Delta Mariner with portions of Eggner's Ferry Bridge on its bow.

(Aurora, KY, Jan. 27, 2012) -Thursday evening at 8:10 p.m., the Delta Mariner, a ship belonging to Foss Corporation of Seattle Washington, carrying NASA rocket parts, slammed into Eggner's Ferry Bridge. The ship carried two lengths of bridge steel and blacktop on its bow before coming to a stop.

By some miracle, no one was injured ...

The new KY Senate map

...Redistricting in the House was all about keeping the balance of power.

Redistricting in the Senate was a night of long knives.

What we have to wonder is – why haven’t the Democrats filed suit?

GO RACERS!

Murray State University got a serious two page shout out from that venerable home of journalism, the New York Times.

The MSU Racers are undefeated, so a reporter made his way to "wistfully named" Big Apple Cafe. He passed hunting shacks and white picket fences with horses grazing in the fields on his way. (He must have come in through Lexington.)

Other than that, it's a good read. Oh, and that's River Countian Gina Winchester in the foreground of the photo.

Super-couple Carville and Matalin to be at MSU day before Valentine's

MURRAY, Ky. — The 2012 Murray State University Presidential Lecture Series will feature a duo for the first time this year with political super-couple James Carville and Mary Matalin. Their lecture is aptly named All’s Fair in Love, War and Politics.

Their visit to Murray is scheduled for Monday, Feb. 13, at 7:30 p.m., in Murray State’s Lovett Auditorium. The lecture is free and MSU students, faculty and staff, as well the general public are encouraged to attend.

Jeanie Embry, at left, addresses a meeting at Paducah Public Library.

Paducah native Jeanie Embry filed to run for a seat on Paducah's City Council this past Tuesday. Embry said she wants to bring prosperity to all in Paducah - not just a few.

To view her announcement on WPSD Channel 6, follow the link.

The USS Essex - most powerful gunboat on the Mississippi River

In January 1862, Capt. “Dirty Bill” Porter of the Yankee navy was itching to blast Rebel skipper Marsh J. Miller to the bottom of the Mississippi River.

Editor's Note: It's a pleasure to publish another installment of the hidden history of West Kentucky from historian Berry Craig.

First District Rep. Steven Rudy - $62,655.24 in 2010

Editor's Note: A reader reminded me that we ran this story back on January 13, 2010. We think it's worth repeating.  

The General Assembly has posted compensation and expenses for legislators, personal service contracts  and legislative employees.  The database can be accessed by selecting Legislative Branch Expenditures on the left panel of the  Legislative Research Commission  homepage...West Kentucky House members averaged $67,484.28 in 2010. West Kentucky Senators averaged $68,785.82 for their service. (These numbers do not include retirement benefits.) 

We looked at those numbers for members of West Kentucky’s legislative delegation for 2010.

For a breakdown of House members serving Districts 1-6 and Senators from Districts 1-3, follow the link:

Mayor Teresa Cantrell called a special meeting of the Mayfield City Council for this Saturday to do strategic planning for the City.  

Follow the jump for what's on the agenda for the Pearl of the Purchase.

Editor's Note: This is Senator Paul's account of his encounter with TSA at the Nashville airport. This editorial originally appeared in The Washington Times 1-20-12.

...I refused an unnecessary patdown and stood up for my rights as an American citizen. This is a battle Americans face every time they fly. It is my firm belief that TSA should not have such broad authority to violate our constitutional rights in ineffective and invasive physical searches, thus I will further push for the reinstatement of traveler privacy and rights. I will be proposing legislation that will allow for adults to be rescreened if they so choose...

(January 23, 2012) -

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission was born Jan. 21, 2010

(Clinton, KY Jan. 21, 2012) - Citizens United is two years old today.

Two year olds are known for their propensity to do mischief, insisting on their own way, ignoring the instructions of their parents, throwing a temper tantrums that damage anything in their reach.

Based upon that criteria, Citizens United is a typical toddler.

Second graders stage the story of Johnny Appleseed.

(Clinton, KY) - Debbie Watson’s fifth grade class presented a play to the second graders revolving around the historical period of the 1960’s and the Civil Rights Movement.

Second graders in Ms. Fussell's class performed the story of Johnny Appleseed.

Hickman County seniors got help from former HCHS Falcon Trent Johnson on filling out financial aid forms and scholarship applications. Johnson now works for West Kentucky Community & Technical College.

Paducah Tilghman student Victoria Potter was one of the winners in a recent American Legion speech contest.

Photo above: left to right seated  - Nicole Peters, Lyon County HS; Nick Betts, Calloway County HS; First District Champion Bryant Powell of Mayfield HS; First District Runner-up Victoria Potter of Paducah Tilghman HS; and David Leipzig of Marshall County HS.  Standing behind the contestants are members of Post 73 and the contest judges.

The Hickman County Military Club raised $3061 for the Hugs Project of West Kentucky. The Club donated $2000 to send packages to troops in the Middle East for Christmas. Then they gave an additional $1061 to send care packages in January to the troops.

According to Hugs Director Gayron Ferguson, it was the largest donation received all year.

GRAVES STUDENT-ACTORS PLAY ATLANTA – Graves County Central Elementary School presented Annie Jr. in the district’s Performing Arts Center in April 2011. It’s a condensed version of the legendary Broadway play Annie, which, in turn, is based on the 1930s comic strip and radio show Little Orphan Annie. Teachers Patsy Riley and Amy Murphey took eight students from that cast to the 2012 Junior Theater Festival the weekend of Jan. 13-15 in Atlanta, Ga. Central won the festival’s top team “Spirit Award,” despite the fact that its eight performers constituted one of the smallest groups in attendance.

Pictured, from left, are (front row) Mattison Sullivan, Ethan Murphey, (middle row) Julianna Sims, Tate Keeling, (back row) Kelsey Drew, Maddie Green, Skylar Hargrove, and Maggie Marrs. “Tate and Julianna are still at Central,” Murphey said, “the rest have moved on to the middle school, but they still came back every week to practice.”

(Paducah KY, Jan. 17, 2012) - Paducah Middle Speech Team members brought home several awards from the Paducah Tilghman Tornado Alley speech tournament held at PTHS on January 14.  The team won first place in six categories, along with 2nd and 3rd in Poetry and 3rd in Prose. 

L  to r: Claire Kelly, Maddie Ybarzabal, Michael-Ellen Walden, Emily Hahn, Meg Hancock, Miranda Duong, Helena Icke (not pictured: Samyra Guerin)

QUILTERS’ BLOCK – Graves County High School students Josie Seay, Elizabeth French, and Cyler Sullivan will be honored at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah Feb. 4 for their work in the museum’s School Block Challenge.

Fresh fruits and vegetables can be reserved before planting season.

...One Kentucky CSA is unique in that it is not a farm but a retail store that operates as a cooperative of sorts, minimizing the risk to consumers by utilizing multiple farms.

Healing Harvests CSA is an outgrowth of a family’s health foods store in the western Kentucky city of Paducah. It purchases fruits and vegetables, grass-fed beef, poultry, lamb, eggs, baked goods and flowers from about 10 local farms...

Representative Richard Henderson, (D - House 74)

(Frankfort Jan. 19, 2012) – Appearing together in the Capitol Rotunda with dozens of supporters from across the state, state Rep. Richard Henderson and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said today they would work to pass Rep. Henderson’s legislation that would set the stage to make industrial hemp legal to grow in Kentucky.

“The time has come for Kentucky to again take advantage of a crop that has so much potential not just for our farmers, but for manufacturers of hundreds of products that industrial hemp can make,” said Rep. Henderson, D-Jeffersonville. “Kentucky led the nation in its production in the 1800s, and there is every reason to believe we could do the same again if my bill becomes law.”

Pfc. Dustin Napier

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 10, 2012) – Gov. Steve Beshear today recognized the sacrifice of a Kentucky soldier who died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. 

According to the Department of Defense, Pfc. Dustin P. Napier, 20, of London, KY, died Jan. 8 in Zabul province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from enemy small-arms fire.  He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Dec. 27, 2011) – Gov. Steve Beshear today recognized the sacrifice of a Fort Knox soldier who died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. 

According to the Department of Defense, Spc. Mikayla A. Bragg, 21, of Longview, Washington, died Dec. 21 in Khowst province, Afghanistan.  She was assigned to the 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Knox, Ky.