KHSAA Boys' State: Quarterfinals

Here are today's quarterfinals (all times Central):

10 A.M.:  (8) Ashland Blazer v. (14) Bowling Green

12:30 P.M.:  (11) S. Oldham v. Jeffersontown

5 P.M.:  N. Laurel v. Montgomery Co.

7:30 P.M.:  (2) Great Crossing v. (9) Cooper

Unfortunately, the UK game will be going on when Great Crossing plays Cooper, so that game will not get the attention it deserves.

Girls' Sweet Sixteen, Friday

Today's quarterfinals in Rupp Arena with KHSAA RPI rankings:

-- No. 34 Owensboro Catholic vs. No. 4 Louisville Sacred Heart at 10 a.m. Central
-- No. 9 Winchester George Rogers Clark vs. No. 7 London North Laurel at 12:30 p.m.

-- No. 19 Ashland Paul Blazer vs. No. 3 McCracken County at 5 p.m.

-- No. 24 Louisville Mercy vs. No. 14 Henderson County at 7:30 p.m.

Comments flow ...

Girls' Sweet Sixteen, Thursday

Oh, my ...

Comments flow.

1982

Spoiler alert: Love does, in fact, turn Kenny Rogers around in this movie from 1982.

Adult Language

 I'd be so proud of myself if I ever wrote even a little bit of something that 804 people liked on YouTube.

4 Teams Left

One close game yesterday -- thanks Eric for the coverage on McCracken County.  And four impressive winners:

(4) Elizabethtown 65, George Rogers Clark 44

(5) Lou. Ballard 61, (8) Bowling Green 53

(10) Ashland Blazer 80, Knox Cent. 44

Ft. Thomas Highlands 63, McCracken Co. 53

Until yesterday, I was pretty confident that the E-Town/Ballard winner would capture the state championship.  But Blazer and Highlands have both been really impressive.  Anyway, here are the semi-finals (all times Central):

Saturday, April 3:

10 A.M.:  (4) Elizabethtown Panthers (21-2) v. (5) Lou. Ballard Bruins (21-2)

1 A.M.:  (10) Ashland Blazer Tomcats (22-4) v. Ft. Thomas Highlands (28-4)

For this year, the KHSAA has gone back to its old format, with the two semi-finals early in the day and the final at 7 PM Central tonight.  I love the old format -- I always thought it was cool that you had to win two games in one day to be the State Champions.  So I'm glad to have it back.

8 Teams Left

Not too much drama today, but four deserving winners:

Boyle Co. 70, Paintsville 56

(10) Ashland Blazer 56, Knox Central 38

McCracken Co. 68, Bullitt East 56

Ft. Thomas Highlands 88, Muhlenberg Co. 60

So we are left with the champions of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th, 12th, and 16th regions.  Four of the final eight teams were ranked in the last AP top ten -- good job by the pollsters.  Another full day tomorrow (all times Central):

Friday, April 2:

10 A.M.:  (4) Elizabethtown Panthers (20-2) v. George Rogers Clark Cardinals (20-4)

1 P.M.:  (5) Lou. Ballard Bruins (20-2) v. (8) Bowling Green Purples (24-2)

4 P.M.:  Boyle Co. Rebels (22-4) v. (10) Ashland Blazer Tomcats (21-4)

7 P.M.:  McCracken Co. Mustangs (23-6) v. Ft. Thomas Highlands Bluebirds (27-4)

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

Oh, Kentucky

Oh, Kentucky

Ninety-three and still counting, and one yet to go!

And, actually, we might be up to 94 parades, if this Daily Mail story--"Decline of the town that coal built ..."--is correct that Lynch was hosting one this month. But the town Facebook page that Ann Schmidt mentions appears to be on the fritz, and there is no specific date for the parade provided.

So, for now, I'm saying 93 confirmed 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, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, Rabbit Hash, Raceland, Russell Springs, Salyersville, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Somerset ("highlighted by football team's appearance"), Trenton, Versailles, Whitley City and Winchester, Dec. 7; Auburn, Georgetown and New Haven, Dec. 8; Augusta, Benton, Burkesville, Burnside, Campbellsville, Cave City, Edmonton, Elkton, Franklin, Hopkinsville, Louisa, Mayfield, Providence, Tollesboro, Williamsburg and Woodburn, Dec. 14, and Cerulean, Dec. 21!

In Prospect, they discovered gold--in a Salvation Army red kettle outside the Kroger.

Spreading Christmas "clipper love" in Paducah.

Meanwhile over in Harlan County, Hannah Reynolds from WYMT reports, there was no opposition voiced at the fiscal-court meeting when the Second Amendment-sanctuary deal came up (and quickly passed).

Curtains for curbside recycling in Warren County?

"Camp Restoration," a tiny-home community for homeless vets, is being planned off Dixie Highway in Louisville.

Quintessential American journalist Douglas White of Henderson's Gleaner delivers his typically stellar reporting and writing on local momentum toward large-scale solar-energy production. 

Elizabethtown's News-Enterprise weighs in on Vine Grove's city-hall crisis.

Cory Claxon in The Morehead News looks back on the busy first fourth months of the local Laughlin Health Building.

Oh, Kentucky

Is steel coming back to Ashland? Is bourbon coming to Somerset?

A fire at Farmington, former home of the blue-and-white Region 1 Wildcats. An auction of McDowell, former home of the blue-and-gold Region 15 Daredevils.

"Our group is an unfortunately growing group that nobody wants to be a part of, or should have to be a part of. But at the same time, once you're a part of it, you're glad it's there."

The next 10 years might be a pretty good time to move to Scott County.

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

Rest in peace, Gene Clabes, Kentucky print-journalism serial entrepreneur, online-journalism pioneer and his wife's hero. "What we do know is that there will be a party."

Oh, Kentucky

On the Babies 'R Us transformation in Florence.

On the Patti's comeback in Grand Rivers.

On the Christmas-decor redo debut in Columbia.

Fiber to the (Princeton) home.

Good jobs news from Berea, Erlanger, Hopkinsville and Maysville. Bad from Ashland and Shelbyville. False hope in Inez.

Turning to sports, Franklin County High's Benny Watkins Field will be under scrutiny Friday night; Martha Layne Collins High celebrates its first Division I hoops signees, and Season 4 for the SoKY Ice Rink is afoot.

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

Guns N' Roses is not playing Pikeville.

I wonder how the interactive children's concert with the Lexington Philharmonic went Saturday in Williamsburg.

Madisonville's mayor explained some city-budget choices at a town meeting last week, and Brandon Buchanan with The Messenger has an interesting report: "We can't continue to fund organizations when we can't even find what they have done."

Patrick Sisson in Curbed looks at a Kentucky native's vision for high-tech farming in Morehead: "We’re committed to making eastern Kentucky the agtech capital of America."

Good jobs news from Danville.

The state's highest rents for apartment complexes are found in Newport.

Falmouth's ambulance service is in jeopardy. 

Flat (inflation-adjusted) wages, still, in Kentucky.

Welcome to KSU, and here's a laptop--The Kentucky 100 has the scoop in 100 or fewer words. 

You're running out of time to weigh in on naming the animals at LBL.

Should Kentucky decriminalize possession of marijuana up to 100 grams? Ninety-four of the first 130 voters at a Harrodsburg Herald poll said yes.

Improper drop-offs are becoming a bigger problem for Ashland's non-profit community, reports Carly Carver in The Daily Independent.

Thanks, Feds, for sticking up for a whistle-blowing truck driver in Florence.

British Open Preview: I predict that Jason Dufner will not win his second major since June 2010 when the HP launched.

Oh, Kentucky

"In Letcher County, 12.6 percent of homeowners are considered severely housing cost-burdened, up from 8.3 percent in 2010. A significant part of that is the cost of energy. ... 'I’ve seen bills as high as $1,400 to $1,600 a month.'" Great, comprehensive report on the impact and future of energy inefficiencies/efficiencies in Appalachia from Sydney Boles of Ohio Valley ReSource and WFPL.

You best slow your roll on I-71 in Oldham County.

Alles Brothers Furniture is back, in Henderson.

"What do you love when you love Jesus? These two questions will guide our exploration into 'The Politics of Jesus,'" next week at Lexington Theological Seminary.

More from the Cartwright/Taylor nuptials: Us Weekly has the 411 on the newlyweds' trip to Drip Rock.

WBKR's pictures from the Matthew's Table worship on the grounds of the Daviess County Detention Center are especially interesting.

Rest in peace, Mr. Hoover, “probably the most civic minded person in the history of Corbin” and the local Pepsi person.

Oh, Kentucky

No, for real, Frankfort's Pic-Pac is closing.

Glasgow is starting to consider a new downtown park, and the comments on the local Daily Times' Facebook post about it are already strident.

The new $17.8 million library in Lyndon is open; the old ones in Fern Creek and Middletown are budget casualties.

A nonprofit's hospital grades were especially bad news for Henderson's Methodist Hospital, reports Douglas White in The Gleaner.

"There are more than 1,100 Harlan County students designated as homeless under a U.S. Department of Education definition of homeless, which includes living in substandard housing ... Harlan County Schools has the second highest percentage of homeless students in the state, according to data from the Kentucky Department of Education. More than one in every four students are considered homeless." Eye-opening but ultimately hopeful report by Report for America's Will Wright in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

From Peter Brackney's dependably interesting Kaintuckeean blog: "This summer is the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York City which is seen as a seminal moment in the fight for LGBT rights in this country. In Kentucky, the Kentucky Heritage Council has been working to recognize significant LGBT sites in the Commonwealth. Given the modern science, Pulaski should be so recognized. Xis contributions, as a transgender/intersex individual, to our society were significant. Given that approximately 1.7% of children are born with intersex traits (approximately the same likelihood as one having red hair), it is a demographic which should not be ignored."

As previously reported, The Internet Is Amazing™, "ham radio has been called into action again and again to provide communications in crises when it really matters," says the Amateur Radio Relay League, which had a 24-hour field day at Murray State this past weekend. Hawkins Teague was there for the Ledger & Times.

One hundred years of Kentucky Power in eastern Kentucky, and at least two more months of celebrating at Ashland's Highlands Museum and Discovery Center.

Oh, Kentucky

Fifty years and 12 stories of affordable housing for 55-year-old-and-older residents of Newport.

After 54 years of hellos at Harlan County schools, it's so long to Billie Gray.

The 32nd Charles Logsdon Historic Downtown Walking Tour commences Thursday in Etown.

Starting on digital literacy early, in Louisville.

Martin County is getting together Saturday to clean up and celebrate.

"Of course, lots of cities have amphitheaters, but not every town with a population of about 3,500 builds a venue that holds 5,000." Deborah Kohl Kremer has a nice feature in Kentucky Monthly on plucky Beaver Dam and its amphitheater.

Turning to sports, disc-golf season is underway in Lawrenceburg; Summit's Armco Park Iron Ore Hiking Trail, which "includes part of the brick road from the original Route 60 that went from Ashland to Lexington" (!), opened Saturday, but--too bad, so sad--you missed canoeing or kayaking the Woodbury-to-Aberdeen Green River Ramble.

Also, Danville's Advocate-Messenger lost its sports editor of three years to the Norton Center for the Arts, and the new person is an eager University of Louisville Cardinal alum who lives in Bullitt County and has been working on an assembly line.

Rest in peace, Rev. Dr. Hobgood, a Transylvania and College of the Bible product, former pastor of several Kentucky congregations and 2003-05 general minister and president of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) "whose leadership in a transitional time called us to faithfulness in our witness as a pro-reconciling anti-racist Church."

Oh, Kentucky

On the "Action Whether to Keep McKinney Elementary Open or to Close McKinney Elementary," Stanford's WPBK lays out some crucial Lincoln County school history.

Your Kentucky Entrepreneur Hall of Fame nominations are due Friday, so you better get on it.

Short run for a Russell Springs restaurant.

Ashland needs a new Salvation Army administrator; Owensboro, a new symphony-orchestra CEO.

Madisonville appears to be headed to experiencing its first apartment-complex construction in about 30 years.

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

Welcome to Greenville (coming soon).

Hiring in Princeton (for jobs there and in Eddyville, Grand Rivers, Marion, etc.)

If you're planning to get your Chik-fil-A on in Ashland, you better get it going. But chill: "It is temporarily a bad thing but it is long term a good thing."

Some in Louisville City FC Nation are not about to chill.

Wonderful Nita Johnson feature in London's Sentinel Echo on Laurel County's new teacher of the year: "I always tell them, Te Amo Mucho - I love you a lot," she said. "I always want that to be the last words they hear."


The equivalent of about half of Kentucky's old tires reportedly are being converted into energy at East Kentucky Power Cooperative’s Spurlock Station in Maysville.

Why are people getting sick in the mail room of the federal prison in Manchester?

Oh, Kentucky

Man, oh, man ... everything's complicated (Walton edition).

25. Floyd
23. Jackson
20. Martin
16. Knox
10. Harlan
9. Bell
8. Leslie
7. Breathitt
6. Clay
5. McCreary

Thursday morning at Paducah's Kentucky Career Center: "Come join us and bring a friend! We are working on improving reentry into our community and improving public safety. If you cannot attend, see if someone you know or work with can come in your place."

Tomorrow morning at Lexington's UK Gatton Student Center: "The event is free and open to the public, though reservations are requested, as space is limited. Participation is highly recommended for elected officials, community and economic development leaders, existing businesses within Opportunity Zones and those looking to develop projects in Opportunity Zones."

Cincinnati's Buffalo Wings & Rings eyes rollout of 25 Kentucky stores in the next five years, and you could be their person in Winchester.

Speaking of (No. 25) Floyd County, bravo to Prestonsburg's Girl Scouts Troop 5185 and everyone else who spent their Saturday mornings cleaning up around Jenny Wiley State Resort Park--which, by the way, is awesome: