Beech Tree News Network

Goodreads was founded in December 2006 and launched January 2007 by Otis Chandler and Elizabeth Khuri Chandler.  In December 2007, the site had 650,000 members and 10,000,000 books had been added.  By July 2012, the site reported 10 million members, 20 million monthly visits and thirty employees.  On March 28, 2013, Amazon announced its acquisition of Goodreads and by July 23, 2013, Goodreads announced their user database had grown to 20 million members.  By July 2019, the site had 90 million members.

Thanksgiving Day Column

As the 2022 Interim draws to a close, the Kentucky General Assembly is preparing for the upcoming 2023 Regular Session, a short, 30-day session scheduled to begin Tuesday, January 3.

Fortunately, election season is in the rearview mirror and your attention is likely now fully on what makes the holiday season so special — family, friends and the people who make our local communities so special. Each Thanksgiving, I enjoy being home in my district, hearing from constituents, and creating memories with those I love.  

REPRESENTATIVE MELINDA GIBBONS PRUNTY

BELTON, KY— This week, as a nation, we will be celebrating the centuries old tradition of Thanksgiving. Oddly enough, those who had left their home country seeking a better life, many for religious freedom, actually celebrated alongside Native Americans who had helped make their first successful harvest possible. Are there still lessons to be learned on many levels from that original Thanksgiving?    

When I hear the word “parasites,” it always brings to mind my late father-in-law, J.D. Hughes, sitting at the kitchen table, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and denouncing coal mine inspectors.  “Damned government parasites!” he would say about the government employees, who would show up at his mine site unannounced to make sure J.D. was following all the mine safety regulations.  J.D. wasn’t big on other people being “up in his business.”  Anyway, the word “parasites” has always carried with it negative connotations for me.

I was listening to Classic Vinyl on Sirius XM the other day and “Riders on the Storm” by the Doors came on. I immediately wondered how many songs either mentioned or had rain sounds in the song. As it turns out, there are a lot”. For one, I found a website called www.spinditty.com that had a list of songs that mention rain.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac Everyday Calendar has been on my desk this year (thanks to one of my daughters). I found much of its information entertaining. Some of that information is listed below: 

-Both male and female reindeer have antlers.

-Humans and giraffes have the same number of vertebrae in their neck: seven. (Swans have 24 or more neck vertebrae.)

-Bottlenose dolphins are social mammals, each with its own signature whistle. A mother may whistle to a newborn almost continuously for a few days to help it learn to identify her.

BELTON, KY— On Friday and over the weekend many Veterans Day celebrations took place across both the old and new District 15. I was humbled to be able to participate in events across the district.

Sometimes, I will have a thought that will not leave me alone.  It’s usually a simple thought, a little nudge of sorts, that keeps coming back no matter how hard I keep trying to ignore it.  A week ago, I had one such thought.  The thought was, “I need to pick some turnip greens.”

In the last few verses of Ezra 3, we see the people's response to the singing and ceremony that has taken place with the laying of the Temple’s foundation. The ancient people who remembered Solomon’s Temple cried while the younger generation rejoiced at the foundation they saw (Ezra 3:11-13).

Shorter days and colder temperatures are evidence of autumn and the impending arrival of the holiday season. Kentucky residents from communities across the bluegrass have completed, or will complete, their civic duty by visiting their local polling station and casting votes for those they wish to represent them in local, state and federal office. Having exercised our sacred voting rights on November 8, we celebrate the very individuals who defend the rights unique to American citizens.