Oh, Kentucky

Danville's Advocate-Messenger on the new 988 suicide-prevention hotline: Yea. Prestonsburg's Floyd County Chronicle on Martin's lack of financial transparency: Nay.

I'm a big fan of Elizabethtown's Ring Road exit off of the Western Kentucky Parkway, and I'm excited to see what becomes of this planned food-and-retail complex.

Paducah's hotels reportedly have been about 60-percent full this year.

UK's starting pay for regular employees is going up to $12.50 per hour.

Bad jobs news from Williamsburg. Good from Hebron.

Good for retired Professor Hagans who donated thousands of dollars in stock for Madisonville Community College's emergency fund for students. And good for this Henry County, not-the-Berrrys couple who donated hundreds of acres for a new wildlife preserve.

Turning to sports, here's a Norse-centric look back at the decade, and here's a preview of WKYT's Christmas-afternoon airing of Reggie Warford: Fight of His Life.

Oh, Kentucky

The United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, via the Kentucky Baptist Convention's KentuckyToday: "This is not merely happy talk. Your United States Attorney’s Office has dramatically increased the number of federal firearm prosecutions across the district targeting violent trigger-pullers. We are unwavering in our commitment to bring justice to the unsolved murder of fallen Bardstown Police Officer Jason Ellis. I have staffed the U.S. Attorney’s Branch Office in Paducah at its highest levels ever. The DEA has opened an office in Paducah for the first time and the FBI plans to re-open its office in the Purchase next year. ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has staffed up 40 percent in Kentucky with real benefit to communities large and small. And I hope to announce similar good news in Bowling Green very soon."

Mary Meadows in the Floyd County Chronicle delivers the interesting goods from a local board-of-education meeting and the back and forth about transportation policy around extracurricular activities.

Abbey Nutter in the College Heights Herald tells me a story I had never heard of WKU's takeover of Jonesville.

We appear to have missed last call at Pazzo's in Lexington.

Turning to sports, the NCAA volleyball tournament gets rolling today, and WKU is the No. 15 seed.

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, 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 and New Haven, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Augusta, Burkesville, Burnside, Elkton, Mayfield, Providence, Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Merle Travis Birthday Miners Strawberries and Cornbread Suppers: Drakesboro, Dec. 7.

Oh, Kentucky

Pick up today's edition of the News-Express for these stories and more. To subscribe, call, (606) 437-4054. pic.twitter.com/3bGMZTUS7M

— App. News-Express (@AppalachianNews) July 2, 2019

Way to go. You missed Barbara Bailey Day in Lexington. It was yesterday.

As for tomorrow: "Happy Fourth of July from the Carlisle Mercury: Nicholas County’s oldest business, serving Fleming County since 1867. The Mercury has been a cornerstone of Nicholas County culture for 152 years and as a product of ‘a free press’ in a nation where inhabitants enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we are proud of the fact that we have operated as a product of The American Free Press longer than the Statue of Liberty has been standing on Ellis Island."

What do you like about The Trimble Banner? There could be four tickets to the Quaker State 400 in it for you.

Floyd County Chronicle: "Both these agencies are public bodies and the business they conduct is done 100 percent on behalf of taxpayers and ratepayers. It’s vital that those on whose behalf this business is being conducted be involved in and aware of what’s going on."

Chuck Witt in The Winchester Sun: "What is impeachment?"

PRNewswire: "Dippin' Dots Heats Up Summer with Launch of Social Media Dance Challenge."

Per U.S. News and World Report, 15 colleges and universities have more than one grad currently serving as chief executive officer of a Fortune 100 company. The University of Kentucky is one of them.

In Elkton, you've got until 10 Central tonight and then 8 a.m.-10 p.m. tomorrow, Friday and Saturday to shoot off your fireworks--but that's it, buddy. In Louisa, it's until midnight Eastern today and then 10 a.m.-midnight tomorrow, and you're done--well, unless you put in a permit 15 days ago, and it was approved.

Felix E. Martin Jr's 2008 gift to Muhlenberg County keeps giving to economic development, community development, education and youth services there.

Oh, Kentucky

Good jobs news from Bowling Green. Bad jobs news from Bowling Green.

Editorial roundup:

-- The Floyd County Chronicle: "The Floyd County BOE should speak up about testing troubles"

-- Frankfort's State Journal: "Both sides in mountain bike trail debate need a breather"

Opening Ceremony of Kentucky 🇺🇸 🇨🇳 Governors Summit. 👍🏼 @ThinkKentucky @GovMattBevin @NatlGovsAssoc @Alltech pic.twitter.com/hSGrQXDmQX

— Vivek K. Sarin (@V_Sarin) May 23, 2019

Ace is the place, at last in Brownsville.

Dunkin (such as donuts), soon in Cold Spring.

Taking it to the streets, in Mercer County.

Uplifting "the visions and voices of lesbian filmmakers," in Paducah.

Spinning Merle Travis, Spider Rich, Mose Rager, the Everlys, etc., for the kids in Beechmont.

Rest in peace, Wilton A. Hawkins (1922-2019), secret initiator of $2.5 million scholarship fund in Anderson County.

Oh, Kentucky

Kentucky for sale:

I'm pretty certain I'm not as effective or diligent of a disciple of Christ's as this Hardin County fellow is for what he's discipling.

Ashland revisits the curbside-recycling question, with input from nearby Russell and less-so Paducah.

Prayers for Mr. Howard, and way to go, Benham Schoolhouse Inn.

Turning to sports, hooray for Reggie Warford and the rest of this year's Dawahares/KHSAA Hall of Fame class.

Oh, Kentucky

By the way, it turns out "The Fort Campbell Courier has been suspended for an undetermined period to fulfill contractual requirements for the selection of a new service provider."

The First Lady is coming to Toyota; AOC, to a coal mine?

There might be a buyer for TVA's coal-fired Paradise Power Plant.

Charles Bethea's article in The New Yorker on environmental reporting in Kentucky is fantastic.

Kentucky had a record February for home sales.

Bad jobs news from Franklin.

Hiring in Shepherdsville.

It's almost drive-in season again in La Grange.

Covington honors a fast-acting ambulance crew (and Ryan Clark in the Northern Kentucky Tribune delivers a compelling report).

Turning to sports, a 10-year-old Reidland Intermediate School student will be covering MLB19 (but, according to WSIL, he's a West Paducah native).

Oh, Kentucky

In her farewell editorial, Jamie Lucke asks for kindness for the mountains of Kentucky. No more prisons or strip mines or slurry spills. https://t.co/Fw6a94hHQi ^JC

— Bluegrass Politics (@BGPolitics) March 1, 2019

Not only do the numbers say you don't want to get old in Kentucky, they also say you don't want to be a baby here.

Per Austin Ramsey's report in Owensboro's Messenger-Inquirer, the entire staff of the City of Drakesboro on Jan. 3--a day after the new mayor took office--quit their jobs. 

Good jobs news from Louisville.

Toward better polymer and materials scientists at Murray and aviation-maintenance technicians at Eastern.

"Carp-crete" appears to be exactly as gruesome as it sounds like it might be.

Bardstown's Stephen Foster FiveStar is going retro.

No shocker to or argument from me in the pizza category: It's Pagliai's of Princeton. I look forward to reading the rest of WKDZ's 2018 Best of Western Kentucky winners.

One of the relatively minor but definitive joys of no longer being single is that events like Movies at the Park are pretty much off my calendar. But, seriously, Elizabethtown, I hope you all have a blast.

Rest in peace, Mrs. Louvernia Campbell Deaton (1947-2019), who would've been at least partly responsible for the fine food served at Buckhorn Lake State Resort Park and Hazard's Holiday Inn.

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

So Long, Silver Grove Big Trains and Lady Trains?

For all of the bad stuff that has gone on with journalism and particularly newspaper business in the last 20 years, I believe that civic-meeting coverage has vastly improved over that time--more detailed, more nuanced, more lively, just better-reported and -written than it very recently was, period. And I think it makes sense when you think about how the industry segment has changed. As editorial staffs have contracted to just a half-dozen or three or one body in some towns, those individuals have to be very choosy about where they spend their reporting time. They can't afford to lose a day sniffing around for possible stories; they need to be able to schedule their investment of in-the-moment presence and after-the-fact sense making to a specific amount of time and know they are going to walk away with fodder for X inches of verifiable body copy. Civic meetings lend themselves quite well to this new spartan world of community journalism, and, so, we readers are getting fantastic stuff like Melinda J. Overstreet's simply brilliant dispatch in the Glasgow Daily Times from "the Planning and Development Committee of the Glasgow Common Council, also known as the Parks and Recreation Department." The chase of Overstreet's report is that it is thought that it will take about a half-million bucks to move the needle on the local parks sitch. However, if you can spare 10 or 15 minutes, her story is better than any high-school civics class you ever had in terms of seeing how American society actually works together in its little clumps of people here, there and yonder across the country to keep each other safe, honest and happy.

Paradise no more. TVA votes to close iconic coal-burning power plant in Kentucky.https://t.co/tHcLQZuCod pic.twitter.com/ozZj8taXsr

— Lexington Herald-Leader (@heraldleader) February 14, 2019

Rely on your assets, Gov. Bevin tells western Kentucky (via Channel 6). Take the Ohio River, for example. "We’re talking to metal producers. We’re talking to manufactures that use these metals. We’re talking to a number of people that need access to that water, so I think it’s just a matter of time."

Louisville's Young People in Recovery, on the Indiana slopes.

Oh, Kentucky

A certain vice-presidential hopeful from New Hampshire is going to love this!

Last days for Paducah's Pork Peddler.

After Year 1 of Mount Washington's five-year plan.

The Los Angeles Times visits Cynthiana to look at hemp's history and future in Kentucky.

#HereForIt Get the details! https://t.co/YgWXSTmUUP

— WBKR (@WBKR) February 11, 2019

Kentucky has dominated the first decade of national chambers-of-commerce competition.

Steve Preston of NKU in the NKyTribune: "On March 1, 1886, Henry Boyd passed away at the age of 83. Despite his success and prominence within the community, Boyd was laid to rest in an unmarked grave in Spring Grove Cemetery."

"'I was scared to come to rural area like Edmonson County,' said Patel. 'All I know was the big cities, but now, I would never go back to the big city. This community is a good example of how the country (rural) is good.'" The best part of this Darren Doyle feature in The Edmonson Voice are the comments about it on the newspaper's Facebook page (no, seriously).

Oh, Kentucky

$25K to "Grow Rural Education" in Ballard County.

Solar-powered wine, from Pulaski County.

"Load your guns, lock your doors," says the sheriff in Martin County.

Rallying for Paradise.

Kentucky's infrastructure report card: C-minus.

Retiring in Kentucky? Keep looking.

Kentucky is big for Sasquatch sightings, with Anderson County leading the way, per an interesting Marie Mitchell column for the Richmond Register.

Turning to sports, John Wall is coming back, and Matt House reportedly couldn't leave.

Hiring in Madisonville and Central City (part-time MCC faculty in all sections).

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 (1969)

Still 1969ing in Ohio County ...

  
And the regional-champion Eagles made the front page of the March 20 Ohio County Times!

 Not above the banner, but still ...

Of course, the new barbershop made P1, too. (Real me had my hair cut here one time along about 1998!) (Also, I love walnut paneling.)

So, I know ... let's make this movie about this little high school and its basketball team in Kentucky in 1969, and let's put all in all of this sign-of-the-times, touchstone stuff like ... hmmm? ... oh, I know, one of the former students who has been drafted could write a letter home, cheering on the basketball team ... and there could be all kinds of cultural-warfare stuff like fights going on in town about sex education in the schools ... maybe some warmed-over integration stuff ... oh, and, hey, I've got it! ... the kids at the school could write back to the soldier with a--get this!--50-FOOT LETTER THANKING HIM FOR HIS SERVICE ... that'll be gr- ... well ... nyah, too hackneyed ... none of that stuff would've really been going on all at the same time ...

Let's get back to the basketball team (and some big snakes in Central Grove) ...

Eat up, boys!

I love the movie Paper Lion. Love it! 5 stars, highly recommended.

Oh, Kentucky (1969)

The 1969 desk takes a road trip from Hoptown to Hartford.

"Your Picture Newspaper" put the following picture of the 11th District basketball champs on Page 1 of the March 13, 1969, edition. The Eagles ripped the Fordsville Trojans, 145-59, and then turned back the (1965-state-champion) Breckinridge County Tigers, 75-59, to win the district tournament.

"Ohio County played Drakesboro last night in the opening game of the regional tournament at Owensboro," added the Page 15 story. "Results of the game were not known at press time."

Says Wikipedia: "Ohio County is famous for its coal mines, which in the 1970s produced much of the nation's coal."

In 1969, though, basketball appeared to be a big deal. Here's a brief about some sort of rec-league game that ended 107-106!

I love newspaper activities like these.

 

Listing the hospital's visiting hours right there with the admissions is a brilliant stroke of community building.

Clean sweep for ol' OCHS ...

Oh, Kentucky

Hunting and fishing are our God given right, and now a Constitutional right in Kentucky. The reason I chose a life in the outdoors is because my dad was patient enough to let me tag along on his excursions afield and spent the time mentoring my brothers, sisters and me into a love of everything the outdoors has to offer.

(S)ocially motivated consumers – those consumers who make purchases based on what others around them think – are more likely to feel a sense of belonging to their favorite team. This emotionally committed fan, in turn, is willing to express significant psychological and purchasing loyalty to the team.

KET News Quiz!

Good jobs news for Bowling Green, Louisville and western Kentucky.

Christmas parade: Junction City, tonight (!); Henderson, Dec. 1; Prestonsburg, Dec. 7, and Wheelwright, Dec. 8.

Happy (belated) birthday (and rest in peace), Merle Travis, a celebrated musician, an underrated taxidermist and a proud son of Muhlenberg County.

Oh, Kentucky

Today's Touchstone Energy All "A" Classic final four from Frankfort: Heath vs. Bardstown at 5 p.m. Central, Covington Holy Cross vs. Louisville Collegiate at 6:30. Bardstown's WBRT 1340 AM streams here, so it's a possibility for hearing tonight's action. If nothing else, it's proven a good place this morning to hear some excellent Dwight Yoakum and Conway Twitty tunes, and there's (presumably) always the CYBERSPORTSUSA live play-by-play.

The last team to beat the Racers in Murray returns to town today.

Hopefully, the visiting Panthers got the news about the Eggner's Ferry bridge and leave themselves time for an alternate route west after antique shopping this afternoon in Cadiz. Several schools lost Internet access when the bridge was struck by a cargo ship Thursday night.

Career average of 7.14 baptisms per year.

A WKU student is running for the legislature.

"There are no public natural gas fueling stations in Kentucky."

Rest in peace, Mr. Tuttle, Kentucky Farm Bureau agent for more than 60 years, not a Purple Heart recipient and not Robert Kennedy's man in Kentucky.

One and done: Boys' round of 128

Today's games:

First Region, at Murray State

Second Region, at Hopkinsville

Third Region--Edmonson County at Breckinridge County, Ohio County at Daviess County, Owensboro at Grayson County and Meade County at Muhlenberg County

Fourth Region, at Western Kentucky University

Fifth Region, at Green County High School

Sixth Region, at Bellarmine University

Seventh Region, at Bellarmine University--Moore vs. Jeffersontown, Ballard vs. Louisville Collegiate, Male vs. Seneca, Eastern vs. Fern Creek

Eighth Region, at Henry County High School

Ninth Region, at Northern Kentucky University

10th Region, at Mason County High School

11th Region, at Eastern Kentucky University

12th Region, at Lincoln County High School

13th Region, at Corbin

14th Region, at Hazard

15th Region, at Pikeville

16th Region, at Morehead State University--Rowan County vs. West Carter and Lewis County vs. Boyd County

Kentucky Minute: Ky. 70, Central City to Cave City

OK, here we go. Let's see how many wireless networks I can find along this route.