountain, Mt. Kilimanjaro.

    This climber will be Roger Long, and the climbing group will be the Team Fox Kilimanjaro Expedition, organized by Michael J. Fox on behalf of The Michael J. Fox Foundation, which is an organization founded by Fox to aid in the fight against Parkinson’s Disease, from which both Roger Long and Michael J. Fox suffer.

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  • GUEST OPINION: Journalists face attacks, death in much of world

    By GENE POLICINSKI
    First Amendment Center
    The world news items about reporters killed, news organizations harassed, and unsolved crimes committed against journalists in other nations come nearly daily, generally in one or two paragraphs at most in a newspaper or online.

    These attacks around the globe demonstrate the huge difference between press freedom as we know it in the United States and press freedom elsewhere.

    Click here to read more...