Oh, Kentucky

Happy new year (from Calvert City)!

Good jobs news from Florence, Newman and Owensboro.

Marshall County is considering whether to declare itself a sanctuary county, but it's not what you would think. (Or, in other words, gunsgunsguns. And maybe it is what you would think.)

Holiday open houses: ACLU of Kentucky, today.

There's a darkness on the edge of Floyd County.

Fish management: Asian carp in Lyon County, shad and sunfish in Henry County.

Here's a solid WDRB report on Kentucky's back and forth on marijuana legalization, with interesting perspectives from Jackson, Russell and Winchester legislators.

Who is Paducah's mystery Park Avenue pine-tree planter?

What's next for Lexington's old Romany Road Kroger?

Turning to sports, "the state of Kentucky and high school basketball have always been intertwined and can’t really be separated."

Oh, Kentucky

Change is everywhere in Kentucky. Our license-plate letters and numbers will no longer be raised.

The new Democratic governor will give Kentucky's first Republican attorney general in 70 years an early start.

The secretary of Kentucky's justice and public safety cabinet--a Democrat appointed four years ago by the outgoing Republican governor--bows out.

On his last day in office, Gov. Bevin opined on good jobs news from Murray: "Over the past four years, we have made historic strides in improving our business climate, and it’s exciting to see those efforts culminate in transformational job-creating projects. We are grateful that TPG chose Kentucky for its new operation and appreciate the opportunities it will provide to our citizens."

As one who knows next to nothing about law, the whole deal where a governor or president on the way out pardons convicted people is one of the more curious aspects of life in the United States.

The state's anticipated $1.1 billion budget shortfall "is a lot bigger than anything that we anticipated," a Republican state representative tells Joe Sonka and Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal. "It's a real train wreck," amplifies a progressive economic-policy group from Berea.

Eleanor Klibanoff of the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting: "A KyCIR investigation shows LMPD brings almost every rape case to a prosecutor to decide whether to make an arrest--sometimes before they’ve done much investigating. If prosecutors decline the case, the police clear it 'by exception.' LMPD cleared three times as many 2017 rape cases 'by exception' than they did by arrest."

The Who's planned concert at NKU in April is historic for greater Cincinnati.

Brand new in Manchester: The Clay We Were.

Congratulations, Ms. McGaha, retiring operator of June's Beauty Shop in Jamestown since 19 and 62.

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; Clay, Fredonia, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, Irvine/Ravenna, London, Maysville, Monticello, Pineville, Richmond, Smiths Grove, Stanton and Trenton, Dec. 6; Arlington, Barbourville, Beattyville, Berea, Bloomfield, Bowling Green, Bromley/Ludlow, Brownsville, Cadiz, Calvert City, Carlisle, Clinton, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Hawesville, Henderson, Horse Cave, Inez, Lawrenceburg, Leitchfield, Lexington, Madisonville, Marion, Middlesboro, Morgantown, Munfordville, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Rabbit Hash, Raceland, Russell Springs, Salyersville, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Somerset, Trenton, Versailles, Whitley City and Winchester, Dec. 7; Auburn, Georgetown and New Haven, Dec. 8; Augusta, Burkesville, Burnside, Cave City, Elkton, Franklin, Louisa, Mayfield, Providence, Williamsburg and Woodburn, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Chuck E. Cheese is ready to blow our minds, in Lexington.

CDT and EDT all of the T?

Frenchburg's city employees get a raise.

Allen's hiring.

Russell County Public Library is on the move.

LBL appears headed for its first from-helicopters, feral-hog shoot.

Turning to sports, the University of the Cumberlands has landed a key reserve on Mercer County's #khsgbk17 and #khsbbk18 state champs, and the Clinton County Bulldogs claim their first-ever #khsfb-playoffs win.

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

Oh, Kentucky

More erasures meant better scores ... Mary Meadows with the Floyd County Chronicle and Times is all over the Betsy Layne Elementary testing scandal.

More from Floyd County: The U.S. Post Office at Westbury has been destroyed by fire. Prayers for Ms. Ramirez and her missing dog.

Sen. McConnell came to Calvert City for a closed-door meeting in the city hall about carp, so Joshua Claussen with Princeton's WPKY and a commercial fisherman/Food Giant wheel had their own meeting about the problem outside.

"Put Hopkins County on the cutting edge of the fourth Industrial Revolution."

Oh, Kentucky

Robin Hart in Danville's Advocate-Messenger reports the state auditor's gripping tale of losing his vehicle but finding plenty of helpful people in the flooding near Salyersville.

Buffet on Kentucky (indirectly): "If I were relocating into some state that had a huge unfunded pension plan, I am walking into liabilities. Because I mean, who knows whether they’re gonna get it from the corporate income tax or my employees–you know, with personal income taxes or what. But that–that liability isn’t gonna–you can’t ship it offshore or anything like that. And those are big numbers, really big numbers."

Bevin on trade: "Ultimately, when the dust settles, I am confident that we will have a deal that is a significant improvement over NAFTA, that will benefit all interested parties in my home state of Kentucky and that will be a win for the entire Western Hemisphere. The USMCA is that deal, and the sooner each of our nations ratify it, the better it will be for all of us."

The back story, perhaps, on EnerBlu's pullout from Pikeville.

Hiring in Fulton (for drivers for the county transit authority) and Irvine (for a general laborer "essential to providing safe drinking water to the community").

Kentucky's safest cities? In order, they are Madisonville, Independence, Fort Thomas, Lawrenceburg and Mount Washington, per the National Council for Home Safety and Security and its analysis of FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics.

"Combatting Homelessness" is the agenda for tomorrow's Greater Louisville Reentry Coalition meeting.

Average student-loan debt among Kentucky college students is up 100 percent since 2004, reports Nicole Ziege in WKU's College Heights Herald.

Oh, Kentucky

The Kentucky Standard's Forrest Berkshire and Randy Patrick weigh in with a terrific, thick series of stories on how depictions of the black experience have changed in Bardstown arts and history.

Good jobs news from Coal Run and Franklin.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Kentucky) is restructuring itself, and you can learn more and weigh in on the proposed changes.

First Aid Kit, so hot at the HP in 2018, is on the docket for July's Forecastle Festival in Louisville.

Turning to sports, the KHSAA's tweaks to its state golf tournaments aggravated the Golf Channel crowd.

Rest in peace, "Joe Franklin Fulks, Corporal US Marine Corps." (Steve Flairty in the Northern Kentucky Tribune revisits the triumphant and tragic tale of the "Kuttawa Clipper.")

Oh, Kentucky

Thank God it wasn't any colder, and thank God for all of the rescuers.

And the searchers and the mourners.

Northern Kentucky's Esperanza Latino Center opened on the day after Epiphany.

Free tax help starts Feb. 2 for "people who generally make $54,000 or less, persons with disabilities, the elderly and limited English-speaking taxpayers" in Henderson.

Hiring (school resource officers) in Berea, (hemp processors) in Kevil, (police "telecommunicators" and "calltakers") in Owensboro and (refugees) in Louisville.

If you want to make $23.60 an hour or better in Kentucky, CareerBuilder says you should be a physician assistant, software developer, nurse practitioner, market research analyst or marketing specialist.

Food, drinks and Facebook--Jan. 22 for entrepreneurs in Madisonville.

"Thank you, Dixie Hibbs, for all you have done and continue to do for us here at The Kentucky Standard, and we also thank you on behalf of the entire community. Our community’s rich story would be incomplete without you."

Oh, Kentucky

A former Kuttawa city clerk is charged with stealing a bunch of town money and running off to Gatlinburg.

About the "squatters" in Hillview.

No library tax in Hardin County.

An Edgewood thoracic surgeon is to narrate a lung-cancer surgery he performed on a 34-year-old during a live Facebook broadcast Friday.

Good jobs news from Lexington and Pikeville.

"FARMERS NEEDED!" In Lyon County.

Christmas parades: Owensboro, Nov. 17; Ashland, Nov. 20; Brownsville, Nov. 24; Cumberland and Fredonia (grandly marshaled by the Faughns, wed 69 years), Nov. 30; Arlington, Berea, Cadiz ("WKDZ 106.5 will broadcast live, and will have live video stream if you just can't make it"), Calvert City (59th annual), Columbia, Jenkins, Lawrenceburg, Madisonville, Marion, Paducah, Salyersville, Somerset and Whitley City, Dec. 1; Bowling Green (rescheduled from the day before), Dawson Springs, Dec. 2; Lexington, Dec. 4; Greenup, Dec. 6; Frankfort, Monticello and Richmond, Dec. 7; Elkton, Eubank, Hopkinsville ("Get ready to text in your favorite float number for the PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD!"), Louisa and Stamping Ground (grandly marshaled by a Scott County sheriff's deputy paralyzed when shot responding to a suspected bank robbery in September), Dec. 8; Whitesburg, Dec. 14; Burnside, La Center and Neon, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Good jobs news in Richmond and (wow!) Wickliffe.

The old IGA in Livermore might still end up being a grocery--but probably not the one in Calhoun any time soon.

The new Shoe Sensation is grandly open in Williamsburg.

Paducah's (and many of Kentucky's) historical markers are rusting away.

Greens reseeding idles the Mineral Mounds and Pennyrile state-park golf courses for about a month.

CNN in Lovely. Fox News in Hebron.

I went to a party Saturday evening, and they were talking about Madisonville's new miniature-golf course. It was all over my Facebook feed by late that night. It was the lead story in Sunday's paper. I heard about it plenty at church. "City venue gets rave reviews," indeed.

Sad story out of Villa Hills--here's hoping the Sisters of St. Benedict get their deceased sisters' rings back.

"Connecting communities of compassion and care"--next month in Louisville.

Pfc. Elmore Comes Home.

Oh, Kentucky

If the board of directors won't go for the HP's conversion to an AFFL betting site, maybe it would consider becoming a journal of I-69 expansion across southwestern Kentucky.

Sixty Kentucky Air National Guard members arrived home to Louisville from the Persian Gulf on Independence Day.

Good jobs news from Jamestown.

What's next for Russell's old Y?

What's new with Hoptown's Alhambra?

"If they don't do what we want, we need to vote them out."

Rest in peace, Alan Onkst, "a true ambassador for the City of Corbin."

Oh, Kentucky

Good jobs news from Bowling Green, Erlanger and Lexington.

"If part of your community is doing well and the other part not doing so good then the community can only fail. But if both sides of the community flourish, then the community will rise together and we all win because the sky is the limit."

"Their new group, Co-Heirs with Christ Missions, is different from some churches they attended in Africa. Too often, Frimpong remembered, leaders preached that joining the church would change their lives immediately – that their belief would guarantee prosperity. This tactic brought people to churches, but it only exacerbated the poverty rate, as people started to believe that they didn’t need to look for work."

UK's Kentucky Kernel has a new advisor (second consecutive one from WKU), and the Todd County Standard is on the market.

Sweet Paducah Sun story about a South Carolina man returning to where he and his late wife married in 1955--with helpful bonus material on the history of PJC/PCC/WKTC/WKCTC.

Terrific Bill Estep report in the Lexington Herald-Leader on the impact of drugs on the labor market in eastern Kentucky.

A Hardinsburg barber stars in an Amazon movie that came out yesterday, and it sounds hair-raising!

With the U.S. Senior Open rolling, the USGA took a road trip to Franklin to visit with the defending champ.

Corbin's getting a mural, on Roy Kidd Avenue.

Oh, Kentucky

The Madisonville fire department helped us get our cat out of a tree a few years ago. Once the truck pulled onto our street, River got scared by the sound and leapt probably about 20 feet to the ground and scampered to the backyard. The Bardstown fire department had a more challenging time with Kitten, per Spencer Harsh's reporting in The Kentucky Standard.

I have never been to Red River Gorge, and I have never been to Miguel's Pizza near Slade, and, now when I do get there, it's going to look like I was just jumping on the Food & Wine bandwagon.

No fees at McCreary County's Natural Arch Scenic Area for National Get Outdoors Day, Saturday.

Eighteen bicyclists retracing the northern Trail of Tears route are due in Princeton tomorrow.

Bad Marco Polo news from Lucas.

Good jobs news from Bowling Green.

Hiring aplenty in and around Paducah.

Hoptown's forthcoming Tacos El Papi had me at "homemade tamales."

Hardin County Schools takes its summer-meals program to the streets.

Voter turnout for last month's primaries reportedly was highest in Grayson (33.2 percent) and lowest in Kenton (10.0 percent), among Kentucky's 120 counties.

Oh, Kentucky

Man, I hate this snow for the homeless and the people who feel shut in by it or forced out into it, etc., but I do love all of this social media from routes around Kentucky ...

A lot of secondary roads are still snow-packed in Ohio County, but a warm up is coming this weekend. https://t.co/EZJXfcrwLe pic.twitter.com/DowFDy1B86

— Ohio County Monitor (@OCMonitor) January 17, 2018

Current air temperatures (blue) and pavement (green) temperatures across the 12 KYTC highway districts.

If pavement temperatures drop below 20 degrees, salt and other melting agents aren't as effective. #SnowKY #kywx pic.twitter.com/5A0hDJKXrH

— KYTC (@KYTC) January 17, 2018

"For now," 28th-year Henderson Gleaner journalist Doug White is "is solely responsible for this subscriber keeping their subscription active."

"Roots to Riches," next month in Madisonville.

Reidland High's "Ricochet"/"Prince Puma" is headed to the WWE.

Crimes against persons was down and against property was up in Paducah last year.

Recycling is now deep in the red in Richmond, too.

Hiring in Erlanger.

Oh, Kentucky

It's a total loss for the Calvert City McDonald's.

No suspects in the theft of Cadiz police chief's pistol from his car.

The cold, hard facts from Beattyville's Bobcat Dairy Bar.

Even before the Ky Leg takes an ax to the state budget this winter, wealthier schools are enjoying a financial advantage over poorer schools similar to what they saw before KERA in 1990, which was supposed to fix that. ^JC pic.twitter.com/MD0W4EXJG8

— Bluegrass Politics (@BGPolitics) January 2, 2018

Creating localized power generation in Perry County (and at UK).

"Record-setting performance this year in job creation and corporate investment" in Kentucky, raves the governor.

"Another great year" in Fort Wright, per the mayor.

Asks SOAR: "What would you like to see happen in Appalachia Kentucky in 2018?"

The Kentucky Lake Ski Nuts were back at it on New Year's Day, even with the cold.

Rest in peace, Coach/"Crow" Fletcher, thought by some to be the 13th Region's first-ever jump shooter, Corbin High history teacher who flunked no one in 30 years and "a true Redhound icon."

Oh, Kentucky

Christmas parades: Irvington and Owensboro, Nov. 18; Ashland, Nov. 21; Lebanon, Nov. 24; Brownsville and Danville, Nov. 25; Greenup, Nov. 28; Cumberland, London, Monticello and Richmond, Dec. 1; Arlington, Barbourville, Beaver Dam, Bowling Green ("traffic impacts are expected"), Cadiz (no promises, but the HP's Kentucky desk may have a live remote from there), Corbin (they're making cards for soldiers), Fordsville, Georgetown, Harlan, Hartford, Henderson (after the 10 a.m. parade, Santa's having an open house in the park), Lawrenceburg, Madisonville, Marion, Munfordville, Murray, Paducah, Somerset and Winchester, Dec. 2; Dawson Springs and Evarts, Dec. 3; Mount Sterling, Dec. 4; Lexington, Dec. 5; Bardstown, Dec. 7; Frankfort, Dec. 8; Augusta, Cave City, Elkton, Hanson, Hopkinsville, Paintsville and Salem, Dec. 9, and La Center and Oak Grove, Dec. 16.

Kentucky agriculture is having a better year.

Madisonville is vying to land a training center for helicopter pilots for its airport (really in Anton).

Good jobs news from Jtown.

Oh, Kentucky

"In what practical ways can we demonstrate love and unity" in Hoptown?

Mark Zuckerberg comes to Hazard.

Lexington's Kentucky Theatre is sprucing up in October.

Christmas parades: Owensboro, Nov. 18; Barbourville ("bigger and better"), Fordsville, Georgetown, Madisonville, Murray and Winchester, Dec. 2; Lexington, Dec. 6, and Hopkinsville, Dec. 9.

Rest in peace, Mr. Goheen, Calvert Drive-In frequenter, early '80s Marshall County High Rose Bowl Parade trombonist, award-winning designer and manager of change at newspapers in Kentucky and elsewhere, partner of Craig for more than 20 years and "a cowboy-hat-wearing, big-hearted, one-of-a-kind man, who embodied intellect, creativity, passion, love and vision."

Oh, Kentucky

William Farley in Whitesburg's Mountain Eagle reports that Letcher County's tourism strategy emphasizes sprucing up its existing attractions.

Amanda Manning in La Grange's Oldham Era reports on a Goshen oncologist's compelling reasoning, following his exploration of a remote South Pacific island, behind his 70-percent belief in the fate of Amelia Earhart.

The renovation of Madionsville's city-park playground is huge hyper-local news for the Kentucky desk.

Good jobs news from Calvert City, Frankfort and Owensboro.

Oh, Kentucky

Glenn's On Main is no more in Marion, which translates into more owner involvement in The 88 Dip.

Hoptown's new Blackpatch Steak and Seafood isn't normally open Sundays and Mondays, but the eclipse is another matter.

In Lexington starting in September: "an all-local food hall that will feature all-independent local restaurants and chefs who honor Kentucky traditions."



Speaking of the eclipse, TVA assures western Kentucky that its mix of power generation is diverse enough that its grid will have the resilience to ride out the interruption of solar input. (My favorite part of this story is the WestKentuckyStar.com commenter named “Obam a” who weighs in, “Much ado about nothing just like the Y2K run up.”)

“I think having an author who has worked in such licenses universes as Star Trek and Supernatural is an interesting opportunity for local readers,” the organizer of the Providence Literary Festival tells The Journal-Enterprise. I think so, too.

Clark County's school-bus drivers are getting a raise!

Todd County is hiring for a part-time librarian ("Secretarial and Housekeeping skills will also be utilized").

You're invited to Logan County Public Library's 50th-anniversary celebration Sunday afternoon ("cake and punch will be provided").

Remembering "Clay's Darkest Day."

The "City Built on Coal" considers a casino.

Oh, Kentucky

Drama cast offer free concert at state park rotunda Aug. 4 https://t.co/DRyMtpkhve pic.twitter.com/6Mld6fvtB8

— Nelson Co. Gazette (@NCGBreakingNews) July 25, 2017

"Ground zero for the abortion debate."

"They called the jail Ricky s world .he ran that whole little town for such a long time not just the jail he had alot of influence over everyone in the town .He was like the mafia boss of Hickman or Fulton County whatever they call it ."

"'Love thy neighbor as thy self' is how I live my life and how I serve others. I have been a recipient of love and giving by many people that have crossed my path. I would not be on this same journey if it were not for the people that modeled being a servant leader. Their actions might have been small in their eyes, but were beyond generous and unforgettable to me."

How might "eHealth" help Kentuckians?

An annual Kentucky State University summer program for rising high-school juniors and seniors from around the country wrapped last month, as participants finished projects with mentors in "aquaculture nutrition, molecular biology, biotechnology, behavioral science, gaming development, histology, microscopy, produce safety, apiculture and agricultural sciences."

"Mr. Science" and the "Junior Engineers" at the Laurel County Public Library.

#MadCityPride 2017 is Aug. 12.

Paducah is scheduled to host the UNESCO Creative Cities Network on Sept. 23.

And have you heard about the big eclipse next month?

Oh, Kentucky

The history of @moreheadstate, from 1887 to present day, at 9/8 pm on KET. pic.twitter.com/sMD2sb6eYU

— KET (@KET) June 19, 2017

OK, I totally didn't even know there was such a thing as the "Pride In The Counties" Area at the state fair, and, if I was an Edmonson Contain, I'd totally want to do this.

You can't go to an aquarium in Morgantown, so the Newport Aquarium went there.

Knoth's of Grand Rivers: no beans, no potato salad, no more after Saturday.

WHOP reports that the (Frisch's) big (Boy) bucks of Cincinnati have cost the Hopkinsville-Christian County Public Library its director.

The City of Paducah is hiring.

Calvert City continues takeover of the Kentucky Dam State Park Airport.

Todd County's multi-pronged eclipse strategy is outlined.

It appears as though a new Christmas parade might be in the cards for Beaver Dam!

Transitional centers for homeless youth are opening in Breathitt, Floyd, Knott and Pike counties.