No matter which town, Corbin or London, that won the annexation case, it will be appealed

If you form a team and you have the referee on your team, most likely you will win the game.

Don Estep is publisher of the News Journal.

It is almost laughable that the case of Corbin versus London on annexation of the area at Exit 29 on Interstate 75 was held in Laurel Circuit Court.

I’m not saying, I repeat not saying that anything improper was done in the decision that favored London by the Laurel Circuit Court. I do know that some people may think that if a judge gets elected by voters on one side of the argument then it may leave an impression that all was not fair.

I know very little about the process that took place but it seems to me that the attorneys representing Corbin would have protested and demanded the hearing be held in another setting.

Pardon me for being a skeptic, but I do not trust some of our court systems, all the way from the Supreme Court down. There are times, in my opinion, that more than the court of law has determined the outcome of trials.

Now, by saying this I hope I never have to go before a judge. But I am a veteran of the courts in that I was involved in a battle to secure the legal advertising rights for this newspaper some years ago. I hope I never have to do anything as stressful as that was again.

When our case was held in Circuit Court we lost. I account that loss to the fact that the judge did not fully understand the newspaper law that he had to decide on.

We appealed and went to the Court of Appeals because we knew we were right in our argument. This is where I became totally dismayed. One of the judges on that court fell asleep during the argument. Needless to say we lost again.

We were determined and took our case to the State Supreme Court where we finally won.

It is a landmark case that many other newspapers have used to determine the paper of legal record since then.

In the case of Corbin versus London on the annexation issue the people that will gain the most are the lawyers. Both towns are going to be out a lot of money and the recent ruling by the Laurel Circuit Court, I presume, will be appealed by the City of Corbin.

This is all nonsense. The property in that area could have been developed many years ago be it for the unfair law passed by the Kentucky General Assembly.

Now it makes no sense at all that a town could access a strip along I-75 for 13 miles or so and call it their town, especially when that property is adjacent to another town that has supported the businesses in that area for decades.

Already the big loser in this case is Corbin. When you consider the access points from I-75 and U.S. 25, millions of dollars could have come to this area throughout the years had the prohibitive laws of this state not held Corbin at bay.

I don’t expect this issue to go away in my lifetime. Of course, I could be wrong. I didn’t expect the Tracy Apartment building to be torn down in my lifetime. But, without question, those involved in the annexation quarrel should do what is best for all. That would be to agree to share the rewards and work together for the common good.

I don’t think I’ll see that either in my lifetime!