Recent editorials from Kentucky newspapers:
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April 14
The Richmond Register on changes to the newspaper’s operations amid the coronavirus pandemic:
It’s almost inconceivable just how much the world has changed in the past month.
We’ve all been affected by the shockwaves caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Stores are closed.
Schools are empty.
Families shelter in their homes; afraid to go outside.
Millions of people in this country are unemployed.
Worst of all, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world are sick, infected, dead or dying.
The situation is heartbreaking.
We’ve been reporting on how the COVID-19 virus has disturbed life in Madison County since the beginning of the crisis.
On April 11, though, the issue became even more personal for everyone in our building.
Community Newspapers Holdings Incorporated (CNHI) announced The Richmond Register would only produce three newspapers a week - Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
In addition, several employees, some of whom had worked here for decades, were placed on furlough.
It was a sad day.
Tears were shed.
The decision was, of course, financially based.
This is a business.
Advertising revenue has plummeted during this crisis, forcing the company to re-think its direction and make some difficult long-term adjustments.
Like so many other small businesses, the Register will have to adjust to a new normal or be forced to take even more drastic measures in the very near future.
We are determined to move forward.
The Richmond Register is not going away.
We are still here, and we will continue to provide the best coverage of everything happening in Madison County, every day.
We will just be doing it in a slightly different way.
Our reporters will continue to cover their beats and share the stories of the people in this community whom we are proud to call our friends, family and neighbors.
The Register is set to produce only three newspaper editions a week, but our website and social media outlets will be updated multiple times a day. We will continue to pass along the information to you as soon as we get it.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for the most up-to-date reporting.
The reduction in delivery days will help ensure a long, profitable future and one which will allow us to continue to provide the same quality product.
We will move on.
We will miss our furloughed co-workers and we hope that, maybe one day, they can come back to work with us.
We know millions of other Americans have also been laid off in the past month.
It’s heartbreaking.
Just like everyone else, we will get through this and adapt to this changing world.
Online: https://www.richmondregister.com
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April 12
The Bowling Green Daily News on recent volunteer actions by local faith communities:
We’re all scared. We’re all worried about our own health and the health of family and friends. Many of us are worried about how we’re going to pay the rent or buy groceries as the coronavirus pandemic eats away at our very livelihoods.
Such an environment could easily bring out the worst in our people and institutions. But, as recent events have shown, it might just be bringing out the best.
That was evident on April 7 and April 8, when the Bowling Green faith community stepped up with a huge show of support for the health care workers at the city’s two hospitals.
Organized by Crossland Community Church Senior Pastor Gregg Farrell, these motorcades wound through the campus of Med Center Health on April 7 and the grounds of TriStar Greenview Regional Hospital on April 8.
The response was heartwarming as nurses, doctors and other medical professionals lined up - keeping the appropriate social distance, of course - outside and soaked in the much-deserved cheers and read the many homemade signs expressing gratitude to those on the front lines of this battle against a microscopic-but-mighty foe.
Especially during this Easter season, such a faith-based show of love and support was appropriate. Farrell and the Crossland Community Church members are to be commended for organizing this important “prayer parade” and covering our health care workers with prayers and gratitude.
As Farrell said in the kickoff to these events, “We want to turn it (the hospital campus) into one of the most holy places on the face of the earth.”
He and the hundreds who showed up for the events may have come close to realizing that lofty goal. At the very least they demonstrated how the Bowling Green community is rallying together even as we all must remain separated as the primary means of defeating this fast-spreading disease.
At a time when we all need reassurance, Crossland provided a bit of it, but the “prayer parade” events, while highly visible, are far from the only examples of how our community is stepping up to help friends, neighbors and even total strangers.
Two recent Feeding America food distribution events at Warren County’s Ephram White and Buchanon parks showed how the United Way of Southern Kentucky and Warren County Parks and Recreation Department staffers can come together to meet the immediate needs of many local families.
Others have made similar gestures.
The Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College culinary arts program donated food to the Salvation Army, which in turn provided food boxes to those in need.
Local veterinarians have donated personal protective equipment such as masks to front-line health care workers. Local restaurants, despite taking a hit themselves from the pandemic, have donated food to those in need.
The list goes on, and it includes many of our younger residents. Children furloughed from school are taking breaks from their online lessons to use the medium of chalk on asphalt to create messages of hope.
It doesn’t help the bottom line, but it may help your frame of mind to see such messages as “We’re all in this together” or “God is in control” scribbled by the 10-year-old next door.
Gov. Andy Beshear, in his daily coronavirus briefings, has made the comparison between the current crisis and past events like World War II, saying we are only being asked to sacrifice for months instead of the years that were devoted to defeating the Axis powers.
The governor is right to try putting the current crisis in perspective, but he may be wrong about the duration of the hardships.
In truth, this crisis will endure as businesses try to recover from the devastating effects of a forced economic shutdown. Lives aren’t likely to return to normal for years, if they ever do.
But the actions and attitudes demonstrated by our faith community, philanthropy-minded organizations and chalk-wielding youngsters give us hope in the knowledge that we are part of a caring, supportive community.
As Beshear tells us every day in his briefings, “We’re gonna get through this. We’re gonna get through this together.”
Online: https://www.bgdailynews.com
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April 11
The Ashland Daily Independent on a local teenager’s efforts to make masks for others:
Teenagers too often get a bad rap these days.
Known as the iGeneration or Generation Z, they’re often criticized for spending too much time behind a screen, being “lazy” and just not being tough.
Newsflash: Most who have that perception of them are flat wrong.
Look at Grace Worthington for one of the latest examples of teenagers flourishing in selfless ways.
For her, this pandemic and its effects touched her heart. She wanted to help, so she went to work.
Instead of spending all waking hours binging on Netflix and video games, Worthington took to a sewing machine - which she’s apparently on her way to mastering - and is crafting masks for those who need them most. She tossed aside sleep - which teenagers require and are often criticized for doing too much of - and sacrificed that personal time to do beneficial for others.
We can all learn something from 16-year-old Grace Worthington.
A complete stranger several months ago, Kelly Davidson has gotten to know Worthington quite well over the last few months. She’s awestruck by the teenager’s determination.
“She’s got vision. She’s produced everything she’s set out to do,” Davidson said. “She’s creative and thinks outside the box.”
That should be a message that hits all of us. Instead of focusing on what you might deem negative traits teenagers possess, let’s open our eyes to what they can do. Be receptive to their ideas. They may come up with something that blows our minds - in a good way.
Allow them to have a redefined work ethic, one that gives them freedom to impact others in their own way.
They won’t all be like Grace Worthington. She’s a rare find.
But they may surprise you.
Sidenote: With all their technological savviness and logged smart device time, this whole social-distancing thing may just be a breeze for them.
Online: https://www.dailyindependent.com
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