Oh, Kentucky

The state's fastest internet speeds are found in Jackson and Owsley counties. "It is a gamble that has paid off," writes Kim Kobersmith in The Daily Yonder. "Residents are harnessing the power of the network to improve their lives by accessing well-paying jobs, opening new educational doors, and virtually visiting their doctors for health consultations."

"What's Next EKY?"

And how about for Daviess County's old Airport Fire Station?

Kentucky’s housing market in October: 8.4 percent more homes sold than in October 2018 at a median closing price that was 8.3 percent greater.

Bad jobs news from Paducah.

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, Smiths Grove 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, Horse Cave, Lawrenceburg, Leitchfield, Lexington, Madisonville, Marion, Middlesboro, Morgantown, Munfordville, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Rabbit Hash, 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, Mayfield, Providence, Williamsburg and Woodburn, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

"While in the audience of that open meeting, Mayor Perros made a joke about Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Jennifer Kirchner not wearing socks as she gave a presentation, which Magistrate Phil Sammons took to another level by commenting on the attractiveness of her legs." Bobbie Curd, in Danville's Advocate-Messenger, delivers another example of contemporary American journalism's typically stellar meeting coverage.

Even if the grid fails, Fort Knox reportedly--by the garrison commander, to the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce, via Mary Alford in Elizabethtown's News-Enterprise--can power itself back up within 11 minutes.

Deborah Fallows in The Atlantic:

Reporting from those who live or spend time in Kentucky, be that in newsletters or rural press, adds a nuance of understanding that delivers insistent stories of a contaminated water supply, leaky and crumbling pipes, wastewater pipe shortages, industrial leaks and spills, a declining tax base from mine closures, rising water costs, and all the humanly compelling drama that ensues. 

Then the cascade begins. The women bathe the babies, who then develop rashes. The women drive them long distances to see doctors, which is costly and time-consuming. Researching medical counsel or the alternatives of telemedicine often demand broadband connections, which are scarce, spotty, or thin in poor, rural America. Navigating coverage of telehealth from insurance companies is, as you’d imagine, complicated. And of course, all these steps require technology, transportation, and bill-paying, not to mention the wherewithal to accomplish them.

Hiring in Barbourville, Booneville, Frenchburg and Prestonsburg.

Silver Grove Independent School is no more.

Turning to sports, Sunday's your day for (free) ice skating in Corbin; Emma Talley looks back on "the hardest year of my golf career" (and reflects on Jeremiah 29:11), and WKU's Ty Storey is your Manning Award Quarterback of the Week!

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Louisville, Nov. 29; Pikeville, Nov. 30; 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

Bill Straub in the Northern Kentucky Tribune: "Once you work your way through the briars, brambles, and bushes where a rabbit couldn’t go in Kentucky politics, you’ll discover that elections often come down to just two issues – abortion and guns."

So let's imagine you're in western Kentucky from out of state and trying to figure out how where to take the fam to eat tonight to kick off your #freakinweekend in style. Well, here's some (270) foodie 411 for you:

-- Tapas have come to Owensboro.

-- Tacoholics is expanding again in Henderson.

-- Patti's is not quite back yet in Grand Rivers, but they do now have that new grill named after the town's founder.

Loretto is getting sidewalks!

This interactive map, from Frankfort's Kentucky Center for Statistics, looks like so much fun, and I can't wait to find out what it is that it's teaching me.

Oh, Kentucky

And now Nelson County has received a giant gift, too.

Restoring the African American cemeteries in and around Boyle County.

Taking the first step toward safer parks in Middlesboro.

Glasgow has hired its first female police chief.

Bringing Hazard together at GameStop.

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

Let's play. Everyone. Even with the thunderstorms. In Madisonville, as of this week.

Kentucky Council of Churches, "Re-claiming Jesus," in Morehead come October.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers put on a community meeting in Loyall to talk about flow issues at the local lagoon, and the resulting Harlan Enterprise staff report is just chock-full of interesting phrases: "top priority," "design flaw," "right of entry," "whether or not equipment would be parked on properties," "drilling for core samples," "attract copperheads to den and feed in the area," "weren’t in favor of signing and left the meeting without doing so" and "did not yet have a formal plan to fix the problems," among them.

"I feel it's like a time capsule that we just opened up." Nice Jeremy D. Wells feature in the Grayson Journal-Enquirer on an intriguing discovery at an old U.S. 60 truck stop in Globe.

"This industry is new — there’s some growing pains along the way, but we’ll get there." Interesting dispatch from the Owensboro front of the fledgling industrial-hemp game, from Katie Pickens in The Owensboro Times.

WPSD's Shamarria Morrison with a crisp, clear anchoring of a good, thorough story with a lot of moving pieces: "The National Fire Protection Association says Paducah needs 62 firefighters. The city has a budget for 59. (Paducah fire chief Steve) Kyle said the department currently employs 54."

Goodbye to Gunny: LMPD's sniper team leader retires after 42 years of service https://t.co/N1qKbnFGba pic.twitter.com/xXXAaUq6CW

— WDRB News (@WDRBNews) May 31, 2019

No. 1 for purchasing power among Kentucky's 120 counties? Oldham. For cost of living? Owsley. For median income? Back to Oldham. So says SmartAsset, "a financial technology company aiming to provide the best personal finance advice on the web."

Kentucky's safest city? Vine Grove, says Safewise, "a resource for safety and security issues."

And the safest college? University of the Cumberlands, per "a new report released by safety experts at Your Local Security."

Hiring in Ledbetter (to operate the water and sewer systems).

Oh, Kentucky

"For people who are traveling through our area in their EV (electric vehicle), this will be a convenient opportunity to stop and charge for free. And it will make a good impression of Danville." https://t.co/eiuidVsvBL

— Advocate Messenger (@amnewsonline) April 4, 2019

Hugs accepted today, in Cadiz and newsrooms nationally.

Five years of live-elk shipments from Kentucky to Wisconsin successfully wrapped Wednesday.

"The business model simply doesn't work." Will Wright in the Lexington Herald-Leader delivers a sobering overview of the child-care shortage in eastern Kentucky.

Turning to sports, "he's been everything to Barren County." Nice Will Perkins feature in the Glasgow Daily Times on Terry Reed, who coached the County High Trojans to the 1990 state cross-country championship and was inducted to the Kentucky Track and Cross Country Coaches Association hall of fame.

Oh, Kentucky

Good jobs news from Louisville.

Statistically Kentucky's lowest rate of unemployment? Woodford. Highest? Magoffin.

Reportedly Kentucky's healthiest county? Oldham. Least-healthy? Owsley.

The publisher of Shepherdsville's Pioneer News takes in the State of Bullitt County.

For the record, in Barren County, it's still the Glasgow Daily Times.

From the opinion page of Bardstown's Kentucky Standard:

-- "But like I said, Trump and company don’t have a monopoly on hate and violence. Islamist extremists, modern-day Khajarites, have been swimming in hate-based violence for the better part of four decades."

-- "I’m grateful that the Democratic Party elected people like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. They will be the “gift that keeps on giving” for the Republicans in 2020."

Meanwhile, a local salon joins its industry's "Green Circle."

Laundry Love, in Murray.

Literacy Celebration, across Hopkins County.

Thank you, Lord, that it wasn't any worse than it was in West Paducah last week.

Via a University of Cumberlands service project, free tutoring is available to students of any age and in any subject Mondays and Wednesdays at the Whitley County Public Library.

LaRue County middle- and high-school students come back from KUNA with plenty to tell Ron Benningfield for a detailed report in Hodgenville's Herald News.

10 years and counting of independent pro wrestling in Muhlenberg County.

Lexington's "Thriller" parade may be done.

Oh, Kentucky

Thank God it wasn't any colder, and thank God for all of the rescuers.

And the searchers and the mourners.

Northern Kentucky's Esperanza Latino Center opened on the day after Epiphany.

Free tax help starts Feb. 2 for "people who generally make $54,000 or less, persons with disabilities, the elderly and limited English-speaking taxpayers" in Henderson.

Hiring (school resource officers) in Berea, (hemp processors) in Kevil, (police "telecommunicators" and "calltakers") in Owensboro and (refugees) in Louisville.

If you want to make $23.60 an hour or better in Kentucky, CareerBuilder says you should be a physician assistant, software developer, nurse practitioner, market research analyst or marketing specialist.

Food, drinks and Facebook--Jan. 22 for entrepreneurs in Madisonville.

"Thank you, Dixie Hibbs, for all you have done and continue to do for us here at The Kentucky Standard, and we also thank you on behalf of the entire community. Our community’s rich story would be incomplete without you."

Oh, Kentucky

The people, yes!

Booneville's mayor is 99. He was first elected in 1958 and has never been opposed for re-election. He won again Tuesday.

It's Global Entrepreneurship Week next week, and, by the way, "KY Innovation’s 120-county effort to modernize Kentucky’s support for high-tech, high-growth potential businesses" is said to reportedly include more than a doubling of funding to regional efforts to support entrepreneurs and startups.

Christmas parades: Owensboro, Nov. 17; Berea, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Lawrenceburg, Madisonville, Paducah and Park City (also, very cool about the new "rescue house" in Edmonton for folks who lose their homes to fire, etc.), Dec. 1; Richmond, Dec. 7; Hopkinsville, Dec. 8, La Center, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Good (steel) jobs news from Coalton.

Freeze warnings are creeping into Kentucky forecasts, and the Barren County Detention Center lobby remains available to folks who need a place to stay overnight. The jailer "kept it open all summer, actually. We had some coming and going, and we actually had a woman and some kids stay up there a couple of nights. (Homelessness is) still prevalent. It's still out there and we're doing what we can to help them." I'm always impressed with a good meeting story, and Melinda J. Overstreet has a good one about the Barren County Fiscal Court in the Glasgow Daily Times. My favorite sentence is the last of her story: "The entire meeting, including the time for the roll call, prayer and Pledge of Allegiance, was just shy of 15 minutes."

“The wealthiest Kentuckians benefit the most from our growing economy, and by a widening margin,” Kentucky Center for Economic Policy Senior Policy Analyst Anna Baumann said. “It would be reasonable for them to pay a little more in taxes, according to their ability, for the investments that benefit us all. But instead, we have been cutting their taxes, cutting investments in our schools and community based services, and leaning more heavily on middle- and low-income Kentuckians.”

Re-org at Papa John's.

Recovery at Goodfellas.

A fresh start in Madisonville.

I've never been to one, but I'm always interested in these auctions of stuff confiscated by the state government. It's fun, for example, to imagine myself becoming a jon-boat guy.

Rest in peace, Sen. Huddleston, a Cumberland County native and World War II veteran who moved town to town up and down the dial of Kentucky radio stations before going to Washington and eventually being felled by 1984 "Switch! To! Mitch!" fervor at Fancy Farm and elsewhere.

Oh, Kentucky

Good jobs news from Bowling Green, Erlanger and Lexington.

"If part of your community is doing well and the other part not doing so good then the community can only fail. But if both sides of the community flourish, then the community will rise together and we all win because the sky is the limit."

"Their new group, Co-Heirs with Christ Missions, is different from some churches they attended in Africa. Too often, Frimpong remembered, leaders preached that joining the church would change their lives immediately – that their belief would guarantee prosperity. This tactic brought people to churches, but it only exacerbated the poverty rate, as people started to believe that they didn’t need to look for work."

UK's Kentucky Kernel has a new advisor (second consecutive one from WKU), and the Todd County Standard is on the market.

Sweet Paducah Sun story about a South Carolina man returning to where he and his late wife married in 1955--with helpful bonus material on the history of PJC/PCC/WKTC/WKCTC.

Terrific Bill Estep report in the Lexington Herald-Leader on the impact of drugs on the labor market in eastern Kentucky.

A Hardinsburg barber stars in an Amazon movie that came out yesterday, and it sounds hair-raising!

With the U.S. Senior Open rolling, the USGA took a road trip to Franklin to visit with the defending champ.

Corbin's getting a mural, on Roy Kidd Avenue.

Oh, Kentucky

An HP exclusive from Mother's Day at Pennyrile Forest State Resort Park:

You've got until June 30 to submit your proposal for reopening the old "Arby's Island" Western Kentucky Parkway convenience center at Beaver Dam.

A 50-cent-per-hour raise is on the table for Pulaski County workers.

Valvoline HQ has opened grandly in Lexington.

SpanTech, a conveyor manufacturer in Glasgow, has worked with the state to launch an apprentice program for high-school juniors.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Bowling Green): "Treat our nation’s drug epidemic as a health crisis and less as a ‘lock-‘em-up-and-throw-away-the-key’ problem."

The American Medical Association reports that eight of the 10 U.S. counties experiencing the sharpest decline in life expectancy from 1980 to 2014 were in eastern Kentucky.

Meanwhile, one afternoon at Middlesboro Mall, ...

Oh, Kentucky

Welcome to Kentucky, Canada. #CanadaWeekKY17 @DouglasGeorgeCG @CanCGDetroit pic.twitter.com/MPIhsjM0ro

— Governor Matt Bevin (@GovMattBevin) February 13, 2017

From Lexington: "Roe v. Wade — it doesn’t matter if they overturn it or not."

A Cadiz man in Louisville, as reported in Hazard: "What I saw outside the abortion clinic."

Per the University of Virginia (FiveThirtyEight.com), cancer incidence has been falling overall--but not in places like Owsley County.

Fifty-two overdose calls in 32 hours in Louisville.

Paducah's old El Chico is turning into a Starbucks.

Good jobs news from Owensboro.

The Kentucky high-school affiliate of @Rivals, @KentuckyPreps, is back up and running.

Will NKU go the way of Georgetown College by selling its radio station?

Kentucky for sale:

Oh, Kentucky

I voted "maybe"!

Need to see something festive on this gloomy day? Check out this pic from last night's Luminate Lexington parade! pic.twitter.com/MyFuUJb18b
— LG&E and KU (@lgeku) December 3, 2014

Christmas parades: Catlettsburg, Russell and Taylorsville; Dec. 4; Central City, Danville, Monticello and Smiths Grove, Dec. 5; Berea, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Calhoun, Calvert City, Columbia, Fordsville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Harlan, Hopkinsville, Horse Cave, Island, Madisonville, Morganfield, Munfordville, Murray, Paducah, Park City, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Tompkinsville and Winchester, Dec. 6; Dawson Springs and Evarts, Dec. 7, and Benton, Livermore and Sacramento, Dec. 13.

Good jobs news from Hopkinsville and Lewisport.

The road to I-69.

Newest Mexican restaurant (37th) in the great Mexican restaurant wars of #somky in #Pulaski county. Who will win? pic.twitter.com/znwx07LcaI
— Hacksaw Lee Duggan (@DraftCats) December 2, 2014

Oh, Kentucky

HeathPo: Tune in. Turn on. Drop out.

Happy 175th, Berea Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)!

Good Dippin' Dots, associated specialty foods and jobs news from Paducah.

The feds have reportedly negotiated a natural-gas feud between Todd County and Tennessee.

But a fight between Po Boy's Raceway and its neighbors on Hickory Smokehouse Road in Christian County is at an impasse.

Thirteen school districts in the state have been approved for e-education in emergencies. (And the Kentucky desk is reminded to apologize for its historical dearth of Campton, Louisa and Williamstown coverage.)

Tomorrow is National Feral Cat Day, and Bardstown is ready.

Rest in peace, Dr. Barnes, a South Dakota native who appears to have come to love Kentucky at least as much as any of us.

Oh, Kentucky

"Was Harlan County kicked out of the state without anyone telling us?"

"To be completely honest here, Owsley County is a depressing place."

“I think it is time for someone with fresh ideas to move in and help this community move forward.”

@Kentuckyweather Beautiful winter Pendleton Co. sunset. #WKYT #ChrisB pic.twitter.com/k5kFPLmI0e
— Tammy Spicer (@moreheadmom1) January 28, 2014

Florence, y'all--you, too, Lil Wayne.

From Epley Station to Nashville (via Hoptown).

From Nashville to Owensboro.

Earthquake in Kevil.

Oh, Kentucky

Yes, he did, says Haven King, Perry County Clerk and director of Coal Mining Our Future, to Amelia Holliday in the Hazard Herald. Bad jobs news from pretty much all of eastern Kentucky.

"You guessed it ... the chicken."

The Newport Chik-fil-A vigil continues.

Versailles will be getting its first new mayor since 1999.

Lexington Dunbar is reportedly the perennial National Beta Club Quiz Bowl juggernaut.

Yes, Virginia, there was a time when public high schools had designated "smoking areas" and even students were allowed during the school day to retreat there for a drag. For the record, Heath's, circa 1981-86, was in the lobby and perimeter of the basketball gym.

NCAA Div. I NKU hired away UW-GB's AD, instead of candidates from UNC and UNI.

Check out what they found in a storeroom at the C-J.

Yesterday, a YouTube user, "RememberTheFallenIn," posted a video honoring "Fallen Kentucky State Troopers 1948-2013."

Oh, Kentucky

Happy Championship Day!


Celebrating in Harlan (above, courtesy of @Leann_BC) and Hazard. Receiving in Lexington, and returning to Shelbyville. Reflecting in Springfield. Profiting in Danville, Henderson, Madisonville and Paducah.

Conflicted in Bowling Green and Louisville (less so in Elizabethtown and not at all in Prestonsburg).

Hiring in Corbin. Casting in Madisonville.

Bad jobs news from Covington.

Kentucky's healthiest county is reportedly Oldham; unhealthiest, Owsley.

The long road from Bonnyman to the bigs.

Just train, baby.

Oh, Kentucky

Read at least to the courthouse-cats story. "As God as my witness, ..."

County-by-county health rankings. First place: Boone. One hundred-twentieth: Owsley. (Thank you for the referral more than three months ago, HP follower!)

Continuing to catch up, let's go back to this 2003 item that goes back to 1959 and recalls the coming to be of County: "The first Colonels squad was destined to be great. It was formed from the consolidation of Pembroke, South Christian, Lacy, Sinking Fork and Crofton high schools."

Drugs stink.