No news and bad news

It seems like we’ve been stuck on nothing but bad weather and bad news for the longest time. Speaking of bad news, the latest bit is about how the era of cheap food may be over. This item appears right before Groundhog Day, BTW. You know, Punxsutawney Phil the gopher, who has taken it on himself to forecast whether winter weather is over or will continue for another six weeks? Well, now he must now prognosticate to a crowd that may be hungry. As Mark Twain once noted, here is food for thought.



I suppose everyone has taken note of the ruling from Circuit Court Judge Steve Combs that set aside results from the mayoral race in Elkhorn City. That’s a novel idea: Set aside an election because there may have been irregularities involved. Keep that sort of thinking up and we might never get an election settled again.



In this instance, the wrong ballot may have gone to three voters not eligible to vote in the mayoral race. As was noted by Roland Case, assistance Pike Co. Attorney, this would not have altered the election’s outcome. I have to agree with Case here. To throw out the results of this election is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. A judicial appeal would appear to be in order.



Now the mess that was dumped into the Mountain Water District’s (MWD) lap with the release of an audit done by Crit Luallen is another kettle of fish altogether. Where to start? Hard to say because practically nothing here passes the smell test. As Shakespeare observed in his play, Hamlet “Something is (allegedly) rotten in the state of Denmark.”



Let me state categorically that I am not accusing anyone of anything, but please! When there were those who stood to gain so much by the decisions of MWD’s directors involved in those decisions, somebody had better have some really good explanations.



It was, as I recall, Chris Harris, Magistrate, District Six, who pushed for the audit of the MWD. Coincidentally, Chris was the subject of an attack campaign ad in his last race by a group called Citizens for Eastern Kentucky Government (CEKG). The funny thing about the ad was its origins, Hotlanta, Georgia.



This attack ad was racy and its content was questionable, to say the least, so much so that WYMT refused to even air it. The contributors to the group that wanted it aired were kept secret for a while, but as it turns out, were convinced to become involved in CEKG’s efforts at least in part because Chris wanted MWD audited. CEKG also got contributions from several individuals who may have reason to be concerned about the just-released audit.



Those individuals mentioned in the audit or who are now involved in running MWD would like us to know that everything is okay in the MWD today. All those issues singled out in this audit have now been taken care of, they say. Move along, now, nothing to be seen here.



Well, if those, to whom the results of the audit have been forwarded, such as the Legislative Ethics Commission or the Attorney General, are convinced of this, this would certainly go a long way in convincing the rest of us.