Opinion

 Is it true that if you don’t pay a business or individual for a product you purchased or a service you received, and that debt is not collected for or had been forgiven, then that is consider income for that person that owed the bill, and that amount should be reported as income on your yearly income taxes?

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The best person to ask is your tax advisor or attorney, if you are in this situation.

We found the following on IRS.gov:

 Less funding for schools. No employee pay raises. Service cutbacks for people in need. Construction projects cancelled. Job-creating programs put on hold. Still higher college tuition.

These and other stark developments could become Kentucky’s future if the state fails to take decisive action to address a huge unfunded liability in its public employee pension plans.

We can get our national news on cable television, catch the weather on local broadcast stations, listen to talk radio on the AM or FM dial and follow our favorite blogs on the Internet, but where do we turn for local information that directly impacts our daily lives? More often than not it is community newspapers.

Technology has transformed how we gather information in the 21st Century. Newscycles run 24/7, tablets and laptops are becoming smaller and smart phones keep getting smarter.

 Why did the City purchase new carpet for the civic center when it is used mostly during the summer showing movies?

The carpet in the Civic Center was decades old and “very stained,” according to City Clerk MaDonna Hornback.

The building is rented out throughout the year to various groups and hosts dignitaries at times, including the governor.

The carpet cost $7,000.

 Why are there tombstones behind Smith’s Plaza?

Sometimes you just never know when you will run into a life-changing moment.

One for me came earlier this month as I was heading west on U.S. 62 and a car parked in Elizabethtown Memorial Gardens caught my eye. It was the only car I could see over the vastness of the cemetery on this day.

The grass at the cemetery I imagine was soggy from nearly 4 inches of rain the day before. But there sat a man, I would guess somewhere between 65 and 80 years of age, in a chair by a grave.

It was a stunning picture.

 This week the LaRue County Fair is going strong. Growing up as I did in a small town, it wasn’t a question of “if” you were going to the county fair but “when” you were going.

There will be everything there from cows and sheep, to cotton candy and elephant ears, to thrill rides and babies. There will be makeup and mud, tractors and tiaras, tomatoes and mules, a few good ole boys and a lot of good ole gals having a great time.

 I noticed you wrote about eradicating cattails in your column last week. 

I feel that one of the county offices is violating nepotism laws. How do I file a complaint?

LaRue County has an Ethics Commission that investigates alleged wrong-doing by officials. Hodgenville Attorney James T. Whitlow is the chairman. Other members are Don Whelan and Peggy Hawkins.

The committee meets after a complaint has been filed and usually, the findings are available through an open records request. (Some personal information may be redacted.)

Whitlow said the commission has not received a recent complaint.