Oh, Kentucky

The United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, via the Kentucky Baptist Convention's KentuckyToday: "This is not merely happy talk. Your United States Attorney’s Office has dramatically increased the number of federal firearm prosecutions across the district targeting violent trigger-pullers. We are unwavering in our commitment to bring justice to the unsolved murder of fallen Bardstown Police Officer Jason Ellis. I have staffed the U.S. Attorney’s Branch Office in Paducah at its highest levels ever. The DEA has opened an office in Paducah for the first time and the FBI plans to re-open its office in the Purchase next year. ICE/Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) has staffed up 40 percent in Kentucky with real benefit to communities large and small. And I hope to announce similar good news in Bowling Green very soon."

Mary Meadows in the Floyd County Chronicle delivers the interesting goods from a local board-of-education meeting and the back and forth about transportation policy around extracurricular activities.

Abbey Nutter in the College Heights Herald tells me a story I had never heard of WKU's takeover of Jonesville.

We appear to have missed last call at Pazzo's in Lexington.

Turning to sports, the NCAA volleyball tournament gets rolling today, and WKU is the No. 15 seed.

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

Merle Travis Birthday Miners Strawberries and Cornbread Suppers: Drakesboro, Dec. 7.

Oh, Kentucky

Rest in peace, Rep. Danny Ray Johnson.

Christmas parades: Irvington and Owensboro, Nov. 18; Central City, Nov. 19; Ashland, Nov. 21; Lebanon, Nov. 24; Brownsville and Danville, Nov. 25; Greenup, Nov. 28; Cumberland, London, Monticello and Richmond, Dec. 1; Arlington, Barbourville, Beaver Dam, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Corbin, Fordsville, Georgetown, Glasgow, Harlan, Hartford, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Madisonville, Marion, Munfordville, Murray, Paducah, Somerset and Winchester, Dec. 2; Dawson Springs, Evarts and Nortonville, Dec. 3; Mount Sterling, Dec. 4; Lexington, Dec. 5; Bardstown, Dec. 7; Frankfort and Fredonia, Dec. 8; Augusta, Berea, Burnside, Cave City, Crofton, Edmonton, Elkton, Hanson, Hickman, Hopkinsville, Paintsville, Prestonsburg, Salem, Vanceburg and Whitesville, Dec. 9, and La Center and Oak Grove, Dec. 16.

Good jobs news from Glasgow, Lexington and Pikeville.

One more week for Kennedy's Wildcat Den bookstore.

The Kentucky Castle has big long-term plans, though.

The new Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky president is coming (almost) home from Japan starting in the new year.

CNN's Jessica Ravitz in eastern Kentucky: "What can make a difference in tackling unplanned and unwanted pregnancies are more conversations about -- and more access to -- birth control, reproductive health care and sex ed. But the challenges in opening up these discussions run as deep as the 'hollers,' or valleys, that cut through these green hills."

Oh, Kentucky

"She's a native of western Kentucky - West Paducah to be exact - and remembers her grandfather keeping his homemade wine cool in the well house out back, but that doesn't make her an oenophile."

"Heath Eric"?!?

Actually, this whole deal merits a "?!?"

A very pleasant conversation between Dan Issel and Jim McDaniels, about Jodie Meeks, Adolph Rupp and Louie Dampier.

A 1972 trip to Glasgow, to Patsy Cline.

"Mad" John Y. Brown.

I, too, remember Myrick's steak rep. Go, Carloss!

Bad jobs news from Hoptown.

Good (and hilarious, per the movies) from Madisonville.

My mom liked being a bank teller, and I think I would, too.

The C-J's new man in Lexington.

RIP, Mrs. Shanks, who had a fascinating life (and a very, very rough 1975).

Ah, Footbah

About 15 minutes before his work day started Thursday, Danny Brown sent his fellow Fern Creek High School Class of '84 grad and 92.7 WFHS-FM "The Tiger" broadcasting partner an email:

"I added yet another piece to this. I gave each team win credits for the wins of all opponents they beat, but in the losses, I gave them loss credits for the losses of those opponents. My thinking is that, if they had a bad loss to a team with a lot of losses, this would hurt their rating. ...

"I would love to have a career just picking this stuff apart," Danny's email to Russ continued. "Would love to do an analysis on all remaining playoff teams if I had the time."

Word, brother. Word.

But until that day of deliverance arrives--to the place of unlimited-by-time-or-budget KHSAA playoff analyses or eternal Extra Innings dice rolling or infinite ambling along Kentucky highways ... whatever--here's what Danny has the time to offer us with regard to tonight's Fern Creek-at-Henderson County football game in the second round of the Class 6A KHSAA playoffs: The visiting, 4-7 Tigers have 20 win credits and 25 loss credits for a "Danny Rating" of 44.44 percent. The home-standing, 9-2 Colonels have 30 win credits and just two loss credits, for a whopping Danny Rating of 93.75 percent. Sounds like an easy win and on to Round 3 for Henderson County, doesn't it? Well, NOT SO FAST, SPORTS FANS! Danny rates the strength of schedule of teams that Fern Creek has beaten at 45.45 percent; Henderson County's vanquished, just 34.88 percent.

So Danny might yet be figuratively indulging in punch and pie late tonight, as is his broadcast signature after Tiger victories. And that's why you'll just have to tune in The Tiger. Kickoff is at 6:30 Central.

Danny's the color commentator; Russ is the play-by-play man. Danny's a manufacturing cost accountant for a high-end paper-plate manufacturer, Deco Paper Products. Russ is district sales manager for Koch Filter Corporation. They sometimes get mileage reimbursements for traveling to road games, but the radio jobs are volunteer gigs.

"How we really got started was a Hoptown state championship game later vacated with Artose Pinner," Danny said. "Russ and I sat high in the stands at Old Cardinal Stadium and did play-by-play and color in a little handheld recorder like a couple of dorks. But when we went back and listened to it, we thought it wasn’t half bad. That gave us the confidence to pursue it when we learned about it."

In 2006, word was spreading about Fern Creek's launching a radio station, and Russ reached out to the school's principal and alumni-association head.

"The FCHS Alumni Association funded the radio station and asked that an alum broadcast the games," Russ said. "Two folks expressed interest in doing that--one not being an alum and us. So, they gave us the chance."

Danny remembers visiting the school with Russ "for what I thought would be an interview, but, moreso, it was kind on an overview and tour of the facilities. At that point, it was assumed we got the gig. ... They basically just threw caution to the wind and gave us the green light with no clue if we knew what we were doing."

Over the last four-plus seasons, Danny and Russ have called home and away Fern Creek football action and home boys' and girls' basketball games--plus "an occasional road basketball game, as well as LIT. And twice we have done entire basketball boys' and girls' district tournaments for all teams in district," Danny said. "That was fun but demanding, but the hospitality rooms did not go unnoticed. Russ was a bit more conservative in his approach to free food and refreshments; with me, it was more 'Katie, bar the door.'"

"It's a blast," Russ said.

"Love it, dream come true, wish we’d started so much earlier," Danny said. "May have considered making a career of it if we would have gotten an earlier start. ... It’s awesome getting to do this with Russ."

Here are some other games I'll be interested in from around the state tonight.

Class 6A--Graves County at Louisville Male, the dark-side-of-the-moon half of tonight's Jackson Purchase-v.-Jefferson County twinbill. Two of the old WKU-extended chums who are tailgating the Fern Creek-Henderson County game tonight are Male products, so maybe Danny and Russ can fetch them a score update from this game in Louisville at halftime of ours.

Class 5A--Bowling Green at Christian County, a U.S. 68 spectacular! It's actually a bit of a wild ride right now for Christian County, which won its first seven, lost two in a row and then rebounded in the first round last week despite benching its senior quarterback in the first quarter for a team-rules violation. ... Bullitt Central at Anderson County. I've never met him, but I am so happy for The Anderson News's John Herndon, who also is having a blast. ... Crestview Hills Dixie Heights at Fort Thomas Highlands.

Class 4A--Franklin-Simpson at Lone Oak. With Heath idle, Pirates fans might want to spend this evening reliving the magic of Heath's near-miss upset of the Purple Flash. What I think is so strange about this is that if you were going to put together a montage of the Jack Haskins 1970s/'80s seasons at Heath, it's a pretty good bet that AC/DC would've been the choice for theme. And here we are 25 years later with Coach Haskins at Lone Oak, and ... Russell County, an upset winner last Friday, at Allen County-Scottsville, which had a bye. ... West Jessamine at Lexington Catholic and East Jessamine at Boyle County. Two upsets would set up a WestJess-EastJess rematch in Nicholasville, but it would seem unlikely given that Boyle has been the state's top-ranked 4A team most of the season.

Class 3A--Edmonson County at Paducah Tilghman ... Union County at Russellville ... Garrard County at Somerset ... Casey County at Breathitt County. The visiting, 8-3 Rebels are amid their first appearance in the KHSAA football playoffs. "Ever since football came on the scene at Casey County High School nearly 40 years ago, Casey has never been known as a 'football school,'" editorialized The Casey County News a few weeks ago. "There were some dark times, including a 46-game losing streak in the mid-1990s that saw the Rebels go winless for four straight seasons, and the near collapse of the football program when school officials debated on whether to abolish it. The tide turned, however." Tim Butler and all of the other Casey County faithful can only hope that the dream doesn't end with tonight's Round 2 roadtrip.

Class 2A--Fort Campbell at Murray. Here's the other game I would like to be at tonight. Murray has lost one game in the last two seasons: 28-21 at Fort Campbell in the second round of the 2009 playoffs, and the Falcons went on to win the state championship from there. ... Caldwell County at Owensboro Catholic ... Fort Knox at Monroe County. Both of these teams were upset winners last Friday night (over Glasgow and Washington County, respectively). Now Fort Knox brings its unconventional attack to Tompkinsville. "Fear the veer. We are not super big and we are not super strong, but the triple option is a great equalizer, which is why we run it," Fort Knox coach Brandon Combs told Wes Wyatt of Bowling Green's Park City Daily News. ... Louisville Christian Academy at Newport Central Catholic.

Class A--Ballard Memorial at Mayfield ... Beechwood at Bellevue. It's a pretty good bet that this one is going to get a little lively tonight. ... Pineville at Hazard and Harlan at Pikeville, which would be outstanding semifinals for the Mountain Division of a semi-pro KFA.

Oh, Kentucky

My wife and I have wondered for months about ErMC2, and so I was excited to learn from Luke Short at iSurfHopkins.com what it is that they do. This building that the company ended up in is near our mall here in Madisonville. It formerly housed a formal-clothing place, and my wife says shopping there was exciting because it typically meant you had some special, fancy event on the horizon. Anyway, after months (perhaps years) of failing to land a new tenant for the full building, the guy who owned it (and the clothing store that occupied it) cut up the place into three smaller office units. ErMC2 became the second rentor. I'm happy that building owner's business gamble is presumably at least two-thirds of the way to paying off.

Here are some creative business minds in Versailles and Winchester, too.

Of course, that is not to say that creativity in business is always a good thing. This audit of a nonprofit that provides Medicaid services in 16 Kentucky counties might turn out to be an even bigger story in the state with regard to reversing/reshaping/reinforcing political views than even the U.S. Department of Labor bid to close a Pike County mine.

Louisvillians who can't get a ticket for Friday night's Fern Creek-at-Henderson County high-school football game will have to listen to the broadcast on their transistor radios while attending the U of L-vs.-Tennessee NCAA women's basketball showdown.



Friday's going to be a big day in Bardstown even with both of the local teams eliminated from the KHSAA football playoffs.

Mad props to (and interesting thoughts from) Kentucky's All-American Teacher of the Year Award honorees.

This story makes me want to shop at JCPenney.

Speaking of long careers, I wonder how important the next two Saturdays are to Joker Phillips's hopes of having one as head coach of UK football.

Kentucky's other senator is also in the news in relation to "earmark" spending.

It's fun to think about Irina Filatova of The Moscow Times and the other reporters visiting Louisville for the Papa John's press junket.

Interesting quote from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet's chief district engineer of Department of Highways District 1, as reported in the Courier & Press of Evansville, Ind.: "Kentucky counties with an interstate highway running through them have almost double the per capita income of counties that don’t. When picking a location for a new plant, many industries will only consider communities that are within 15 miles of an interstate."

My family traveled down U.S. 68/Ky. 80, I'll bet, 10 times before I graduated high school to see the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site.

Next Week in Western Kentucky

Some pretty good matchups this week. If I could go to any of these games, I would go watch Russellville play Union County. But I would also really like to see Christian County play Bowling Green. I'm also curious as to whether Ft. Campbell or Caldwell County can cause any problems for their opponents.

I also look forward to Eric's future reports about the Fern Creek/Henderson matchup. According to this web page, Fern Creek is the oldest Jefferson County high school (as opposed to older schools like Male and Manual that were in the City of Louisville), with roots that go back to 1923. In 1997, Fern Creek became a "traditional" school which stresses patriotism, morality, and personal integrity in a structured learning environment. (Among other things, Fern Creek has a dress code). Fern Creek is also a magnet school with a focus on Communications, Media, and the Arts. I would love to know more about how the school combines a focus on the media and the arts with a focus patriotism and morality. Are they training the next generation of Fox News personalities? Or country music stars? Inquiring minds want to know.

Class 1A
Mayfield (11-0) v. Ballard Mem. (6-5)
Lou. Holy Cross (10-1) v. Bethlehem (7-4)

Class 2A
Murray (11-0) v. Ft. Campbell (5-6)
Owensboro Catholic (10-1) v. Caldwell Co. (7-4)

Class 3A
Paducah Tilghman (9-2) v. Edmonson Co. (7-4)
Russellville (8-3) v. Union Co. (9-2)

Class 4A
Lone Oak (10-1) v. Franklin-Simpson (7-4)
Allen Co.-Scottsville (10-0) v. Russell Co. (7-4)

Class 5A
Christian Co. (9-2) v. Bowling Green (9-2)
Warren Cent. (9-2) v. Grayson Co. (9-2)

Class 6A
Henderson Co. (8-2) v. Lou. Fern Creek (4-7)
Lou. Male (8-3) v. Graves Co. (6-5)

Ah, Footbah

I wish I would've thought of this before yesterday; otherwise, maybe we could've started this season. But, next year, maybe The Heath Post could host an online KHSAA-playoffs bracket pool, along the lines of what goes on with the NCAA men's basketball tournament. If we do a bunch of gimmicks like this, I'll bet one would eventually catch on and ratchet us into the Comics Curmudgeon pantheon.

Back to the here and now, I'll be most keenly interested in the following first-round matchups by bracket tonight.

-- Class A: Caverna at Associated Press No. 1 Mayfield. I met a guy at a regional church thing a couple of weekends ago from Second Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Mayfield who said that Jack Morris's son runs the same plays that Jack Morris ran when we were in school. ... Ballard Memorial at Kentucky County Day ... Fulton County at Louisville Holy Cross ... Bethlehem at Crittenden County ... Allen Central at Hazard. The home team, like Mayfield, is 10-0 and ranked second in Class A by the AP.

-- Class 2A: Todd County Central at AP No. 1 Murray. The 10-0 Tigers leap-frogged Newport Central Catholic in the AP poll after the Thoroughbreds lost, 40-39, in two overtimes last Friday to Beechwood. ... Trigg County at Fort Campbell. Writes George Robinson in The Leaf Chronicle of Clarksville, Tenn., "The two schools were long-time rivals as district opponents, but when Kentucky switched to six classifications and reshuffled the district look, Trigg County was removed from the Falcons' regular season schedule. But even that hasn't mattered. The Falcons and Wildcats have met in the 2A playoffs the past two seasons with Fort Campbell winning both times en route to state championships. When Fort Campbell moves to Class 3A next season, Trigg County will be right there, playing along once again in the same district." (Per your request, GoHeath, I expect a close, relatively high-scoring win for the home team, 28-21 or so.) ... Reidland at Owensboro Catholic ... Monroe County at Washington County. This game pits two of my darling teams of this football season, but I'm afraid it doesn't look good for the sliding visitors. Check out how the Commanders bounced back last Friday from their only loss of the season. ... Owen County at Newport Central Catholic. ... Heath (pictured) is idle this weekend.



-- Class 3A: Butler County at Paducah Tilghman. Twenty-three of 24 polled expect Tilghman to pick up All-time Victory 722 tonight, but one wonders if some citizens of Blue Tornado Nation are getting a bit ahead of themselves. ... McLean County at Russellville. Writes Michael Compton in The Park City Daily News of Bowling Green, "Russellville (7-3), which will move back to Class A next season, enters the playoffs the winner of six straight. The Panthers have enjoyed success in the Class 3A playoffs, losing to the eventual state champion two of the last three years. That includes a 21-14 loss to Paducah Tilghman last year - a game decided on a defensive touchdown." ... Magoffin County at AP No. 1 Somerset ... Louisville Shawnee has forfeited its first-round matchup, so North Oldham has advanced, by a score of 2-0, to the second round.

-- Class 4A: Warren East at Lone Oak ... Calloway County at Franklin-Simpson ... Bourbon County at AP No. 1 Boyle County ... Boyd County at Bell County. The homestanding, second-ranked Bobcats are, like Boyle, 10-0. So is No. 3 Allen County-Scottsville, which gets a first-round bye, which, it seems to me, would be a heck of a benefit at this point in the fall.

-- Class 5A: Barren County at Christian County ... Madisonville-North Hopkins at Bowling Green. The Maroons have improved over the course of the season, but my guess would be that they will fall behind quickly against the Purples and won't have nearly the roster depth to mount much of a comeback (35-10?). But I feel a little guilty saying that given that my dad was a Maroon cheerleader and my wife's uncle (No. 52 in the picture below) was on the football team. Upon further review, I predict a huge upset for MNHHS gridders, inspired by the Marching Maroons' SIXTH-STRAIGHT 4A STATE CHAMPIONSHIP! ... Ohio County at Warren Central ... Jeffersontown at AP No. 1 John Hardin ... Louisville Waggener at Anderson County ... Woodford County at AP No. 2 Fort Thomas Highlands ... Ashland Paul Blazer at Covington Catholic. It's not like I've been following Covington Catholic all season, but this is pretty cool.



-- Class 6A: Marshall County at Louisville Fern Creek. This is the game I'm most closely following, as one of the guys who does radio commentary for Fern Creek is a former post-college roommate of mine (at left in Jan. 3, 2004, picture below). If his team wins, he'll be coming next Friday night down to western Kentucky to see the Creekers face Henderson County (who has a first-round bye). This would be outstanding! ... Louisville Southern at Graves County ... Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park at AP No. 1 Louisville Trinity.



I will also mention that "-.pdf" versions of the brackets are available, for printing and posting on your refrigerators for the playoff season.