22 Teams Left

The Boys' Regionals started up again yesterday:

FOURTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at W. Kentucky):

Barren Co. 47 - 56 Clinton Co.

Russell Co. 71 - 86 (14) Bowling Green

FIFTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at Marion Co. H.S.):

Caverna 49 - 56 Adair Co.

N. Hardin 63 - 60 (17) Green Co. (OT)

Heartbreak for Green County, which finishes 24-4.

EIGHTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at Henry Co. H.S.):

(15) N. Oldham 48 - 45 Walton-Verona

(11) S. Oldham 69 - 61 Spencer Co.

TENTH REGION SEMIFINALS (at Montgomery Co. H.S.):

Montgomery Co. 86 - 73 Mason Co.

Nicholas Co. 56 - 87 (20) Geo. Rogers Clark

Oh, Kentucky

Tree(s) Today/#Stamps/The Freakin' Weekend (2020/1974)

First, it's almost Saturday in 2020, and you know what that means: It's about time to get our stamps on!™

Second, my YouTube Watch Later queue is working again, and that makes everything better. 

Third, I've got some 1974 media (pictured with Ella) backed up and ready for consumption, and so what I'm saying is this weekend is about to blow up!

Oh, Kentucky

Catching up ...

Oh, Kentucky

Unemployment as of October: highest in Magoffin, lowest in Fayette and Oldham.

The governor-elect is getting a lot of his AG squad back together again.

Lake Barkley State Resort Park has landed another "Restoring the Finest" round.

Thanks, Jeff Bezos!

Rest in peace, Owensboro's Gabe Tower (1963-TBD)?

What's Kentucky's top export industry? Wrong. It's aerospace.

Eating local on campus, at UK.

Classical music on WEKU's 102.1 FM, signing off.

At Grayson County High School in Leitchfield, twin seniors notched perfect ACT-reading scores. One is headed to Kentucky Wesleyan, but it appears from this WKHG dispatch that WKU might be in the running for the other!

At First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Winchester, “Take what you need. Leave what you can. Little becomes much in the Maker’s hand.”

Christmas parades: Sharpsburg, Nov. 9; Owensboro, Nov. 23; Lebanon and Louisville, Nov. 29; Guthrie, Mayfield and Pikeville, Nov. 30; Boyce, Dawson Springs and Murray, Dec. 1; Bardstown, Dec. 5; Fredonia, Harrodsburg, Hopkinsville, London, Monticello, Pineville and Trenton, Dec. 6; Barbourville, Berea, Bowling Green, Cadiz, Calvert City, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Henderson, Lawrenceburg, Lexington, Madisonville, Middlesboro, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Rabbit Hash, Scottsville, Shelbyville, Trenton, Versailles, Whitley City and Winchester, Dec. 7; Georgetown, Dec. 8; Cave City, Dec. 10; Burkesville, Burnside, Elkton and Williamsburg, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

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

Hebron's getting a new public library.

Hoptown's new Chronicle has launched, and there are cookies.

The 35 companies that Forbes lists as Kentucky's best employers include 10 headquartered here.

Kentucky for sale:

A disbarred Floyd County attorney's Abraham Lincoln statue might be on the move.

"The decision by the Tennessee Valley Authority’s board of directors to close the Paradise Unit 3 coal-burning power plant in 2020 made perfect sense: Economically, the aging facility simply could not compete with the utility’s new combined cycle natural gas units and enhanced nuclear generation capacity."

Berry Craig weighs in at Forward Kentucky on the GOP's growing dominance in the Jackson Purchase.

Oh, Kentucky

Five years later, Army comes home, to Oldham County.

WKU Photojournalism picks up Hearst Award for Overall Photojournalism No. 25.

Happy Ali Week in Louisville.

And then a free "afternoon of entertainment and exploration," courtesy of the Kentucky Opera, June 9 at The Brown Theatre.

Good jobs news from Edmonton.

Hiring in Cadiz (for "Welders, Assemblers, Machine Operators, Painters, Blasters & CNC Operators," on June 21).

Paducah's Midtown Alliance of Neighbors has three new 1,200-square-foot homes planned for low-to-moderate-income families, per Channel 12.

"(H)ealth coverage is just one factor that shapes health outcomes ... to further boost health in Kentucky we need to address these other important health factors. And yet, instead of increasing investments in these areas, the state has disinvested in education, public health, social services and environmental protection — all areas that are critical to health – for over a decade." Ashley Spalding and the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy peal the onion of Kentucky's poor health rankings.

"The way it’s worded, it’s completely counterintuitive to this Supreme Court directive. So it has to go." Ben Kleppinger's Advocate-Messenger breakdown on problems with Boyle County's sign ordinance is comprehensive, but, for my money, the real jewel here is his photograph of the signs along Danville's Hustonville Road. Makes me want pizza. Also, the font on the "Drive Thru" sign is a dead giveaway that Wok-N-Go used to be a Kentucky Fried Chicken.

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

Stay in a covered wagon, in Louisa.

Winchester Municipal Utilities is out of the recycling business.

Oak Grove's oldest restaurant, Foxx's Restaurant, is closing May 25. It started as an A&W in 1956, reports Jimmy Settle in The Leaf Chronicle of Clarksville, Tennessee. "We've just decided to enjoy life a little," the owners told him.

After more than 50 years, Gordon's Photo Service will be no more in Hazard after May 24. "I was just ready to retire and take it easy and not have to report to work every day and have a schedule," Paul Gordon tells the Hazard Herald's Destiny Caldwell. “I’m glad I got to sell my building and it not sit here and fall down like a lot of these businesses in Hazard. I’m just so happy the building is going to be used because I live in Hazard and I love Hazard."

Age wasn't the candidate's problem, argues Oldham County Police.

Good jobs news from Bardstown, Hebron and Louisville.

Just a remarkable, miraculous rescue story from Magoffin and Floyd counties.

Oh, Kentucky

“While shared meals have been part of the religous practice of numerous groups for thousands of years, they are being given a new focus in Christianity through the ‘dinner church’ movement—churches that have a shared meal at the center of congregational life,” writes Henry Brinton at Read the Spirit. “… At Potluck Churh in Kentucky, every participant brings something to the table, and a former mayor worships alongside people who struggle to pay their monthly rent.”

"This is the first statewide program of its kind where all hospitals in Kentucky collaborate together to combat the opioid crisis at its root – inappropriate or excess opioid prescribing," says Dr. Phillip Chang, chief medical officer at UK HealthCare, in an encouraging story at The Lane Report.

Thanks, Feds, for the $25M for jobs projects in eastern-Kentucky coal communities.

Kentucky's governor's race made ProPublica (via The Courier-Journal).

Dave Spencer of Owensboro's WBKR wished us a happy Mother's Day, and we almost missed it.

Oh, Kentucky

By the way, it turns out "The Fort Campbell Courier has been suspended for an undetermined period to fulfill contractual requirements for the selection of a new service provider."

The First Lady is coming to Toyota; AOC, to a coal mine?

There might be a buyer for TVA's coal-fired Paradise Power Plant.

Charles Bethea's article in The New Yorker on environmental reporting in Kentucky is fantastic.

Kentucky had a record February for home sales.

Bad jobs news from Franklin.

Hiring in Shepherdsville.

It's almost drive-in season again in La Grange.

Covington honors a fast-acting ambulance crew (and Ryan Clark in the Northern Kentucky Tribune delivers a compelling report).

Turning to sports, a 10-year-old Reidland Intermediate School student will be covering MLB19 (but, according to WSIL, he's a West Paducah native).

Oh, Kentucky

Bevin said they were "miserable for a few days" but "they all turned out fine." https://t.co/gEcArIJEAg

— KFVS News (@kfvsnews) March 20, 2019

25 of 30 for WKU photojournalism.

Edmonson County Middle School's victims en route to the KAAC quick-recall state championship: Butler Phillip Sharp, Hebron Conner, Pikeville, Lexington Winburn, Henderson Holy Name, Rockcastle County and, finally, Louisville Meyzeek. And none of the matches were close.

Here's a coloring book distributed to fifth-graders in Madisonville before a field trip to a coal mine last week:

Good (hemp-related) jobs news from Murray.

Madisonville's Ferrell's is on the comeback trail.

Fiscal-court magistrates in Oldham County have a base salary of nearly $20,000.

They're planning a meeting Monday night at Magoffin County High to talk about the plans for the Dawkins Line Rail Trail, and they really do sound exciting. I wish the #ohky desk could be there to provide Kentucky Minute play by play.

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, Oldham County

Live from La Grange ...

Oh, Kentucky

At a time when movie theaters are struggling, a developer is betting on on success with a new drive-in opening Friday in Oldham County https://t.co/kbF9QkIYaq pic.twitter.com/kXU1tJehLO

— Courier Journal (@courierjournal) August 8, 2018

 

"A cupboard door shuts, a refrigerator door opens" for Paintsville's Angie's Cast Iron Grill.

Bean Haus booms in Covington.

Ice-cream expansion in Paducah.

Ongoing contraction in both the eastern and western coalfields.

A gubernatorial hopeful focuses for now on solar in Johns Creek.

"Low spending and strong school system" ... No. 20 in the nation.

Oh, Kentucky

Alles Brothers furniture in Henderson to close after more than century in business https://t.co/40NPdfjqCw pic.twitter.com/oiAk7CkPyx

— The Gleaner (@TheGleanerNews) July 25, 2018

 

Don't go back to Pineville.

Bloomberg comes to Wickliffe; Richard Russo calls on West Paducah. Both stories are unhappy.

Oldham County is hiring a full-time security officer (at $32 per hour) for seven public schools, and Pike County has backed off a plan to arm its teachers and school staff (with concealed weapons).

The state's funeral directors got together for their 136th annual convention in Louisville last month. They learned about opioids, toured various vendor exhibits and enjoyed a luau. And Rusty Preston went home to Paintsville as the association's new president-elect.

Good jobs news from Mayfield.

Dress like the Colonel.

Oh, Kentucky

A "sprayground" and Cattleman's Roadhouse are coming to Oldham County--but neither until next year,  reports The Oldham Era, so pipe down.

The headlines on The Kentucky Standard opinion page should make for some lively conversations around Bardstown this week: "I'll explain why you don't need a Straight Pride Parade," "Don't use the Bible, religion to defend prejudices ..."

The end for a house built in Paris by a Revolutionary War officer the year before Kentucky became a state?

A reprieve for the Cave In Rock Ferry.

Oh, Kentucky

Barren County High School says it's in compliance with state guidelines for its Bible-literacy course and has received no complaints from parents or students in the seven years it has been offered, reports Lisa Simpson Strange in the Glasgow Daily Times. And at Lewis County High, per Kathryn Robinson of West Virginia's WSAZ, "there's no daily devotionals, that's not done. Daily prayer is not done ... it's more of a comparative religion."

The Lake Cumberland region is working toward a memorial to people buried in unmarked graves who were enslaved during their lives, and plans are to be detailed at a breakfast Monday.

The nuns at Saint Walberg Monastery sold 85 acres to an Edgewood developer, but their neighbors in Villa Hills turned out in such large numbers Tuesday to dispute the plan that the Kenton County Planning Commission punted the question to next week, in order to move to a larger facility, in Lakeside Park. Terrific meeting coverage by The River City News.

The KHSAA Board of Control has also been meeting on some lively topics, such as how to recombobulate high-school football for the next several seasons.

The federal bust at the Jumbo Buffet in La Grange is quite a mystery--even to the owners, they say.

"The largest firearms retailer in the state of Kentucky and one of the largest volume single shop locations in the country," Whittaker Guns of Owensboro, appears to have no overnight security guards, dogs, etc. Anyway, some people broke in and stole a bunch of their guns the other night.

Madisonville is hiring for a director of its forthcoming "makerspace."

Oh, Kentucky

William Farley in Whitesburg's Mountain Eagle reports that Letcher County's tourism strategy emphasizes sprucing up its existing attractions.

Amanda Manning in La Grange's Oldham Era reports on a Goshen oncologist's compelling reasoning, following his exploration of a remote South Pacific island, behind his 70-percent belief in the fate of Amelia Earhart.

The renovation of Madionsville's city-park playground is huge hyper-local news for the Kentucky desk.

Good jobs news from Calvert City, Frankfort and Owensboro.