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

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

This Kentucky Housing Corporation article in the Northern Kentucky Tribune gives some great detail in the way the nation's agencies intended to aid homeless people in our cities and states are organized and one of the ways U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development money flows into them. It makes me want to spend the rest of this Monday imagining a giant bi-vocational basketball league that is organized in two conferences and four divisions: the Cities Conference and its Lexington and Louisville divisions and the Balance of State (BoS) Conference and its East of Dixie Highway and West of Dixie Highway divisions. But I've got to get to work, and I don't have time to think about that right now.

Dear Lord, please let it be so that a corner has been turned in Kentucky's opioids epidemic.

Good jobs news from Robards.

Hiring in Graham (for a "packout operator" at the local provider of "innovative blasting solutions and quality explosives products") and in Hopkinsville (at the local hospital, and sign-on bonuses and gift-shop discounts are available!).

LOL!! The Shell station on 231 here in Owensboro has posted this message on its store door---> https://t.co/1MGpulmvT2

— WBKR (@WBKR) February 25, 2019

I was only vaguely acquainted with the remarkable story of Claysville-born inventor, businessperson and activist Garrett Morgan, but, as told by biographer William King, WKU history professor emeritus John Hardin and WKYU's Sydney Boles, it's even more remarkable than I suspected.

Clark County Public Schools is upping its literacy game. So are the "Real Men" of Lexington.

Thank you, TVA, for your support of (middle-school) Girls in Engineering (at Madisonville Community College).

But when I do take time to pretend about that bi-vocational Kentucky basketball league, sometimes I imagine that all of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregations decided in a big state assembly that we were feeling called to build, renovate or manage gyms in their towns to accommodate their teams as an act of discipleship. 

Oh, Kentucky

Christmas parades: Hazard and Owensboro, Nov. 21; Ashland, 6 p.m. Central today (and you can watch it live at this link!); Lexington, Dec. 1; Harlan and Maysville, Dec. 4; Bowling Green, Frankfort, Grayson, Hopkinsville, Lawrenceburg, Madisonville, Munfordville, Murray, Paducah, Somerset and Winchester, Dec. 5; Hickman, Dec. 8, and Benton, Elizabethtown and Elkton, Dec. 12.

"That Holiday Inn was at one time the largest in the U.S."

Cold Spring's third mayor of 2015 is "very anti-heroin."

This time, this UK president decided to cover the controversial mural at Memorial Hall.

Good jobs news from Graham.

Happy Thanksgiving, from Gov. Laffoon and the Kentucky State Archives:

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