Oh, Kentucky

The #fakenews is about stores NOT coming to London. The #NOTfakenews is that Planet Fitness and others will be moving in to the old Kmart, says Corbin's Times-Tribune.

Bad jobs news from Bowling Green, Bremen, Central City and Centertown.

Hiring in West Paducah (for paid summer "site deactivation and remediation contractor" interns).

Ground broken in Mayfield, and now to be processing by time of hemp harvest.

Piloting in Webster County, building a larger-scale pilot in Hazard and working toward commercialization of a new use for Kentucky coal.

Republican Rep. James Comer: "Mr. Cohen, you called Donald Trump a cheat in your opening testimony. What would you call yourself?"

Michael Cohen: "A fool." https://t.co/JPh7tRti3L pic.twitter.com/sve7XxiS3M

— ABC News (@ABC) February 27, 2019

Twenty-three percent of Mercer County children were living in "out-of-home" care (as opposed to with their parents) in 2011; 42 percent, in 2017. We've had some depressing statistics in this week's #ohkys, but the numbers in this Jennifer Marsh report in The Harrodsburg Herald might be the most depressing yet.

Kentucky’s number of children ages 0-17 in "out-of-home care” (also known as "foster care") climbed from 35.3 per 1,000 in 2011-13 to 43.7 in 2015-17, per Kentucky Youth Advocates. The county-by-county data is pretty interesting.

Glasgow High School has been identified as one of the country's six model schools for its approaches to closing achievement and opportunity gaps.

Spalding University's School of Creative and Professional Writing plans to enroll its first Master of Arts in Writing students in November.

I didn't realize that Calloway County is considered the National Poetry Month capital of Kentucky.

"The Devil Went Down To Georgia," and look who's coming to Madisonville this summer.

"Bicycles for Refugees," via Beargrass Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Louisville.

Farewell to the Hilltoppers, Colonels, Eagles and Racers

Western Kentucky just lost the opening game of the Conference USA tournament to the Texas-San Antonio ... I'll give you three guesses ... no ... no ... no, it's "Roadrunners," 56-52, in a performance artfully reminiscent of when the football players used to play basketball on the chain-net courts outside the dorms at the bottom of the hill in the middle 1980s. Rick Stansbury's first season in Bowling Green was the first losing season (15-17) for WKU since 2011-12. #Stansdawg reportedly has a bunch of stud recruits joining the Hilltoppers for next season, so I remain optimistic. And though there wasn't much standing or cheering to be done this season, it was fun to go back and catch up today on Rick Stansbury history at the HP. 

Last week, it was the Eastern Kentucky Colonels (12-19), Morehead State Eagles (14-16) and Murray State Racers (16-17) flaming out in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament and ending their seasons. But do you know what Kentuckian did navigate the OVC and is still dancing?

A year to remember for Ray Harper and Jacksonville State https://t.co/Dv0pDnrs0M pic.twitter.com/FRStC9h4mB

— AL.com Mobile (@ALcomMobile) March 8, 2017

So, anyway, four teams from the Commonwealth have been eliminated from the national-championship race. The Northern Kentucky Norse and two other Kentucky schools are still competing.

#GoHeath
#neverforget

The Freakin' Weekend (1971)

After "Kentucky, February 27, 1971," I'm probably going to have a new No. 1, but here's my Jet Soul Brothers Top 20 this (freakin') weekend 1971:

Meanwhile, way down in Bowling Green on Feb. 27, 1971, ...

I'm looking forward to a happier trip than a couple of weeks ago to Murray ...

Hooray for TV ...

Less than a year now to Sapporo 1972 ...

I can't imagine how excited I would be if two guys from Muhlenberg County came on TV and opened a whole show reaching millions of homes with a song they wrote about Bowling Green! But that's exactly what happened Feb. 28, 1971, with the Everly Brothers' appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, and it must've been just an absolutely thrilling moment for 8-year-old Ray Harper!

And I wonder if he watched the NBA game earlier that afternoon, too.

By the way, it's district-tournament time around Kentucky ...

Per the Tilghman Bell ...

Oh, Kentucky

Is Hopkins County out of coal?

How would the president's budget proposal impact Appalachia?

Paducah's downtown hotel has hit a snag. 

London fire destroys Weaver’s, Bob’s Ready to Wear http://t.co/R7sdAYEYtN pic.twitter.com/MSKR16zylo
— The Times-Tribune (@TimesTribuneKY) February 3, 2015

The unemployment rate is down.

So's "serious crime" in Madisonville.

The autobiography of a Logan County journalist who became "the first reporter to query President Eisenhower on civil rights" is being re-released.

Per "the magic of the bookmobile" in Warren County.

Seven more shopping days until Arts Day in Kentucky.

The Christmas parades in Bremen and Central City went fine.

Farewell to the Hilltoppers

One of the things I really like about the WKU basketball fans is that they refuse to think of their school as just another "mid-major."  In their mind, Western's rich and storied basketball history ranks it among the elites of the sport, and they long for the chance to shine on the national stage.  Last night, for a few hours, college basketball looked the way Hilltopper fans think it should -- with WKU on national television in a slugfest against a legendary program.  Sixteenth-seeded Western actually led Kansas 31-30 at the half, and despite having to play before a pro-Jayhawk crowd in Kansas City, the Hilltoppers never went away.  Kansas finally won, 64-57, but no one could deny the quality of WKU's performance.

Western struggled in January and early February, but it was another great year for Coach Ray Harper, who won his second consecutive Sun Belt title.  Harper is 20-17 in regular season Sun Belt games, but 8-0 in the Sun Belt Tournament.  The Tops lose Jamal Crook and Teeng Akol, but the rest of the team will be back next year, and we are excited to see them.  The Tops have an all-time record of 1675-843 -- it would be great to see them pick up their 1700th win next year.

Western Kentucky finished with a record of 10-10 in the Sun Belt, and 20-16 overall.  The Hilltoppers won the Sun Belt Tournament for the second year in a row, and made their 23d appearance in the NCAA Tournament.  They become the fifth of Kentucky's six D-1 teams to be eliminated from this year's competition.

Forever and Ever, Bremen

Harper on whether he entertains the idea of leaving for a bigger school: "Not one day. I'm happy at Western Kentucky."
— Cole Claybourn (@ColeClaybournMI) March 12, 2013

Did You Really Believe in #HarperMania?

I'll admit that I didn't always. Even late Sunday night, as Ray Harper's Hilltoppers again upset their way into the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship, I'm not certain that I actually believed that it could happen again.

And yet it did. 

My favorite college basketball player, George Fant, really did come back and play great Monday night against Florida International, and my main man from Bremen, Lilburn Ray Harper Jr. (a.k.a., "the sultan of Hot Springs;" a.k.a., "Mr. March;" a.k.a., "#DietCokeHarp;"), really did coach the Tops to their second-consecutive NCAA-tournament berth in the 13 months since he became the really-no-kidding head coach.

#HarperMania is real. #4Games4Days - TWO YEARS IN A ROW.
— brandon. (@brandonetc) March 12, 2013

Hells to the yeah!!!Survive injuries and adversity, get better every day, peak at the right time. #goingdancing #HarperMania #GOTOPS
— Chris Tinius (@SocTinman) March 12, 2013

Ray Harper - best kept secret in college basketball! Can flat coach. #GoToppers #BackToBack NCAA tournament appearances. Well done, WKU!
— Rex Chapman (@rexchapman) March 12, 2013

MBB: Ray Harper all smiles after winning his second SBC crown in 12 months! twitter.com/WKU_GameDay/st…
— WKU GameDay (@WKU_GameDay) March 12, 2013

The mantle of the Browning household has been remodeled opinions? #HarperMania twitter.com/wkushiznit/sta…
— Garret Browning (@wkushiznit) March 12, 2013

Hells to the yeah, indeed. HooRayRay! And GO! BIG! TOPS! This is a blast.

Do You Believe in #HarperMania?

Yes!

Western Kentucky tonight beat Arkansas State, 58-56, in the Sun Belt Conference tournament semifinals in Hot Springs, Ark., and advances to face Florida International at 6 p.m. Central Monday (on ESPN) for an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. WKU lost by 14 and 18 to ASU during the regular season, but, late Sunday night, the Tops rallied to win despite missing 15 of their first 17 field-goal attempts and having George Fant (my favorite college-basketball player) foul out without having made a one of his six shots from the floor.

Harper: (On Fant) We don't win tomorrow if he doesn't play well. Ive known George a long time, I'll predict he brings it tomorrow night
— WKU Rivals (@WKU_Rivals) March 11, 2013

WKU finished fourth in the Belt's East Division during the regular season. In the quarters of the league tournament Saturday, the Tops upset South Alabama, which finished second in the East. In tonight's semi, WKU took down West Division champ ASU. Monday's matchup for the league crown will be against an FIU team that placed third in the Belt East but upset the 29-4 division champ, Middle Tennessee State, in Sunday's first semi. WKU (19-15) and FIU (19-13) split their regular-season games.

FIU is coached by Richard Pitino, whose dad will reportedly attend Monday's big game.

Ray's First Ride

Go Heath mercifully resisted a Sun Belt Conference men's basketball update yesterday, I imagine, because my Hilltoppers are--to use a blast from his D.C.'s radio past--hurting. WKU is 11-10 overall and 5-5 in the Belt. Ray Harper's first full season as head coach of this team--after such a tremendous finish to last season--started 8-2. Then came a three-game/three-loss road swing against good teams in December (Murray State, Virginia Commonwealth and Louisville), and there hasn't been a whole bunch to stand up and cheer about since then.

Well, stuff gets real today, baby. At MTSU. The Blue Raiders are 17-4 and 9-1. RayRay has been playing nicenice with MTSU in the press this week, but don't kid yourself into thinking Murfreesboro is going to be feeling any too hospitable today.

I think I hate western Kentucky more than I hate UT. I hope@mt_mbband @_bluezoo shuts up the goat toppers tomorrow
— Omar (@TheRealCoachO) January 26, 2013

jabba the hut + Elmo = WKU mascot #stupidmascot #WKUsucks

— TheBlueZoo (@_BlueZoo) January 25, 2013

If you hate wku with a passion RT this:)#BeatTheFloppers

— Dj Bowers (@only_1denzell) January 26, 2013

These teams started playing each other a hundred years ago (no, really), and, for more than 40 of those years, they've been in the same conference (1952-'82 together in the OVC, since 2000 in the Belt). WKU holds a roughly 3:1 advantage in all-time wins in the series, but MTSU has won five of the last six--and the Blue Raiders are the obvious, heavy favorites when the two tip off on ESPN2 this afternoon for what could be their last meeting ever.

I'd love to know what Coach Harper is saying or doing with his team this morning. Whatever it is, I'm sure it's intentional--not just the standard, getting-out-the-door-of-Diddle-and-on-the-road business of an away game.

I don't know anything about coaching a basketball team. But, when I pretend that I'm Coach Harper this morning, I'm giving the bus driver the Saturday off. I'm tossing the keys to George Fant, and I'm having him drive the Tops down U.S. 231 to MTSU. I'm having him go straight through Scottsville--home of Fant's cousin, Jim McDaniels--and somehow taking advantage of my team's two, twisty hours together. I might be talking about being part of tradition, or I might be talking about forgetting tradition. Or I'm geting Fant or 6-foot-11 "Big Mac" or Fant's mom, tough old Lady Top Kim Norman or somebody else to do the talking. Or I'm having everybody sit quietly the whole way. Something. Whatever thing that I think will spark the most fires, turn on the most lights, ring the most bells among this group of guys, I'm going ahead and doing that thing right now. Even though there's more than a month to go in the regular season, and a coach gets only so many shots to say something to a team before it becomes just blah-blah-blah talk, I'm shooting my best of those shots today. Because if there's a lifeless loss at MTSU today, I'm afraid whatever I say later won't matter in terms of getting guys to believe in themselves and each other. Anyway, my pretend trip is awesome, and we win the pretend game.

Well, whatever real Coach Harper is saying or doing right now, I hope it really works. And I really hope it turns out to be the first great story of his first real, full season as head coach at WKU. Go, Tops!

Oh, Kentucky

Rest in peace, Dr. Dave, who "did not let the boundaries of nations define him."

Great jobs news from Florence. Good from Campbellsville, Lexington, Louisville, Louisville again and Somerset. Bad from Hebbardsville. Disappointing from London and Monticello. Promising from commonwealth manufacturers.

HeathPo: The president rocked the vote among Kentucky's students--but not quite hard enough. Meanwhile, Perry County rocked the president.

Hope for Brownies Creek.

Christmas parades: Madisonville, Dec. 1; Nortonville, Dec. 2, and Bremen, Dec. 8.

Not a Christmas parade, not in Florence.

KET News Quiz!

Oh, Kentucky

Nation's most affordable vacation? Louisville.

Best of the Road? Paducah?

"We are no longer just 'the newspaper.'"

She's no longer with the newspaper at all.

Programs in Hopkinsville and Madisonville are recommended for replication in discouraging obesity.

"All bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon."

Rising through the ranks in Providence: from Monk's, to Ruth and Bob's Cafe and now "Paula'z."

Meanwhile, in Muhlenberg County, Hobby's Classic Foods--owned by a couple from Bremen--has taken its frog-leg baskets from Central City to Greenville.

Good jobs news from Leitchfield. Reassuring from Grahn and Soldier ... Augusta, Dover, Elizaville, Foster, Georgetown, Hillsboro, May's Lick, Milford, Minerva, Mount Olivet, Muses Mill, Plummer's Landing, Qunicy and Washington ...

The recovery continues in West Liberty and Salyersville.

The Racers are getting a new gym.

Tyler Smithhart is moving home to Henderson County, and that means Christian County will have a new head coach for the second straight season since winning the 2010 KHSAA boys' basketball title.

Kentucky's mixed success on science tests.

Oh, Kentucky

Happy Kentucky Writers' Day!

Belatedly happy Crittenden County Industry Appreciation Week.

A happy challenge for the hometown of "the best writer from Kentucky."

And rest in peace, Mr. Duvall, a pretty excellent Kentucky writer.

Out of Touch? The Adair County High Class of 1984 aims to rectify that situation.

All of the above.

All of the above.

"As an official of the United States Government I’m obligated to note that the views are those of the speaker and do not reflect that of the United States government or any agency thereof."

HeathPo: "The last Democrat to carry Kentucky in a presidential election."

77 cents on the dollar.

Good jobs news in Cadiz?

Sweet tea in Aurora.

Greyhound in Sonora.

Doron Lamb (at least) in Madisonville, Terrence Jones in Frankfort and Russell Springs and my main man from Maysville in Nicholasville.

A 19-year-old from Nashville, Will Schusterick--the seventh-rated player in the Professional Disc Golf Association--won the SOKY Championships in Bowling Green this past weekend, and the Twitter desk is pursuing an answer as to whether he will be playing the Madisonville Open Pro-Am Disc Golf Tournament, July 6-8.

BKKo12.

Oh, Kentucky

Let's see ... what were we all doing a week ago?

"Dear Mr. Barnhart, ... My family has a long and proud tradition of following UK sports. We are lucky to be longtime season ticket holders for our men’s basketball team. My grandfather got his first set of tickets in the late 1940s when we were still playing games in Alumni Hall. I went to my first game as a young boy while Rex Chapman was playing for Eddie Sutton. ..."

Meanwhile, my dad once conceived of a hoax letter to the editor of The Paducah Sun in which he was going to explain that the town was settled by Jews who had named the town after their "Rabbi Hacudap." In his story, the Jewish settlers all eventually fled because of anti-semitism, and the remaining townspeople reversed the name of the town to "Paducah" and created the Chief Paduke legend. I'm pretty sure that he never actually wrote the letter.

"They got more dad-gumb degrees than a thermometer, but that don't make them good people."

iHarrodsburg.

The U.S. county with the lowest percentage of college-grad adults in Kentucky's Clinton. And it's really not very close.

Good jobs (and smart grid!) news from Park City.

A Winchester GRC/Clark County/The George product (and my favorite NFL player) is moving on.

"Coach Ray Harper did not respond to multiple messages left by The Courier-Journal. But in an interview posted on YouTube by the WKU student newspaper, the College Heights Herald, ..."

Mmmm ... "Tasty Chocolate" ... sounds tasty.

Oh, Kentucky

"SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OUR LOYAL CUSTOMERS."

"THE LVC WILL BE THERE TO COVER IT WHEN MORGAN COUNTY RISES AGAIN!"

95 miles.

Good jobs news in Shelbyville. No news for now is good news for Paducah.

FOPDP.

Well, for Pete's sake.

KET News Quiz!

#HarperMania!

Some kind of wonderful basketball season in Kentucky. It'll be Bellarmine of Louisville vs. Kentucky Wesleyan of Owensboro for the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional men's basketball title Tuesday evening.

And your First Region bowling champs are ...

HP SPECIAL REPORT: #HARPERMANIA!

!!!

!

HP SPECIAL REPORT: Ray Harper, FOUR in a row!

This is a Heath Post special report, and this is starting to get nuts.

Stand Up and Cheer

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, left for dead in January, won their third game in a row -- and their fourth of their last five -- in the first round of the Sun Belt Tournament last night. The Tops beat Florida International 67-63 to advance to the Sun Belt Quarter-Finals in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Later today, the Hilltoppers take on Arkansas-Little Rock, who went 12-4 in SEC play and 15-15 overall this year. We hope that new coach Ray Harper and the Hilltoppers can keep the ball rolling.

HP SPECIAL REPORT: Ray Harper Forever!

This is a Heath Post Special Report ... Western Kentucky University's men's basketball team rallied this evening from a 10-0, game-opening deficit to down (now) 25-5 Middle Tennessee State, 73-67, before a sell-out crowd at E.A. Diddle Arena in Bowling Green. This snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with the arch-rival Blue Raiders, which is exactly the kind of thing you would expect a guy like Ray Harper to take very seriously. This makes it two wins in a row since Harper, the former Bremen High School all-state guard, was installed as WKU's permanent-status head coach.

HP SPECIAL REPORT: Ray Harper for Good

This is a Heath Post Special Report ... Stand up and cheer, and strike up the band. Western Kentucky University has named Ray Harper, a former Bremen High School Eagles star guard, as its 14th head men's basketball coach. Harper, who earned the Kentucky desk's endorsement for full-time tip Top not long after he was named interim boss, adds to what WKU today described as a "stellar head coaching resume ... four national championships in 12 seasons at Kentucky Wesleyan College and Oklahoma City University, five national runner-up finishes, eight conference titles, five national coach-of-the-year honors and a remarkable .844 winning percentage after winning 342 of 405 games at his two stops before WKU." While we have no inside information on Coach Harper's plans--beyond fulfilling President Ransdell's expectation of a six-game winning streak and bracket-busting trip to the NCAA tournament--the HP is willing to bet that they won't involve hiring former Washington Bullet coach Darrell Walker as a member of his coaching staff. Or Eddie Sutton, for that matter.

P.S.: The Bremen, Kentucky 'History' page on Facebook is outstanding and totally fun. That's where the photo of the 1928 school orchestra came from.

Sun Belt Update

Western Kentucky has had a disappointing season, but I think their off-season could be epic. In the first place, they have to decide whether to give Ray Harper the coaching job, and a decision not to give him the job will likely set off a rebellion among Harper's supporters in the World's Angriest Fan Base. The decision regarding Harper may not be easy. Western is definitely better since he took over, but they've lost two in a row and they blew a 9-point halftime lead on Saturday down at Troy. And in the second place, Western is likely to be affected by the conference movements, such as the potential merger between Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference -- which could be good or bad for the Sun Belt. Western's administrators will need to be both agile and aggressive to make it through these challenges:

EAST
52. Middle Tenn. St: 12-1, 23-4
175. Fla. Atlantic: 7-5, 11-14
216. S. Alabama: 6-7, 14-10
208. Fla. Int'l: 4-8, 7-17
226. W. Kentucky: 4-8, 8-17
263. Troy: 3-9, 8-15

WEST
179. Ark-Little Rock: 9-3, 12-14
182. La-Lafayette: 9-4, 15-12
82. Denver: 8-5, 18-8
162. N. Texas: 7-5, 14-11
254. Arkansas St: 4-8, 10-17
313. La-Monroe: 1-11, 2-23