1. family and parenting
2. children

The Mountain Eagle . . Wednesday, November 27, 2013 . . Page 8
Tell us what’s on your mind. No need to give your name.
Speak Your Piece
Call 633-7508 from 9 am Tuesday to 9 am Friday.
E-m@il address
In addition to the telephone and the U.S. Mail,
The Mountain Eagle accepts comments to Speak
Your Piece by electronic mail. Our address is:
[email protected]
The simple life is the only
way to live. Give me a 16x24
cabin, free water from an
auger hole, a wood burning stove, ‘coal oil’ lamps,
a small garden, fruit trees,
a few chickens about the
yard. No rent, no mortgage,
no utility bills. Just a couple
solar panels to keep a cell
phone charged and recharge
batteries for the radio. I’ve
lived the rat race lifestyle
and you can have it. If you
can be $50,000 in debt and
be happy then I say go for it.
But if you want peace in your
life, homesteading is the
only way to go. And there’s
no better place to do it than
right here in Letcher County.
●
I was watching the latest meeting of the Letcher
County Fiscal Court on TV
and heard the guy who has
the sole source contract
to buy the county’s scrap
metal. He was telling the
Fiscal Court why the county
shouldn’t give other people
a chance to compete. One
of the things he said was
that he couldn’t give his
best price if the county competed. Well, maybe somebody else could if they had
a chance. I can see why he
would want to keep it solesource, but why would the
fiscal court agree with him
instead of at least testing
the water? I don’t care what
the county attorney says, the
court needs to consider all
options.
●
I keep watching on TV
about UNITE busting all
of these drug dealers and
rounding them up in these
other counties, but you
never hear about Letcher
County rounding up any
drug dealers. Why is this?
There are like six or eight
major drug dealers located
within two or three miles
of the courthouse. I don’t
understand this.
●
To m y e x- w i f e w h o
hooked up with that Freewill
Baptist preacher: Listen, the
Lord is going to hold you accountable. You gave $3,500
of my money that you hid
from me when I trusted you.
You even bought him a van.
You are going to meet your
maker one of these days.
I don’t know how much
money you had in the bank.
The only thing I am going to
say us God have mercy on
you because you are deep
down a good person. Did
you do me wrong? That is
between you and the Lord.
Have a nice day.
●
Since the old man who
drives the blue truck from
McRoberts is back full-time
at the Boone Fork Senior
Citizens, we men don’t have
a chance with those women
down there. Those women
were tickled to death when
he came back. You could
see the smiles and they are
still smiling yet. I think it is
a shame that one man can
hog all of the women like he
does. I don’t know what it is
about him that makes him
get all of the women at the
Boone Fork Senior Citizens
Center. It seems like he has
them under his fingernails
and it is just that way every
day.
●
To the people of Jenkins,
Neon, Elkhorn City, Elkhorn
Creek and Pound, Va.: This
will be your last chance to
sign the petition calling for
the reopening of the Jenkins
Community Hospital. Please
sign at the Jenkins Public
Library. This hospital is desperately needed. Please do
your part to help this happen. This would also provide
much-needed jobs in our
community. You deserve
good health care also.
●
This is to the big-mouthed
idiot who put the comment
in Speak Your Piece about
the judges and the prosecuting attorneys not helping
the children and letting
people who shot someone
in the back get off scot-free:
It wasn’t the judge and the
prosecutor who let them off.
It was your stupid jurors. If
you are so smart and think
you know so much, why
don’t you attend some of the
court hearings. You’ll find
Friday, Saturday And Sunday
November 29, 30 & December 1
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out just exactly how hard
those people work. There are
a few good jurors, don’t get
me wrong. In fact, there are a
lot of good jurors. However,
some don’t have enough
sense to get out of the bed
in the morning. So thank
you anyway for the unkind
piece that you put in.
●
A man with a white dog
uses the front yard of the
tourism building in Whitesburg for the dog’s restroom
in the morning.
●
A YouTube audio of the
teacher telling the kid that
the kid should be homeschooled discloses a widely-known fact. That is that
Pike County and the bigger
schools encourage poorly
educated parents to educate those who don’t do
well in school just so they
don’t drag down the test
scores of others. This has
been a common practice for
many years. Home-school
your kid if your kid doesn’t
do well in school and the
school system won’t say or
do anything. Just don’t drag
down test scores at the bigger schools.
●
My grandson scored
very poorly when tested
in a Pike County school
and was encouraged to go
elsewhere. He went to a
neighboring county school.
Within two years he scored
distinguished on all parts of
the CATS test because the
teachers there were interested in teaching.
●
About a month ago or so
it was written in The Mountain Eagle’s ‘The Way We
Were’ where some company
wanted to hire only white
women for a high dollar
price. That would have been
around 65 years ago. I’m a
white man and that makes
me sick that black women
couldn’t apply for those jobs
back then. What a joke the
United States of America is
and has been.
●
Want to know what is
really going on in America?
Read the book, ‘Zenith 2016’
by Thomas Horn.
●
When Mayor Craft took
office the Whitesburg City
Council cut the families of
city employees off the city’s
healthcare coverage, stating
the city couldn’t afford the
expense. The council did
vote to keep the mayor’s
family plan intact. Under
the city’s charter the mayor
isn’t entitled to any health
insurance. I really wish The
Mountain Eagle would cover
these stories a little more.
<i>( The Whitesburg
City Council’s decisions on
health insurance matters
affecting city employees
and city officials are and
always have been covered
by The Mountain Eagle. In
fact, The Eagle has had a
reporter present at nearly
every meeting of the Whitesburg council since the paper
was founded in 1907.)
●
I was going to stop at
church the other day in
Burdine and go in and visit
a little while, but the pastor
had all of the handicapped
parking spaces blocked. He
got what he wanted when he
got speed bumps there. Now
he’s got the handicapped
sign and is parking in front
of it. Either add some more
handicapped parking spots
or get out of the way, Pastor,
because people need to park
there.
Department? We would appreciate it very much.
●
Do Mayor James Wiley
Craft and County Judge
Jim Ward think they are
the President of the United States and President of
Whitesburg by using all of
that money and spending
money they don’t have?
Don’t they know we are in
hard times? Both think they
are the President.
●
Mitch McConnell has
sure flip-flopped. Five years
ago he hated the filibuster,
but these last five years he
has loved it. He couldn’t
bear to let democracy work
now. Hal Rogers just doesn’t
call it a filibuster but puts
secret, anonymous holds
on practically every nominee for a judge. That way
the Senate has no chance
to vote or even discuss a
nominee and we folks will
never know. It didn’t have
to be that way, but Mitch and
his buddies wouldn’t give up
the gridlock so the Senate
changed the filibuster rule.
Good thing, but Mitch McConnell is still in a tantrum.
●
My wife had health insurance a few years ago and it
cost us $250 a month. It was
a $2,500 across-the-board
deductable. We couldn’t
afford it and she has been
without health insurance
ever since. We owe the hospital $10,000. I don’t know
what is going on in those
Republican states, but I
know what is going on in
Kentucky. My wife is now
getting health insurance at
a reasonable rate with real
coverage. A lot of the insurance policies we have had,
just like my health insurance
that I get through my employer, aren’t worth having.
God bless you and have a
nice day, Obama.
●
It looks like the whole
crowd is back down here.
They must not be scared.
They must have their diapers
cleaned. It’s a shame that
they try to tell you how to
run your place. People like
that need to stay away. By
the way, it’s someone else’s
place. Don’t try to control it.
If you can’t do that, please
act like a human being.
Don’t act like a baby.
●
To the writer who asked
the question, ‘Why can’t
the police do something
about it?’: The police can’t
do anything about it because
the drug problem is under
the control of the UNITE
Program, and they have to
spend a lot of time — about
six months to a year — investigating and gathering
evidence in the case before
an arrest can be made. Unfortunately, by that time the
drug dealer has moved on
to a new location where he/
she establishes a brand new
business in most cases —
probably next door. If county
sheriff ’s deputies were to arrest a drug dealer the county
attorney would not try to
prosecute the case anyhow,
because of the judiciary article set to law in 1975 which
snatched our local judiciary
power from local and county
governments. County governments have to be careful in what they do in this
day and time, because the
Kentucky state government
can abolish a county government if it wants to. County
governments exist for the
benefit of the local people
who live there. It’s right in
the constitution.
●
●
A scooter and a lawn
mower were stolen from the
Jenkins area. The scooter is
pearl white with a blue seat.
If anyone knows anything
about this, would you please
contact the Jenkins Police
Sorry to hear about Charlie Miles passing away. Our
deepest sympathy goes out
to the family. He’ll be sadly
missed. Thank you, Stanley
Pack.
●
OPEN ON GARNER MOUNTAIN
“Basic Health Care For Your Pet”
Off
Letcher
County
• A Selection Of Girl’s Coats
• A Selection Of Children’s Sportswear
John B. Adams Store
Outpost Animal Clinic
Just Off Highway 15 At Isom
Carol Combs-Morris, DVM
633-4306
10927 Hwy. 15 • Jeremiah, KY 41826
Open 8:30 A.M. - 6:00 P.M. Mon.-Sat.
Sunday 1:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.
Accept All Major Credit Cards
Telephone
(606) 633-8804
OfÀce Hours: Mon. & Wed. 10:00 A.M. - 6:00 P.M.
Fri. 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M., Sat. 9:00 A.M. - 1:00 P.M.
Butterball Turkey CEO Rod Brenneman posed in front of
a sign at a Turkey Talk-Line facility. (AP Photo)
Talking turkey
with top man
at Butterball
By CANDICE CHOI
AP Food Industry Writer
NEW YORK
Turkey isn’t just for
Thanksgiving, says Butterball CEO Rod Brenneman.
Whether it’s turkey sausage for breakfast, turkey
medallions on salad for
lunch or roast turkey and
gravy for dinner, Brenneman
says he eats the bird at least
once every day.
His meal choices were
among the personal glimpses he shared during an interview with The Associated Press. Brenneman also
dished about how Butterball
handles its busiest time of
year. The company, based
in Garner, N.C., estimates
that it makes one out of
every five turkeys eaten on
Thanksgiving.
This year, Butterball ran
into a shortage of large,
fresh turkeys. Brenneman
says it’s the first time the
company had trouble fattening up its birds in time
for the holidays. He says the
cause is unknown but is being investigated.
In the meantime, Butterball is welcoming another
first: Its famous Turkey Talk
Line at 1-800-BUTTERBALL
now will employ men. The
toll-free line has been a resource for cooks with questions about preparing their
holiday feasts since 1981.
On Thanksgiving alone, Butterball says the line fields
more than 12,000 calls.
Here are excerpts from
the interview with Butterball’s Brenneman:
Q: Where did the name
Butterball come from? And
how do you feel about the
term being used to describe
chubby people?
A: Many people think
Butterball turkeys have
butter in them, but they
don’t. Basically the name
came about because of their
plump size and golden color. We’re proud of the Butterball name. There is no
talk or joke about being a
butterball at this company.
Only about our turkeys.
They’re plump.
Q: Do you produce whole
turkeys year round or just as
you get closer to Thanksgiving?
A: Ten months out of
the year we’re producing
whole turkeys and freezing
them. Those are the frozen
birds that you’re buying (for
Thanksgiving). For October
and November, we shift into
what we call fresh season.
Those birds are all fresh.
Q: So the turkey I buy
could’ve been frozen a long
time ago?
A: They’re frozen
throughout the year. It
could’ve been a month ago.
It could’ve been three or
four months ago. Either
way, once they’re frozen,
they maintain their quality
and shelf life.
Q: What are some of the
most common questions
you get on the Turkey Talk
line?
A: “How long does it take
to thaw a turkey?”
Q: What are some of the
more unusual questions
you’ve had?
A: We had a time when
the people had left their
turkey outside all night. I
guess it was really cold and
it had snowed. They called
and they wanted to know
how to locate their turkey
in the snow.
Q: Why did you decide to
have men field calls?
A: One in four calls we get
at the Turkey Talk Line are
men, believe it or not. We
stepped back and looked at
the changing Thanksgiving
table and men are becoming more and more a part
of, not only the carving of
the turkey, but the cooking
of the turkey.
Q: Do they have to go
through any training?
A: Every single person
who works on the Turkey
(Continued on Page 13)
Taking orders
for calendars
Pine Mountain Settlement School is now taking
orders for the 2014 Pine
Mountain Grow Appalachia Calendar. The calendars, which cost $15 plus
shipping, benefit the Pine
Mountain Grow Appalachia
project. They feature regional planting dates, national
holidays, and pictures of
people and produce. To order or for more information,
call (606) 558-3416 or email
[email protected].
Rites held for
Tina Halcomb
Tina Halcomb, 39, died
November 22, at her home
at Linefork.
Born in Letcher County,
she was the daughter of
Gillis and Rhoda Senters
Halcomb of Craft’s Colly.
Surviving in addition to
her parents are two children, Briauna Halcomb of
Craft’s Colly, and Christian Halcomb of Linefork; a
brother, Shane Halcomb of
Craft’s Colly; and a granddaughter, Aubreigh Halcomb of Craft’s Colly.
Funeral services were
held November 26 in Benham. Burial was in the Halcomb Cemetery in Linefork.
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