Recent editorials from Kentucky newspapers:
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June 23
The News-Enterprise, Elizabethtown, Kentucky, on the killings at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina:
Evil visited Charleston, South Carolina’s Emanuel AME Church during an evening service last Wednesday night. With visceral wickedness it trespassed and lingered near a gathering of God’s faithful assembled that night to study and discuss the Scripture. With malicious intent it snatched away nine lives in a violent act of hate.
Killed at the hand of the lone gunman were Cynthia Hurd, 54, a 31-year employee of the Charleston County Public Library; Susie Jackson, 87, a long-time member of the church’s choir; Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, 45, a student admissions coordinator at Southern Wesleyan University; Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, pastor of the historic “Mother Emanuel” church and a 19-year member of the SC state legislature; Twanza Sanders, 26, a recent graduate of Allen University; Rev. Daniel Simmons, Sr., 74, a staff member at Emanuel AME Church and former pastor of Greater Zion AME Church in Awendaw, SC; Rev. Sharonda Singleton, 45, a high school educator and track coach; and Myra Thompson, 59, who was teaching the Bible study at the time of the killings.
Family, friends and colleagues who knew them have described each as wonderful people, caring for others in selfless ways.
The vile writings of the admitted killer, 21-year-old Dylann Roof of Lexington, South Carolina, have identified his intention to incite a race war as a result of the killings. Regardless of who carries it out and why, evil’s purpose is always to divide and destroy.
But those left behind at “Mother Emanuel” and across the greater Charleston community have shown the world a far different response than what this evil act intended. In the days that have followed the slaying of their brothers and sisters that night, theirs has been a response that stands as a witness to the overcoming and overwhelming power of love and forgiveness.
In the opening comments of his sermon, standing and preaching for his fallen brother and other parishioners at the reopening of Emanuel AME Church, Rev. Dr. Norvel Goff, Sr. thanked many across their community, state and nation for prayers, support and encouragement extended to their church in its time of tragedy and mourning. He went on to thank the residents of the city of Charleston and the state of South Carolina. He accurately described the church and community’s response. “We have shown the world how we as a group of people can come together to pray, and work out things that need to be worked out to make our community and our state a better place.” Indeed they have.
Where evil intended riotous response, only forgiveness has been offered. Where evil intended hate to blossom, only love has been extended. Where evil intended violent discord to erupt, solidarity of purpose and unity has flourished.
There are many lessons to take from how the people of Charleston have responded to this insidious act of hate. Most importantly among them is that while evil and its author will be present in the world, Charleston and the people of “Mother Emanuel” have clearly provided witness to the truth that love and its author will overcome it.
Online:
https://www.thenewsenterprise.com
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June 19
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, on Fraternal Order of Police president’s response after weekend shooting in Old Louisville:
Two days ago we took the unusual step of publishing a front-page editorial calling for civil and productive discourse as our community sorts out the shooting last weekend in Old Louisville.
We featured an editorial cartoon clearly calling for citizens to walk a mile in the shoes of Officer Blanford as well as Deng Manyoun.
We hoped any tensions in the community would ease.
Then, we had to spend a day trying to make sense of the uncivil and unproductive letter from Fraternal Order of Police president Dave Mutchler.
Knowing that our own words are often misinterpreted or misunderstood, we read and re-read his comments. We tried walking a mile in the shoes of an obviously frustrated FOP president. But those shoes kept getting mired in one of the key byproducts of the backside at Churchill Downs.
We were about to weigh in when Mutchler called a press conference. We watched and, at times, felt a measure of understanding for his effort to represent the feelings of the men and women who, as he said in his letter, “serve with integrity and courage.”
But in the end he did little to soften the combative nature of his letter or to help foster the conversation he professed to want to begin.
It felt as if the events and emotions of other cities where police shootings have stirred protests were more on his mind than the largely measured response we’ve seen in Louisville. It would be a shame if Mutchler’s letter were to inflame tensions here.
It’s obviously wrong to swing a pole at a police officer. It also is wrong for the FOP to take wild verbal swings. And it would be another wrong to let this go further.
Online:
https://www.courier-journal.com
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June 24
The Daily News, Bowling Green, Kentucky, praising accreditation of the 911 center:
There is a special group of people in our town. Most of the time, you only hear their voices over a phone, but they deserve to be recognized for all they do in sometimes tense situations.
We are referring to those who work at the Bowling Green Police Department Communications Center, or 911 center. The center, which has 25 employees, is the public safety answering point for Warren County.
On a daily basis, the men and women who work at the center take numerous phone calls, many of which involve traffic accidents, burglaries, domestic violence situations, emergency calls pertaining to someone’s health where an ambulance is needed in a matter of minutes and an array of other calls. Sadly, these people also have to take calls pertaining to kidnapping, alleged rapes and in some cases, murders.
By no means can this be an easy job, which makes our admiration for these men and women even greater.
Those who work at the 911 center are trained to remain calm under difficult circumstances in many cases. If someone calls screaming and is panicking, it is part of the center employees’ role to calm them down while separating themselves from the emotions and helping the callers feel at ease, no matter the circumstances. They also try to obtain as much information as possible from callers.
While most people who call don’t know the center employees, they are a dedicated group, and we were excited to see that the center became the first in the state to receive accreditation from the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police.
This is an extraordinary honor.
These employees barely have a moment of down time, as evidenced by 2014 statistics.
Last year, the 911 center answered 80,488 calls, with about 86 percent of those coming from wireless phones.
That’s about 220 emergency calls each day. Of those calls, about 20 percent were transferred to other agencies, such as Emergency Medical Service or Warren County law enforcement. Personnel at the 911 center also made or placed 164,628 non-emergency calls in 2014.
The abundance of calls on a daily basis and throughout the year shows the patience and diligence these employees must possess.
Receiving this accreditation is quite an honor, and all employees at the center do deserve a pat on the back for all they do in times of stress and service to the public.
Online:
https://www.bgdailynews.com
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