Oh, Kentucky

Oh, Kentucky

Happy new year (from Calvert City)!

Good jobs news from Florence, Newman and Owensboro.

Marshall County is considering whether to declare itself a sanctuary county, but it's not what you would think. (Or, in other words, gunsgunsguns. And maybe it is what you would think.)

Holiday open houses: ACLU of Kentucky, today.

There's a darkness on the edge of Floyd County.

Fish management: Asian carp in Lyon County, shad and sunfish in Henry County.

Here's a solid WDRB report on Kentucky's back and forth on marijuana legalization, with interesting perspectives from Jackson, Russell and Winchester legislators.

Who is Paducah's mystery Park Avenue pine-tree planter?

What's next for Lexington's old Romany Road Kroger?

Turning to sports, "the state of Kentucky and high school basketball have always been intertwined and can’t really be separated."

Oh, Kentucky

Change is everywhere in Kentucky. Our license-plate letters and numbers will no longer be raised.

The new Democratic governor will give Kentucky's first Republican attorney general in 70 years an early start.

The secretary of Kentucky's justice and public safety cabinet--a Democrat appointed four years ago by the outgoing Republican governor--bows out.

On his last day in office, Gov. Bevin opined on good jobs news from Murray: "Over the past four years, we have made historic strides in improving our business climate, and it’s exciting to see those efforts culminate in transformational job-creating projects. We are grateful that TPG chose Kentucky for its new operation and appreciate the opportunities it will provide to our citizens."

As one who knows next to nothing about law, the whole deal where a governor or president on the way out pardons convicted people is one of the more curious aspects of life in the United States.

The state's anticipated $1.1 billion budget shortfall "is a lot bigger than anything that we anticipated," a Republican state representative tells Joe Sonka and Deborah Yetter of The Courier-Journal. "It's a real train wreck," amplifies a progressive economic-policy group from Berea.

Eleanor Klibanoff of the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting: "A KyCIR investigation shows LMPD brings almost every rape case to a prosecutor to decide whether to make an arrest--sometimes before they’ve done much investigating. If prosecutors decline the case, the police clear it 'by exception.' LMPD cleared three times as many 2017 rape cases 'by exception' than they did by arrest."

The Who's planned concert at NKU in April is historic for greater Cincinnati.

Brand new in Manchester: The Clay We Were.

Congratulations, Ms. McGaha, retiring operator of June's Beauty Shop in Jamestown since 19 and 62.

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, Irvine/Ravenna, London, Maysville, Monticello, Pineville, Richmond, Smiths Grove, Stanton and Trenton, Dec. 6; Arlington, Barbourville, Beattyville, Berea, Bloomfield, Bowling Green, Bromley/Ludlow, Brownsville, Cadiz, Calvert City, Carlisle, Clinton, Columbia, Corbin, Cynthiana, Danville, Frankfort, Glasgow, Grayson, Hawesville, Henderson, Horse Cave, Inez, Lawrenceburg, Leitchfield, Lexington, Madisonville, Marion, Middlesboro, Morgantown, Munfordville, Murray, Owingsville, Paducah, Rabbit Hash, Raceland, 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, Louisa, Mayfield, Providence, Williamsburg and Woodburn, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Pick up today's edition of the News-Express for these stories and more. To subscribe, call, (606) 437-4054. pic.twitter.com/3bGMZTUS7M

— App. News-Express (@AppalachianNews) July 2, 2019

Way to go. You missed Barbara Bailey Day in Lexington. It was yesterday.

As for tomorrow: "Happy Fourth of July from the Carlisle Mercury: Nicholas County’s oldest business, serving Fleming County since 1867. The Mercury has been a cornerstone of Nicholas County culture for 152 years and as a product of ‘a free press’ in a nation where inhabitants enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we are proud of the fact that we have operated as a product of The American Free Press longer than the Statue of Liberty has been standing on Ellis Island."

What do you like about The Trimble Banner? There could be four tickets to the Quaker State 400 in it for you.

Floyd County Chronicle: "Both these agencies are public bodies and the business they conduct is done 100 percent on behalf of taxpayers and ratepayers. It’s vital that those on whose behalf this business is being conducted be involved in and aware of what’s going on."

Chuck Witt in The Winchester Sun: "What is impeachment?"

PRNewswire: "Dippin' Dots Heats Up Summer with Launch of Social Media Dance Challenge."

Per U.S. News and World Report, 15 colleges and universities have more than one grad currently serving as chief executive officer of a Fortune 100 company. The University of Kentucky is one of them.

In Elkton, you've got until 10 Central tonight and then 8 a.m.-10 p.m. tomorrow, Friday and Saturday to shoot off your fireworks--but that's it, buddy. In Louisa, it's until midnight Eastern today and then 10 a.m.-midnight tomorrow, and you're done--well, unless you put in a permit 15 days ago, and it was approved.

Felix E. Martin Jr's 2008 gift to Muhlenberg County keeps giving to economic development, community development, education and youth services there.

Oh, Kentucky

Perry County's fifth-annual fair drew record numbers, and organizers in part credit the new sea-lion show and world-class juggler. Katie Kelley provides a happy recap in the Hazard Herald.

Gina Kinslow of the Glasgow Daily Times delivers a similarly entertaining report from the outset of the Barren County Fair: "Some of my fondest memories are here. My whole family works all week and all my friends I've grown up with are here."

Logan and Woodford, too.

Factoring poverty, percentage of adults with bachelor’s degrees and life expectancy, USA TODAY and its 24/7 Wall Street content partner identified McCreary as the worst in which to live of Kentucky's 100 counties with population of at least 10,000.

I had no idea Kentucky has designs on making itself the nation's "Sandbox" for beta-testing "innovative products, processes, methods or procedures relating to the sale, solicitation, negotiation, fulfillment, administration or use" for the "InsurTech" industries, but I am intrigued.

Louisa--Taco Bell territory since 1995--is getting a first-of-its-kind "Explorer" prototype store with multiple levels, self-serve kiosks and two fireplaces.

Good jobs and (intriguing healthcare/mall) news from South Williamson.

Pink Lily's community impact in Bowling Green has been hailed nationally.

The Hacks Crossroad Market facelift is complete, and the Butler County store is grandly reopened (and serving homemade cheesecake).

More shelter for the animals at the Bell County Animal Shelter, thanks to someone's inheritance gift and  volunteer labor from Bell County Area Technology Center carpentry students.

Hiring in Clinton, Mayfield and Paducah (maybe you could be Channel 6's next meteorologist!).

Christmas parades: Murray, Dec. 1; Hopkinsville, Dec. 6, and Henderson and Scottsville, Dec. 7.

Oh, Kentucky

It's showtime again at Louisa's Garden Theater.

"All of a sudden everybody was excited about recreation in Mayfield and Graves County." Fun, comprehensive report from Shelley Byrne in The Mayfield Messenger. Makes me want to go there.

Picking and bowing all summer long in Floyd County.

Seeking boots-on-the-ground input from southeastern Kentucky's "Promise Neighborhood."

Hiring in Madisonville (595 available jobs as of Friday).

Ah, Paducah:

-- Nate Crawford at Forward Kentucky: "He followed that up with the comment that '… when Paducah enacted that ordinance, the signal was sent out across not just Kentucky, but across the country that this is an LGBT-friendly city.' Which, obviously, he saw as a bad thing."

-- The San Francisco Chronicle: "Paducah council weighing religious liberty, civil rights."

-- The Paducah Sun: "Tebow to visit Paducah for night of worship."

Rest in peace, Jim Burton (1955-2019), Madisonville native, Hilltopper and globetrotting Southern Baptist journalist who didn't "want to be remembered only as that guy with ALS."

Oh, Kentucky

Maybe one of the alternatives for the folks in Louisville could be bus trips to the state parks (except Levi Jackson Wilderness Road, of course), Henderson, Morganfield or Louisa. I love bus trips, public pools and all those places, so I think that would be great.

Owensboro will be home to Kentucky's first "Family Place Library," delivering "early literacy, parent education, family support and connection to the local community."

Jefferson Mall introducing new 'Youth Escort Policy' in June https://t.co/ltBf9bIFio pic.twitter.com/4CUgtgECnz

— WDRB News (@WDRBNews) May 23, 2019

An Australian community seeks to memorialize a Webbville man and his fellow aviation-safety game changers.

The American Doughboy statue is back--the one in Jamestown.

"Transitioning soldiers and veterans into Kentucky’s workforce at a faster rate," in Louisville and Somerset so far.

Oh, Kentucky

Will Perkins with the Glasgow Daily Times delivers a lively feature from Farm Safety Day for Metcalfe County Middle School students. It sounds like quite an elaborate event--on the working family farm of a high-school ag teacher, 40 stations focused on different aspects of farm safety and involvement from businesses from as far away as Elizabethtown and Glasgow. "It's just a super, hands-on learning experience," said an advanced-placement biology teacher.

I'll tell you what also sounds great: the Tennessee River-Line trails project!

Mayor updates on Rite Aid renovation; groundbreaking set for new water planthttps://t.co/Oiqx2KT5FU pic.twitter.com/sKLJZO2sOL

— Grayson News-Gazette (@gcnewsgazette) May 10, 2019

Paper recycling? Yes in Covington, no in Lexington.

It's signing day for Madisonville Community College's advanced-manufacturing prospects.

The 2019 Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (ELI) class at Somerset's Center for Rural Development has been named. "ELI provides high school students in Southern and Eastern Kentucky with an in-depth look at what it takes to start their own business venture — from idea development to building a model prototype of their business concept."

Hiring in Harlan.

A residential treatment center for drug-addicted women and their children is planned for Clay County.

The Russell County Detention Center is moving to a higher-tech approach to identifying and tracking inmates, and the jailer interviewed on WJRS of Russell Springs--FM 104.9, "Lake Cumberland's Best Country"--sounds realistic but generally optimistic.

Three Murray State students shared their findings on "trauma journalism" with The Paducah Sun.

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

Just a fantastic and inspiring feature in the Lexington Herald-Leader from Will Wright of Report for America: The People, Yes.

More Yes: Lashana Harney has a good one in The Winchester Sun on a retiring Bluegrass Community and Technical College professor and her enjoyment of "the application and then thinking critically, mastering concepts."

Astronomy Day is coming up next month, and the West Kentucky Amateur Astronomers have a full day of interesting free programming planned at LBL, and I'm invited, and so are you. Yes! Yes! YES!

Metcalfe County does not have a jail, but it does have a jailer, and now the jailer has newly approved direction on compensation and responsibilities.

The Section 8 waiting list is being reopened in Lawrence County.

Kentucky for sale:

Oh, Kentucky

A former Kuttawa city clerk is charged with stealing a bunch of town money and running off to Gatlinburg.

About the "squatters" in Hillview.

No library tax in Hardin County.

An Edgewood thoracic surgeon is to narrate a lung-cancer surgery he performed on a 34-year-old during a live Facebook broadcast Friday.

Good jobs news from Lexington and Pikeville.

"FARMERS NEEDED!" In Lyon County.

Christmas parades: Owensboro, Nov. 17; Ashland, Nov. 20; Brownsville, Nov. 24; Cumberland and Fredonia (grandly marshaled by the Faughns, wed 69 years), Nov. 30; Arlington, Berea, Cadiz ("WKDZ 106.5 will broadcast live, and will have live video stream if you just can't make it"), Calvert City (59th annual), Columbia, Jenkins, Lawrenceburg, Madisonville, Marion, Paducah, Salyersville, Somerset and Whitley City, Dec. 1; Bowling Green (rescheduled from the day before), Dawson Springs, Dec. 2; Lexington, Dec. 4; Greenup, Dec. 6; Frankfort, Monticello and Richmond, Dec. 7; Elkton, Eubank, Hopkinsville ("Get ready to text in your favorite float number for the PEOPLES CHOICE AWARD!"), Louisa and Stamping Ground (grandly marshaled by a Scott County sheriff's deputy paralyzed when shot responding to a suspected bank robbery in September), Dec. 8; Whitesburg, Dec. 14; Burnside, La Center and Neon, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

First place in the national Hearst Journalism Awards, considered the college Pulitzers: WKU School of Journalism and Broadcasting.

INTERACTIVE GARAGE SALE MAP: Check out this week's garage sale map at https://t.co/89x7RHWvuS. It features detailed information on each sale's location, what items to expect and times so you can easily plan your day to visit as many sales as you can! pic.twitter.com/ZmuB4MO5o6

— Richmond Register (@RichmondRnews) May 25, 2018

(Almost) time to get your summer on, in Owensboro.

Free fishing, June 2-3, statewide!

Free gun locks, available from the Madisonville police. 

Walmart isn't buying Dean Foods milk for its Great Value brand, so Dean Foods isn't buying milk from Kentucky dairy farmers, reports Grace Schneider in The Courier-Journal.

Oh, Kentucky

Gov. Bevin's budget proposal for the next two years, per Monica Kast in WKU's College Heights Herald: 6.25-percent reduction in spending, no funding for 70 programs and fully funded state pension. "Something has to give, where does this money come from?"

Here are the 70 programs Bevin is proposing to cut.

Full budget is here:https://t.co/lvDuqR7wpC pic.twitter.com/SccPG4Lh9h

— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) January 17, 2018

Meanwhile, remember the governor's $240,000-a-year "adoption czar" ...? He's gone.

In other news, ... FREDONIA!

Meanwhile, over in Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 12: "DO NOT GET ON THE ROADS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: Lawrence, Martin, Johnson, Floyd, Knott, Pike, and Letcher. We don't mean to sound hateful, but conditions out there are seriously bad. ..."

Russellville's News-Democrat & Leader asked its readers to send in pictures of playing in the snow. "We had more than 230 submissions and they were all wonderful."

The Paducah Community Kitchen (and warming shelter) needs donations of winter clothing.

I hope you’re ready for visitors. #hospitalhill pic.twitter.com/U9ZpxUAxwn

— ☃️wxornotBG❄️ (@wxornotBG) January 16, 2018

Mari-Alice Jasper in The Fort Campbell Courier reports on how the hippies in the Warrior Transition Batallion are badgering the rest of the base to recycle. "What's causing other units to not recycle is my question."

Kentucky's overall incarceration rate is up to ninth in the country--and No. 2 for women.

Oh, Kentucky

An exciting afternoon with President @billclinton in Harlem!! pic.twitter.com/kjVO8TLL7t

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) May 9, 2017

The Internet Is Amazing.™ Just ask JonathanHuston of London-based Troll and Toad.

What else might be done in the spirit of Moving Eastern Kentucky Forward with Broadband?