NBA Update

The Celtics and Heat are tied at two games apiece, and the Mavs last night pulled to within 3-1 of the Warriors.

1975

17 Apr 1975, Thu The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) Newspapers.com

 

D.C. Statehood?

Yea.

Warning: Adult Language.

So I filmed this video today. I shot it in a D.C. neighbourhood as Trump-supporters were leaving downtown after the protests and riots today. Apparently it went viral after I posted in on my Instagram @westhrin So here it is, Twitter! #guyonporch #womanincar pic.twitter.com/bmMUS48Blz

— Veronica Westhrin (@NRKveronica) January 7, 2021

Oh, Kentucky

Lots of history in this Courier-Journal email alert that just arrived in my inbox ...

Dear Lord, please.

Oh, Kentucky

Here's a letter that I plan to put in tomorrow's mail to the Hopkins County judge-executive and each of the fiscal-court magistrates:

Thank you very much for your service to our county.  

Please take the safest legal means possible to have the Confederate monument removed from the old courthouse lawn.   

The monument teaches nothing; it fails to convey the history of our county, which was divided in loyalty; the war, which was bloody and non-glorious, or the failed Confederacy ideal. Rather, it’s an ornament propping up a dangerous myth. The soldiers that the monument purports to represent sadly squandered their valor, courage and loyalty in a bankrupt system that was sure to fail because it was counter to God’s/natural truth that all people are created equal.  

Even more important than its lack of historical value, however, the monument does not square with the values of our county and country today. We should not risk any person living in or traveling through Hopkins County thinking our community is at all under the spell of the “Lost Cause of the Confederacy” lie.   

As the U.S. Marines said June 5 in announcing a prohibition on public displays of the Confederate battle flag, “The Confederate battle flag has all too often been co-opted by violent extremists and racist groups whose divisive beliefs have no place in our Corps. This presents a threat to our core values, unit cohesion, security, and good order and discipline. This must be addressed.”  

That’s solid logic that is applicable to our local problem. The monument is a disgraceful mistake. Perhaps it could be relocated to a cemetery or the historical society.  

Again, thanks for your work. And thanks for reading my opinion.

CFB53 Update

Hey, my dad went to this game. Here's a picture of his ticket.

It's fun to imagine his parking somewhere near West Drive, entering Gate F (passing through the future Terry Donahue Pavilion) and settling in to his seat and view of the game.

Dad and Mom had moved out to California from Indiana for him to start a university course of study in computerized engineering, but the school turned out to be a sham. Here's what Dad wrote about the aftermath of that experience before he died in 1999:

I dropped out and found an office job with a local heavy construction firm in Alhambra. It was there I met A.G. 

Born in Tennessee and a graduate of Vanderbilt University, A.G. was without doubt the most intelligent, honest and informative person I have ever been associated with then or now. A chemical engineer by profession, he also had earned a degree in business and finance.  It was in finance that he excelled. He was 66 years old when I first met him.

The company at which I had been hired as an assistant bookkeeper contracted with A.G. to assist them to work out some of their difficulties. A.G., having little faith in those responsible for records, promptly called a stockholder meeting and, at days end, I had been appointed comptroller. Within hours everything was pad-locked, and I had the only keys.

Quickly I learned of A.G.'s background. Back during the middle and late 1920s, A.G. thrived in the stock market. Foreseeing the coming crash of 1929, A.G. sold all his stock, gathered his wife, Tilly, and his belongings and went to France. Due to exchange value between the dollar and franc, A. G. was worth even more in France. He remained there until middle 1938 when, fearing World War II and the Nazis, A.G. sold his interest in France and returned to the United States.

By then, the United States was booming, so A.G. invested in those businesses he believed would serve a war effort and forthright earned more wealth. After the war, in 1946, A.G. once again returned to France as agent for a large American air compressor manufacturing plant and there established their sales organization. In 1948, A.G. came home again, established a small plastic manufacturing plant and produced and sold small ladles for dipping ground coffee from sealed cans and small plastic caps for soda bottles once metal caps had been removed. In addition, he contracted his talents to bonding companies, banks and other investment interests to investigate conditions of troubled corporations. He also sidelined as an agent for various universities to seek endowments for which he received 5 percent for his efforts. ...

... I found myself resented by others at the company. Hired only as an assistant bookkeeper, I now was untouchable. They also resented my work schedule, and I couldn't blame them. A.G. was more of a 9-until-noon-type person than 9 to 5. We worked maybe two hours in the morning and spent the afternoon in the club room at Santa Anita race track. During afternoons I was driver, valet and bet maker. Mornings, I gathered what information he needed and sat with him in our conference room while he scrutinized everything in detail. By noon, we were off to the races again.

New Year’s Day 1954, A.G. and I watched Michigan State play UCLA in the Rose Bowl. Jinny spent that same day with Tilly watching the Rose Parade and doing what women do.

Comments flow!

Oh, Kentucky

So Long, Silver Grove Big Trains and Lady Trains?

For all of the bad stuff that has gone on with journalism and particularly newspaper business in the last 20 years, I believe that civic-meeting coverage has vastly improved over that time--more detailed, more nuanced, more lively, just better-reported and -written than it very recently was, period. And I think it makes sense when you think about how the industry segment has changed. As editorial staffs have contracted to just a half-dozen or three or one body in some towns, those individuals have to be very choosy about where they spend their reporting time. They can't afford to lose a day sniffing around for possible stories; they need to be able to schedule their investment of in-the-moment presence and after-the-fact sense making to a specific amount of time and know they are going to walk away with fodder for X inches of verifiable body copy. Civic meetings lend themselves quite well to this new spartan world of community journalism, and, so, we readers are getting fantastic stuff like Melinda J. Overstreet's simply brilliant dispatch in the Glasgow Daily Times from "the Planning and Development Committee of the Glasgow Common Council, also known as the Parks and Recreation Department." The chase of Overstreet's report is that it is thought that it will take about a half-million bucks to move the needle on the local parks sitch. However, if you can spare 10 or 15 minutes, her story is better than any high-school civics class you ever had in terms of seeing how American society actually works together in its little clumps of people here, there and yonder across the country to keep each other safe, honest and happy.

Paradise no more. TVA votes to close iconic coal-burning power plant in Kentucky.https://t.co/tHcLQZuCod pic.twitter.com/ozZj8taXsr

— Lexington Herald-Leader (@heraldleader) February 14, 2019

Rely on your assets, Gov. Bevin tells western Kentucky (via Channel 6). Take the Ohio River, for example. "We’re talking to metal producers. We’re talking to manufactures that use these metals. We’re talking to a number of people that need access to that water, so I think it’s just a matter of time."

Louisville's Young People in Recovery, on the Indiana slopes.

What's On TV Tonight (1973)?

Channel 12 at 7 Central tonight 1973:

Channel 3 at 8:

That leaves a half-hour gap between the two broadcasts, and rich 1973 me will probably use it to watch the videotape of last Friday's Partridge Family, which I missed.

Oh, Kentucky

Rest in peace, Coach Noles, who once tripled as a 19-year-old member of the "KITTY" League Union City (Tennessee) Greyhounds, who went to spring training with the 1953 Washington Senators, who served in the U.S. Army in the aftermath of the Korean War, who taught civics and history at West Paducah Heath High School for more than 30 years and who coached the Lady Pirates to the 1980 Region 1 girls' basketball championship.

Twenty Years

This December will mark 20 years since the horrible shooting at our dear, old Heath High School, and here's an Associated Press item this morning from Rockford, Washington:

Harper, a 15-year-old sophomore, said the suspect had brought notes in the beginning of the school year, saying he was going to do "something stupid" and might get killed or jailed. Some students alerted counselors, the teen told AP, but it wasn't clear what school officials did in response ...

Harper said the shooter had many friends and was not bullied, calling him "nice and funny and weird" and a huge fan of the TV show "Breaking Bad." He also said the suspect was obsessed with other school shootings. 

Students say the shooter was armed with a pistol and rifle and had carried a duffel bag to school.

If you are not for reducing access to guns, would you instead be willing to support new taxes to pay for the same level of security equipment, personnel and processes at our schools that we have implemented at our airports?

Prayers for everyone in and around Rockford.

Oh, Kentucky

Rest in peace, Army Sgt. William Bays, 29-year-old Californian transplanted to Todd County, husband and father of three daughters.

Back to West Paducah.

Mr. Basketball 1986.

Kentuckian of the year:

We are losing the fight against police brutality in America. Period. https://t.co/695glBI0eV

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) June 22, 2017

Every day, the news is chock-full of the saddest and most desperate, pregnant opening scenes of movies, and about the only way I can bring myself to keep looking at them is to imagine the happiest, most unlikely endings.

Four thousand twenty-five homeless people in Kentucky.

The state is seeking to enlarge its diversity of adoptive families.

Two minutes and forty seconds each Aug. 21 in Allensville, Dycusburg, Fairview, Hopkinsville, Princeton and Salem ...

Tonight in Hoptown: "Mr. Eclipse."

Archaeology day camps for kids 9-11 start tomorrow at Wickliffe Mounds State Historic Site.

Good jobs news from Paducah.

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is coming to Etown!

Mall ready for Friday Night Thunder https://t.co/rrq0WKIqoO #somky pic.twitter.com/4VOy8DjWzn

— Somerset Kentucky (@Somerset_KY) June 22, 2017

Oh, Kentucky

Gov Bevin announces record year of economic development investment already in 2017 - $5.8 billion, he says. pic.twitter.com/UHZR9DPx0E

— Thomas F. Loftus (@TomLoftus_CJ) May 26, 2017

Beliles starts to get what he's looking for as Bevin begins to talk about house. https://t.co/PvPS57e8Sl via @courierjournal

— Thomas F. Loftus (@TomLoftus_CJ) May 27, 2017

The media asked for it and they got it. Watch Gov. Bevin set the record straight on #FAKENEWS.
Share this video! https://t.co/0EBoWiGjVK

— Governor Matt Bevin (@GovMattBevin) May 27, 2017

A sick man...@TomLoftus_CJ of the @courierjournal was caught sneaking around my home and property..Was removed by state police..#PeepingTom

— Matt Bevin (@MattBevin) May 27, 2017

If KSP had to "remove" Loftus (instead of just ask him to leave), there'd be a report.

Spoiler alert: Didn't happen like Bevin claims.

— Jacob Payne (@cattleprod) May 27, 2017

The bomb threat at the London newspaper plant turned out to be fake. The shots at the Herald-Leader, however, were very real.

"The difference, locals say, is affording three-bedroom house vs. being stuck in a trailer." My word, what a great piece of reporting and writing--Ana Swanson of The Washington Post on the president, trade, defense, aluminum and Hawesville. 

Happy 100th to Logan County's quieter legendary businesswoman, Sarah Frances Ballance Campbell, key supporter and supplier to Russellville High Panther football and marketing evangelist for First Baptist Church. "We may run out of cake."

Clark County's Trapp Elementary School is being turned into a home for homeless female vets and their families.

Madisonville is up from 15th to 13th place in Kiwanis International voting to pay for "all-inclusive" playground equipment at the city park. The top 10 advance to the next round. You can vote today and tomorrow.

A bear at the Somerset Walmart.

The People, Yes

This is the YouTube video someone should bury in the middle of the United States for the aliens to discover once the future ice sheet melts and they're trying to figure out if any intelligent life with a sense of beauty ever existed on this part of the planet.

Oh, Kentucky

Western Kentucky will be a hot spot of eclipse hubbub next summer.

Syrian refugees are scheduled to begin arriving in Bowling Green this fall.

Two Pikeville entrepreneurs have converted an old Coke-bottling plant as a facility to train former coal miners to code.

Or, says the Fed, another "option is through 'creative placemaking' in which partners from disparate sectors use arts and culture activities to strategically shape the character of a region or neighborhood. It’s an integrative approach to neighborhood planning and economic development, encouraging local communities to use their distinctive resources, cultural diversity, and unique attributes to stimulate their economies."

Burgin, in Mercer County, will soon be home to Kentucky's largest solar array.

I like pictures of food, and I might start posting them pretty frequently.

Who loves Chicken Tenders? Get 'em hot, fresh and delicious on the buffet! pic.twitter.com/9up0u1qoEe

— Sirloin Stockade (@SirloinMurrayKY) April 20, 2016

HP Special Report: I Think It's Stansbury!

Breaking ... My wife had a meeting in Bowling Green, Kentucky, today, so I had her drop me off at Western Kentucky University's E.A. Diddle Arena to nose around while she worked. As I entered, three guys with nice suits and haircuts were walking through the corridor. I don't want to start any rumors, but the one trailing at the back, talking on his cell, looked a little like Rick Stansbury.

Also, here are some other great pictures from around Diddle Arena!

In conclusion: GO! BIG! RED!

Oh, Kentucky

Hey, Paducah (and Sen. McConnell) made The Daily Show!

Roller skating comes to Lebanon.

Gov. Bevin goes to Frankfort.

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and First Lady Glenna Bevin. @heraldleader pic.twitter.com/9AiaGo13Vj

— Mark Cornelison (@markcornelison) December 9, 2015

Sadly not riding in George Costanza's LeBaron. https://t.co/knRW8D3o8a

— Brad Stephens (@Stephens_Brad) December 8, 2015

Meanwhile, before he got on the road home to Dawson Springs, ...

"Typically, low-performing schools need lots of fixing, but we can't do it all at once. We find it successful to hone in on three things we can do."

More insured, more screening and preventive care, fewer bed sores, fewer readmissions, reduced infant mortality.

So horrible. Prayers for the family, Versailles and the killer.

The TWP marched in the Madisonville KY Christmas parade, handing out 1000 leaflets and building community relations pic.twitter.com/bXQAKcHRRA

— Matthew Heimbach (@MatthewHeimbach) December 6, 2015

Christmas parades: Hazard and Owensboro, Nov. 21; Ashland, Nov. 24; Russell Springs and Williamstown, Nov. 28; Lexington, Dec. 1; Louisa, Dec. 3; Central City, Harlan, Maysville, Shepherdsville, Smiths Grove and Walton, Dec. 4; Arlington, Bowling Green, Clinton, Frankfort, Grayson, Hopkinsville, Lawrenceburg, Leitchfield, Madisonville, Middlesboro, Munfordville, Murray, Paducah, Somerset and Winchester, Dec. 5; Hickman, Dec. 8, and Benton, Elizabethtown, Elkton, La Center, Nicholasville and Princeton, Dec. 12.

Oh, Kentucky

30-NOV-1928 Happy 87th Birthday to Joe B. Hall. Hall played 3 games at UK, scoring 0 pts, then transferred to Sewanee where he starred...

— bigbluehistory (@bigbluehistory) November 30, 2015

...Hall later returned to UK to graduate. He coached at Regis College, then took asst. coach at UK, then head coach pic.twitter.com/ihB7o2fYRd

— bigbluehistory (@bigbluehistory) November 30, 2015

Joe B. will always be known for taking Cats to every part of Commonwealth with exhibition games each year. That's when Kentucky became BBN.

— Oscar Combs (@wildcatnews) November 30, 2015

Louisville wins again in Lexington.

Building a (new) bridge in Aurora.

"Because Kentuckians are often celebrated for their fighting spirit, those individuals and groups in the state who have questioned war have often been downplayed or ignored by historians."

“Whatever Christmas was before, whatever losses you’ve suffered, however far you’ve traveled, Christmas has to be where you are now—that’s the last line: ‘it has to be here.’”

Christmas parades: Hazard and Owensboro, Nov. 21; Ashland, Nov. 24; Russell Springs and Williamstown, Nov. 28; Lexington, Dec. 1; Louisa, Dec. 3; Central City, Harlan, Maysville and Walton, Dec. 4; Arlington, Bowling Green, Frankfort, Grayson, Hopkinsville, Lawrenceburg, Madisonville, Middlesboro, Munfordville, Murray, Paducah, Somerset and Winchester, Dec. 5; Hickman, Dec. 8, and Benton, Elizabethtown, Elkton, La Center and Nicholasville, Dec. 12.

Oh, Kentucky

Beautiful skyline over Rash Stadium in preparation for Regional Championship game Friday night 7 pm! #1vs#2 pic.twitter.com/Qp6FctqaLZ

— Owensboro Football (@SrHighFootball) November 18, 2015

The Bardstown-Nelson County Ministerial Association is confronting the town's homelessness problem. And the fiscal court wonders about 911 with everybody ditching their land lines. 

Good jobs news from Danville. Kentucky is No. 1 among U.S. states in aluminum production capacity, and our rate of joblessness is lowest since May 2001. But "the tone of racial intolerance being struck by the Herald-Leader has no place in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and will not be tolerated by our administration."

Meanwhile, from The Courier-Journal ("part of the USA Today network"): "I will say that we’ve received more support in the last week than at any other time in our 25-year history. A lot of people in our community do feel compassion for refugees."

And the Christian Science Monitor: “I, for one, don't feel particularly comforted by the assertion that our government can vet these refugees.”

MSNBC: “To be honest with you, a lot of folks in Owsley County went to the polls and voted against gay marriage and abortion, and as a result, I’m afraid they voted away their health insurance.”

Christmas parades: Hazard and Owensboro, Nov. 21; Ashland, Nov. 24; Lexington, Dec. 1; Harlan, Dec. 4; Bowling Green, Frankfort, Grayson, Hopkinsville, Madisonville, Munfordville, Murray, Paducah, Somerset and Winchester, Dec. 5; Hickman, Dec. 8, and Benton and Elkton, Dec. 12. 

The Channel 6 Telethon

The 59th Channel 6 telethon--officially, the "Annual Lions Club/WPSD Local 6 Telethon of Stars Celebration Concert"--is happening this weekend.

"This is primarily an entertainment and information concert, with 4 hours of live music with features, client interviews, and officials of the four centers and area Lions clubs interspersed. The Telethon of Stars is one of the longest running, locally produced Telethons in the USA and is telecasted in the 81th largest DMA market in the USA (Paducah, KY-Cape Girardeau, MO-Harrisburg/Marion, IL). It is also streamed LIVE via this website."

The beneficiaries of the event are Easter Seals West Kentucky in Paducah, T.L.C. of Southern Illinois, UTM Infant Stimulation Program-Martin, Tennessee, and Easter Seals Southeast Missouri.  "These centers deal with disabled children and adults," says TelethonofStars.org. "All of the money raised by the Telethon goes directly to these centers." You can mail a donation to ...

Telethon of Stars

c/o Independence Bank

P.O. Box 966

Paducah, KY 42002-0966

Lee Greenwood headlined last night's broadcast, 6:30-10:30 on Channel 6, and he was great. We'd been out late Friday night, up early Saturday and out of town to a kid's birthday party most of the afternoon and evening. Man, I'm telling you, I was beat by 9 o'clock and ready to konk out. But I flipped on Channel 6 and saw Lee Greenwood coming on, and he kept me going until about 9:45--that's saying something. I didn't realize how many Lee Greenwood hits I knew ("Ring On Her Finger, Time On Her Hands" is an excellent song), and I'm sorry I couldn't stay awake long enough to catch his closer, which, of course, had to be "God Bless the USA."

Now we've got a pre-recorded gospel concert happening on Channel 6 until 8, and we might have a comment or two until the little girl gets up and wants to watch Curious George or I need to get my shower for church, whichever comes first.

NFL15: Week 1

The NFL 2015 regular season kicks off today! I'm very excited to see which of 31 NFL teams end up winning the league championship. I'll be rooting for the Miami Dolphins, the NFL72 and NFL73 champions and NFL85* co-champions.

Thirty of the 31 legitimate NFL teams play games today; the Pittsburgh Steelers begin their real regular season in Week 2. It's not necessary to publish these standings today, given that all of the teams are 0-0--I just wanted to have the fun of typing each of their names because, even though I am a Dolphins guy, I really do just love the whole, legitimate NFL. I've listed the teams by conference, in the order of their NFL14 finish. Teams with the little "-z" won their divisions; teams with the little "-y" earned wild-card berths to the playoffs. The Buffalo Bills, with the little "-x," had the best record in the AFC East, but their division championship was awarded to a team that I no longer recognize as a legitimate member of the league. 

AFC (five or six teams will qualify for the playoffs)

Indianapolis Colts-z (NFL70, NFL06 champ; NFL03*, NFL14* co-champ) 0-0

Baltimore Ravens-y (NFL00, NFL12 champ; NFL11* co-champ) 0-0

Denver Broncos-z (NFL97, NFL98 champs) 0-0

Pittsburgh Steelers-z (NFL74, 75, 78, 79, 05, 08 champ; 01*, 04* co-champ) 0-0

Cincinnati Bengals-y 0-0

---

Houston Texans 0-0

Kansas City Chiefs (NFL69 champ) 0-0 

San Diego Chargers (NFL07* co-champ) 0-0

Buffalo Bills-x 0-0

Miami Dolphins (NFL72, NFL73 champ; NFL85* co-champ) 0-0

Cleveland Browns 0-0

New York Jets (NFL68 champ) 0-0 

Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL97* c0-champ) 0-0

Oakland Raiders (NFL76, NFL80, NFL83 champ) 0-0

Tennessee Titans 0-0

NFC (six teams will qualify for the playoffs)

Seattle Seahawks-z (NFL13 champ, NFL14* co-champ) 0-0

Green Bay Packers-z 0-0 (NFL66, NFL67, NFL10 champ; NFL97* co-champ)

Dallas Cowboys-z 0-0 (NFL71, NFL77, NFL92, NFL93, NFL95 champ)

Carolina Panthers-z (NFL03* co-champ) 0-0

Arizona Cardinals-y 0-0

Detroit Lions-y 0-0

---

Philadelphia Eagles (NFL04* co-champ) 0-0

San Francisco 49ers (NFL81, NFL84, NFL88, NFL89, NFL94 champ) 0-0

New Orleans Saints (NFL09 champ) 0-0

Minnesota Vikings 0-0

New York Giants (NFL86, NFL90 champ; NFL07*, NFL11* co-champ) 0-0

Atlanta Falcons 0-0

St. Louis Rams (NFL99 champ) 0-0

Chicago Bears (NFL85* co-champ) 0-0

Washington Redskins (NFL82, NFL87, NFL91 champ) 0-0

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL02 champ) 0-0

(*In NFL85, the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl and the Miami Dolphins lost the AFC championship against a team that I no longer recognize as a legitimate member of the NFL. The Dolphins beat the Bears in the regular season, so I do now privately consider the Dolphins the NFL85 champions--but because the Bears actually did win the Super Bowl and I am a fair person, I am willing to officially declare the Dolphins and Bears as co-champions of NFL85. Anyway, there are similar problems with the NFL97, NFL01, NFL03, NFL04, NFL07, NFL11 and NFL14 seasons, and you can look up those stories. I may do so some day, but I'm not going to today. Today is the first day of the legitimate, 31-team NFL15 regular season, and I'm ready to move forward and sweep away all of that unfortunate history.)