Missouri v. Kentucky

Ken Pom has the Tigers winning this game 69-65.  I don't see how UK can possibly score 65 points off of Mizzou, but we'll see what happens.

5th District Basketball, 2010-2019

Here are the finals of the last ten Fifth District Boys' Basketball Tournaments:

2019:  Lyon Co. 54, Crittenden Co. 40
2018:  Crittenden Co. 52, Lyon Co. 51
2017:  Lyon Co. 61, Livingston Cent. 59
2016:  Trigg Co. 67, Lyon Co. 61
2015:  Trigg Co. 40, Crittenden Co. 37
2014:  Trigg Co. 54, Crittenden Co. 42
2013:  Trigg Co. 78, Lyon Co. 61
2012:  Livingston Cent. 58, Lyon Co. 55
2011:  Livingston Cent. 43, Lyon Co. 39
2010:  Lyon Co. 80, Livingston Cent. 41

Trigg Co:  4 (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)
Lyon Co:  3 (2010, 2017, 2019)
Livingston Cent:  2 (2011, 2012)
Crittenden Co:  1 (2018)

The Fifth District has featured the same four teams since 2006.  Caldwell County, which had been in the Fifth District, was moved into the Seventh District after the 2005 season.

Oh, Kentucky

Is steel coming back to Ashland? Is bourbon coming to Somerset?

A fire at Farmington, former home of the blue-and-white Region 1 Wildcats. An auction of McDowell, former home of the blue-and-gold Region 15 Daredevils.

"Our group is an unfortunately growing group that nobody wants to be a part of, or should have to be a part of. But at the same time, once you're a part of it, you're glad it's there."

The next 10 years might be a pretty good time to move to Scott County.

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Central City, Nov. 24; Lebanon and Louisville, Nov. 29;  Greensburg, Guthrie and Pikeville, Nov. 30; Boyce, Dawson Springs, Murray, Salem and Sebree, Dec. 1; Bardstown, Dec. 5; Fredonia, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, London, Monticello, Pineville, Richmond and Trenton, Dec. 6; Arlington, Barbourville, Berea, Bloomfield, Bowling Green, Bromley/Ludlow, Brownsville, Cadiz, Calvert City, Clinton, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Hawesville, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Marion, Middlesboro, Morgantown, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Rabbit Hash, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Somerset, Trenton, Versailles, Whitley City and Winchester, Dec. 7; Georgetown, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Burkesville, Burnside, Elkton, Mayfield, Providence, Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Rest in peace, Gene Clabes, Kentucky print-journalism serial entrepreneur, online-journalism pioneer and his wife's hero. "What we do know is that there will be a party."

Oh, Kentucky

Catching up from the long weekend ...

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Central City, Nov. 24; Lebanon and Louisville, Nov. 29;  Greensburg, Guthrie and Pikeville, Nov. 30; Boyce, Dawson Springs, Murray, Salem and Sebree, Dec. 1; Bardstown, Dec. 5; Fredonia, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, London, Monticello, Pineville, Richmond and Trenton, Dec. 6; Barbourville, Berea, Bowling Green, Brownsville, Cadiz, Calvert City, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Hawesville, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Marion, Middlesboro, Morgantown, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Rabbit Hash, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Somerset, Trenton, Versailles, Whitley City and Winchester, Dec. 7; Georgetown, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Burkesville, Burnside, Elkton, Mayfield, Providence, Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Carroll Hubbard--now an R-Murray--is running for the state house.

Fischer for Bloomberg. Bevin at the Trump.

A couple of Leitchfield 18-year-old entrepreneurs plan a Nov. 30 grand opening for their new Foam Fort indoor Nerf arena, which sounds like a heck of a lot of fun.

One of Marion's two groceries is not closing; neither, presumably, is the other one.

Here are your Kentucky wines of the year.

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Central City, Nov. 24; Lebanon and Louisville, Nov. 29; Guthrie, Mayfield and Pikeville, Nov. 30; Boyce, Dawson Springs and Murray, Dec. 1; Bardstown, Dec. 5; Fredonia, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, London, Monticello, Pineville, Richmond and Trenton, Dec. 6; Barbourville, Berea, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Calvert City, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Hawesville, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Marion, Middlesboro, Morgantown, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Rabbit Hash, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Somerset, Trenton, Versailles, Whitley City and Winchester, Dec. 7; Georgetown, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Burkesville, Burnside, Elkton, Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Unemployment as of October: highest in Magoffin, lowest in Fayette and Oldham.

The governor-elect is getting a lot of his AG squad back together again.

Lake Barkley State Resort Park has landed another "Restoring the Finest" round.

Thanks, Jeff Bezos!

Rest in peace, Owensboro's Gabe Tower (1963-TBD)?

What's Kentucky's top export industry? Wrong. It's aerospace.

Eating local on campus, at UK.

Classical music on WEKU's 102.1 FM, signing off.

At Grayson County High School in Leitchfield, twin seniors notched perfect ACT-reading scores. One is headed to Kentucky Wesleyan, but it appears from this WKHG dispatch that WKU might be in the running for the other!

At First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Winchester, “Take what you need. Leave what you can. Little becomes much in the Maker’s hand.”

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Lebanon and Louisville, Nov. 29; Guthrie, Mayfield and Pikeville, Nov. 30; Boyce, Dawson Springs and Murray, Dec. 1; Bardstown, Dec. 5; Fredonia, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, London, Monticello, Pineville and Trenton, Dec. 6; Barbourville, Berea, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Calvert City, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Middlesboro, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Rabbit Hash, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Trenton, Versailles, Whitley City and Winchester, Dec. 7; Georgetown, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Burkesville, Burnside, Elkton and Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Not the old, old Whaler's Catch, but Paducah's old Whaler's Catch appears headed for new life next year.

Hiring in Dawson Springs, Dixon, Graham, Madisonville, Sebree, etc. Closed for good in Lawrenceburg, Radcliff and Winchester.

Hail to the bus-driver woman, Miss J.

The Kentucky Teachers' Retirement System was in better position again in fiscal 2019, says the state auditor.

It appears it'll be back to biz for Kentucky's apparently former New Hampshire vice-presidential hopeful.

Turning to sports, in Murray, it's rodeo time again. In Elkton, they had "the annual Meet the Rebels. YSE was there and got some of the first pics of the season of this year's team." And rest in peace, Mr. Terrell--he "loved the City of Corbin, he loved the Redhounds and most of all he loved people."

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Lebanon and Louisville, Nov. 29; Pikeville, Nov. 30; Boyce, Dawson Springs and Murray, Dec. 1; Bardstown, Dec. 5; Fredonia, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, London, Monticello and Pineville, Dec. 6; Barbourville, Berea, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Calvert City, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Owingsville, Paducah, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Trenton, Versailles and Whitley City, Dec. 7; Georgetown, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Burnside, Elkton and Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Here's your new (Distinguished Rural) Kentuckian of the Year.

Here's your new Paxton Media Group president and CEO.

No more Saturday Herald-Leaders.

Bad jobs news from Cadiz. Better from Hopkinsville.

"This Is What The Trade War Looks Like In Bourbon Country." Steve Matthews from Bloomberg's Federal Reserve/economy reporter checks in.

Coal no longer qualifies in Henderson's "least-cost portfolio" for energy. Ryan Van Velzer from Louisville's WFPL brings back the story from down river.

"For those of you who have expressed concerns and a genuine curiosity, I would like to unveil the truth as it pertains to me about the Kentucky Fried Sisters (KFS), Capital Pride Kentucky and the queer community as a whole." The founding abbess of the Kentucky Fried Sisters speaks his piece in Frankfort's State Journal.

"A belief in the possible." Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and Hawaiian Islands eyes footprint in Kentucky, reports Nina Shapiro of The Seattle Times from across the country.

"Doctors are under tremendous pressure to prescribe, and patients wear you down." Robert Smith with Kaiser Health News--via Valiant News--goes deep and dark into drugs in and around Clay County.

The Courier-Journal is promoting a 24-page special section planned for its Thanksgiving edition that it indicates will show how the tentacles of a crazy Mexican drug gang have reached throughout the United States and specifically Lexington's famous Calumet Farm.

Martin County's water crisis appears headed to a turning point this week.

Turning to sports, I've been doing a lot of deep thinking about these #ohkys and what I should be doing with them, and I think I need to always include one of these turning-to-sports items. Anyway, here's a link back to GoHeath on No. 2,296, and WKU is 4-0.

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Lebanon and Louisville, Nov. 29; Pikeville, Nov. 30; Boyce, Dawson Springs and Murray, Dec. 1; Bardstown, Dec. 5; Fredonia, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, Monticello and Pineville, Dec. 6; Berea, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Calvert City, Columbia, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Owingsville, Paducah, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Trenton, Versailles and Whitley City, Dec. 7; Georgetown, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Burnside, Elkton and Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Catching up from the weekend on Facebook ...

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Lebanon and Louisville, Nov. 29; Pikeville, Nov. 30; Boyce, Dawson Springs and Murray, Dec. 1; Bardstown, Dec. 5; Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville and Monticello, Dec. 6; Berea, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Calvert City, Columbia, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Owingsville, Paducah, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Trenton, Versailles and Whitley City, Dec. 7; Georgetown, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Burnside, Elkton and Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

KHSAA Football Polls

McCracken County beat Mayfield.  Caldwell County crushed Crittenden County.  Madisonville beat Christian County.  Some pretty big games last Friday.  Here is the list of ranked football teams from Western Kentucky:

6A:
7.  Henderson Co:  4-0

5A:
4.  S. Warren:  4-0
5.  Bowling Green:  3-1
7.  Owensboro:  3-1
10.  Greenwood:  4-0

4A:
3.  Madisonville-North Hopkins:  4-0
9.  Hopkinsville:  2-2

3A:
8.  Trigg Co:  4-0
9.  Paducah Tilghman:  3-1

2A:
3.  Mayfield:  3-1
5.  Caldwell Co:  3-1
6.  Owensboro Catholic:  3-1
7.  Murray:  3-1
9.  Todd Co. Cent:  4-0

A:
7.  Crittenden Co:  3-1

AP Polls for KHSAA Football

As of today, the following teams from Western Kentucky are ranked in the AP's polls for the KHSAA:

6A:
10.  Henderson Co.  2-0

5A:
5.  Bowling Green  1-1
7.  Owensboro  1-1
10.  Greenwood  2-0

4A:
5.  Madisonville-North Hopkins  2-0
9.  Hopkinsville  1-1
10.  Logan Co.  2-0

3A:
5.  Paducah Tilghman  2-0
9.  Trigg Co.  2-0

2A:
1.  Mayfield  2-0
3.  Caldwell Co.  2-0
4.  Owensboro Catholic  2-0
8.  Murray  1-1
T10.  Todd Co. Central  2-0

1A:
5.  Crittenden Co.  2-0

Oh, Kentucky

Winchester Sun columnist/Lexington IT-professional Pete Koutoulas: "As long as we have families living in our streets, hungry and sick, there are battles to be won. As long as there are people among us who lack access to health care, there are battles to be won. As long as we continue to treat families seeking refuge within our borders as criminals, there are battles to be won. As long as there are any in this land who are not sharing in the blessings of liberty, there are battles to be won."

"Chant for Peace," etc., for free, in Louisville.

The co-convener of the Northern Kentucky Poor People's Campaign reports in from the Moral Action Congress.

It's almost back-to-school time, and that means grind time for the Kentucky Refugees Ministries Summer Youth Program. 

Madisonville's 75-year-old bed-building, football-and-cheerleading-boosting and scholarship-providing Rotary Club is on the grow.

Two-year state study ending last year: Heroin, opioids and cocaine, down; methamphetamine and fentanyl, up.

Meanwhile, in Floyd County, "the drugs have took over." And, in Martin County, it'll be a sheriff's office of one, starting next month.

Jennifer P. Brown reports in The Hoptown Chronicle on an Iraq war veteran has opened a barber shop in downtown Hopkinsville. He plans to put in a putting green, and, in addition to $24 per, he's offering two years of once-every-three-weeks haircuts for $1,000.

Julianna Leach in the Grayson Journal-Enquirer has a feature on a Carter County native who studied dance at Morehead State, got a gig on a Carnival Cruise and then felt an urge to come home and open her own studio. "If there is a girl or boy that wants to dance, I want to make sure they can."

Keith Lawrence in The Messenger-Inquirer tells the story of "Chef Red," who as a single mom at age 20 learned healthcare wasn't for her, moved off to go to culinary school and has come back to Owensboro to open a healthy-meals-to-go provider. "The reason we eat fast food is because it's convenient. So, healthy food should be too."

The spirit(s) of the Graham Nighthawks live on.

And the animal-rendering stench in Metcalfe County ...?

Oh, Kentucky

Guns N' Roses is not playing Pikeville.

I wonder how the interactive children's concert with the Lexington Philharmonic went Saturday in Williamsburg.

Madisonville's mayor explained some city-budget choices at a town meeting last week, and Brandon Buchanan with The Messenger has an interesting report: "We can't continue to fund organizations when we can't even find what they have done."

Patrick Sisson in Curbed looks at a Kentucky native's vision for high-tech farming in Morehead: "We’re committed to making eastern Kentucky the agtech capital of America."

Good jobs news from Danville.

The state's highest rents for apartment complexes are found in Newport.

Falmouth's ambulance service is in jeopardy. 

Flat (inflation-adjusted) wages, still, in Kentucky.

Welcome to KSU, and here's a laptop--The Kentucky 100 has the scoop in 100 or fewer words. 

You're running out of time to weigh in on naming the animals at LBL.

Should Kentucky decriminalize possession of marijuana up to 100 grams? Ninety-four of the first 130 voters at a Harrodsburg Herald poll said yes.

Improper drop-offs are becoming a bigger problem for Ashland's non-profit community, reports Carly Carver in The Daily Independent.

Thanks, Feds, for sticking up for a whistle-blowing truck driver in Florence.

British Open Preview: I predict that Jason Dufner will not win his second major since June 2010 when the HP launched.

Oh, Kentucky

What's up with Barren County's hotel-occupancy dip?

Corbin's Times-Tribune apprises us on progress on conversion of an old Economy Inn toward a splash pad.

Carter County's animal shelter, nearing a year old, is just about complete.

On Bath County's 1876 Meatshower.

Happy 175th, Midway Christian.

And now the Ferrell's in Hoptown has had a fire, but the downtown hamburger and "special breakfast" provider since 1936 is plotting its comeback. 

The new CriminalJusticeDegreeHub.com paralegal poll is out, and Kentucky has two schools in the top 10.

Google is bringing digital-literacy training to Bowling Green and Erlanger.

Oh, Kentucky

You're going to want to check this list before you get your LBL on.

Madisonville's Dr. Festus Claybon Memorial Park is getting a new football field and all-inclusive playground.

Sam Adler Bell delivers in New Internationalist an economical, power-packed 2,300 words on eastern Kentucky and coal's decline.

100 years for Lexington-based A&W, purchased by its franchisees from YUM! Brands in 2011.

Rest in peace, Lt. Brown, Covington firefighter of 25 years who "found little blessings in helping people."

Oh, Kentucky

Five years later, Army comes home, to Oldham County.

WKU Photojournalism picks up Hearst Award for Overall Photojournalism No. 25.

Happy Ali Week in Louisville.

And then a free "afternoon of entertainment and exploration," courtesy of the Kentucky Opera, June 9 at The Brown Theatre.

Good jobs news from Edmonton.

Hiring in Cadiz (for "Welders, Assemblers, Machine Operators, Painters, Blasters & CNC Operators," on June 21).

Paducah's Midtown Alliance of Neighbors has three new 1,200-square-foot homes planned for low-to-moderate-income families, per Channel 12.

"(H)ealth coverage is just one factor that shapes health outcomes ... to further boost health in Kentucky we need to address these other important health factors. And yet, instead of increasing investments in these areas, the state has disinvested in education, public health, social services and environmental protection — all areas that are critical to health – for over a decade." Ashley Spalding and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy peal the onion of Kentucky's poor health rankings.

"The way it’s worded, it’s completely counterintuitive to this Supreme Court directive. So it has to go." Ben Kleppinger's Advocate-Messenger breakdown on problems with Boyle County's sign ordinance is comprehensive, but, for my money, the real jewel here is his photograph of the signs along Danville's Hustonville Road. Makes me want pizza. Also, the font on the "Drive Thru" sign is a dead giveaway that Wok-N-Go used to be a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Oh, Kentucky

It's showtime again at Louisa's Garden Theater.

"All of a sudden everybody was excited about recreation in Mayfield and Graves County." Fun, comprehensive report from Shelley Byrne in The Mayfield Messenger. Makes me want to go there.

Picking and bowing all summer long in Floyd County.

Seeking boots-on-the-ground input from southeastern Kentucky's "Promise Neighborhood."

Hiring in Madisonville (595 available jobs as of Friday).

Ah, Paducah:

-- Nate Crawford at Forward Kentucky: "He followed that up with the comment that '… when Paducah enacted that ordinance, the signal was sent out across not just Kentucky, but across the country that this is an LGBT-friendly city.' Which, obviously, he saw as a bad thing."

-- The San Francisco Chronicle: "Paducah council weighing religious liberty, civil rights."

-- The Paducah Sun: "Tebow to visit Paducah for night of worship."

Rest in peace, Jim Burton (1955-2019), Madisonville native, Hilltopper and globetrotting Southern Baptist journalist who didn't "want to be remembered only as that guy with ALS."

Oh, Kentucky

“While shared meals have been part of the religous practice of numerous groups for thousands of years, they are being given a new focus in Christianity through the ‘dinner church’ movement—churches that have a shared meal at the center of congregational life,” writes Henry Brinton at Read the Spirit. “… At Potluck Churh in Kentucky, every participant brings something to the table, and a former mayor worships alongside people who struggle to pay their monthly rent.”

"This is the first statewide program of its kind where all hospitals in Kentucky collaborate together to combat the opioid crisis at its root – inappropriate or excess opioid prescribing," says Dr. Phillip Chang, chief medical officer at UK HealthCare, in an encouraging story at The Lane Report.

Thanks, Feds, for the $25M for jobs projects in eastern-Kentucky coal communities.

Kentucky's governor's race made ProPublica (via The Courier-Journal).

Dave Spencer of Owensboro's WBKR wished us a happy Mother's Day, and we almost missed it.

Oh, Kentucky

Greetings from Kentucky:

Happy 53rd, WKDZ!

On the table on the Hill: Suspending 101 of 380 academic programs (including 45 with no students currently), altering 55, growing 15 and maintaining 209 as they are.

I lived on Griffith Avenue in Owensboro for a little while, but it's gotten a lot hipper since I moved away.

We had family living in Bardstown for several years, but they moved just about the time the community orchestra was getting together.

Taste the Mayfield.

Kelly is getting together for a chat Thursday evening, and there is a lot to talk about.

The most depressing part about this MLive article about the visiting AAU coach who was arrested Saturday and charged with punching out an official at the Paducah Regional Sports Plex are the comments from the Michigan readership about Flint.

Kresge's is (really) gone.

You might hear some shooting today in Stanford, but, thankfully, it's only a drill.

Mine 9 opens Friday in parts of Kentucky and elsewhere, but, this time, it's only a movie.

Hiring in Whitesburg.

Corbin Pediatric Associates remembers that it's National Child Abuse Prevention Month.

There are all kinds of people doing all kinds of neat stuff out there.

Oh, Kentucky

"For people who are traveling through our area in their EV (electric vehicle), this will be a convenient opportunity to stop and charge for free. And it will make a good impression of Danville." https://t.co/eiuidVsvBL

— Advocate Messenger (@amnewsonline) April 4, 2019

Hugs accepted today, in Cadiz and newsrooms nationally.

Five years of live-elk shipments from Kentucky to Wisconsin successfully wrapped Wednesday.

"The business model simply doesn't work." Will Wright in the Lexington Herald-Leader delivers a sobering overview of the child-care shortage in eastern Kentucky.

Turning to sports, "he's been everything to Barren County." Nice Will Perkins feature in the Glasgow Daily Times on Terry Reed, who coached the County High Trojans to the 1990 state cross-country championship and was inducted to the Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association hall of fame.