Oh, Kentucky

Danville's Advocate-Messenger on the new 988 suicide-prevention hotline: Yea. Prestonsburg's Floyd County Chronicle on Martin's lack of financial transparency: Nay.

I'm a big fan of Elizabethtown's Ring Road exit off of the Western Kentucky Parkway, and I'm excited to see what becomes of this planned food-and-retail complex.

Paducah's hotels reportedly have been about 60-percent full this year.

UK's starting pay for regular employees is going up to $12.50 per hour.

Bad jobs news from Williamsburg. Good from Hebron.

Good for retired Professor Hagans who donated thousands of dollars in stock for Madisonville Community College's emergency fund for students. And good for this Henry County, not-the-Berrrys couple who donated hundreds of acres for a new wildlife preserve.

Turning to sports, here's a Norse-centric look back at the decade, and here's a preview of WKYT's Christmas-afternoon airing of Reggie Warford: Fight of His Life.

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

Oh, Kentucky

"The US resettlement program may be suspended by executive order, but KRM will continue to make Kentucky home for refugees. Join us on this journey."

"This is what I needed when I was on the street, and it wasn’t there for me."

Kayla VanHoose reports (via Cameron Mills) that the Smithsonian Institution’s “Hometown Teams” exhibit is coming to 15 Kentucky locations, starting with Wayland.

Meanwhile, the Messenger-Inquirer has it that Darryl Strawberry is coming to Owensboro.

Bad bikes and bowling news from Louisville and Lexington, respectively.

Say hello to the Norse ...

A former NKU student paid for 70-plus students to make the trip to Detroit to cheer on the Norse in the Horizon League tournament finals. pic.twitter.com/L6n4ivbgGr

— Enquirer (@Enquirer) March 7, 2017

#NKU is going DANCING in their first year of eligibility 🎉#HorizonLeague pic.twitter.com/QDXuL4ZLyR

— Tres Terrell (@TerrellTres) March 8, 2017

NORSE WINNNNN!!! #Champions #NKU #motorcitymadness pic.twitter.com/1oaB6S8E05

— NKUDanceTeam (@NKUDanceTeam) March 8, 2017

If @NKUNorseMBB is going dancing, @Jbut00 and I are going dancing. NORSE TF UP pic.twitter.com/CCyqXihScI

— Adam Anderson (@Anderson_adam94) March 8, 2017

.@NKUNorseMBB highlights from its @HorizonLeague Championship win on Tues. night, Who's ready to dance?! #NorseUp #OnTheRise pic.twitter.com/dYpku1YBEc

— NKU Norse (@NKUNorse) March 8, 2017

Oh, Kentucky

Kentucky Oaks Mall celebrates the USA! pic.twitter.com/fel3TMnnqS

— Kentucky Oaks Mall (@kentuckyoksmall) July 1, 2015

With this week's Lewis County Gazette, you get a broadsheet U.S. flag for displaying in commemoration of Independence Day.

Remembering President Nixon's July 2, 1978, visit to Hyden ... 

Good jobs news in La Grange. Maybe also in Cox's Creek?

The City-County Park public swimming pool in Princeton is set to open (at last) on Friday. I'm so happy for those people. I'll have more on this story in "Comments"!

"This is truly an exciting time for Norse Nation."

"Helping Kentucky fans find love with other Kentucky fans."

"Want to know more classical music, but not sure where to start?"

The next Prairie Home Companion host is going to be a Murray boy, per his mom.

Rest in peace, James "Bubbles" Switzer of Vanceburg. "Aside from being a member of the city council, bus driver, dispatcher, deputy jailer and a contributor to many volunteer projects to help the city, he was a friend to everybody."

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."

Atlantic Sun Final Standings

Let the record show that the Northern Kentucky Norse finished their first season in the Atlantic Sun Conference with a conference record of 9-9, and an overall record of 11-15.  Those are excellent figures for a team making its first appearance in Division I.  Unfortunately, the Norse are not eligible for post-season play until they have spent four years in D-I, meaning that they will not be at the A-Sun Tournament.  But we hope they're having fun anyway, and we hope to see them in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.

129.  Mercer:  14-4
145.  Fla. Gulf Coast:  13-5
242.  Stetson:  11-7
214.  S. Carolina Upstate:  9-9
253.  No. Kentucky:  9-9
287.  Jacksonville:  9-9
261.  N. Florida:  8-10
317.  E. Tennessee St:  8-10
292.  Lipscomb:  7-11
333.  Kennesaw St:  2-16

Atlantic Sun Update

Ever since I can remember, there were six D-1 schools in Kentucky:  UK, U of L, Western, Eastern, Murray, and Morehead.  My life has been spent tracing the adventures of the Wildcats, Cardinals, Hilltoppers, Colonels, Racers, and Eagles.  But now, we have a new team -- the Northern Kentucky Norse.  NKU -- as their web page calls them -- is a school of almost 16,000 students in Highland Heights, Kentucky, a redundantly-named suburb of Cincinnati in Campbell County, Kentucky.  The Norse's colors are black and gold, which are colors we Heath fans can appreciate.

The Norse belong to the Atlantic Sun Conference, which used to be Belmont's stomping ground before the Bruins left for the OVC.  Ken Pomeroy ranks the A-Sun as the nation's 20th-best conference, right behind the Belt (19th) and a few spots ahead of the OVC (23d).  Among other teams, the A-Sun includes ETSU (which I always think should be in the OVC) and Jacksonville (which played for the National Title in 1970).  Here are KenPom's current rankings for each team:

123.  Mercer:  3-3
127.  S. Carolina Upstate:  2-4
137.  Florida Gulf Coast:  4-3
160.  N. Florida: 2-4
196.  Stetson:  2-2
216.  E. Tennessee St:  1-3
241.  Jacksonville:  3-4
243.  N. Kentucky:  0-4
262.  Lipscomb:  2-3
329.  Kennesaw St:  1-6

Remarkably, the Norse don't get to play a single home game until January 5.  We will hope they get their first win before then.