CRESTVIEW — Numerous crestviewbulletin.com and Facebook readers shared their thoughts on Crestview's medical marijuana decision.

Here are some of their comments.

TAKE A LOOK AROUND

Not sure what Councilman Hayes means, "another Colorado on our hands." Is he referring to the millions in tax revenue they are reaping and Crestview does not need more income. Take a look around town at how badly [we] are starting to look. Start with the sidewalks. Pitiful. My rant is over for now, thanks for reading and don't forget to vote next election.

Larry W. Nutter 

THIS IS A TRAVESTY

What’s wrong in Colorado? What I’ve heard is they have a huge tax surplus. Also this is about medical marijuana not recreational. This is a travesty. I am outraged.

Nancy Gisser Meiselman

DISPENSARIES PROVIDE EMPLOYMENT

What is wrong with Colorado? The schools have more money than ever, opioid overdose deaths are way down, and dispensaries provide employment. Only thing I see wrong with Colorado is it's way too cold for way too long, lol.

Lori Hulion

WE SAID YES

Let's deny people something that could enhance their quality of life and instead keep building McDonald’s on every corner. We can have multiple liquor stores and a sex toy shop, but not medical marijuana, which is proven to help people. Not only that, but the people have spoken! We said yes in an overwhelming number.

Leslie E Brown

HEAR OUR VOICE

How dare these people deny the will of the people who voted for this. Our voice should be heard! This council member should have to go face the people that need this and tell them no, their lives and quality of life [are] not worthy… they need to be voted out of office. Looking at Crestview; I know they don't know what's best for us. Is there a way for the people of Crestview to go over these people to the state level?

Kimberly Mathis

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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Readers' thoughts on Crestview's medical marijuana decision

Here is my annual ADD list of random things I am thankful, and not so thankful, for this year:

• In his quest to shape his legacy, President Trump ordered the execution of 10 Thanksgiving turkeys previously pardoned by Obama.
• I’m glad my friend Rand Paul is OK after his left-wing neighbor squirrel-jumped Rand while he was mowing his own yard. That is what happens when you crack down on illegal immigration: U.S. senators have to mow their own yards.
• Sexual allegations became the new conviction. After getting out of prison, O.J. Simpson was thrown out of a Las Vegas hotel for being drunk and combative. Wow — just when you think you know someone! But he is safe; no woman will tweet #MeToo about him inappropriately murdering her 25 years ago.
• College edu-crats continue to diminish the value proposition of a college education by running up costs, stifling opposing free speech and espousing liberal dogma. They don’t want to be "judged." They even abandoned a college rating system based on cost and quality of education. Now we are back to the rating system we have always used: the College Football Playoff rankings.
• As the investigation of President Trump drones on, the most damning evidence in this expensive farce points to the previous administration and Hillary. Her book blames everyone but herself for her epic loss. Hillary needs to get more honest and realize she’s polishing the Clinton legacy, not creating a Tinder profile.
• Not to be outdone, and with their shakedown foundation no longer able to operate, Bill Clinton is writing a new book, a crime thriller novel called "My Marriage to Hillary."
• Trump stepped up the ill-conceived wars in the Middle East, perhaps winning, but one wonders: winning what? As always, ISIS said it bombed hospitals. So the charity working in the area changed its name to "Doctors without Doctors."
• The Langone Medical center at NYU concluded a study showing human brains remain working for a short time after death. This explains why politicians can stay in the Senate so long.
• The NFL's popularity continues to fade. To boost revenue, the NFL is including a can of lighter fluid with the sale of each jersey. Meanwhile, SEC football rolls on. Tickets for the Georgia vs. Alabama championship game are going for $2500. That’s nuts; for that kind of dough you can see the first act of "Hamilton" on Broadway.
• Sen. Bob Corker offered some reasoned advice to Trump, igniting a Twitter beat-down response from the president. He called Corker a "lightweight incompetent" and made fun of his height by calling him "Liddle Bob Corker." It's good to see the First Lady’s program on anti-bullying is working as well as Michelle Obama’s war on obesity did.
• The classified JFK assassination files were partially released. I’ve been associated with JFK since grade school. I remember our principal announcing JFK’s assassination over our school loudspeaker, followed by "Ronnie Hart, please report to the principal’s office."
• Great news for folks who don't get good news! Netflix canceled Kevin Spacey’s "House of Cards" over his alleged sexual aggressions toward young men but renewed its award-winning show "Orange is the New Black." It’s the only women’s prison movie men don’t have to immediately delete from their browser history, or a documentary of the transition of Trump into Obama’s White House.
• Hollywood got mad at Spacey’s statement that implied his being gay meant he was a pedophile. Two different unions. Hollywood has blackballed him; the Archdiocese of Los Angeles wants to award him a parish. 
• Trump returned from his important trip to Asia right after China's president was named the most powerful person in the world. This came as quite a shock to Oprah. Trump visited the statue of the previous prime minister of China, Hu Yao-Bang. He apparently was named for Harvey Weinstein’s casting criteria.
• Trump’s extreme vetting got held up in liberal West Coast courts. Southern cities refuse to take in potentially dangerous Middle Eastern immigrants; sanctuary cities like Los Angeles say they will, but say the vetting process will be extensive. The refugees will not be evaluated on their criminal history, race, creed or color, but will be judged like everyone else in LA — by the car they drive.
• United Airlines personified passengers' flying experience by beating and dragging an Asian man off a plane. United later apologized and was kind enough to waive the man’s Passenger Removal Fee.
• Thankfully, the drought in California ended, mostly because of normalized seasonal rains but also from all the tears of Left Coast libs when Trump was elected.

Ron Hart is a libertarian op-ed humorist and award-winning author. Contact him at Ron@RonaldHart.com or @RonaldHart on Twitter.

What's your view? Write a letter to the editor.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Thoughts on Thanksgiving and the year

Four people in tiny Rancho Tehama, Calif., recently were shot and killed in another spree, thus plunging another community into unspeakable and unfathomable grief.

Another American flag on another town square flying at half-staff.

It's become so commonplace, it wasn't even the top national story of the day. Apparently, it takes a lot more than four folks being killed for that the occur, even though a child was among the victims.

The shooter killed himself, bringing the total number of dead to five.

Authorities said the carnage was triggered by a domestic violence incident, and then it spread to the town of about 1,400. Witnesses said they heard at least 100 gunshots.

We literally just saw this movie, yes?

On Nov. 5, 26 innocent people died inside the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, at the hands of someone who had no business having access to weapons. Twenty more were injured.

This year, the U.S. has endured an average of one mass shooting every single day, defined as four or more people shot, according to statistics published by the Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit group that tracks such incidents.

Remember when it was fun to have a fire drill in school? These days, elementary school children undergo "mass-shooting" drills. In the California case, it saved many lives. But what a tragedy and an indictment on us that it's even necessary.

Ninety-five percent of Americans support universal gun-background checks, yet lawmakers who are more afraid of their big-dog donors than their constituents have stymied progress for decades. As things stand, it would help if the current laws were enforced consistently, along with eliminating gun-show and internet loopholes for purchases of firearms.

Earlier this year, Congress rescinded a 2016 law that made it more difficult for some people who are receiving disability for serious mental illnesses to acquire guns. It was such a good idea that a president who loves photo-op ceremonies signed it without having one.

Though we know that mental illness can't be dismissed as a factor for why someone would shoot up a school or church, people with mental illness are 10 times more likely to be victims of violence than others. Yet insurance parity for mental health services is being threatened by budget cuts, specifically reductions in Medicaid, the single-largest source of funding.

It's no coincidence, by the way, that our jails are doubling as mental health facilities, though corrections officers shouldn't be expected to do such double duty. The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that 55 percent of male inmates and 73 percent of female inmates in state prisons suffer from some form of mental illness.

According to a 2015 Beck Hospital CFO Report, the average cost for inpatient treatment in a psychiatric hospital is between $1,100 and $2,800 a day.

Housing that same person in jail costs about $70 a day.

Since we're loath to undertake meaningful action, let's not even bother with the charade of thoughts and prayers, or camouflaging our killing fields with flowers and teddy bears.

We know it's going to happen again, because we don't have the courage to change. Let's stop pretending we're concerned about the consequences.

There has been a lot of conversation of late about the American flag. Some folks take great umbrage any time they think it has being disrespected. Nothing, though, sullies what the flag stands for more than an unwillingness by Americans in power to do more to protect their fellow citizens.

Unless and until we've had enough of innocent blood soaking church pews and playgrounds, we ought to place our flag at half-staff — and leave it there.

Reach Charita M. Goshay at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Half-staff flags becoming too commonplace

Early mornings, late nights and long days; three things that the modern farmer knows all too well.

However, in today’s world, the agricultural industry encompasses much more than just farming. From natural resource conservation to precision agriculture, careers in this ever-advancing industry are as diverse as the people that pursue them.

The agricultural industry and those who chose it as their life path are responsible for many comforts of the society that we know today. There are many different career paths that someone can follow within this industry, but all are connected by the idea that a better today leads to a better tomorrow.

There is a certain pride that comes along with tending for our planet, nurturing the soil and preserving the natural wonders of the world. No other career field is responsible for feeding the planet’s population, which is growing at an alarming rate.

By 2050, the population is expected to reach 9.5 billion, and food production will need to have doubled. Farmers work daylight to dusk to ensure that there is enough food for everyone, and they will have to work harder and smarter to accomplish that same goal in the future.

What other career field has this kind of weight on its shoulders?

Conservationists work tirelessly to ensure that the world is just as beautiful for future generations as it is today. Not only have they developed conservation plans for today’s producers, but they have learned from past mistakes and evolved their methods.

Agriculture may have led to The Dust Bowl, but it also created one of the most respected and dedicated conservation organizations that have ever existed, the Soil Conservation Service, now known as the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which employs thousands of people all working toward the common goal of improving and saving our natural resources. 

Biotechnology and those who sit on the cutting edge of science are working to make crop yields higher, and the use of pesticides and herbicides lower. People in impoverished areas will soon have access to high-nutrient quality crops that will reduce the impacts of micronutrient deficiencies, which are serious deficiencies affecting half of children worldwide ages 6 months to 5 years old, and more than 2 billion people globally.

Let us not forget those who influence the work force of tomorrow. Agriculture teachers have the huge task of instilling an interest in agriculture in our children. Teachers shape the next generation, and agriculture teachers shape the next generation of caretakers in this demanding industry. They work day in and day out to share their knowledge, passion and compassion for others with their students.

As an undergraduate student who is working toward a career in the agricultural industry, I have big shoes to fill. Those who have come before me have set the stage as some of the hardest working, most dedicated and driven individuals in the job force.

We all have one thing in common, however, and that is the passion for the industry itself. No other career field is as rewarding, fulfilling, and challenging as agriculture.

I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Lacy Fallon is a senior who majors in Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University. She is currently an intern with the Crestview USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

"There is a certain pride that comes along with tending for our planet, nurturing the soil and preserving the natural wonders of the world."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Thoughts on agriculture as a career

Nothing says fall like fresh apples that show up at our local grocery store during November.

They are high in fiber and vitamin C, and they are low in calories. With only a trace of sodium, and no fat or cholesterol, apples are healthy and easy to take on the run for a quick snack.

Apples come in many varieties and colors. Whether eating fresh or selecting for baking in an apple pie, some varieties are better than others.

Varieties good for eating fresh include gala, honey crisp, red delicious, brae burn and Fuji. If you are cooking apples in pies or making applesauce, select Winesap, Granny Smith or Rome Beauty. 

Apples may be stored in the refrigerator for longer storage or if you want them to ripen more, leave them on the counter. Eat or use unrefrigerated apples within one to two weeks. Stored cold, apples can last six to eight weeks. 

Besides eating fresh, cut apples and add to your salad, slaw or as a crispy addition to a peanut butter and apple sandwich. Also, add fresh apples to your morning oatmeal, pancake batter and as a topping on ice cream. Apples add nutrition and crunch to many common foods. Be creative and try your hand at coming up with ideas to add apples to your diet.

When it comes to baking with apples, it may be helpful to know the following:

•1 pound of apples = 2 large, 3 medium, or 4 to 5 small apples

•1 pound of apples = 3 cups peeled and sliced apples 

Fun apple facts:

• The Red Delicious variety is the most widely grown apple in the United States, with 62 million bushels harvested annually.
• Apples ripen six to 10 times faster at room temperature than when refrigerated.
• Apple varieties range in size from a little larger than a cherry to as large as a grapefruit. The largest apple ever picked weighed 3 pounds.
• A peck of apples weighs 10.5 pounds. A bushel of apples weighs about 42 pounds.
• It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.
• It takes two pounds of apples to make one 9-inch apple pie.
• Apples float because 25 percent of their volume is made up by air.
• Pomology is the science of apple-growing.
• The most popular varieties of apples in the U.S. are the Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and the Granny Smith. 

Pamela H. Allen is the interim county director and an agent at the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences Extension office in Crestview.

Try these Fresh Apple Muffins that freeze well or will keep for several days. They go great with your morning coffee or an after-school snack:

 FRESH APPLE MUFFINS

½ cup butter (unsalted at room temperature)

½ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup dark brown sugar, divided

1 large egg

1 cup of plain yogurt (if using Greek style, only use 3/4 cup and add ¼ cup milk)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup plain all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apples (about two large apples)

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin pan or line with papers.

Mix the softened butter, granulated sugar, the ¼ cup of dark brown sugar and beat until creamy and fluffy.

Add the egg and mix well, scraping down the sides of the bowl to mix all the ingredients.

Add yogurt gently.

Stir in the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

Gently fold in the chopped apples.

Divide batter evenly in muffin cups and sprinkle the remaining ½ cup brown sugar on top.

Bake the muffins for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Remove from oven and cool for five minutes. Place on racks to finish cooling completely. 

Yields 12 muffins.

IN THE KITCHEN

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: An apple a day

This is the last week in the college football season (other than the playoffs and bowl games) and it’s called the Interstate Rivalry of the SEC and the ACC.

Teams with not so good of a season can come out head high with a win in one of these games. It’s also show and tell on who is going to the big bowl games and who’s not.

At this time of the season bowl bids are rare, so it’s a must win for all teams. Unfortunately, many teams only go home and must wait until next season; some are looking with anticipation as to who the new coach is going to be, or can the old coach come up with a better season than last season.

But for this week, it’s dog eat dog and the bragging rights to the state — these are the games when you see a 2-9 team beat a 9-2 team. Folks, it happens all the time. Remember, on any given day in college football, any team can win, no matter what the win-loss records are. 

BILL’S PICKS 

Here are your 10 picks for the week plus a tiebreaker for Nov. 25:

1. Clemson Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks: This is the ACC game of the week — 80,000-plus fans at William-Brice Stadium get to see feathers flying all over the place. Tigers by 21.

2. Duke Blue Devils vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons: It’s true, this game is so close it’s hard to call but it’s going to be fun to either be there or watch on TV. Blue Devils by 6.

3. Florida State Seminoles vs. Florida Gators: 92,000 fans at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (this year they called it Benny Hill Stadium) finally have something to cheer about. One is the season is over with and the Gators just might win this one by 3.

4. Georgia Dawgs vs. Rambling Wreck of Georgia Tech: And that’s just that — a big wreck in front of 85,000 fans at Bobby Dodd Stadium who will see the Dawgs dive over them by 21.

5. Louisville Cardinals vs. Kentucky Big Blue: 68,000-plus Big Blue fans are on hand to help Kentucky end with a great season. Big Blue very closely wins by 3.

6. Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Auburn War Eagles: This is the game of the week nationwide; 88,000-plus War Eagle fans will be at Jordan-Hare Stadium. (The stadium is too small for this game; it needs to be 125,000). More people will watch this game than the Notre Dame-Miami game. Alabama train just keeps chugging along by 14.

7. Texas A&M Aggies vs. LSU Tigers: In the SEC game of the week, there’s no 12th man in Tiger Stadium. LSU by 13, maybe.

8. Ole Mississippi Rebels vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs: Really a very lackadaisical game; there’s more interest in the tailgate party than the game, but it’s the Bulldog fans who fill Davis-Wade Stadium of 56,000. Miss. State by 6.

9. Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Tennessee Volunteers: Under the circumstances of Tennessee’s season, the team gives new meaning to the word "Volunteers." Unfortunately, the Commodores will take full advantage of the poor showing of both teams with Vandy 10 points ahead at the end of the game. I don’t think the Tennessee fans can fill Neyland Stadium of 102,455.

10. Miami Hurricanes vs. Pittsburg Panthers: The night game on the 24^th of November on ESPN, a bit on the cold side night for Miami, but they warm up to the tune of 21 points over the Panthers.  

Tiebreaker: South Florida Bulls vs. Central Florida (UCF) Knights — The Knights fans said they could and will have over 50,000 in the Spectrum Stadium that only holds 44,206. I believe them — Knights by 18; Coach Scott Frost, how would you like to come to The Big Orange (Tennessee) after your bowl game? 

THOUGHTS ON THE VOLUNTEERS 

In 1948, I became a Tennessee fan because of my grandfather. I learned to eat, sleep and drink Tennessee football and all the other sports that Tennessee had.

My blood somehow turned orange during those years. I’m from Bristol, Tenn.; went to Tennessee High School, as did my father and uncle, my wife (Merle), all her sisters (three) and my first daughter (Monique).

I have flown the Tennessee flag in Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Libya, Switzerland, Sweden, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Denmark, Australia, Austria and Cambodia.

I also flew the Tennessee flag on my tank while with the 11th Armored Calvary Regimen in Vietnam, and with the 196th Infantry  Battalion and also in every southern state in the USA to also include California, Oklahoma, Texas, Hawaii and the last was Arizona. Oh, and I cannot leave out New Joisey.

My wardrobe consists of 25 orange T-shirts with Tennessee on them, 25 white T-shirts with Tennessee on them, and about 15 gray T-shirts with Tennessee on them.

Both my truck and car have the Tennessee orange "T" license plate on the front and UT window sticker on the rear window.

If you ask me why I’m so hard on Tennessee, it’s because I know they can do, and are, better than these past three or four years. This past year was the worst, and it breaks my heart, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel — better years are on the way.

I’ll never stop loving or being a UT fan, but I also have the right to say you stink or in some cases scream obscenities in front of the TV — but we still love you Tennessee!

See you at the bowl games. 

Bill Everett is a member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and lives in the Baker area.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: College football picks, week 13

I have this vague recollection of people thinking that 2016 was The Worst Year Ever, but at this point, that notion seems downright quaint: After all, "No-Drama" Obama was finishing up a nice, quiet stint in the White House, the worst thing Al Franken had done was the Stuart Smalley movie, and Tom Petty was alive.

Send me back, Doc!

But even if this year has seemed like one long, exhausting slog through a nonstop barrage of political turpitude, moral failures and generally depressing malaise, that doesn’t mean you don’t have things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

In fact, it took me a while but I came up with 17:

1. If you’d been worried that dating 14-year-olds as a grown man might get you in trouble at your church, no worries, turns out the evangelicals are down with that.

2. President Trump hasn’t insulted you in a tweet, unless you’re Hillary, Arnold, Whoopi, CNN, Morning Joe, Kim Jong-un, any number of Democratic and Republican legislators, or one of the many "Haters and Losers," which is pretty much everyone else. So never mind, he has insulted you, or at least your intelligence.

3. You’re not the guy in charge of planning the "DC Extended Universe," which as it turns out, nobody wants to see extended much past Wonder Woman, thank you very much.

4. You’re not the guy in charge of planning the Universal Studios "Dark Universe," its reboot of classic monster movies that you’re only vaguely aware of because when given the opportunity to see Tom Cruise in "The Mummy" last summer, you instead chose to beat yourself unconscious with a sock full of nickels (probably).

5. Your Amazon Echo can now take care of all your various and sundry household duties, thus facilitating your long-term plan to have yourself grafted permanently to your couch.

6. President Trump hasn’t taken away your health care! Yet.

7. You’re probably not old enough to remember the Democrats as a viable political party, which is one of the first warning signs of dementia. (Or of being a leading Democratic contender to run for president in 2020.)

8. You’re not the person who green-lighted a movie about the Earth getting attacked by satellite-created killer storms without first making damn sure that those storms would be filled with live sharks.

9. Your acute mental illness might keep you from getting a job or keeping your home, but buying a semiautomatic weapon is still easy-peasy!

10. You haven’t spent the last eight weeks watching "The Inhumans" on ABC only to discover that no, it wasn’t an elaborate prank show in which people are forced to wear funny clothes and talk to a giant CGI dog. (Boy, did I find that out the hard way.)

11. President Trump hasn’t banned your particular religious or ethnic group! Yet.

12. You haven’t tried to take a relaxing post-election walk in the woods only to stumble across Hillary Clinton and her dog eating the decaying body of Vince Foster. (The Fake News media left that last part out, but I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.)

13. Goat yoga is now a thing you can do. Legally, I mean.

14. Your boss probably doesn’t have nearly enough clout to get away with acting like Harvey Weinstein or Kevin Spacey. (And fortunately for all of us, it turns out neither did Harvey Weinstein or Kevin Spacey.)

15. Your ties to Russia aren’t nearly as incriminating as everyone the president has ever hired, worked with or been related to. Still, if you’ve ever eaten Chicken Kiev you can probably expect a subpoena any day now.

16. If you happen to be a Patriots fan: Tom Brady is still playing like a man many years younger than his actual age, likely due to a very sophisticated personal diet plan that has resulted in all of his internal organs being replaced with warm, glowing orbs.

17. Bruce Springsteen seems to be on the Tom Brady diet plan.

Peter Chianca is news director for Wicked Local North of Boston. Follow him on Twitter at @pchianca.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 17 reasons to be thankful in 2017

There is a battle being fought for the soul of America and, so far, it looks like the good guys are losing.

No, this isn’t the War on Christmas. That’s a different channel. You can tell me Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays and I won’t be bothered. You can even wish me a Happy Hanukah. I’m not Jewish, but I’m all for happiness for any reason.

Something that isn’t making me happy is watching the Religious Right move much more toward the right than religion. The political wing of the religious world is letting politics influence their religion when it should be the other way around.

The Alabama Senate special election to replace Jeff Sessions has become a litmus test for the Republican Party and especially the religious right. Those test results aren’t good.

It is amazing to me that it has only been one year since America’s Electoral College put Donald Trump in the White House despite video admissions of sexual misconduct and allegations of sexual abuse and assault.

It is more shocking that it has only been about six weeks since similar allegations against Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein started a chain reaction that has spread like a wildfire across several industries and the political world.

The "me too" movement emboldened people who were victims of sexual abuse and harassment to come forward and tell their truth.

One of the men who was snared by those truths is Alabama judge and Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore.

Several women came forward to accuse Moore of inappropriate or illegal relationships from about four decades ago. Moore’s official position is that he did nothing wrong.

He asked rhetorically why women would wait about 40 years to bring these charges to light if it wasn’t for political reasons. It is almost like Moore hasn’t read a newspaper or watched news on television for the past six weeks. Even "Fox and Friends" covered the sexual scandals that involved people on the left.

If these women wanted fame or to score political points, they could have come forward when Moore was removed from the bench for masquerading as a religious freedom fighter trying to protect a Ten Commandments statue.

They could have blasted the man who claimed homosexuality leads to child abuse when he was being removed from the bench for not allowing same-sex marriages. He brought up child sexual abuse on his own.

If his accuser — who claims to have had a sexual encounter with Moore when he was in his 30s and she was 14 — wanted to hit him where it hurts, that would have been the time. Not only would it have hurt his professional standing at the time, it would have ended his chance to get this campaign off the ground.

But these women didn’t come forward. According to the reporting, the women were found by reporters. The stories had been floating around Alabama for years. There has been a shift in credibility and response to these stories over the past few years that has accelerated rapidly in the past few weeks.

I can’t imagine telling a story like that if it weren’t true. What woman would make such an admission? They know they will be called liars. They know Moore’s supporters will come after them and accuse them of any number of things to protect their guy.

Unfortunately, that isn’t just a job for political operatives. In 2017, religious leaders treat suspects like victims and victims like suspects.

Since the allegations were first reported, Gordon Klingenschmitt, Bryan Fischer, Matt Barber and even Jerry Falwell Jr. have come out in support of Moore and attacked his accusers.

Of course, Moore was a special guest of Sean Hannity and, even if I had believed Moore before that interview, I wouldn’t now. Moore claims he never knew the woman who said he had an encounter with her at the age of 14. What Moore admitted to was bad enough for me. He says he had the permission of mothers before he dated teenagers as a 30-something year old man.

When Hannity asked Moore if he dated teens in his 30s, Moore’s answer was damning.

"Not generally, no." Moore said.

Not generally? I don’t generally eat an entire medium pizza for dinner, but trust me, it has happened and you would be foolish to believe otherwise.

The women who make these claims deserve better. The woman told family and friends the same story about her experience with Moore for years.

Several in the religious community are calling out those who are more concerned about partisan points than parishioner pain.

Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, said "Whether in the hills of Hollywood or the halls of power, it doesn’t matter. This is true: sexual assault and child molestation are evil, unjust, satanic."

Moore went on to say, "I am heartbroken by how often I hear of women and girls who’ve been assaulted and abused, and didn’t feel they could go to their church for help. This should not be."

When the church demoralizes its mission and becomes a political committee, it sells its soul and jeopardizes those of its congregants.

The church has to fight abuses of any kind. If Bill Clinton and Harvey Weinstein take advantage of women, their actions should be judged harshly.

If Donald Trump and Roy Moore take part in the same activities, they should receive the same judgment.

Right and wrong don’t have a party affiliation. There are plenty of partisans to handle the attacks. The church needs pastors to tend to the flock.

Kent Bush is publisher of the Shawnee (Oklahoma) News-Star and can be reached at kent.bush@news-star.com.

"The Alabama Senate special election to replace Jeff Sessions has become a litmus test for the Republican Party and especially the religious right. Those test results aren’t good."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Right and wrong don’t depend on right and left

We all lead busy lives, but at this time of year, we need to slow down and take time to reflect on all the everyday blessings that we enjoy. 

There are so many little things that we don't give much thought to, like the fact that our cars start when we go out and turn on the ignition. 

We are blessed to live in a country where we are free; free to work at the job of our choice, to worship at the church of our choice, shop where we would like, purchase what we enjoy and go where we want to go without government interference.

We are truly blessed with the abundance we enjoy. One of the joys at Thanksgiving is to see our extended family; grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins we rarely see. How delightful to catch up with those we don't see very often.

For what are you most thankful? Here are a few ideas to help begin your own list:

•The Lord God who loves and cares for us

•Our family who love us unconditionally

•Our church families that care for us

•Our jobs or careers, and the ability to change career direction, if we choose

•Our dedicated police officers, firefighters and EMTs

•Our military, at home and abroad, that make our country safe

•I am thankful for the gift of music, that I have a voice I can lift in praise to the Lord

•Sunshine and rain that give us beautiful flowers

•Pets that love us

•The ability to reason and learn

These are just a few ideas for what we can be thankful. Make your own list and see items for which you give thanks.

In acknowledgement for the gratitude you feel at this time of year, please donate non-perishable food or money to your church's food pantry or to the community food bank for those less fortunate so they can enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner.

We can all work on gratitude, just by saying "thank you" to someone. A spoken thank you with a smile will certainly brighten up one's day.

Happy Thanksgiving and thank you, Lord, for our many blessings!

Janice Lynn Crose, a former accountant, lives in Crestview with her husband, Jim; her two rescue collies, Shane and Jasmine; and two cats, Kathryn and Prince Valiant.

"We can all work on gratitude, just by saying "thank you" to someone. A spoken thank you with a smile will certainly brighten up one's day."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Reflections on Thanksgiving and thankfulness

The National Institute of Justice reported this week that homicides in America’s largest cities rose in 2015 and again in 2016, although not all cities experienced a significant increase and some cities even experienced a decline.

In 2016, the FBI Uniform Crime Report found that there were 17,250 homicides nationwide. That is an increase of 8.6 percent from 2015 on top of a 12.1 percent increase from 2014-2015.

That adds up to about a 21 percent increase in homicide over two years, which is the largest two-year increase in a quarter of a century.

The National Institute of Justice considered two explanations for the increase: 

• The heroin and opioid epidemic
• The so-called "Ferguson effect," named for the city outside of St. Louis where the police response to unrest has impacted policing nationwide. 

The larger increases in drug-related homicides as compared to other types of homicide provided researchers with preliminary evidence that expansions in the illegal drug trade contributed to increase in homicide.

The current drug epidemic is disproportionately concentrated in the white population, and homicides have increased among whites as well as among African Americans and Hispanics. The report concluded that the drug epidemic may have had an especially strong influence on the rise in homicide rates among whites.

The second explanation put forth by researchers is the Ferguson effect, which resulted in "de-policing, compromised police legitimacy, or both."

Surveys of police reveal widespread concerns about increased police-community tensions and reductions in proactive policing in the aftermath of widely publicized deadly encounters between the police and African Americans.

Increases in homicide followed decreases in arrests in Baltimore and Chicago, although it is not known whether the same was true in other cities.

Alienation from the police can result in a decreased willingness to call the police or to cooperate with them and, some studies suggest, an increase in criminal behavior.

The National Institute of Justice concedes that "current evidence that links de-policing to the homicide rise is mixed, at best," and that it remains an "open research question."

The homicide increase in the United States is relatively large, if not unprecedented, especially in several of the nation’s biggest cities.

Because it arrived on the heels of a long-term crime drop, it is reasonable to ask whether the current homicide spike marks the end of what has been referred to by Professor Franklin E. Zimring of the UC Berkeley School of Law as the "the great American crime decline."

Before we break into a panic, a review of the data seems to indicate the answer is no. The national homicide rate was more than 35 percent lower in 2016 than in 1995 and the homicide rate in big cities was about 46 percent lower.

According to the National Institute of Justice, even at the elevated rates of increase in 2015 and 2016, it would take about five years for the national homicide rates to return to the levels of the early 1990s.

However, it is difficult to ignore the increase in homicides as well as the ongoing plight of minority members of our communities. For instance, the leading cause of death for young African American men is homicide, and it causes more deaths than the other top nine causes of death put together.

Professor David Kennedy of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice said recently, "[W]e’re debating these small changes and the national homicide rate had come down to between four and five per 100,000 and is now edging back up toward five.

"There are communities all over the country where especially young men of color are experiencing persistent homicide rates of over 500 per 100,000 year after year after year after year."

Matthew T. Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter @MatthewTMangino.

"The homicide increase in the United States is relatively large, if not unprecedented, especially in several of the nation’s biggest cities."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Word of ‘the great American crime decline’ demise premature