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Today's Opinions

  • God doesn’t make cut at Super Bowl

    By CHARLES C. HAYNES
    In the perennial post-game buzz about Super Bowl ads, the buff body of the new GoDaddy girl (aka Joan Rivers) was a big hit this year. So was the pugnacious pug dog flattening his owner to grab the Doritos. And, of course, who can forget the woman who got smacked in the head with a soft-drink can?

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  • A view from Lick Skillet by Gerald Largen

    All right class, we are going to start the lessons with a pop quiz.
    What president of the U.S. during an eight year tenure in that office got the Congress to raise taxes a total of 11 times, thus averaging more than one tax increase each year?
    The answer appears at the end of this column. (If you listened to NPR’s “Morning Edition”, last Friday, [WUOT, 5 a. m. to 7 a.m., repeated 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., each weekday,] you will immediately have the answer.)
    ******

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  • Would rather have locally run ambulances

    Roane County Ambulance Service is comprised of dedicated and professional staff and provides this community with a service that cannot be measured by monetary value.
    I attended a recent Roane County Commission’s committee meeting concerning the ambulance service.
    I found all the commissioners and county executive to be very attentive and concerned about the service.
    The executive presented a copy of the ambulance service’s annual budget and gave a report on the current expenditures.

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  • Let sleeping cats lie at Tiger Haven animal sanctuary

    We are well aware of the concerns being voiced by some of the East Roane County residents who live near the Tiger Haven big-cat sanctuary.
    We are sympathetic to those who have expressed their fears.
    However, this ongoing battle is one that appears to have no end in sight — at least not one that will satisfy those who have complained.
    Tiger Haven has gone through inspection after inspection by multiple state and county officials and agencies. It is operating within the law, all have deemed.
    Could the laws be changed?

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  • IMPRESSIONS by Johnny Teglas

    A tough guy … that’s what most of us weekend warriors like to think of ourselves.
    Fact of the matter is, we’re all pretty much far from it, as the Boss reminds me quite often.
    Just a few days ago, the most wonderful woman on God’s green earth shook “my world.”
    “Quit whining!” she ordered.
    Weenie that I am, I immediately complied.
    Still, I secretly pined inside.
    When I awoke and showered before church, I could tell something wasn’t just right.

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  • Commissioners are much ado over nothing

    I do not understand why some of the commissioners are rehashing all of these things that have already been approved and built.
    I understand that there is a new government in Kingston and the county, but it seems that a lot of these commissioners sure do like to see their names in the local paper.
    It has been nearly two years since they built the ambulance station South of the River.
    I’m sure it went through the proper channels to get approved and funded, or it would not be there.
    Why are you worrying about something you can’t change?

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  • Federal income tax simplification much needed

    As taxpayers we will spend millions of hours and hundreds of millions of dollars again this year in an attempt to determine how much we each need to pay in federal income tax.
    The tax code continually gets more difficult to understand, yet we are forced to use it.
    This angers me.
    It is a sad commentary when the average American taxpayer thinks the amount he or she must pay or the size of their refund depends on who prepares their tax return.
    With tens of thousands of pages of complex wordings, phrases and situations is it any wonder?

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  • Commandments shouldn’t be forced issue

    By CHARLES C. HAYNES
    It’s not every day that a school board votes unanimously to ignore legal advice, defy Supreme Court precedent and invite litigation.
    But that’s exactly what happened late last month in Giles County, Va., when members of the board ordered school administrators to hang the Ten Commandments on the walls of the county’s five public schools.
    Rehang, actually.

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