It is hard to find adequate words to express the loss to family, friends and the City of Corbin with the passing of Diane Mitchell last week. She was a rare individual that took on tasks in our community that very few are available or willing to do. She will be greatly missed....

If you ever get the chance to employ one of your former teachers, then I highly recommend giving it a try. Several years back, Lillian Babb, who was my high school journalism teacher for two years, my sophomore English teacher and my senior German teacher, did some freelance...

There are a lot of ways one could describe marriage. Attach just about any adjective to “marriage is…” and it is likely to apply. After all, two individuals—no matter how compatible—will experience both good times and bad that ebb and flow along the ever-flowing current of life....

When I was in college one of the courses that interested me the most was classicism, the study of ancient Greece and Rome. It took me over 60 years but last year I went to Italy and visited Rome and several other places. I also enjoyed courses in history, especially about our...

It appears a lot of folks have caught on to something that local residents have known for a long time, which is that Cumberland Falls is a great place to visit. Cumberland Falls State Resort Park recently won a Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Award for 2024. It’s a pretty big deal....

With the 1950’s coming to a close, it was business as usual for U.S. Representative, and Williamsburg’s own, Eugene Siler, Sr.

Although I have seen slightly larger crowds in the Corbin Arena parking lot for Independence Day festivities, I still thought there was a good turnout for the event and a nice fireworks show last week. The event featured a lot of things aimed at children, including bounce houses...

We are currently in the middle of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association’s yearly mandated dead period for athletic activities across the state. It is a time to regroup, reflect and prepare for what lies ahead as another high school sports year is about to get underway.

Many of you are familiar with Ernest Hemingway’s book, “The Old Man and the Sea.” It was the last published work of the Nobel Prize winning author before he took his own life. The book delivers an inspirational message about the human capacity for resilience and perseverance. And...

I’ve always told my dad that if you have to have a birthday on a holiday, then he has a really good one on the Fourth of July, which is a day to celebrate our country’s independence. Most people have the day off. You have picnics and family gatherings. The day usually concludes...

Hopefully, you have been following along in recent weeks with the ongoing special series dedicated to looking at issues related to homelessness and housing insecurity in our local area. We have spoken to a couple of faith leaders about ongoing efforts to assist those who are in...

The next 12 months and the following few years should be an exciting time in Corbin as the city sees one of the biggest expansions ever of its city limits, and significant development along the Exit 29 corridor, which may finally help it reach its full potential. The Corbin City...

For me history has been important. I enjoyed it in school as an elective subject. One of the best teachers I ever had was Dr. Carlton Jackson in an American His-tory class at Western Kentucky University in 1961, when it was known as Western Kentucky State Teachers College. For...

This week I conclude a review of my 37-year history of being publisher of this newspaper with a column of why it is important to have a local newspaper in a community. It is obvious that local newspapers keep readers up to date on their own communities. Not only does our...

Before being elected to a third term in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1958, Williamsburg’s own Eugene Siler, Sr. was hard at work in searching for opportunities that might provide some relief to the people living in some of the more impoverished areas of his home district....

(This is the fourth in a series of articles I am writing that cover my 37 years as publisher of this newspaper.  Last week I wrote about Terry Forcht solving our printing problems.) In the early 90s we had three newspapers, the News Journal, Pulaski Week and Laurel News Journal...

Columnist’s Note: It’s finally here—my long-awaited, much-heralded return to column writing. The applause isn’t necessary, but truly, I do appreciate it. Moving forward, I plan to have a column here in the pages of the News Journal on a monthly basis. I hope you’ll join me here...

This fall, my wonderful wife, Cecelia, and I will celebrate our 20-year wedding anniversary, but Tuesday marked another special date in our relationship. It marked the 20th anniversary of me popping the question and asking her to marry me. We had been dating for about seven...

As of August 12, 1987 our staff had two newspapers to publish – the Whitley Republican and Corbin! This Week. The same stories were in each edition, but to give identity to both we would make up the Whitley Republican with all Williamsburg related stories on the front page...

Sometimes the things that people get riled up over on social media can be quite interesting. For instance, take a recent story about Corbin officials urging people to cut their grass before the code enforcement officer had to cite them for it being too high. It was a story that...