If you follow me on Facebook, you might have seen the post I made the other day that included two photos of Gov. Andy Beshear. One was from a press conference at the London Community Center back in September. The other was from a press conference that took place last week at the London-Corbin Airport.
In the photo from last September, Beshear was offering comments on the status of the ongoing search for a gunman that had opened fire on vehicles traveling on I-75 in northern Laurel County. At that time, it was unknown if the suspect was alive or dead. Due to the possible threat of additional shootings, schools all over the region had decided to cancel classes. Friday night football games had also been called off, and several previously scheduled events were postponed to later dates.
It was an unprecedented situation that forced us here at the News Journal to travel outside of what we would normally consider to be our primary coverage area so that we could provide our readers and followers with important information and updates.
About three months later, an unfortunate series of events led to a London City Police officer discharging their firearm while attempting to serve a search warrant in the Lily community of southern Laurel County. Tragically, this resulted in the death of 63-year-old Doug Harless, and has since resulted in multiple public displays of outrage as citizens have attended city council meetings and organized protests in order to voice their displeasure about the situation.
Once again, we at the News Journal suddenly found ourselves travelling north of our primary coverage area so that we could provide our readers and followers with important information and updates. In this particular case, we will continue to do so until some sort of a resolution is reached.
Then came the sudden announcement several weeks ago that Laurel Grocery Co. would be closing. As one of the area’s larger employers, this was obviously going to have an impact on folks all over the region. This meant that, once again, a negative story coming out of London found its way onto our front page.
Most recently, a deadly EF-4 tornado made landfall in London, killing several and leaving many more homeless. In order to provide coverage of this tragic situation, I have found myself heading north on I-75 on multiple occasions – twice to cover appearances by the governor, and once to hear comments from Senator Mitch McConnell.
The tornado hit at the very end of the 2024-25 school year, and ultimately resulted in the remaining few days of school getting called off in Laurel County. Issues with power outages, impassable roadways and the initial threat of additional severe weather simply made it too difficult for the final days of school to proceed as scheduled.
All of this brings me back to the original point of this column, and that is the fact that, with the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21, this has undoubtedly been the wildest school year that I have ever personally witnessed. Why most of the craziness has been centered on London is anyone’s guess, but it’s been very unfortunate, to say the least.
I am from London originally. I grew up in the Bush community of eastern Laurel County, and I graduated from North Laurel High School 20 years ago this month (yikes). While I have lived in Whitley County since 2009, most of my family still lives in London. For that reason, it’s been tough for me to see all of the trials, tribulations and tragedies that have taken place there in recent months.
As some new faces are entering City Hall, and as folks continue to come together in the wake of the deadly tornado, my sincere hope is that the people of London can finally catch a much-needed break. Hopefully, the worst has come to pass and better days lie ahead.
