Oh, Kentucky

In federal trade news, surplus food that might've been exported is now being redirected to people in need around the United States. Rhonda Miller with WKYU reports on the challenges Feeding America Kentucky's Heartland is getting the food out to the food banks across its 42-county service area.

Speak now or forever hold your peace on the future of the I-69 bridge at Henderson.

Steve Preston lays down some dope routes history for the NKyTribune.com.

Oh, Kentucky

Seeing and serving the "invisible," in Berea and Bowling Green.

Turning to the Routes Desk ... one (key) vote for Expanded U.S. 641 Route A.

Madisonville Community College is hiring, for adjunct instructors in everything.

Overweight in western Kentucky, per Channel 6: 65 percent of McCracken County, 73 percent of Graves and 80 percent of Carlisle.

Oh, Kentucky

Hundreds gather for candlelight vigil after shooting at Kentucky high school leaves two students dead and many others injured. https://t.co/fajEeB7PuL pic.twitter.com/dKEVsBOneG

— ABC News (@ABC) January 26, 2018

At least 28 current and former educators are running for seats in the state legislature.

The water problems have Martin County boiling.

The Beaver Dam rest area did not reopen today.

Good jobs news from Greensburg.

Better cell coverage coming to Potts Creek.

Hoptown's rolling out a Gig to the home.

The U.S. Senate has confirmed a Fulton County native to lead the Army Corps of Engineers.

Erlanger's Colonial Cottage has been rolling for 85 years, and a cashier of the last five of those has brought home its first Kentucky Restaurant Association employee-of-the-year award.

Oh, Kentucky

Just can't get enough of these ...

City, county dealing with busted water pipes after sub-zero freeze https://t.co/aPuSbq38Vy #somky pic.twitter.com/BNYc4LkbiD

— Somerset Kentucky (@Somerset_KY) January 19, 2018

 

Lots of melting expected today with bright sunshine and temps near 40°. Continued warming takes us into the weekend with readings topping out in the 50s Sunday. Somewhat soggy weather returns Sunday. @TNelsonWX has more: pic.twitter.com/nlSdHNE58Y

— Spectrum News KY (@SpecNewsKY) January 19, 2018

 

Gov. Bevin also said he wanted suggestions on how to generate more revenue.

HAPPY 200TH, WHITLEY COUNTY!

Oh, Kentucky

Man, I hate this snow for the homeless and the people who feel shut in by it or forced out into it, etc., but I do love all of this social media from routes around Kentucky ...

A lot of secondary roads are still snow-packed in Ohio County, but a warm up is coming this weekend. https://t.co/EZJXfcrwLe pic.twitter.com/DowFDy1B86

— Ohio County Monitor (@OCMonitor) January 17, 2018

Current air temperatures (blue) and pavement (green) temperatures across the 12 KYTC highway districts.

If pavement temperatures drop below 20 degrees, salt and other melting agents aren't as effective. #SnowKY #kywx pic.twitter.com/5A0hDJKXrH

— KYTC (@KYTC) January 17, 2018

"For now," 28th-year Henderson Gleaner journalist Doug White is "is solely responsible for this subscriber keeping their subscription active."

"Roots to Riches," next month in Madisonville.

Reidland High's "Ricochet"/"Prince Puma" is headed to the WWE.

Crimes against persons was down and against property was up in Paducah last year.

Recycling is now deep in the red in Richmond, too.

Hiring in Erlanger.

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

Kentucky for sale:

Kelly Craft--daughter of a Glasgow veterinarian and ardent Democrats, Republican-fundraising wife of an Oklahoma coal boss, chair of Gov. Bevin’s inaugural committee, co-founder of donor to UK's Joe Craft Center basketball practice facility, bridge builder according to close-friend Coach Cal, etc.—is President Trump’s choice for ambassador to Canada. (I love Canada. Matthew, some episode of "N-th Podcast," let's talk about our big trip to Canada.)

Lexington's Kentucky Coal Association, formed in 1942 “to promote the best interest of the coal mining industry in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and all those engaged therein,” thanks President Trump in The Hazard Herald.

Great report, WFPL's Lisa Gillespie: "As fast as she was deteriorating, I needed to be there for her. Something this little can really deprive me of the last times I’ll have with my mother. That hit me over and over." 

"Thank you. Thank you for being men and women who work, and I mean that sincerely. There’s too many of your fellow Kentuckians who are as able-bodied as you are who choose to try and work the system. You’re paying their freight and paying your own freight." OK, it turns out that Gov. Bevin went through Leitchfield on his way to western Kentucky on Wednesday, so that means he probably spliced together a Tour 14/8/16 combo. Ambitious plan, Governor.

Nice job, City of Paducah grant writer(s), who successfully appealed to the National Endowment for the Arts and won a $75,000 grant for Market House Theatre. The money will help pay for the "Next Stage Campaign," which is intended to double capacity of Studio Theatre and set up more classrooms, rehearsal spaces and a facility for building sets. 


Hoptown opens another viewing spot for the eclipse hoard.

Bad jobs news (maybe) from Madisonville.

More upheaval for Lexmark.

Oh, Kentucky

I'm with Ray Wilson ...

GUEST POINT OF VIEW: According to Ray Wilson, pig wrestling has got to stop. https://t.co/eGbbGiJtQI pic.twitter.com/XONbHDcxI9

— WDRB News (@WDRBNews) June 12, 2017

Arena seating, multiple fighting pits, 5,000 members, restaurant and 30 years of cockfighting--in Floyd County.

The old one moved outside the city limits, so Lewisburg has a new mayor, and the first thing on his agenda is sewer problems.

Gov. Bevin is coming out to western Kentucky on Wednesday to ceremonially increase roadway-weight limits on trucking and lift the state's moratorium on construction of nuclear-power plants, so let's all leave him alone today so he can study up on Tour 16 in the WPA guide in advance of his great drive out U.S. 60 ...

The Winchester-Clark County Farmers’ Market is giving out vouchers to senior citizens, and the Benton Partnership is putting on the community's first farm-to-fork dinner.

Prestonsburg's Islamic Center of Eastern Kentucky broke Saturday's Ramadan fasting with an all-invited potluck meal.

Hiring, for nine positions across the Kentucky Press Association.

Carter Caves State Resort Park's restaurant, Tierney's Cavern, is expanding its buffet and salad-bar availability, and everyone's thrilled.

Oh, Sacramento

As you enter Sacramento from south of the McLean County town on Ky. 85, there's a historical marker that greets you ...

It reads, "SURPRISE ATTACK HERE--CSA cavalry from Hopkinsville under Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest surprised Union forces under Major Eli H. Murray December 18, 1861. Forrest sent dismounted men to attack both enemy flanks, and, with the remainder mounted, he bore down road upon Union center, which broke and fled. Forrest pursued 4 miles, dispersed USA troops, returned to Hopkinsville."

Ky. 85 then merges with Ky. 81, and town fans out east and west of that Main Street strip ... 

Here's the Blue Jay Cafe of 245 Main Street …

The IEEE 802.11 “Wi-Fi” network is for back-office operations only. “I don’t even have the password,” says the server.

I’m at No Smoking Table B1 1. There’s a sign on the table that says so. There are a lot of signs at the Blue Jay Cafe:

Blue Jay

Cafe

Great Food

Great Friends

Good Times

Welcome

Sit Long

Talk Much 

Laugh Often

Try The

Original

ROOT

BEER

FLOAT

Absolutely No

Smoking In The

Kitchen Area

Due To New

Insurance Policy

No One allowed in

Kitchen but

Employees Only

Those are all permanent signs. Then there are five whiteboards with various price and selection bulletins, such as ...

Tuesday Night May 30th

Moonlight Bar-B-Que

with Salad Bar, Dessert,

Coffee of Tea $9.99

Starts at 5 pm till 8 pm

Sacramento is about 30 miles south and west of Owensboro's Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn on Ky. 85. 

I’m having oatmeal and toast and coffee, and it’s fine. The total cost is $4.08, and then they are going to add tax. There are many things about places like Sacremento, Kentucky, and the Blue Jay Cafe that haven’t changed since I first traveled much around the state 25 years ago. For example, to my left, there is a circular table of gray-haired men drinking coffee from mugs and eating sausage and country ham on biscuits off heavy china plates, and so far I’ve heard them talking about Silver Queen corn and Lava soap. Really. I’m not making any of that up. Anyway, I would lay money that 25 years ago that same scene was playing out among the fathers or uncles or church elders of these fellows at the Blue Jay Cafe or whatever restaurant was operating in its place in 1992 (and grandfathers, etc., in 1967, 1942 …) 

But one thing that has changed, I feel certain, is the cost of a bowl of oatmeal, two slices of toast and a cup of coffee. I am happy to pay the $4.08 today. This food and service and environment are absolutely equivalent to the $4.08 experience available at most any other restaurant I might find within 100 miles of Madisonville, and it is indisputably better than any of the chains. But, still, $4.08, even converted to $2.34 in 1992 dollars, is still more expensive than what I believe I would’ve paid then--by a 1992 quarter or two (so, 10 to 20 percent more or so). I didn’t find 1992 data for Sacramento, but, from 1999 to 2015, per-capita income in the town went up from $11,811 to $17,455 (or $12,269.17 when adjusted for inflation, about a 3 percent raise in terms of how you'd feel it). Point is that a couple of pieces of toast and a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of coffee make more of a dint today than then, I feel sure.

The other thing I wonder about places like Sacramento is about the change in felt-sense distance between it and Owensboro, it and Louisville, it and Washington and (going the other direction on Ky. 85 and population) it and Anton since 1992, 1967, 1942 and so forth. On one hand, I know that cable TV and the internet in some ways have shortened those distances--growing up in Paducah in the 1970s and early 80s, I was a rock-’n’-roll fan who had literally never heard of the Clash or the Sex Pistols until after we finally got cable in 1984 or ’85; whereas, I imagine there is a pretty big Cage the Elephant fan somewhere in Sacramento right now. On the other hand, how do the entrepreneurial/management/leadership/artistic horizons of a place like Sacramento compare over time? For example, what does the supply chain for a place like the Blue Jay Cafe look like today vs. in previous years? Do they buy all of their oats, bread, butter, brown sugar, salt and coffee grounds from Cisco or Sam’s, where they would’ve sourced each of those from Sacramento Oat Company, Sacramento Bread Company, Sacramento Brown Sugar Company, etc., each with its own owners and layers of management in previous years?

I honestly don’t know the answers to these questions, but I would love to know and then somehow relate them to things like voting patterns, church membership, health trends, etc.

“Bye, Jimmy,” the server tells someone—Jimmy, presumably—as he leaves the cash register and heads out the front door along Ky. 81/Ky. 85. The servers had been busy in the back, and a very tall, razor-thin man of probably about 65 poked his head in the swinging kitchen door (the one with the employees-only-because-of-the-insurance sign) and asked for “Sweetie” to come out and cash out the developing line of customers at the register. That guy went to the back of the line and then stayed after paying his own bill to talk extra with Sweetie, who is a tiny woman of probably 35 years. They share a long hug and some quiet words of clear sadness. “Have a good day, Sweetie,” he says. “I love you,” she says. “I love you, too,” he says. That all really happened just as I wrote it.

These photographs were hanging on the wall in the back of the Blue Jay Cafe, outside the restrooms ...

There's a florist next door to and just south of the Blue Jay Cafe. It wasn't open ...

The Masonic Lodge is the next door down Main ...

Here are a couple of signs that were taped to the glass doors at the U.S. Post Office ...

Then there were these two pictures in a display case inside the Post Office. My guess is the pictures at the Blue Jay were from the 1959 regional championship commemorated here ...

This is the oldest headstone I found at the Free Union Cemetery on the town's northwestern edge ...

Then I drove back to Madisonville along Ky. 85. This is one of my favorite roads out of town--Anton Road. It drops off sharply from both sides of the road into swamps and farmland, so there are guard rails along both sides of a lot of Ky. 85 to keep you from falling off ...

Spring Break in Chicago (1971) (2017)

You know, I just love to play pretend. I always have, and I still do.

My (real) wife and daughter and I went to Chicago this (real) past week, and we had a great time (really). Part of the great time for me was that (pretend) Hoptown 1971 me went, too. The Chicago Tribune has browsable archives online, and the Museum of Classic Chicago Television has a robust YouTube channel. These really make it easy for a 48-year-old man in 2017 to pretend he's on vacation in Chicago in 1971. In fact, there's so much great old stuff available online, my pretend 1971 vacation figures to keep going for a good while even though my real 1971 vacation has ended.

Real 1971 me actually did live near Chicago. When I was 2 or 3, my dad took a job with a construction company in Highland Park, Illinois, a swanky northern suburb, and so my parents, younger (but still older) brother and I moved from Evansville, Indiana, to an apartment there. It was a huge deal with implications for my whole family and me forever.

For one thing, I don't think Mom and Dad would've ever moved to his old-home Kentucky directly from Evansville. He hadn't gotten far enough away from it, either geographically or rhythmically, either for him to pine sufficiently for it or for her to be convinced that being away from Kentucky was diminishing him. But, by 1973, we are moving away from the Chicago traffic and economic and social pressures to Paducah, and, ultimately, I'm writing for The Heath Post (as opposed to The Reitz Picayune or whatever the public high-school newspaper is called on the west side of Evansville).

Another thing is that the move to/from Chicago turned my family into people who at least think of ourselves as fearless counterculturists. At the front end the move in 1970, my mom and dad become the people in their Silent Majority circles who leave the known (a house they built amid their families) to the ... well, maybe even worse than the unknown, the familiar-and-feared (Chicago in the near wake of the 1968 riots and Democratic National Convention). Then, three years later, after a period of lavish, modern living with stuff like Mexican restaurants and professional sports, we chose against that life and moved to cheap property in Kentucky for Dad to teach himself (from books checked out of the Paducah Public Library!) to make and sell primitive pottery (kind of like the old brick-making Wöhlers back in dear old Detmold). These life choices have no precedent in our broader family, and they aren't depicted in TV sitcoms or long-distance commercials. To this day, my Mom and Dad's pod of the family is thought of as the kooky pod, and we like it that way. Highland Park is a big reason why.

Finally, the move turned me into a bit of an only child. I came along late--my dad was about to turn 43 when I was born in 1968, and my mom was almost 40. They already had 16-year-old and 11-year-old boys and a 14-year-old girl, so, by the time I came along, they had already checked all of the Greatest Generation parental boxes like lead a Boy Scout troop, serve as an elementary-school Room Mother and pour a backyard swimming pool. Even though one brother moved with us to Highland Park, the relocation was sort of like a retooling of a sitcom (Coach and Shelley Long are out, and here come Woody Harrelson and Kirstie Alley). Instead of parenting another hand-me-down Evansville kid, Mom and Dad tried some different stuff with me. I was hardly ever spanked. They took me to the library and neighborhood park a lot. I played with G.I. Joes and Sun Oil football stamps. I watched a lot of Mister Rogers and Sesame Street. Part of all that was the inevitable churn of kid culture over 10 years, but part of it was about raising an only-ish child in a suburban Chicago apartment instead of a fourth kid in the same, ol' Evansville ranch.

So, anyhow, going back to Chicago last week with my own spouse and child was pretty evocative stuff. And I found myself evoked in quiet moments to pretend all sorts of fun stuff--that I was real 1971 Dad, that I was real 1971 kid me, that I was Hoptown 1971 adult me, that I was the son of Hoptown 1971 me, that I was Hoptown 1971 me with real 2017 daughter in 1971, etc. Pretending is fun, but, when you are as sophisticated and experienced of a pretender as I am, it can get pretty complex to keep the storylines straight.

The scenario I spent the most time pretending was 48-year-old me vacationing from Hopkinsville in 1971 with wife (kind of real wife) and my 8-year-old son (kind of real 1976 me plus a little real 2017 daughter), and, in this happy storyline, it was just absolutely driving the boy insane that his dad kept wanting to drive the routes and find the sites in the 1939 Illinois and Indiana WPA guides. This was a blast.

We need a new muffler. Or something—I don’t know anything about cars. But we need something. The car is really loud. The engine is loud. Plus, Dad has the radio cranked up and the window cracked, so his cigarette smoke blows out of the car. 

It’s a little boring in the dark because you can’t see anything, but it’s also kind of nice. This seat’s comfortable. I’m in the backseat, stretched out. I’m almost too tall now to do this, without folding my legs at the knees. But, for now, it’s pretty comfortable.

It’s just a little cold. Just a little.

The Bulls are on the radio. We’re still in Indiana, but we must be getting close to Chicago. I collect basketball cards, and I like hearing the names. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Bulls play on TV, but I know most of these players from the cards. I wonder if Jerry Sloan is nice. Dad loves Jerry Sloan.

It smells kind of cold. It does. The air from the window is a little chilly. It and the smoke are back here. It smells good. I smell a little gasoline, too. I like smelling gas.

I wonder if Mom’s asleep. Dad hasn’t said hardly anything since supper. What time is it? 

It’s boring, but I like the driving out in the country more than in the cities at night. In the cities, it’s good because the lights flash into the backseat and I can look at my cards. But Dad’s nervous about driving in the traffic, and Mom’s nervous about looking at the map, and that makes me nervous. In the country, like I said, it’s boring, but it’s also kind of nice because nobody’s nervous. Dad’s just driving, smoking cigarettes, listening to the Bulls … I think … maybe he’s just thinking. I’ll bet he’s not even listening to the game; I’ll bet he’s thinking about something else. And I think Mom might be asleep, or she’s just sort of sitting there looking out the window at the dark. I don’t know. But it’s kind of nice, even though it’s kind of boring.

This seat’s pretty comfortable. I’m getting sleepy.

Initially, I was going to have us all pretend to stay at this place, but that's too little of progress on Day 1 of driving even to pretend. So, we got to Chicago all in one day--it just took a while (real and pretend).

And I think this place is where we pretend stayed (my parents and I stayed at this place in real 1978) ...

I imagined all sorts of places we might and might not have gone while we were in town ...

Of course, a lot of the time was spent checking out what was on TV. All pretend and real versions of 1971/2017/whenever me love TV ...

I'll tell you another thing I spent a lot of this pretend 1971 doing is looking at "The World's Greatest Newspaper" (from what I've seen, the tagline gets no argument from me) ...

I really love seeing the comics and other features they don't carry in the Kentucky New Era, especially Mac Divot ...

And Doonesbury ...

It was just a great week in every way.

Comments flow ...