More liberal local media skipped justice center groundbreaking

Most of Williamsburg is looking forward to the opening of the new Whitley County Justice Center in 2011. I think I speak for the whole community when I say that we’re just dreading the construction process, which is expected to take close to two years to complete.

I had the privilege of attending the groundbreaking ceremonies Friday afternoon for the new nearly $18.9 million justice center, which is expected to serve the community for the next century.

It’s a fair estimate to say that more than 100 people attended the ceremony.

This was a significant event in the history of Williamsburg and Whitley County, according to Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr., who was one of the keynote speakers Friday.

I’m proud to say that the News Journal was there to cover it.

Sadly, the same can’t be said for every newspaper based in Whitley County, one of which didn’t even bother to send a representative. Yes, another person or two could have been packed into the Merry Jeffries Community Center, which was probably over its listed capacity.

One can’t help but wonder what the coverage from the other paper would have been if this building were being constructed in say London rather than Williamsburg, but I have a pretty good guess.

Perhaps if our Democratic governor had shown up or a few trees were planted, it would have gotten more attention from more liberal leaning members of the area media.

Simply put, this is an exciting time in Williamsburg.

The airport recently held a ribbon cutting ceremony to open its new terminal building that will also house the 911 dispatch center. Ground was also broken for the new $900,000 Whitley County EMS base.

Soon, city officials will be moving into their new city hall. The city fire, maintenance and sanitation departments have already moved into new homes.

Last year, the Williamsburg Main Street program installed new street lights along Main Street and Cumberland Avenue. Recently, they installed new garbage cans, benches and flower pots along that same route.

Hopefully with progress and improvements in downtown and the surrounding area we will also see increased development and more jobs in the community.

As development comes here in Williamsburg and Whitley County, the News Journal plans to be here for every minute of it trying to keep you informed.

Now some other assorted thoughts floating around in my head.

¥ I had a chance hear Cliff Klinger, General Manager of The Arena in Corbin, address the Williamsburg Kiwanis Club last week. I found his presentation to be very informative, and it sounds like The Arena’s making plans to fix problems, such as parking.
It will be interesting to see how successful The Arena is after a couple of years in operation. I think the potential is there for success.

¥ Speaking of Kiwanis, if you’re not doing anything next Thursday morning, then you might want to come out to the Cumberland Inn for the 2009 Kiwanis National Day of Prayer.

The event will be held at 7:30 a.m. and feature teacher, coach and motivational speaker Ron J. Treadway. The cost is $8 and proceeds will go to support area children through Kiwanis projects and scholarships.