Oh, Kentucky

Catching up from the weekend ...

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, 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, Mayfield, Providence, Williamsburg and Woodburn, Dec. 14, and Tollesboro, Dec. 15.

Oh, Kentucky

Glen Drury Week rolls on in Lawrenceburg.

It looked dire for a bunch of kitties at the Estill County Animal Shelter. But then Richmond's WBON TV did a story--adoptions surged, and somebody set up a GoFundMe account.

Here's a creative protest organized by 35 overflow prisoners from Louisville's main jail.

The standoff between Poor Peoples Campaign activists and state police continued Wednesday.

Equipping Kentucky's truckers to blunt human trafficking?

Making Haldeman great again.

Retirement is booming among Kentucky's public employees.

Schools in Hardin County are struggling to hire enough teachers, and "there's not a school district in the state that doesn't haven't the same problem," the local human-resources director tells Katherine Knott of Etown's News-Enterprise.

A cooperative of students in eastern Kentucky has built and is auctioning a bunch of "tiny houses."

Oh, Kentucky

The Kentucky State Parks also are for lovers.

My and the president's wives would likely say that they're going too light on the proteins for breakfast this morning at South Irvine, Estill Springs, West Irvine and Estill County Middle.

Two more Dollars in Etown.

Turning to Louisville culture, the orchestra CEO has had enough understandably; Lynn's Paradise Cafe has closed mysteriously, and Jennifer Lawrence has won finally.

Cycling update: Announcing the Kentucky Century Challenge!

Rest in peace, "Big Dan" Hall, a Betsy Layne standout and part of the UK recruiting class that also included Jack Givens, James Lee, Mike Phillips and Rick Robey.

Interesting Spat in Kentucky's Sixth Congressional District

In the race for Kentucky's 6th Congressional District, there's an argument over who can dress as a miner in a campaign commercial.

Oh, Kentucky

Today's Touchstone Energy All "A" Classic final four from Frankfort: Heath vs. Bardstown at 5 p.m. Central, Covington Holy Cross vs. Louisville Collegiate at 6:30. Bardstown's WBRT 1340 AM streams here, so it's a possibility for hearing tonight's action. If nothing else, it's proven a good place this morning to hear some excellent Dwight Yoakum and Conway Twitty tunes, and there's (presumably) always the CYBERSPORTSUSA live play-by-play.

The last team to beat the Racers in Murray returns to town today.

Hopefully, the visiting Panthers got the news about the Eggner's Ferry bridge and leave themselves time for an alternate route west after antique shopping this afternoon in Cadiz. Several schools lost Internet access when the bridge was struck by a cargo ship Thursday night.

Career average of 7.14 baptisms per year.

A WKU student is running for the legislature.

"There are no public natural gas fueling stations in Kentucky."

Rest in peace, Mr. Tuttle, Kentucky Farm Bureau agent for more than 60 years, not a Purple Heart recipient and not Robert Kennedy's man in Kentucky.

Oh, Kentucky

Herschel Walker is coming to Murray. I was looking at a little television yesterday afternoon and came upon a 1980 South Carolina-at-Georgia college-football game on ESPN Classic. In the second half, Walker whips around right end and takes off for what seemed to be about a 435-yard touchdown run. He was honestly still lengthening the distance between him and the nearest South Carolina defenders as he crossed the goal line. That guy was something else.

Then, in 1981 in Murray, ...

Miss Talley of Princeton roasts the field.

Ah, footbah--from Draffenville.

Bad jobs news from Campbellsville.

The Kentucky desk was ecstatic this weekend to add the Citizen Voice & Times ("proudly serving Irvine, Ravenna and Estill County") to its battery of RSS feeds, and it's already clear that the excitement was justified. I love imagining what I might be eating in other times and places. For example, if I was a student at Estill Springs Elementary today, I'd be all over the "Big Daddy Pizza."

Rest in peace, Mr. Roan, engineering veteran, prodigious author, Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival stalwart and husband of 56 years.

Oh, Kentucky

Maybe if I'd studied at No. 517 Northern Kentucky University instead of No. 551 Western I would understand why Morehead State is not in Forbes' college rankings. "The 610 institutions of higher education in this ranking are schools that award undergraduate degrees or certificates requiring 'four or more years' of study, according to the U.S. Department of Education." For some reason, that doesn't include Morehead, as the only Kentucky schools among the 610, in additon to NKU and WKU, are Centre (ranked 24th), Berea (210), Transylvania (255), Bellarmine (271), Asbury (335), Georgetown (380), Murray State (481), Louisville (504), UK (507) and Eastern (556). Factors in the Forbes rankings are student evaluations from RateMyProfessor.com (17.5 percent), freshman-to-sophomore retention rates (5 percent), student evaluations from MyPlan.com (5 percent), salary of alumni from Payscale.com (15 percent), listings of alumni in Who's Who in America (10 percent), alumni in Forbes/CCAP Corporate Officers List (5 percent), four-year debt load for typical student borrower (12.5 percent), student loan default rates (5 percent), actual four-year graduation rate (8.75 percent), predicted vs. actual four-year graduation rate (8.75 percent) and student nationally competitive awards (7.5 percent).

Heath and Madisonville-North Hopkins were both part of a five-way tie for 46th among 227 Kentucky's public high schools in the statewide ACT rankings.

Kentucky's 149th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade numbers nearly 1,400 National Guard citizen soldiers who are amid the first of three scheduled trainings for possible deployment. Armories in Barbourville, Benton, Bowling Green, Harlan, Hopkinsville, Middlesboro, Ravenna, Somerset and Williamsburg have sent units to Wendell H. Ford Regional Training Center in Greenville. The training rotation would leave the Kentucky National Guard poised for its largest deployment since World War II.

The Kentucky Native American Indian Council gathers this weekend at Leitchfield's Ag Park for the Honor The Buffalo Native American Gathering. "Native American Arts, Crafts, Food, Drumming, Dancing and Flute Playing," says KNAIC, but "No Politics ~ No Alcohol ~ No Guns."