Thank you for your service Chief Bird, Lt. Pool and Nitro

Besides death and taxes, change may be the only other constant in life.

Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.

Businesses open and close. Each year kindergarten teachers get a new group of students to educate. People come and go.

I thought I would take a few moments this week to recognize some people and one dog who are “going” from certain professions around the area.

Williamsburg Police Chief Wayne Bird is retiring as police chief effective Sept. 1. I’ve known and worked with Wayne for many years and he will be missed. He is a good police officer and a heck of an investigator.

Williamsburg Police Lt. Jim Pool and his K-9, Nitro, retired on July 31. Besides working at the Williamsburg Police Department, Pool has also worked at the Corbin Police Department and the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department throughout his law enforcement career.

Jim is a good guy and I wish him well. I’m hoping Nitro gets to enjoy his retirement too.

The makeup of the Williamsburg Police Department will likely look a lot different five years from now than it does today as pretty much all of the senior officers in the upper command staff are either at retirement age already or quickly approaching it, including: Deputy Chief Jason Caddell, Lt. Bobby Freeman and Lt. Brandon White.

I will be surprised if Caddell doesn’t get the chief’s job as Bird’s replacement.

It is going to be really interesting to see who steps up among the younger officers, and who is the next chief after Caddell, who I don’t see wanting to stay in that position for more than a few years. There are quite a few officers with some years on the job, who will be more than capable of doing it at whatever point Caddell retires. It will be interesting to see who wants the job and who will get it.

Speaking of retirements, over at the Corbin Police Department Sgt. Bill Rose, who for the last few years has served as a school resource officer, retired recently. I wish him luck as he starts the next chapter of his life.

It isn’t just law enforcement that is seeing changes lately.

When it comes to local journalism, the face of the Times Tribune is most certainly changing as long time sports editor Les Dixon is retiring.

Les is an institution, who has been in local journalism almost as long as I have. I can’t say I blame him for wanting to retire from sports though.

There are ballgames almost every night and weekend. No one is ever satisfied with how much coverage their team gets. (Think the same folks, who don’t think their kid is getting enough playing time…LOL.)

Several years ago when our sports editor, Jim McAllister, started getting seriously ill over the course of a few months, I remember Trevor Sherman speaking up one morning saying that, if heaven forbid Jim didn’t come back, then he would like to be considered for the sports editor job. Then Dean Manning spoke up saying much the same thing.

Then I spoke up and said, “If heaven forbid Jim doesn’t come back, I just want to say for the record that I don’t want to be considered for the sports editor job!” (True story.)

I don’t mind taking pictures at a ballgame every so often and while I enjoy watching sports, being a sports editor is not for me.

Whoever is going to replace Les has some big shoes to fill. Good luck Les.

Finally, while on the topic of change and wishing people well, let me say good luck to now former Times Tribune Editor Eric Cox, who has left journalism to take a position teaching at Lynn Camp Elementary School. She is going to do great.

Erin worked five years over at the Times Tribune as the editor, and it was always a joy to talk with her at various events.

Before I conclude this week’s column let me touch on one other topic.

In times of peril, the citizens of our country, and this region specifically, have always stepped up to help their fellow man, whether it be family, friends or complete strangers.

The recent flooding in Eastern Kentucky, which has claimed at least 30 lives, is a great example of this. People from all over our community, in addition to those from both inside and outside the state, are stepping up to help strangers in need.

It’s what great communities do, and part of what makes this country great.