Stage 19, Friday, of the Tour of USA, KY Edition

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 Frankfort Time Trial (30KM, 466M of elevation, 4 Cat 5 climbs)

Should be a tough time trial, another up and down just like this entire race has been.  

Oh, Kentucky

Back to school? Yes, with social distancing, face coverings, health screenings, sanitation and contact tracing.

Back to baseball? Yes, at Brooks Stadium starting Monday with a league of two.

Upon further Fancy Farm review ... picnicking, yes; political speaking, no. Posted the priest, per The Mayfield Messenger: "The parish of St. Jerome has been in existence for 184 years. During those 184 years, the people have lived and prayed through times of drought, wars, pandemics, times of plenty and times of scarcity and have held steady to the faith and depended on God's providence. We will continue to do the same in our time and in the future."

Expanded racial-bias training for officers and community policing were said to be among the topics of discussion at a second closed unity meeting in Paducah, report Abisola Adeyemo and Mason Watkins of Channel 6.

The state attorney general: "Strong, empowered communities and safe policing are not mutually exclusive; in fact, they must go hand-in-hand in order for the Commonwealth to thrive."

The state ag commissioner: "We must do something to ensure rural Kentucky get its fair shake at connectivity."

The governor: "In Kentucky, we’re going to reopen and rebuild our economy even stronger than it was before COVID-19."

Drive-through hiring today in Lebanon, for Marion and Washington counties.

Oh, Kentucky

Don't know yet.

Daily, weekly and monthly records are falling at Owensboro's 65-year-old Wonder Whip.

At the Nicholasville Road Walmart, to mask or not to mask?

Ten new infections and six additional probable positives June 19-23 in Hopkins County, after nine new cases confirmed May 12-June 18. But state officials say that's not really the metric to be watching, Al Cross reports at Kentucky Health News.

"I want to thank Governor Beshear and Senator McConnell for bringing a positive resolution to this longstanding issue. The $8,043,076 that our hospital will receive could not come at a better time and will make a significant difference in our ability to deal with the ongoing pandemic and its financial impact." I pity the writer of this complicated, delicate press release from the governor's office; I can't imagine it went through fewer than 20 drafts. Chase is that Pikeville Medical Center and 53 other rural hospitals are getting some dough back, perhaps as early as next week.

This press release, on the other hand, does not appear to have been particularly challenging to write or manage through review cycles; it's merely freaking terrifying: "The Department of Justice announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Ethan Melzer, 22, of Louisville, Kentucky, for allegedly planning an attack on his U.S. Army unit by sending sensitive details about the unit – including information about its location, movements, and security – to members of an extremist organization named Order of the Nine Angles (O9A), an occult-based neo-Nazi and white supremacist group. Melzer is charged with conspiring and attempting to murder U.S. nationals, conspiring and attempting to murder military service members, providing and attempting to provide material support to terrorists, and conspiring to murder and maim in a foreign country."

Oh, Kentucky

Again, Pikeville's Mountain Top News does just a fantastic job on covering the conversation in Whitesburg ...

"I have an alternate proposal. Suppose both sides of the story are told."

Midway will celebrate Juneteenth, officially.

The Bowling Green-Warren County Coronavirus Workgroup had a happy surprise on its regular conference call Wednesday.

Bardstown and Nelson County roll out another round of small-biz relief.

A weekend Kentucky Headhunters show at the Beaver Dam Amphitheatre delivered a big boost for the Ohio County food pantry.

Gabe's is (almost) gone.

Fancy Farm is happening.

Mercer County might be getting its second solar farm.

Vanceburg police is hiring. So's the forthcoming Oak Grove Racing, Gaming & Hotel.

The #ohky desk's DQ beat is blowing up of late. You might remember yesterday's dispatch from Columbia. Well, there are Blizzards in the forecast for Princeton, too.

Oh, Kentucky

This is a simply terrific piece of journalism ...

#NoMoreNoKnocks, now in Lexington, too.

Toward more teachers of color.

"This cemetery has experienced vandalism for years. It's usually teenagers who get intoxicated ... it's a remote area ... We have other remote cemeteries which also get vandalized. There's no indication this was racially motivated."

The gravesite of an Revolutionary War soldier was threatened, but Loyall rallied. (It's not what you think.)

Smart Southgate, etc.?

Trooper Island Kids' Camp goes virtual.

On second thought, the Maysville Mason County Recreation Park pool will open this summer.

“It definitely is not any fun when you gotta be stuck in the house and you’d rather be outside shooting paint at your buddies.”

Gird yourself, warns the Pennyrile District health department director.

Rest in peace, Lisa K. Jones, Grayson County's homegrown library hero.

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Hacked, in Whitley County.

Another step toward "zero weather-related deaths," in Kenton County.

Alexandria's first Domino's has been launched by a big-time franchiser who got his start with the company in 1982 delivering pizzas.

Pikeville is getting a Fazoli's. Owensboro is losing its J.D.'s.

It's high time I start making Kentucky Life appointment TV.

Also in sports: Yea. And the KHSAA girls' basketball tournament has a new corporate sponsor, and it is not the HP.

Oh, Kentucky

Bad jobs news from Shelbyville. Here was the best of the good from last year.

OK, now that the Christmas19 hustle and bustle are behind us, it's time to take it easy. For example, it's a perfect time to start thinking about your 2020 vacations, because this year's visitor's guide is out!

Per Angela Turner's reporting in the local Times-Tribune, there are at least three good reasons that Corbin is excited about its upcoming third World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) event in the last three years: One, the 2018 bash broke attendance records for The Corbin Arena; two, some wrestling fans reportedly say the scheduled card is more appealing than what Rupp Arena gets for Monday Night Raw, and, three, there's the building's improved sound quality.

Living in these troubled times demands creativity sometimes, and Marshall County got some, and now it has a Caring Community Center. Good play by play from Channel 6's Chris Yu.

Ready for the times to get better? Well, Danville's Advocate-Messenger says Kentucky's waiving testing fees for the General Education Diploma (GED) portends positively: "If just 50 more people earn their GEDs over the next two years as a result of this change, that could mean $420,000 more in annual income for some of Boyle County’s poorest residents."

Hallelujah, these people seem to love Burnside so! Christopher Harris on Somerset's Commonwealth Journal has a happy, fun story from the first city council meeting of the new year.

It's like we never said goodbye to Michael Scott and all of the gang. The Office! is coming to The Kentucky Center.

Oh, Kentucky

Catching up ...

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It's (almost) a wrap for Mayfield's first Fairgrounds Festival of Lights, and we have until Oct. 1 to sponsor a 2020 display.

The I-65 Mile Marker 0 welcome center in Simpson County, opened in 1974, is closed until probably fall.

Hoptown's Pennyroyal Area Museum targets Feb. 27 for its reopening.

Floyd County is optimistic the resurrection of Wheelwright's prison will take place, even with turnover in Frankfort.

Inez will be down to one grocery after the IGA's Monday closing.

Several Peebles, Goody's and other department stores around Kentucky are converting to Gordmanses this year, such as in Leitchfield and Winchester.

Paducah Police also is hiring.

World Trade Center Kentucky has named an interim executive director.

Kathie Stamps at Smiley Pete Publishing has an interesting report on a married-physicians couple's launch of "membership-based concierge medicine" in Lexington. Excellent name for the new biz: Downtown Drs. Brown. 

Jerry Sparks kicks off a three-part Jackson County Sun series on three people from McKee who were pardoned by former Gov. Bevin: "(M)ost of the pardons issued by the former Governor were not controversial at all. A great deal of the pardons issued were earned by the recipients through years of hard work and dedication toward turning their lives around. Unfortunately, the news cycle tends to focus on the sensational and the negative. In fairness, time should be spent addressing those people that honestly turned their lives around and earned themselves a second chance."

Huge in Kenton County: Liane Moriarity, James Patterson, Mario, the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Alvin Schwartz, Lego, Game of Thrones and a bunch of Now That's What I Call Musics.

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

You got the wrong DJ's.

In Frankfort, Wilkinson Street School will be no more.

To Taylor Mill, Dunkin' is comin'.

I'm surprised Little League wasn't already in Paducah.

I love deadline extensions.

On the pardons ...

Henderson Police gets creative in how to cost-effectively address its officer shortages.

Turning to sports, our old friend Elijah Sindelar appears to be calling it a career. 

Ninety-one Christmas19 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, 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, East Bernstadt, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Greenville, Hawesville, Henderson, Horse Cave, Inez, Lawrenceburg, Leitchfield, Lexington, Madisonville, Marion, Middlesboro, Morgantown, Munfordville, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Prestonsburg, Rabbit Hash, Raceland, Russell Springs, Salyersville, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Somerset, Trenton, Versailles, Whitley City and Winchester, Dec. 7; Auburn, Georgetown and New Haven, Dec. 8, and Augusta, Benton, Burkesville, Burnside, Campbellsville, Cave City, Edmonton, Elkton, Franklin, Hopkinsville, Louisa, Mayfield, Providence, Tollesboro, Williamsburg and Woodburn, Dec. 14!

Oh, Kentucky

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

Oh, Kentucky

"The E. Starling Holloway Insuror of the Year Award is given to an individual who has made a significant contribution, enhanced the ideals and reputation of the insurance industry, or has made a significant contribution to his community, state and country." Congratulations to 2019-winner James England of Pikeville, who is said to exemplify "the characteristics of E. Starling Holloway" (of Madisonville).

And congratulations to Russell County Public Library Director Lindsey Westerfield. It's a bear to get a new public library open, and the director bears the bulk of the burden.

Speaking of "The Best Town on Earth," filing deadline for the city council is Jan. 10, and no one has filed for any of the six seats.

In nine of Kentucky's 120 counties, more registered voters did vote than did not in last month's gubernatorial election: Anderson, Franklin, Graves, Hancock, McLean, Metcalfe, Shelby, Washington and Woodford. And turnout was higher than in more than two decades. Very interesting report from Perry Bacon Jr. and Josh Poe in Louisville's LEO Weekly.

President Trump's nominee for the alternate to the U.S. ambassador to the UN (a Kentuckian) is a Kentuckian.

Aaron Mudd in The Bowling Green Daily News quotes the WKU Faculty Senate budget-and-finance chair: "We are no longer cutting fat. We are removing vital organs" (#RockSolidJournalismObservations).

I love me some minimally-invasive transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), and I'm thrilled to read that it's now being offered at Baptist Health Paducah (in addition to at UK HealthCare).

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,  romley/Ludlow, Brownsville, Cadiz, Calvert City, Carlisle, Clinton, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Greenville, Hawesville, Henderson, Horse Cave, Inez, Lawrenceburg, Leitchfield, Lexington, Madisonville, Marion, Middlesboro, Morgantown, Munfordville, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Prestonsburg, 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, Campbellsville, Cave City, Elkton, Franklin, Louisa, Mayfield, Providence, Williamsburg and Woodburn, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

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.