Most Kentucky thing ever

and yes, it isn't just a guy thing; I would do this, too, but I doubt they'd do it up North where some friends live in NYC.

I was taking someone over to UK, and no less than THREE men drove up next to me at various stoplights (one backed up) to be sure and let me know that my gas cap was off and the door was ajar. It's a 4.8-mile (12-minute) drive. 🤦‍♀️ As soon as I got him to his destination, I got out and secured both; you'd better believe it. Here it is, happily tucked back in.

We had someone open fire at a community celebration Saturday evening

here in Lexington, at Charles Young Park off Midland Avenue, while people were gathered for East End Days.

16 year old identified as victim who died in Lexington mass shooting

16-year-old killed, four other injured, including two children, in mass shooting at Lexington community event

This is so terribly sad. A 14-year-old, 4-year-old, and two adults were also shot and were sent to the hospital but were said to have non-life-threatening injuries.

He died trying to save others. That's pretty noble, especially in a 16-year-old. May his family find peace, and may his memory be a blessing. I hope they find the person who did this soon. Di’Zhon Robertson was a brave young man who made the ultimate sacrifice, and he deserves justice. My sincere condolences to his family and loved ones.

UPDATE: We went 192 days without a murder. So sad that it has been broken. But at least they have a suspect in custody.

Suspect arrested in deadly Lexington mass shooting

Lexington Police have arrested 18-year-old Jametrius M. Griffin, in relation to the homicide and shootings which occurred in Charles Young Park on Saturday. Griffin is currently being held at the Fayette County Detention Center.

He has been charged with Murder, Assault and Tampering with Physical Evidence

Only in Kentucky, and better than those 'Florida man' stories, even if it is conflated

 Mule-riding Kentucky man accused of unleashing raccoon in bar after being turned away

From Googles AI summary: :

Jonathan Mason, known as "Cowboy Cody" in the Murray, Kentucky area, was taken into custody after allegedly releasing a raccoon into a crowded bar that had previously denied him entry. He was taken to the Calloway County Jail and faces multiple charges, ]after someone was bitten by the raccoon. Police reported that Mason was forcibly removed from his vehicle after refusing to roll down his window or exit when they initiated a traffic stop. This incident is the latest in a series of arrests for Mason, who was previously arrested in December for leading police on a high-speed mule chase. 

Highlighting the city I've called home for 39 years

The 'Horse Capital of the World' Is an Underrated American City With Beautiful Nature Trails, Craft Beer and Bourbon, and a New Luxury Hotel

Mostly showing off our new luxury hotel, the Manchester, but a nice write-up by Travel+Leisure on Lexington itself, as well.

A worthy endeavour

Off The Beaten Path: Archeologists work to preserve artifacts in Kentucky’s forests

Good for her

As the article points out, the law is actually on hold while it's fought in the courts, but the message she sent was fabulous. We have a similar law that was passed here in Kentucky. This is crazy.

Lizzo defies Tennessee drag ban with help from iconic RuPaul’s Drag Race alumni

Thank God

for the Kentucky Assembly, Governor Andy Beshear, and a desire to fall in line with federal guidelines regarding cigarette taxes, as of September 2022.

Student debt won't be taxed as income in Kentucky

Originally it would have been. 

Beautiful...Happy Supposed to Be Derby Day (although that has been postponed)

So it's been a week

Kentucky is up to 87 cases and 3 deaths.  But I think our governor, Andy Beshear, is acting appropriately and quickly to try to 'flatten the curve' of infection.  That refers to a much-used graph comparing the response of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and St Louis, Missouri back in the 1918 pandemic of Spanish influenza.

In that graph, Philadelphia's spikes quickly and far beyond the capability of the medical community to respond.  Among other things, Philadelphia held a parade right as the flu started to spread in their community with 200,000 in the crowd.  Things rapidly escalated.  In St Louis, they worked at reducing the infection and slowed the rate that it was happening, and stayed a flatter curve, right about or under the medical community's capacity.  People still got it.  People still died.  There is even an uptick on the graph and one point as the cases were going down, as people began to loosen their reactions.  But it worked, for the most part.

Gov. Beshear is giving daily updates at 5 pm, and has also geared parts of the update to children or to dealing with the mental effects of the pandemic.  The numbers have climbed since the first case was detected in the Commonwealth on March 6th, and testing is becoming better.  Testing has been a barrier here in the US.  It's hard to get tested unless you are very symptomatic and in the hospital, so we're missing a lot of cases that are not being quarantined, most likely.  But the testing is getting better.  Today the FDA announced a rapid point-of-care test approved that can give results in 45 minutes.  That's what we need.  It should start shipping next week.  And we need them in great numbers.  In Italy, which has been absolutely devastated by the disease, a town of 3,3000 where everyone was tested was able to quarantine those with the disease--including the ones without symptoms--and halted the infection.

Now Kentucky has 4.468 million residents as of 2018, according to Google.  That's a lot to test, but not as populous as some.  The governor's aim is to get testing so that anyone who feels they should be tested either due to symptoms or exposure has the opportunity to do so.  That's laudable.

Another graph I find interesting is the difference between Kentucky and neighbouring Tennessee and their response:

Granted, it's early yet.  But unfortunately, the federal response has been sluggish and so different states are basically issuing their own rules, and some are responding better than others.  For example, the governor of Michigan has exempted churches from the ban on 50+ persons gathering.

This is what I posted on Facebook on that subject:

I'm not Christian. My faith doesn't really have a 'church' or 'synagogue' or 'mosque' or 'temple'. Our temples were either destroyed years ago or are tourist attractions these days. Mine is a more solitary spirituality.

However, I care about people's ability to worship in these trying times. And no, a building is not the church, or synagogue, or mosque, or temple. Remember the old children's rhyme/fingerplay where you say, 'here's the church, here's the steeple, open the door and here's the people' and you wiggle your fingers, the people? They're what matter. Protecting the lives of members of congregations matter. You can still be religious. You can still interact from a distance. You can still pray. God and/or the Gods will understand. You can still be a faith. Just think of staying home as a way of doing a good thing, a blessing. In Judaism, it's called a mitzvah. You are doing something good for others, and it costs very little. Stay safe. Make sure you don't pass it to others. And keep the faith.

Finally, there's the mental health issue with all these cases, deaths, and restrictions. I found this helpful:

I have OCD and anxiety disorder. I think this has a lot of good advice, although it's really hard to unplug from social media, as some things (like changes in hours or scope of operations and meetings cancelled) I've only found on Facebook, etc. Just remember, take care of your mental health, too:

Coronavirus: How to protect your mental health

Okay, I guess I'll sign off for now.  Just remember, Gov. Beshear is right.  We are all in this together.  #TeamKY #TeamUSA #TeamWorld

So how are you doing?

I saw this show's pilot the other day and liked it quite a bit

Lake Cumberland area is setting for NBC's 'Perfect Harmony'

The Princeton professor reminds me a lot of YKWIA. It's set here in Kentucky, and one of its creators is rooted here in Kentucky.

No one should be forced to marry, much less at such a tender age...

11 Years Old, a Mom, and Pushed to Marry Her Rapist in Florida

She was in elementary school. And she's not alone. And Kentucky has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the country.

Grrrr....

I am so sick of this. If you can't do your job, and uphold your oath, by all means vacate your office--but not by just closing shop and leaving the building. You're free to practise your faith, but apparently can't do your job, so resign already. You're on the wrong side of history, and you're making a spectacle of your office in a state where taxpayers are paying several million dollars for fighting the losing battle against same-sex marriage.

Clerk Who Refuses To Issue Marriage Licenses Reopens Office

A Kentucky county clerk temporarily closed her office Thursday, hours after denying a marriage license to a same-sex couple. Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis has refused to issue marriage licenses to gay couples in the two months since the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage across the country.

A note taped to the doors of Davis' office said: "sorry our office is closed for computer upgrades. ETA 1 hour."

Davis and an entourage of deputy clerks walked out of the office and drove away. She declined to comment.

I am so sorry to hear this

Jean Ritchie, Who Revived Appalachian Folk Songs, Dies at 92

Jean Ritchie, who brought hundreds of traditional songs from her native Appalachia to a wide audience — singing of faith and unfaithfulness, murder and revenge, love unrequited and love lost — and in the process helped ignite the folk song revival of the mid-20th century, died on Monday at her home in Berea, Ky. She was 92.

Jean Ritchie, 1922 - 2015

"I see folk music as a river that never stopped flowing," she told The New York Times in 1980. "Sometimes a few people go to it and sometimes a lot of people do. But it's always there."

Here she is playing one of my favourite folk songs:



This is lovely:



Finally, one she wrote herself, about mountaintop removal, a controversial practice here in Kentucky:

I follow the Lost and Found Pets of Lexington, KY Facebook page, and this was just amazing

Two years after being lost, and 1,700 miles later, Tilly has been reunited with her family. Behold the power of a microchip, social media, and a bunch of people who care!

One bit of good news, though

Appeals court: Ky. library tax is legal

It doesn't look like libraries in Kentucky will have to close after all.

The Kentucky Court of Appeals in a 3-0 decision handed down on Friday reversed two circuit court decisions in Kenton and Campbell counties that declared the library districts in those counties had improperly raised taxes for decades.

The appeals court found the libraries can raise their tax without having to gather a petition—so long as the amount doesn't bring in four percent more revenue than the year before, just like other taxing districts. It means library budgets won't get slashed and library branches won't get closed as some had feared.

The court case garnered national attention, and library associations across the country rejoiced at the news.

"More than just a vital resource, we know that libraries are vital to democracy in the great state of Kentucky and everywhere," American Library Association President Courtney Young and Public Library Association President Larry Neal said in a joint statement on Friday.

If the Tea Party plaintiffs had had their way--

...the lawsuit would have rolled library taxes back to their rates in the 1970s and decimated library revenues, likely causing the closure of branches and other cutbacks. It would have affected more than 80 libraries around the state.

So glad that didn't happen. Technically, they can appeal to the US Supreme Court, though. But hopefully they're satisfied with the unanimous decision, and will drop the cases.

Hmmm...

Where Are the Hardest Places to Live in the U.S.?

Annie Lowrey writes in the Times Magazine this week about the troubles of Clay County, Ky., which by several measures is the hardest place in America to live.

The Upshot came to this conclusion by looking at six data points for each county in the United States: education (percentage of residents with at least a bachelor’s degree), median household income, unemployment rate, disability rate, life expectancy and obesity. We then averaged each county’s relative rank in these categories to create an overall ranking.

(We tried to include other factors, including income mobility and measures of environmental quality, but we were not able to find data sets covering all counties in the United States.)

The 10 lowest counties in the country, by this ranking, include a cluster of six in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky (Breathitt, Clay, Jackson, Lee, Leslie and Magoffin), along with four others in various parts of the rural South: Humphreys County, Miss.; East Carroll Parish, La.; Jefferson County, Ga.; and Lee County, Ark.

Here in Fayette, we're in a little better state than the rest of the Commonwealth:



In the original article, if you roll over the map, it will bring up a box with the chosen county's statistics.

Yep!

People don’t like Mitch McConnell. That’s why Alison Lundergan Grimes still has a shot.

The Kentucky Senate race comes down this: whether voters are more willing to vote against a Barack Obama who is not on the ballot, or a Mitch McConnell who is.

Now I'm not saying I would vote for anyone to get Mitch McConnell out of office. But yeah, close to that...and I feel just about as strongly about getting a challenger to Rand Paul. I am embarrassed by the senators from my state--terribly embarrassed anytime I see the headlines.

I should watch this tonight

I know where my vote's going (and you can pretty much guess if you read this blog with any regularity). Still, I'm interested in how they do.

WATCH LIVE: Kentucky Senate candidates debate issues

Kentucky’s major party candidates for U.S. Senate will meet for a moderated conversation on Kentucky Educational Television’s signature politics program Monday, Oct. 13, at 8 p.m. EDT, in what is expected to be their only face-to-face event before the Nov. 4 general election.

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R) and Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D), who are embroiled in one of the most contentious national races in the country, will appear live on “Kentucky Tonight” with host Bill Goodman. Libertarian candidate David Patterson will not be present, following a short but heated legal challenge against KET.

You can watch the livestream online thanks to KET (Kentucky Educational Television), if you don't get the station (although it does cover the entire Commonwealth, I believe, being one of the largest public television networks in the country, if I remember from when I was an employee there). Then there's this:

Tonight’s debate will not be open to an audience, but viewers with questions for the candidates may send them via e-mail to kytonight@ket.org or use the message form at KET.org/kytonight. Viewers may also submit questions on Twitter via @BillKET or on KET’s Facebook page. The phone number for viewer questions during the program is 1-800-494-7605. All messages should include the first and last name and the hometown or home county of the submitter.

So sorry to hear about this

Former Kentucky poet laureate Jane Gentry Vance dies at age 73

Former Kentucky poet laureate Jane Gentry Vance, 73, a longtime University of Kentucky professor who penned a large body of poetry, as well as critical essays and book reviews, died Thursday at Taylor Manor Nursing Home in Versailles after battling cancer.

Vance spent 40 years as a professor at UK, where she taught honors courses and creative writing. She won the UK Alumni Association's Great Teacher Award in 1986 and was inducted into the UK College of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame after her retirement last year.

Jane Vance was a professor in the university honours programme, a 'Great Works' curriculum which I matriculated and remember with great fondness. My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I think she was one of the three teachers who taught our very first semester back when I started the programme, transitioning us from high school to the expectations there. But if not, I definitely knew her name in the department. I've also taken a creative writing class from Gurney Norman, another former Kentucky poet laureate quoted in the article. This is the third professor who taught me various subjects whose obituary I caught when perusing the paper, all dying from cancer. Such a shame.

Speaking of gays

Brenda showed us this on Sunday. Okay, yes, it plays up on rural stereotypes, but I'm very proud of the folks in Vicco, Kentucky. They've got their priorities straight. And I'm glad that here in Lexington, we also have a gay mayor, who is up for re-election and has my vote.

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