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

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

First day of school at Oakview Elementary in Ashland pic.twitter.com/Wx2UydtYSc

— The Daily Independent (@ashlandkydaily) August 15, 2018

 

Stay tuned for more back-to-school pictures in Central City's Times-Argus.

There's a bus-driver shortage in Hardin County, too.

Clarkson is adding a third full-time police officer (and planning to rehab its 30-year-old sewer system and readying for Honeyfest).

Matt Bevin, prospective vice-presidential nominee from New Hampshire, is again taking shots at Kentucky's public employees.

Louisville has a last-second mayoral candidate "known as a political bomb thrower," per Phillip M. Bailey in The Courier-Journal.

Newport Shopping Center and Plaza is getting more populated.

"Veterans as Entrepreneurs/ Veterans to Enhance Workforce," "Importance of Relationship Between Economic Development & Community College" and "Coworking Spaces & Makerspaces" are among the topics scheduled to be covered at the Oct. 18 Madisonville-Hopkins County Rural Development Conference.

"It's come one, come all," for fourth- through eighth-graders wanting to sing in the Harlan County Children's Choir.

Rest in peace, Mr. Isham, Somerset Community College psychology professor, Stoner Little Theatre regular, former Pulaski County Library board member, audio-book narrator and possessor of "a tremendous voice that any broadcaster would envy," according to Christopher Harris's fine story in Corbin's Times-Tribune.

Oh, Kentucky

State!

Good jobs news from Bardwell.

The projected completion date for Madisonville's miniature-golf course is late summer, and I am thrilled.

Franklin's Kentucky Downs plans a grand reopening.

The graphics illustrating the possible I-69 Ohio River bridge options at Henderson are magnificent!

The governor's former adoption "czar" reportedly got a $60,000 golden parachute.

The downtown Covington Skyline Chili is no more.

Oh, Kentucky

Laid-off coal miners look to re-invent themselves. 

Bad jobs news for Maine.

SNOW DAY!

Telling the turnaround in Eminence.

Riding the jingle comeback in Owensboro.

Tackling the gun debate in Edmonton and Henderson.

SNOW DAY!

Joker Phillips returned home to Franklin over the weekend, and it turned out to be a surprise party.

Ryne Sandberg's nephew is the new manager of the minor-league baseball team in Bowling Green.

Kentucky has closed out a record-breaking deer season.

SNOW DAY!

KET News Quiz!

SNOW DAY!

Cleanup of the Red River and Whippoorwill Creek is said to be the reason for an increase in pesky black flies in southern Logan County.

Now that a new director is coming to Madisonville's public library and the public library is moving to a new home, a group is organizing to fight for preservation of its old downtown home. Fun to think about the old gym on the third floor.

"Nickel City," too (!).

Rest in peace, Mrs. Christmas.

Oh, Kentucky

To the Class A football semifinal victor, ...

Pepped up in 5A Fort Thomas, too.

Dolly in Bowling Green!

Dickie V in Draffenville!

Home of the Mustangs!

Home of some Racers.

Christmas parades: Cadiz, Calvert City, Clinton, Marion and Paducah, Dec. 1; Evarts, Dec. 2, and La Center, Dec. 15.

"Why don't we study Cobb?"

"What we're doing here is major."

Good jobs news from Bowling Green, Bowling Green and Somerset. Paducah, too?

Rest in peace, Mrs. Coffman, pre-Title IX hoops all-stater for the Earlington High Lady Yellow Jackets.

Knowing when to say when in Harlan.

Kentucky high-school football, semifinals

The Internet was already awesome, and the Kentuckiana Digital Library has made it even a little more awesome still. Up there's a picture of the 1945 football team at Garth High School in Georgetown. That school, opened in 1926, folded into Georgetown High in 1958, and then Georgetown High consolidated into Scott County High in 1975.

Scott County is one of 24 Kentucky high schools still playing football this weekend. The rest of the pictures in this post don't have much to do with football if anything, but, whatever, they're from the Kentucky Digital Library, which I lost about two hours Tuesday afternoon happily browsing. Plus, Go Heath already talked about the football.

Class A

Mayfield at Fort Mitchell Beechwood--Mayfield's WYMC, which will be covering the Cardinals' 6:30 p.m. Central kickoff in northern Kentucky, on Wednesday spun the Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass sendup of "Wabash Cannonball." And that led to my happy discovery that there was a 1977 Danny Davis and the Nashville Brass TV special. Here's a postcard of Mayfield High that the Kentuckiana Digitial Library has.

Hazard at Westwood Fairview--Defending state champs visit the Class A final four's gate-crasher. How Hazard made it to this round should've been on Sportscenter this week.

Class 2A

Caldwell County vs. Louisville DeSales at Louisville Fairdale High School--All clear for the Tigers' buses across U.S. 62 and U.S. 31W from Princeton up to the 'ville.

Newport Central Catholic at Somerset--Since 2000, NewCath is 7-0 in state semifinals. Whether they extend that streak or the Briar Jumpers break it, this Holiday Inn looks like a fine place to either celebrate or mourn. On U.S. 27 South, the hotel offers "Color T.V. all rooms - Swimming Pool, Coffee Shop & Dining Room, Meeting rooms for 200 people, 5 Miles from beautiful Lake Cumberland, 35 Miles from Cumberland Falls."

Class 3A

Monroe County at Louisville Central--"Odds are, not many people outside of Tompkinsville probably give the Falcons much of a chance to win and advance to the state championship game in Bowling Green," writes Scott Wilson in the Glasgow Daily Times.

Bourbon County at Belfry--Seventy-five years ago, they were laying the foundation for Belfry School and "Pond Creek Nation" in Pike County. This picture was snapped Nov. 18, 1937. 

Class 4A

Bowling Green Warren East at Shelbyville Martha Layne Collins--In 1983, Martha Layne Collins, a former Shelbyville High School cheerleader, became Kentucky's first and the nation's third woman governor. 

Lexington Catholic at Fort Thomas Highlands--G. Michael Graham of Fort Thomas Matters warns the home folks, "The Bluebirds generally wear down opponents because they do not have players going both directions. But LexCath can say the same so it may not be an advantage unlike most opponents."

Class 5A

Bowling Green at Elizabethtown John Hardin--For the home team, no less than "the biggest night in the history of the program," writes Chuck Jones in The News-Enterprise.

Union Randall K. Cooper at Harlan County--Longest trip thus far for the traveling Jaguars. The picture is from a grade school in Lejunior, in Harlan County, in 1946.

Class 6A

Middletown Eastern at Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park--Jason Frakes previews The Courier-Journal's game of the week, "When the Pleasure Ridge Park High School football team lost to Eastern 13-0 in the 1964 Jefferson County championship game, Panthers supporters couldn't have imagined it would take 48 years for their team to get another shot at a trip to the state finals. Tonight that long wait will end. ..."

Scott County at Louisville Trinity

PC Football wants to wish "good luck" to Scott County against Trinity!All us "County" schools are pulling for you.
— Pulaski Football (@PulaskiFootball) November 19, 2012

Previous reports:

-- Week 1 roundup, western Kentucky results and the Lexington Herald-Leader's preseason rankings

-- Week 2 roundup and western Kentucky results

-- Week 3 roundup and western Kentucky results

-- Week 4 roundup and western Kentucky results

-- Week 5 roundup and western Kentucky results

-- Week 6 roundup and western Kentucky results

-- Week 7 roundup

-- Week 8 roundup, western Kentucky results and standings

-- Week 9 roundup and western Kentucky results

-- Week 10 roundup, western Kentucky results and standings

-- Week 11 roundup, western Kentucky results and standings

-- first round of playoffs and western Kentucky results

-- second round of playoffs and western Kentucky results

-- quarterfinals and Go Heath's update

One and done: Girls' round of 64*

All but one of the 16 girls' KHSAA regional tournaments are in action today after yesterday's hiatus, and three of them are determining their representatives in next week's 2012 Houchens Industries/KHSAA Girls' Sweet Sixteen® State Basketball Tournament:

First Region, at Murray State University's CFSB Center.

Second Region, at Christian County High School in Hopkinsville.

Third Region, at Owensboro Sportcenter.

Fourth Region, at Western Kentucky University's E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green.

Fifth Region, at Central Hardin High School in Elizabethtown.

Sixth Region*, at Bellarmine University's Knights Hall in Louisville--This is one of three regions who have progressed to the statewide round of 32.* Louisville Mercy and Butler are playing for the regional championship tonight.

Seventh Region*, at Bellarmine's Knights Hall--Louisville Assumption and Manual are playing for the championship, too. Manual is the state's top-rated team.

Eighth Region, at Anderson County High School in Lawrenceburg.

Ninth Region, at Northern Kentucky University's Bank of Kentucky Center in Highland Heights.

10th Region*, at Campbell County Middle School in Alexandria.

11th Region, at Eastern Kentucky University's Alumni Coliseum in Richmond.

12th Region, at Lincoln County High School in Stanford.

13th Region, at Corbin's The Arena--Harlan County leads London North Laurel, 22-18, at halftime of the first semifinal.

14th Region, at Breathitt County High School in Jackson.

16th Region*, semifinals and final at Morehead State University's Johnson Arena--Ashland Blazer and Boyd County play for the regional championship.

The state's lone idle tournament:

15th Region, at Pikeville's East Kentucky Exposition Center.

Oh, Kentucky

One and done: Adding to GoHeath's boys' summary ... The Barren County boys prevailed in overtime against Allen County-Scotsville in the 15th District. "Oh my goodness, it feels amazing." ... The defending 13th Region champion, Bell County, was eliminated last night by a Middlesboro team that won only three games last season. ... The Lady Dawgs are done, but the Dawgs roll on in the 16th District. ... They start them young in Draffenville.

It's "Eggners," without the apostrophe.

NKU-Cadiz.

Be a beekeeper.

Build a "productive organic farm, market business and homestead from scratch, starting with very few financial resources and no existing infrastructure."

Great jobs news for Covington, good for Louisville and reassuring for Campbellsville. Rotten from La Center? Not so fast from HPKo10*. (From him, too). And a positive economic report from Hoptown.

Paywalls are coming to The Courier-Journal and the rest of Gannett's newspapers (other than USA Today).

Rest in peace, Mr. Wells, "a lifelong advocate for working families."

Oh, Kentucky

One and done.

Heightening ... in Northern Kentucky.

Holiday World offers all the free soft drinks you want once you're inside, so I would completely, completely support this acquisition.

“I’d like to wake up in the morning and when I’m having my quiet time not be rushed.”

The business of art.

This Week's Games

Only two weeks left in the regular season, and we have a few good matchups. The Lone Oak/Madisonville game is huge, of course. I'm always interested in the Battle of Fulton, as well as the Crittenden/Caldwell rivalry. There are years in which Mayfield v. Russellville could be spectacular, but this is not one of those years. By the way, Google Maps has Russellville doing that whole I-24 to the Purchase Parkway thing for its trip to Mayfield, but I agree with Eric that route is not the way to go.

Friday, October 21
Crittenden Co. (3-5) v. Caldwell Co. (4-4)
Fulton City (1-7) v. Fulton Co. (1-7)
Graves Co. (2-6) v. Hopkinsville (0-8)
Heath (3-5) v. Fort Campbell (4-4)
Hopkins Co. Cent. (1-7) v. Owensboro (3-5)
Lone Oak (6-2) v. Madisonville-North Hopkins (7-1)
Marshall Co. (5-3) v. Daviess Co. (3-5)
Massac Co. (Ill.) v. Ballard Mem. (3-5)
Mayfield (8-0) v. Russellville (5-3)
Murray (7-1) v. Reidland (2-6)
Todd Co. Cent. (1-7) v. Union Co. (3-5)
Webster Co. (0-8) v. Paducah Tilghman (7-2)

Saturday, October 22
Trigg Co. (6-2) v. North Bullitt (7-1)

This Weekend's ... (cont.)

Thank you, GoHeath! I'm hoping for a surprise--somewhere, anywhere, but especially in West Paducah--in Friday night's games. Here are some others that intrigue me from the weekend ...

Knox Central at Harlan County. He can't go home again, but he can try to hang the first loss of the season on the team that resulted from the consolidation of his old school.

Harlan at Leslie County. The home-standing Eagles of Hyden have been improving their standing.

Prestonsburg at Betsy Layne. So, too, have been the Bobcats of Betsy Layne.

Middlesboro at Morgan County. Jay Compton reported in The Middlesboro Daily News that the Blue Jackets were headed to West Liberty yesterday for tonight's Sorghum Bowl throwdown. That's fun to think about.

St. X at Louisville Central (No. 1 in the Associated Press Class 3A poll).

Beechwood at Elizabethtown. Here's hoping Etown's homecoming dance is happy, anyway.

Russellville at Franklin-Simpson.

North Hardin at Grayson County. The soccer players are arriving.

Edmonson County at Logan County. Our neighbors across the street, whom we love, are grandparents of one of Edmonson County's running backs.

Newport at Ludlow. This is the Kentucky that I want to next know more of.

Hopkins County Central at Muhlenberg County.

Bishop Brossart at Newport Central Catholic (AP 2A No. 1).

Glasgow at Somerset.

Hebron Conner at Crestwood South Oldham. Time to get serious, just as you were saying.

Indianapolis Cathedral at Louisville Trinity (AP 6A No. 1).

Bell County at Wayne County. Meanwhile, back home in Pineville, ...

Fort Thomas Highlands (AP 4A No. 1) at Covington Catholic on Saturday.

Adair County at Bardstown Bethlehem. This would be a fine trip. I'd go one way up and the other way back.