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A round-up of all things Clark County…

First, did you know that Taylor Ruth of Clark County is Mrs. Kentucky? Yes, Ruth will be competing for Mrs. United States of America in February. More on that as the story develops.

Winchester Kiwanis Club President Greg Yates invited me to attend the group’s meeting, held Wednesday at Arby’s. Saw a lot of familiar faces. Thanks!

Guest speaker, I talked about the Winchester Sun and what we hope to accomplish. As editor, I seek an active role in the community, same as longtime publisher Betty Berryman had during her long tenure at the newspaper.

Because Kiwanis member and Magistrate Robert Blanton attended the meeting that was held after the county’s Fiscal Court session, I got to talk about that meeting. Not my place to offer an opinion about happenings at the meeting, but I will share some eye rolling observations from that morning’s discussion.

County Attorney William Elkins was grilling some insurance guy who approached Fiscal Court about a contractual matter involving the county’s policy. In all my years of covering county government, I’ve never seen anything like that — but it was questioning needed to get to the heart of the matter.

While I’m not speaking to the topic — and again I’m not offering an opinion on matters before Fiscal Court — the questioning brought back memories of law school; being questioned by professors. If you want a hint of what that’s like, Google an excellent movie, “The Paper Chase” and the Socratic method: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XL0-CFvJDHo

Socratic method teaches aspiring lawyers not only to be quick on their feet, but to think critically about the facts and legal theories involving a case.

The law is not necessarily about giving pretty speeches to a jury as we see on television, but more importantly, pursuing legal elements to generate a logical conclusion.

In very basic terms, the essence of a contract is an offer, acceptance and … consideration. So… in layman’s terms borrowed paraphrased from Aunty in Mad Max, if you ever think you’re going to bust the deal, then be prepared to face the wheel.

And we all know the law is filled with exceptions, but…

Again in very basic terms, if a buyer and seller agree to a contract to dig a ditch, settle on a price, and then as the ditch digger is shoveling away, he hits solid rock, then what…

Anyway, Fiscal Court made for an interesting morning filled with memories of contract law classes and learning the Socratic method.

In other news, Blanton said folks gathered Wednesday to honor the memory of Mike Rowady, a longtime attorney and Kiwanis club member. While I never met Rowady, because he practiced law for many decades I can imagine him up in heaven evaluating the morning’s proceedings of Fiscal Court with regard to the contract discussions, nodding his head and perhaps saying, “Well, that’s interesting.”

In related news, Kiwanis’ member/chamber director Cindy Banks asked how the club could assist the Sun. My answer — buy a subscription but alos send me story tips and suggestions for what you’d like to see in the newspaper. Email is best — miles.layton@winchestersun.com

Or you can reach out to the Sun’s Facebook page via messenger, perhaps even my personal Facebook page — my photo is the guy dressed in a white shirt standing up in the middle of a crowd. Photo was taken back in college — apparently in contrast to others who chose not to stand because I didn’t think it was a good idea to invite a known agitator and anti-semite to campus; speaking fees to be paid for with student funds.

I guess now in retrospect, maybe it is OK for a moron to speak as I have come to strongly believe in the marketplace of ideas — though it may take time, the best ideas win out.

Miles Layton is editor of the Winchester Sun, Harlan Enterprise and Jessamine Journal.