Oh, Princeton

You hardly ever hear anyone--even anyone from Princeton--call it "kuh-WELL" County anymore. It's almost, absolutely almost always "CALD-well" County. But that changed over the second half of the last century, and, if you don't believe me, would you take the word of the 1960 Caldwell County High School cheerleaders?

I cannot believe that this amazing BBC movie directed by Denis Mitchell exists and that I had not discovered it until an hour ago or so. For Pete's sake, do yourself a favor, stop everything you're doing and watch it in case the internet or you or whatever doesn't exist later this afternoon.

I'm pretty sure that's Princeton Dotson's Dwight Smith shooting jumpers in closeup at about 20:30.

Warning Explicit Content

District Tournament Play from Last Night

There were no games in the First through Eighth District Boys' Basketball Tournaments on Wednesday night.  But last night, four district championships were decided in our end of the Commonwealth:

3d District Championship (at Mayfield):
Mayfield 46, Graves Co. 36

4th District Championship (at Marshall Co.):
Marshall Co. 45, Calloway Co. 43

6th District Championship (at Webster Co.):
Webster Co. 62, Henderson Co. 56

8th District Championship (at Christian Co.):
Christian Co. 81, University Heights 59

The other district finals are being played tonight.  Here's an update on the top 10 teams in the state, according to AP:

1.  Lou. Male -- won the 26th District
2.  Ashland Blazer -- won the 64th District
3.  Madisonville - N. Hopkins -- in the 7th District Final
4.  Lex. Catholic -- in the 43d District Final
5.  John Hardin -- won the 17th District
6.  Cov. Catholic -- in the 35th District Final
7.  Lex. Henry Clay -- eliminated
8.  Elizabethtown -- lost in the 17th District Final
9.  S. Laurel -- in the 50th District Final
10.  Lou. Ballard -- won the 28th District

District Tournament Play from Last Night

Boys' District Tournament play started in three of the eight districts that we cover.  Here were the results.  All of the losers were eliminated.

1st District (at Hickman Co.)

Carlisle Co. 73, Hickman Co. 47

2d District (at McCracken Co.)

McCracken Co. 75, Paducah Community Christian 22

6th District (at Webster Co.)

Webster Co. 72, Union Co. 49

6th District Basketball, 2010-2019

Here are the last 10 finals of the Sixth District Boys' Basketball Tournament:

2019:  Union Co. 64, Henderson Co. 55
2018:  Henderson Co. 64, Union Co. 42
2017:  Henderson Co. 77, Webster Co. 59
2016:  Webster Co. 47, Henderson Co. 36
2015:  Henderson Co. 59, Webster Co. 47
2014:  Henderson Co. 73, Union Co. 49
2013:  Henderson Co. 71, Webster Co. 63
2012:  Webster Co. 56, Henderson Co. 44
2011:  Henderson Co. 56, Union Co. 46
2010:  Henderson Co. 62, Webster Co. 47

Henderson Co:  7 (2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018)
Webster Co:  2 (2012, 2016)
Union Co:  1 (2019)

Oh, Kentucky

Catching up ...

Christmas20 parades: Versailles, Dec. 5.

New H.S. Basketball Rankings

New rankings from MaxPreps on KHSAA basketball today.  This list makes more sense than the one I posted yesterday, as it has Ballard on top.

1.  Lou. Ballard:  9-1
2.  Lou. Male:  8-2
3.  Cov. Catholic:  7-3
4.  Ashland Blazer:  11-0
5.  Lex. Catholic:  12-0
6.  Oldham Co:  9-2
7.  Lou. Jeffersontown:  8-3
8.  Collins:  11-3
9.  Lou. Eastern:  8-4
10.  Lou. St. Xavier:  10-2
11.  Bourbon Co:  11-2
12.  Newport:  9-2
13.  John Hardin:  11-0
14.  Madisonville-North Hopkins:  11-1
15.  Ohio Co:  10-1
16.  South Laurel:  9-3
17.  Webster Co:  11-1
18.  Somerset:  10-2
19.  North Laurel:  8-3
20.  Lou. Fern Creek:  7-4

Somehow Madisonville and Webster County managed not to schedule each other, even though they are only 19 miles apart.  But those two schools should create some drama in the Pennyrile.

Here are the top-ranked teams in Region One:

27.  Murray:  10-2
43.  Calloway Co:  9-3
47.  McCracken Co:  10-4
49.  Marshall Co:  6-7

Tilghman is next at 71.

Time for High School Basketball

We've played about a month of the basketball season so far.  Louisville Ballard won the King of the Bluegrass Tournament, beating North Oldham 82-72 in the Final.  But MaxPreps has Male as the number one team in the Commonwealth.  Here's the latest top 20 from MaxPreps, as of December 27:

1.  Lou. Male:  7-1
2.  Ashland Blazer:  9-0
3.  Lou. Ballard:  6-1
4.  Oldham Co:  8-0
5.  Lex. Catholic:  8-0
6.  Lex. Douglass:  5-0
7.  Newport:  8-0
8.  Lou. Eastern:  5-1
9.  Lou. St. Xavier:  6-2
10.  Owensboro:  5-1
11.  Cov. Catholic:  3-2
12.  Ohio Co:  5-0
13.  Bourbon Co:  8-1
14.  N. Laurel:  7-0
15.  Webster Co:  9-0
16.  Collins:  6-1
17.  John Hardin:  9-0
18.  Warren Cent:  4-1
19.  Butler Co:  7-0
20.  Muhlenberg Co:  5-1

Personally, I will be very surprised if Webster County wins the Second Region, but they have already beaten Christian County and Hoptown this year.

Murray, at number 43, is the highest ranked team in the First Region.  Calloway County is number 51.  McCracken County is number 58.  Tilghman is number 67.  Those are the only First Region teams in the top 75.

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

A former EKU cheerleader who grew up in Winchester was working at a Las Vegas Hooters, where she met a model. They started dating. Then he got a job as a server at a restaurant featured in a Bravo reality-TV series. Then the guy and the woman from Winchester ended up getting their own Bravo spinoff, and on Saturday they got married at the Kentucky Castle in Versailles. People has exclusive photos and coverage--including details such as that former 'NSYNC performer Lance Bass officiated and that rentals were provided by Bryant's Rent-all of Lexington. "Mr. Vernon Bryant started in the rental business in Lexington, Kentucky in 1953, as a United Rent-All franchise store. His store was located at 531 South Limestone, just opposite the University of Kentucky. This was the first equipment rental store in central Kentucky. The telephone book did not have 'rental' as a heading at the time, so Mr. Bryant was the first business under that heading."

A mechanic decided to shift to law enforcement in 1957. He retired Friday from the Campbell County Sheriff's Office.

Hazard's new police department is an old McDonald's.

The U.S. Postal Service says Louisville's Girard Drive has gone to the dogs, and so they aren't going there for now.

Good jobs news from Wurtland.

World's largest pocketknife, in Radcliff.

"That's OK if you don’t believe in it, but it’s all about everybody being treated fairly." Shamarria Morrison has an interesting feature on Paducah's "safe spaces" for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or sexual-identity-questioning people.

Christmas parades: Dawson Springs and Murray, Dec. 1; Hopkinsville, Dec. 6, and Henderson and Scottsville, Dec. 7.

Oh, Kentucky

Henderson reconsiders LGBTQ rights and fairness 20 years later. Chris Kenning with The Courier-Journal visits in advance of Tuesday's vote.

Hiring in Salem (for CNAs for all shifts and with a $1,500 signing bonus), Dixon (for Webster County High archery, cheer, golf and soccer coaches) and throughout the state (for career, elementary, special and technical education, among others).

"A quirky history podcast produced right here in Kentucky," The Past and The Curious, is getting a lot of love.

Thanks, Feds, for not shutting donw Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers in Edmonson, McCreary and Menifee counties.

Happy 50th, Louisville Zoo.

Oh, Kentucky

The #fakenews is about stores NOT coming to London. The #NOTfakenews is that Planet Fitness and others will be moving in to the old Kmart, says Corbin's Times-Tribune.

Bad jobs news from Bowling Green, Bremen, Central City and Centertown.

Hiring in West Paducah (for paid summer "site deactivation and remediation contractor" interns).

Ground broken in Mayfield, and now to be processing by time of hemp harvest.

Piloting in Webster County, building a larger-scale pilot in Hazard and working toward commercialization of a new use for Kentucky coal.

Republican Rep. James Comer: "Mr. Cohen, you called Donald Trump a cheat in your opening testimony. What would you call yourself?"

Michael Cohen: "A fool." https://t.co/JPh7tRti3L pic.twitter.com/sve7XxiS3M

— ABC News (@ABC) February 27, 2019

Twenty-three percent of Mercer County children were living in "out-of-home" care (as opposed to with their parents) in 2011; 42 percent, in 2017. We've had some depressing statistics in this week's #ohkys, but the numbers in this Jennifer Marsh report in The Harrodsburg Herald might be the most depressing yet.

Kentucky’s number of children ages 0-17 in "out-of-home care” (also known as "foster care") climbed from 35.3 per 1,000 in 2011-13 to 43.7 in 2015-17, per Kentucky Youth Advocates. The county-by-county data is pretty interesting.

Glasgow High School has been identified as one of the country's six model schools for its approaches to closing achievement and opportunity gaps.

Spalding University's School of Creative and Professional Writing plans to enroll its first Master of Arts in Writing students in November.

I didn't realize that Calloway County is considered the National Poetry Month capital of Kentucky.

"The Devil Went Down To Georgia," and look who's coming to Madisonville this summer.

"Bicycles for Refugees," via Beargrass Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Louisville.

Oh, Kentucky

Rest in peace, Frank Ramsey, Corydon native, all-KHSAA 1949 Sweet Sixteen despite his Maroons' famously heartbreaking loss to Paris in the second round, UK's second-leading rebounder (despite being only 6-feet-3), "a seven-time NBA Champion and the original 'Sixth Man,'" as-told-to-Frank DeFord author of an infamous Sports Illustrated article on flopping, Dixon Bank president whom Bob Cousy reportedly surmised has "more money than Trump," survivor of a 2005 tornado in Madisonville (pictured above is what remained of his home) and one Hopkins resident's vote for "our most famous resident in the history of the county."

Oh, Kentucky

Congratulations to the McCracken County High senior sponsored by Murray's American Legion Post 73: "Much like the dam was built to create and harness power, our forefathers built the Constitution to create and harness power – to empower the government to act at a national level, but harness that power so it did not infringe upon individual liberty."

The governor says he said he's sorry.

Congratulations to the 2018 Covington Catholic Colonels, the 1929 Heath Pirates and all of the other state champs in Kentucky high-school basketball over the years:

• 1918 Lexington (Henry Clay)
• 1919 Lexington (Henry Clay)
• 1920 Lexington (Henry Clay)
• 1921 Louisville duPont Manual
• 1922 Lexington
• 1923 Louisville duPont Manual
• 1924 Lexington
• 1925 Louisville duPont Manual
• 1926 Louisville Saint Xavier
• 1927 Millersburg Military Institute
• 1928 Ashland (Blazer)
• 1929 West Paducah Heath!
• 1930 Corinth
• 1931 Louisville duPont Manual
• 1932 Hazard
• 1933 Ashland (Blazer)
• 1934 Ashland (Blazer)
• 1935 Louisville Saint Xavier
• 1936 Corbin
• 1937 Midway
• 1938 Sharpe
• 1939 Brooksville
• 1940 Hazel Green
• 1941 Inez
• 1942 Lexington Lafayette
• 1943 Hindman
• 1944 Harlan
• 1945 Louisville Male
• 1946 Breckinridge Training
• 1947 Marysville
• 1948 Brewers
• 1949 Owensboro
• 1950 Lexington Lafayette
• 1951 Clark County
• 1952 Cuba
• 1953 Lexington Lafayette
• 1954 Inez
• 1955 Hazard
• 1956 Carr Creek
• 1957 Lexington Lafayette
• 1958 Louisville Saint Xavier
• 1959 Calvert City North Marshall
• 1960 Louisville Flaget
• 1961 Ashland (Blazer)
• 1962 Louisville Saint Xavier
• 1963 Louisville Seneca
• 1964 Louisville Seneca
• 1965 Breckinridge County
• 1966 Shelby County
• 1967 Earlington
• 1968 Glasgow
• 1969 Louisville Central
• 1970 Louisville Male
• 1971 Louisville Male
• 1972 Owensboro
• 1973 Louisville Shawnee
• 1974 Louisville Central
• 1975 Louisville Male
• 1976 Edmonson County
• 1977 Louisville Ballard
• 1978 Shelby County
• 1979 Lexington Lafayette
• 1980 Owensboro
• 1981 Independence Simon Kenton
• 1982 Laurel County
• 1983 Lexington Henry Clay
• 1984 Logan County
• 1985 Hopkinsville
• 1986 Pulaski County
• 1987 Clay County
• 1988 Louisville Ballard
• 1989 Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park
• 1990 Louisville Fairdale
• 1991 Louisville Fairdale
• 1992 Hopkinsville University Heights
• 1993 Marion County
• 1994 Louisville Fairdale 59
• 1995 Breckinridge County
• 1996 Paintsville
• 1997 Middletown Eastern
• 1998 Scott County
• 1999 Louisville Ballard
• 2000 Elizabethtown
• 2001 Lexington Lafayette
• 2002 Lexington Catholic 83
• 2003 Mason County
• 2004 Bowling Green Warren Central
• 2005 London South Laurel
• 2006 Jeffersontown
• 2007 Scott County
• 2008 Mason County
• 2009 Covington Holmes
• 2010 Pikeville Shelby Valley
• 2011 Christian County
• 2012 Louisville Trinity
• 2013 Richmond Madison Central
• 2014 Covington Catholic
• 2015 Owensboro
• 2016 Lexington Paul L. Dunbar
• 2017 Bowling Green
• 2018 Covington Catholic

Good jobs news from Dixon, Hawesville, Jackson, Louisville, Madisonville, Monticello, Morehead and Wilder. Bad from Richmond.

I love a Hallmark store, and I'm sorry to hear the one in Glasgow is closing--but glad to hear it's apparently not for lack of business and that the one in Campbellsville will roll on.

Oh, Kentucky

Day 2 in Highland Heights ...

Good jobs news from Burlington and Louisville. Bad from Bowling Green.

Corbin's effort to keep its Carnegie Library lurches forward.

One-hundred thirty complaints of sexual harassment by state employees since 2012 (not counting the corrections or juvenile-justice departments, which have not yet fulfilled November records requests from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Journalism).

About the shooter at Marshall County High.

Oh, Kentucky

Edmonson County Schools Start Weds, August 2nd: School and Law Enforcement Officials Offer Advice, Encouragement - https://t.co/kkm9pC6Ft3 pic.twitter.com/WevHgQkt9a

— The Edmonson Voice® (@edmonsonvoice) August 1, 2017

"He would call me late in the night from somewhere on the road, a ghost town in Texas, a rest stop near Pittsburgh, or from Santa Fe, where he was parked in the desert, listening to the coyotes howling. But most often he would call from his place in Kentucky, on a cold, still night, when one could hear the stars breathing ..."

Questions and answers with Paducah's mayor.

Fear and accusations from Kentucky's governor.

Coming off his 29th western Kentucky town hall, U.S. Rep. James Comer rolls on to Princeton today and Clinton tomorrow.

An ad maker for President Obama's 2008 and 2012 campaigns has created a spot introducing a retired Marine lieutenant colonel and Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, described as Sen. Mitch McConnell's "hand-picked congressman." 

Todd County's fiscal court has ordered all landings and takeoffs at the local airport stop, but that hasn't happened and the airport board has lawyered up. The judge-executive says it has to do with reducing liability on the county, but the airport people apparently think the judge-executive is just mad about a mower. WHOP has an excellent report from Monday's meeting in Elkton. 

Pat McDonough of The Courier-Journal takes his notebook and camera to Tompkinsville and checks in on some of the best marbles players in the world, at the Monroe County Marble Club Super Dome.

What's it like back home for one of these superstar prospects who leave the local high school and transfer to some out-of-state prep school to prepare for the next level? Kevin Patton of Henderson's Gleaner gets the perspective from Union County's KHSAA- and national-champion wrestler at 106 pounds, Zeke Escalera, in the last days before he moves on to Pennsylvania's Wyoming Seminary.

Rest in peace, Mr. Hanor, American Towman Award winner, owner/operator of body shops in Clay and Henderson, Clay city councilperson, ex-commissioner of Clay ABA Basketball, husband of 18 years and father of three.

Oh, Kentucky

Rest in peace, Army Sgt. William Bays, 29-year-old Californian transplanted to Todd County, husband and father of three daughters.

Back to West Paducah.

Mr. Basketball 1986.

Kentuckian of the year:

We are losing the fight against police brutality in America. Period. https://t.co/695glBI0eV

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) June 22, 2017

Every day, the news is chock-full of the saddest and most desperate, pregnant opening scenes of movies, and about the only way I can bring myself to keep looking at them is to imagine the happiest, most unlikely endings.

Four thousand twenty-five homeless people in Kentucky.

The state is seeking to enlarge its diversity of adoptive families.

Two minutes and forty seconds each Aug. 21 in Allensville, Dycusburg, Fairview, Hopkinsville, Princeton and Salem ...

Tonight in Hoptown: "Mr. Eclipse."

Archaeology day camps for kids 9-11 start tomorrow at Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site.

Good jobs news from Paducah.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is coming to Etown!

Mall ready for Friday Night Thunder https://t.co/rrq0WKIqoO #somky pic.twitter.com/4VOy8DjWzn

— Somerset Kentucky (@Somerset_KY) June 22, 2017

Oh, Kentucky

Who's the fifth face on the Webster County courthouse?

Bad jobs news from Pineville. Good at Kroger.

Belfry High and other southeastern-Kentucky schools eye the potential of drone development and training.

Morganfield has fired another police chief.

Fort Campbell is opening a new United Service Organization Center.

Former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes has died at 77. In 1984, working for Mitch McConnell, he created now-famous ad. https://t.co/HVGhOh7Mlf ^JC

— Bluegrass Politics (@BGPolitics) May 18, 2017

Kentucky Rep. James Comer (R-Tompkinsville) is getting a lot of time on the radio these days. NPR visited with him today. Meanwhile, the congressman recently hung out with Mayfield's WYMC.

Rest in peace, Mrs. Lewis, Cave-In-Rock Ferry co-operator for more than 20 years. (And please plan your Saturday accordingly, Crittenden County.)

Oh, Kentucky

"there's a lot being looked over while there as an inmate and crazy cap that no employee should have endure. Like a few said while I was in there they just keep there mouths shut … Have to get rid of that old Buddy System for anything to change … see how he likes it I'm sure he will be begging them to stop the more he does the more they taze … Here's a tip,.. stay outta jail … Here's a tip, require public servants to do their job properly …"

Meanwhile, in Hazard, ...

“They aren’t here and this is their private business, so you’ll need to leave.”

First Presbyterian Church of Calvert City and the Presbyterian Church (USA) have lawyered up.

Bad jobs news from Corbin. Hiring in Barbourville.

HoloDeck VR, which purports to be Kentucky's first virtual-gaming arcade (and the 14th in the country), opens in Bowling Green.

The #KyBoysTour heads to London.

U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-Tompkinsville/WKU Class of '93/Go! Big! Red!) visits Dixon and says he hopes to make 35 similar appearances in the other counties of Kentucky's First Congressional District during his first year in office.

Gov. Bevin throws in on the effort to convert the Pennyrile Parkway to "I-169."

Talking disaster recovery in Madisonville and eclipse preparations in Elkton.

Kentucky Tour 8

(Evansville, Indiana)--Henderson--Madisonville--Hopkinsville--Guthrie--(Nashville, Tennessee); U.S. 41, U.S. 41-A and U.S. 41, Dixie B-Line.

HENDERSON, 6.6 m. 

DIXON, 31.8 m.

MADISONVILLE, 55.6 m.

EARLINGTON, 59.7 m.

MORTONS GAP, 63.4 m.

NORTONVILLE, 66.7 m.

HOPKINSVILLE, 91.4 m.

GUTHRIE, 114 m.

Oh, Kentucky

Small pieces of hail being reported in Paintsville. #ekywx #kywx pic.twitter.com/3Lu8Y4dPJS

— Kyle Collier (@KyleWYMT) March 1, 2017

Stop feeding the geese at Etown's Freeman Lake Park.

I'd never even heard of Russellville's West Kentucky African American Heritage Museum and Research Center.

Nor did I know there is a Northern Kentucky Music Hall of Fame (or that Adrian Belew went to Ludlow!)

Madisonville’s Breathe Youth Arts Program—"a community-based, youth development program of Light of Chance that is geared toward fostering artistic expression, leadership and social skills through visual arts, music, dance and creative writing” among children in grades 5-12—is in its spring semester.

"Can we change the way people look at life and make their decisions?" Moral Reconation Therapy—“a cognitive-behavioral treatment system that leads to enhanced moral reasoning, better decision making, and more appropriate behavior”—appears to be coming to the Clay County Detention Center.

Fish and Wildife is hiring officers.

A Berea Republican decided things might be moving a little too quickly in the (real) legislature around a move to repeal (and replace?) the state's net-metering regulations (Smart Grid!).

"Do not be friends of coal; be friends of coal miners." And rest in peace, Nathan Gabriel Phillips of White Plains and Rickey Allen Thorpe Jr. of Dawson Springs.