Local Opinion

Juul Labs, the maker of the leading vaping device, Juul, is doing quite well. So well that the “Big Tobacco” company, Altria, bought a 35 percent interest ($12.8 billion) in Juul, which has 75 percent of the e-cigarette market.

Applause for the socially and historically conscious Bartholomew County Centennial Suffragette Society, which recently installed a historical marker recognizing the county’s first two women ever registering to vote in 1917. The marker is as part of the National Women’s Suffrage Marker Grant Program. The local pair, Lizzie Hubbard and Fannie Davis, registered after the Partial Suffrage Act of 1917 — especially courageous considering they also were Black residents in a community that was then 89% white.

From: Kathleen A. Smith

From: Herman Fields

From: Eric Riddle

Several decades ago, I noticed the rise of China coming up in international discussions with increasing frequency. It was, at the time, a startling change. We gradually realized we had a new great power in the world.

There are three numbers I’d like you to keep track of as you read this column: 11.3 million, 6 million, and 1.6 million. The 11.3 million is the number of job openings in this county. The 6 million is the number of unemployed in the United States, and the 1.6 million represents the number of attempted illegal border crossings.

From: Donald Demas

In 2011 a group of women experimented by reaching out to other women to see if there was interest in creating a “giving circle.” Lisa Shafran and Mary Ferdon, Heritage Fund employees at the time, carefully crafted one that joined together like-minded women who wanted to do something good for their community and have a bit of fun.

From: Lois Bonnell