.....Advertisement.....
.....Advertisement.....

Today's Opinions

  • Some elaboration from the top on the Midway Solution

    Recently, the Midway community celebrated a ribbon cutting on the use of the Midway Middle School’s kitchen and gym.

    During the celebration ceremony, I gave a brief history of how the project was conceived, supported and construction of Phase 1 and Phase 2 had taken place. 

    A number of people commented afterward about not knowing this history and appreciated hearing the process. 

    Click here to read more...
  • RSCC Playmakers is a real plus for the community

    We attended the Roane State Community College Playmakers’ production of “The Rainmaker” on Saturday evening.

    As always, Michael Golebiewski directed a top-notch performance which we enjoyed very much. 

    We also got to listen to the live performance of music before, during and after the play.

    We are so fortunate to have the Playmakers right here in Roane County!

    Celia Simon and Richard Evans
    Kingston

    Click here to read more...
  • U.S. turned own guns against WWI vets in 1932

    By GENE POLICINSKI
    First Amendment Center
    The “Occupy Wall Street” movement and its rapidly spreading urban echoes are — like the Tea Party movement — grand examples of Americans using at least two of our lesser-known First Amendment freedoms: assembly and petition.

    Regardless of how you feel about either or both movements, they are the latest examples of the role of protest in American politics and society. In the history of protest, there are both lessons to be learned and mistakes to be avoided.

    Click here to read more...
  • Writer says government can’t grant rights

    I read with interest that our Looseleaf Laureate gladly handed over $10 to Roane State student Corey Reed after naming the five rights delineated in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. 

    Both the student and the generous Laureate should be applauded for their knowledge of and interest in our Bill of Rights. 

    However, through a lax choice of words the lesson and the article relating it propagate a grave and dangerous misconception about the nature of the First Amendment and the Bill of Rights.  

    Click here to read more...
  • Thanks to responders of Midway brush fire

    On behalf of the Roane County Board of Education and the staffs of Midway Elementary, Middle and High schools, I would like to express appreciation and gratitude to all the fire departments and other emergency agencies that worked the brush fire near Midway Elementary School on Sept. 1.

    The fire was noticed about noon, and as soon as I received the information, we started making plans to evacuate the elementary school and others if needed.

    Bus drivers were put on stand-by and were later called in as the fire seemed to be progressing nearer to the school. 

    Click here to read more...
  • Largen needs to hire private eye in paper theft caper

    My highly esteemed friend and constant columnist has attracted my attention with his futile flailing of another long-since-dead horse.

    I refer to the gentleman’s pining for the long-missing issues of his beloved Chattanooga Times Free Press, which are apparently still being purloined by a person or persons as yet unidentified.

    The fact that he dedicated half his Oct. 7 writings to this insult trumpets the depths of his frustration with the lack of enforcement of laws pertaining to petty theft in Kingston.

    Click here to read more...
  • A VIEW from LICK SKILLET by Gerald Largen:

    Well, Gentle Reader, we have a veritable potpourri of subjects today.

    We have had the intention for a few weeks of doing a column about corporations. Since so few people, including Mitt Romney, and a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court, seem to understand just what corporations are, we thought it timely to go into this topic in some depth, and this week seemed an apt time to do so.

    Click here to read more...
  • Change in libel law increased press freedom

    By KEN PAULSON
    First Amendment Center
    Forty-seven years ago, the free press became much more free.

    In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that journalists may not be sued successfully by public officials for libel unless their news coverage was false, damaged a reputation and was published with “actual malice.”

    That meant establishing that the defamation was published “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”

    Click here to read more...