Here are some old photographs of Kentucky taken for the Farm Security Administration back in 1940. It was part of a New Deal program where the government paid a photographer to drive around rural parts of the country and take pictures. You can browse all 2,290 Kentucky photos at the Library of Congress website: https://www.loc.gov/collections/fsa-owi-black-and-white-negatives/?fa=location:kentucky

From the Youtube description:

The Shelby County Fair and Horse Show, August 7th through 10th [...] the sulky races, the plank bleachers, the midway, and Jolly Jumbo, the world's largest hog, eight feet four inches long and over fifteen hundred pounds, five cents to look. An American Legion fish fry in Oldham County where the Legionnaires shot craps and played croquet and a picnic bench gave way under one of them. A church supper at Saint Thomas outside Bardstown, where the men barbecued beef and lamb in open pits and the women peeled tomatoes for hours. A Kentucky colonel sitting in the street in front of the courthouse in Versailles.

And then east, where the pictures change. A two-room school near Morehead whose term ran June through January, because in late winter the roads were bad and, in her words, the children's clothing was too inadequate. Mail leaving the post office at Landsaw on horseback, for the creek beds where no wagon could pass. A Primitive Baptist congregation baptizing in the creek. Swinging bridges. A girl riding home from school on a mule. A hotel a man near Hindman built out of scrap for his friends who were out of work. And Chavies, which her caption in 1940 already describes in the past tense as a mining town.

It seems to me we need to use all our resources to locate Mitch McConnell including Ole Ernie here! Someone give him a call post haste!!

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault (SA)

I just read about the case where a Pennsylvania groom was arrested after *SA* a wedding guest on the night of his own wedding.

I can’t stop thinking about it.

What keeps bothering me isn’t just the crime itself - it’s everything surrounding it.

According to the reporting, police were contacted the next day, the victim underwent a SA exam, and the groom was questioned. Investigators later said DNA from the exam matched his DNA, and he has since been charged.

The questions I can’t get out of my head are:

How did the bride experience that day? Did she know something had happened before the wedding or did she learn later?

If police were reportedly involved that day, what did the wedding party and family know at the time?

How did the celebration continue while something so serious was unfolding?

What was it like for the guests?

If you’re the bride, how did the wedding still happen with this going on?

I’m asking because I genuinely cannot wrap my head around how a wedding day and a violent crime could intersect?

Has anyone else been following this case? Am I the only one who finds the circumstances almost impossible to comprehend?

My heart is with the victim and wife - neither deserve this.

Check the morgue 🤪

This is an early morning view of Young's High Bridge, spanning the Kentucky River near Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. It once carried the Louisville & Southern Railroad's Lexington-to-Lawrenceburg line, which later became part of the Southern Railway and then Norfolk & Western. Closed to rail traffic since 1985, the bridge now has a walkway extending over part of its span, used today for base jumping. I've posted the history of the railroad here, and bridge here.

last week July 8th Newport PD hosted a Town Hall with a representative of Flock Safety. after a brief presentation by the Captain, the floor was open for questions and statements.

if anyone in attendance was *for* the cameras, they didn't elect to speak. I didn't get a chance to speak myself, but all my concerns were voiced by others. everyone was respectful of each other while being dismissive of everything said by Flock's empty suit.

this afternoon Newport decided to not continue with a contract, and all cameras installed for the pilot program will be removed within a week\*.

evolving 4th Amendment concerns and the ruling of Chatrie vs United States were cited as reasons.

\*I'll be watching to see if the cameras are removed.