Dear Editor,

My Dad, Wiley Willis, said many times that once he was gone, no one would remember him. Thank you for proving him wrong and for the wonderful memorial you did for him. 

I miss Dad, Kentucky, and all the friends I have been blessed to have made over the years my parents lived among you. I hope to see all of you in the spring.

PAT SHAHEEN
15202 PALADORA DR
HOUSTON, TX  77083

Dear Editor,
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PLEASE let people know which lane to get in, when coming out of Brownsville Dollar Store and going straight onto KY HWY 70/Morgantown Road. I have seen people use both lanes to go straight since there is no straight arrow painted...Which would help. 

Thanks, Rausa Moutardier 
Concerned driver

Darren Doyle, Editor:
The Edmonson Voice receives dozens of emails, messages, and phone calls throughout the week, ranging anywhere from inquiries about articles and ads to how "Rachel" from "card services" can save us money. 

Readers sometimes send letters to the editor in the form of emails or Facebook messages, and we've also received typed and even handwritten letters, but today we received a unique phone call from a local army veteran with an interesting, yet sad story.

The man wished to remain anonymous so he didn't write a letter. He said he served two tours in Iraq and two more in Afghanistan during the years between 2005-2012. 

"A couple of weeks ago, I went for a motorcycle ride and left the house with my army-issued jacket," he said. "As I started down the driveway, I realized it was a little too warm for the jacket so I stopped and hung it on my mailbox with plans on getting it later."

He never saw the jacket again. The man said he rode for a couple hours but when he returned, his jacket was gone. Someone had taken it from his mailbox.

He said that he wasn't one of those guys who always looked for someone to thank him for his service, nor did he wear clothing that drew attention to the fact that he was an army veteran. 

"I don't want anyone to feel sorry for me or anything like that," he said. "I'm proud to have served my country and no thanks are needed and no one needs to know my name. Maybe someone really needed a jacket, if so, okay, but who does that?"

He said he'd like to have the jacket returned for the sheer sentimental value, but what he really wanted to say was that it's a shame that such a small item was purposely taken from his driveway in broad daylight.

We agree. If it were January and ten degrees, then maybe taking a jacket from someone's mailbox might seem like a good idea, but in late September, it really shouldn't be necessary to grab a jacket, especially an army-issued jacket from a veteran that served four different tours. Obviously nothing on the jacket gave any indication of four tours, but it's not hard to see that an object is military-themed. Most importantly, it's never any trouble to know if something belongs to you or not.

The army veteran didn't ask us to ask the public for help in getting the jacket returned, but we are asking.

If you have the jacket and would like to return it, contact the Edmonson Voice office at 270-597-6550 or send an email to: community@edmonsonvoice.com. We'll keep your name anonymous and no questions will be asked. We'll even provide you with a new jacket if you need one.

Darren Doyle, story:
We try to stay away from opinion-based articles because we know that's not the reason people enjoy the Edmonson Voice; however, a recent experience has prompted me to write this piece because there's an apparent lack of knowledge when it comes to folks driving on the interstate.

Some of our staff did some extensive traveling last week to take care of a little business which caused the Voicemobile to cover several hundred miles on several interstates. After a couple hundred miles, I quickly realized that people have no idea how to drive on the interstate.

Growing up, I had family that lived in Florida, and we made the journey down each year, covering hundreds of miles on the interstate. My dad began teaching me the proper steps to interstate driving when I was 14 or 15 years old. It all was based around courtesy and common sense. Apparently that's a thing of the past...

Most interstates today have a minimum of three driving lanes on each side and each of those lanes have a specific purpose. The far right lane is for those driving the speed limit or slower. Most interstates have a speed limit of 70mph, so if you plan on driving around that speed, KEEP YOUR CARCASS IN THE RIGHT LANE.

The middle lane is for those going just above the speed limit, normally 72-78mph. Finally, the far left lane is for those who are in the most hurry and plan on driving 80mph +. Of course, anything above the speed limit is against the law and I'm in no way encouraging anyone to speed...just letting you know how traffic normally flows in three lanes, based on a 70mph speed limit.

If you'll notice, you'll see many signs all along the interstates that say "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT." This is not a joke, it's not a typo, and it's not for the sake of making signs. It's to keep traffic flowing smoothly, and in most places, it's the law. There's a great site that explains the technical sides of this concept, http://slowertraffickeepright.com/.

Now that we've established the purpose of each lane, let's talk about another wonderful invention no one uses anymore...cruise control.

Cruise control has a couple of different purposes: 1. to reduce foot fatigue, but more importantly, 2. to maintain a steady, consistent speed. If everyone on the interstate kept their same speed as much as possible, surely there'd be less accidents and traffic jams. ​What does it accomplish to pass everyone, darting in and out of traffic, just to slow down and have everyone pass you five miles up the road?
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Traffic gets slowed down mostly because drivers aren't aware of the other drivers around them. Let's say you've got two cars driving 72mph, one is in the right lane, the other in the left. You already have a potential for a traffic jam because instead of having three different lanes accommodating three different speeds, you now only have two. Here, the car on the left needs to speed up a bit and move over in front of the car on the right, then continue the desired speed. The middle lane is now clear.

Here's another scenario: You're in the left lane traveling 80mph on cruise control. You see a car quickly approaching you from behind. What do you do? From my experience, most drivers these days do nothing because they either don't care, don't notice, or don't know. The correct answer is to move over as soon as it's safe to do so to let the vehicle behind you pass. "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT." If you stay in the left hand lane and the driver passes you on the right, you're doing it wrong. Period.

If you just stay in the left lane, you've bogged down traffic. The driver behind you will slow down someone else, and so on. 

Huge traffic jams also occur when a lane closes and everyone has to merge. Why is this? Multiple studies have shown that most drivers start to merge as soon as they see a sign that says "Left lane ends in 1000ft, merge right," and this is where the traffic jam starts. You shouldn't merge immediately. Wait until you're about to run out of lane then put on your turn signal and merge when it's safe. Most drivers consider this rude, as you're "cutting line" against all the cars in the lane that doesn't have to merge but that's not the case. Merging too far back slows down traffic sooner than it has to. 

The final thing that I noticed was that drivers constantly rode the bumpers of the vehicles in front of them, especially in congested areas where all traffic was slowed down. Because of this, we saw three different rear-end collisions due to not having enough room to stop safely. Please keep a couple car lengths in front of you if possible. According to figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), out of the 6 million car accidents that happen on U.S. roads every year, over 40% of them (2.5 million) are rear-end collisions.

Remember, "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT." Use cruise control, be aware of all other drivers around you, use your signals, and move over to allow faster traffic around you. Oh, yeah, and PUT DOWN YOUR PHONE. The NHTSA reports that drivers are four times more likely to have a serious accident when using a hand-held device while operating a vehicle.

Safe driving is still centered around courtesy and common sense. Please use them. My dad was a great interstate driver on our family trips. I'd like to think I'm following in his footsteps when I get behind the wheel. Well, all except for the part that goes, "IF I HEAR ONE MORE SOUND BACK THERE, I'LL PULL THIS THING OVER AND.........."

by: Kentucky Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Dave Adkisson

Kentucky is a new state. Following the General Assembly’s 2017 session, historic by all accounts, we now find ourselves better equipped to create and expand opportunities for all Kentuckians.

Making Kentucky a place where new businesses are created, the ones in existence are retained, and expansion in all sectors occurs was clearly the intent of leaders in Frankfort this past session. In the last few weeks, our state has seen headlines about new investments in the state and the number of jobs that will follow. Most recently, we learned of 550 new jobs and a $1.3 billion investment coming to Kentucky.

The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce applauds Representative Michael Meredith for coming to Frankfort intent on making your region and our entire state a better place to do business. In their first week, with Representative Meredith’s help, the General Assembly took bold steps that put Kentucky on the map as a state “open for business.” Representative Meredith’s focus on getting job-creating legislation passed as quickly as possible has undoubtedly been a large reason our state has been seeing so many headlines relating to jobs.

Making Kentucky the 27th “Right-To-Work” state was vital to ensure the state be competitive in creating jobs. States that beat Kentucky to the punch on becoming right to work report faster per capita income growth, faster growth in manufacturing and non-agricultural jobs, greater capital expenditures, lower unemployment and fewer work stoppages. It was right-to-work states that experienced 8.6% job growth from 2006 to 2016. That’s double the rate of job creation compared to non-right-to-work states. Thanks to Representative Meredith and his colleagues in the General Assembly, Kentucky is now positioned to benefit from this important economic tool.
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The Kentucky Chamber, representing thousands of businesses across the state, has long advocated for commonsense changes to help bring more jobs and opportunities to our state. We appreciate Representative Michael Meredith for the courage and leadership he displayed during the last session to help move our state in the right direction. 

You can submit letters to the editor, opinion pieces, or op-eds to the Edmonson Voice by emailing them to:
opinion@edmonsonvoice.com. All correspondence must adhere to our policies.