Economy

With a national debt of more than $14.8 trillion that is increasing by a trillion and a half per year, each one of the nation’s official residents of more than 300 million is on the hook for some $49,000. The debt burden for individual taxpayers is actually much larger still as the debt share for those who don’t pay taxes must be shifted onto those who do.  In an attempt to tackle the long-term imbalance in the national budget, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) has issued a proposed “2012 Budget Resolution.” Under his plan, the Medicare entitlement would became a “voucher” system where each participant could purchase private health insurance.

If Jody Lassiter’s itinerary is any indication, there could be reason to have hope for a local economy that has suffered significant job losses and regularly seen unemployment numbers higher than the national average since 2008. “I’m very cautiously optimistic because the activity both on the industrial and commercial sides has ramped up so much over the last six months,” said Lassiter, the president and CEO of the Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership.

I was utterly dumbfounded this weekend to discover that America’s economic woes have been caused by the recent outbreak of storms in the Southeast. That’s what Nancy Pelosi said on CBS’ Face the Nation so it must be true. How can Washington really expect us to take them seriously? It’s as if we’re supposed to believe that the economy was booming, everybody was back to work and then along came these dastardly storms and ruined everything. Frankly, I was surprised to discover that the South was even all that important to the rest of America.

I was utterly dumbfounded this weekend to discover that America’s economic woes have been caused by the recent outbreak of storms in the Southeast. That’s what Nancy Pelosi said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” so it must be true! How can Washington people really expect us to take them seriously? It’s as if we’re supposed to believe that the economy was booming, everybody was back to work and then along came these dastardly storms and ruined everything! Frankly, I was surprised to discover that the South was even all that important to the rest of America.

I was utterly dumbfounded last weekend to discover that America’s economic woes have been caused by the recent outbreak of storms in the Southeast. That’s what Nancy Pelosi said on CBS’ Face the Nation, so it must be true! How can members of Congress really expect us to take them seriously? It’s as if we’re supposed to believe that the economy was booming, everybody was back to work and then along came these dastardly storms and ruined everything! Frankly, I was surprised to discover that the South was even all that important to the rest of America.

With the dramatic elimination of Osama bin Laden came an important psychological boost to the American people. There is a collective sense that there’s nothing we cannot do if we set our minds to it. Along with that boost came an important upswing in President Obama’s approval ratings. At 51 percent approval rating in his 10th quarter as president, he is a full 7 percentage points ahead of Ronald Reagan’s approval rating in his 10th quarter. With that upswing comes the responsibility to use his recharged political capital to tackle our greatest national (and international)

More than seven years after launching a capital campaign project that would have brought a new state-of-the-art YMCA to Jessamine County, the Jessamine County YMCA Board of Mangers voted to shut down the endeavor on May 30. Efforts on the proposed $10 million facility started off with a bang as a slew of donations brought in more than $1.3 million in pledges with $675,826.52 actually recieved. The project also received another $2 million pledge from Toyota On Nicholasville in late 2006.

A recent audit report released by Kentucky state auditor Crit Luallen shows Jessamine County Sheriff Kevin Corman granted more than $70,000 in penalty waivers on 211 tax bills during the 2009 collection season. The waivers, which were only for penalty fees, not the actual taxes themselves, went to 126 applicants, according to documents previously supplied by the Jessamine County Sheriff's Office. General counsel for the auditor's office Bob McBeath said just because the number is high doesn't mean Corman necessarily did anything wrong, though.

With a graduating class of nearly 350 students, this weekend’s George Rogers Clark High School commencement will be one of the biggest celebrations of the year. In 2010, approximately two-thirds of the class spent graduation night at Clark County’s Project Graduation, playing games, bouncing on inflatables, singing karaoke and even riding a mechanical bull. “There was so much to do all the time. That was a lot of fun,” said senior Ethan Varner, who attended Project Graduation last year as a junior usher.

Horses used to be Julie Cooper’s sole livelihood.  At Long Run Farm in Garrard County, she boards equines, teaches riding lessons and helps others develop that unexplainable yet undeniable bond between horse and human that’s deeply woven into Kentucky culture. But two droughts in the last five years coupled with a nation-wide economic crisis has left feed painfully expensive, horses practically free and many owners in financial peril.  In order to keep her family and about 40 horses she owns and boards healthy, Cooper took a job last week sewing leather shoes eight hours a day at Red Wing Shoe Co. in Danville.