Columns

Like most drunk drivers, Matthew Paul Croley isn’t an evil guy. He doesn’t have a rap sheet a mile long. He would help a friend if he could, and he did not set out to hurt anyone. Thursday, he told jurors in his wanton murder trial that he regrets what he did. The prosecutor doesn’t doubt that he was sincere. I don’t doubt that he was sincere either. This doesn’t change the fact that if not for Croley’s actions and a “litany” of bad decisions, as the prosecutor Ronnie Bowling put it, then young Patrick Flores would likely still be alive today. On Jan. 31, 2024, Croley killed the two-year-old Flores on...

Late last week, I received an e-mail from Kentucky High School Athletic Association Media Relations Director Brian Milam that included some interesting details from the Association’s latest Board of Control meeting. Among those details was the fact that the board is discussing possibilities for changing the structure of the annual high school football playoffs. Currently, the first two weeks of the playoffs are set in stone. Beginning in round three, pairings are decided based on the most current RPI rankings. The proposed change would have RPI coming into play beginning in round two. The e-mail that I received explained it like this, “One concept to consider is using RPI-based pairings starting...

Changes have been made this year when you enter Gilliam Gymnasium at Corbin High School for a basketball game. Originally, an intended entrance to the gymnasium was built on the front of the school facing Synder Street. It was used for a short while, but after finding it insufficient a decision was made to close it years ago. This year the school has reopened it and is using what was deemed a poor way to enter then. During the many years of broadcasting Corbin Redhound basketball and attending the games, I have been in every gym in the 13th Region and many in the 12th Region, plus others throughout the state....

Throughout this week’s edition, readers will find content related to the now underway 2026 legislative session. We aim to continue providing coverage of happenings from the General Assembly on a weekly basis between now and when the session wraps in March, so be sure to follow along for those updates. For now, I’d like to point out a few specific bills that have caught my eye. House Bill 227 – Rep. Matt Lockett (R, 39th District) is the primary sponsor of this bill, which seeks to create new sections of the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) to “establish requirements to protect minors from AI companion platforms and social media platforms using...

Throughout this week’s edition, readers will find content related to the now underway 2026 legislative session. We aim to continue providing coverage of happenings from the General Assembly on a weekly basis between now and when the session wraps in March, so be sure to follow along for those updates. For now, I’d like to point out a few specific bills that have caught my eye. House Bill 227 – Rep. Matt Lockett (R, 39th District) is the primary sponsor of this bill, which seeks to create new sections of the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS) to “establish requirements to protect minors from AI companion platforms and social media platforms using...

Changes have been made this year when you enter Gilliam Gymnasium at Corbin High School for a basketball game. Originally, an intended entrance to the gymnasium was built on the front of the school facing Synder Street. It was used for a short while, but after finding it insufficient a decision was made to close it years ago. This year the school has reopened it and is using what was deemed a poor way to enter then. During the many years of broadcasting Corbin Redhound basketball and attending the games, I have been in every gym in the 13th Region and many in the 12th Region, plus others throughout the state....

Well, we made it. We successfully navigated another hectic holiday season and now we are just days into yet another New Year. This is a time both for reflection on what was, and more importantly, to look ahead to what the coming weeks and months hold in store for us all. I have learned that looking ahead can be tricky. On one hand, I think that you have to stay mindful of certain possibilities and at least try to be prepared for whatever curve balls life may throw your way. With that being said, you also can’t allow yourself to ruminate on what those curve balls might look like, or...

On New Year’s Eve, my wonderful wife, Cecelia, got a phone call from her dad that we had been expecting to get any time. Her 101-year-old grandmother, Mary Updike, had passed away after spending the past two weeks in a nursing home. For most of her life though, she had lived out on her own in rural West Virginia, in the home where she raised her two children. About six or seven years or so ago she went to live with my wife’s parents, George and Ruth, for a short time before going to live with Cecelia’s aunt, Carolyn. Grannie, as many of us in the family called her, was a character....

Each Christmas season, the Director of the Targeted Case Management Team at Cumberland River Behavioral Health, Jennifer Beach, ensures that many children in the eight county service region have gifts for Christmas by organizing an Angel Tree Program. There are many others involved with this including those in our communities who donate gifts, employees who help with the organization of gifts, and those who make sure the gifts get to the children in need. This year, there were also seniors citizens who assisted with the wrapping of gifts. If you have ever seen Jennifer’s office at Christmas you have seen it exploding with gifts. Jennifer is not...

As the year comes to an end, I can’t help but reflect on everything I have experienced and accomplished this year. There are many instances, both in my career and in my personal life, when I pushed myself out of my comfort zone. I worked on patience and kindness, prioritized my mental and emotional health, and learned to say “no” even when it was hard. I focused on musical growth and surprised myself. Let’s take a walk down Leeann’s 2025 memory lane. At the beginning of this year, I was still a teacher. I was teaching second grade at Boonesborough Elementary School. The other day, I was looking for a specific video...