Central Kentucky

The Central Kentucky Adult Flag Football League is registering teams and players for its 10th season, which begins next month. Games are played at the Central Kentucky Ag Expo Center in Liberty between eight-person co-ed teams (six men, two women) on Sunday afternoons, with preseason games April 3 and regular-season play beginning April 10. There are 10 games plus a double-elimination tournament. Registration fees are $15 for individuals — who will be placed on existing teams — or $160 for teams.

In observance of driving around here: I think it is pathos. I have written other letters earlier this year with some observations, and I would like to make one or two more. Around here refers to Central Kentucky: Lexington, Richmond, Nicholasville and Danville, namely. There have been a number of accidents on the Hustonville Road recently, and I believe one spot may have been where the bypass merges with U.S. 127. To any drivers who are nervous when they are merging, it does not mean stop.

Through a search that expanded over three decades, a North Carolina man found that his roots are based in central Kentucky and finally gained the opportunity to see their origins. Dorothy Lee McCormack, who would be about 92 if still living, originated from the Stanford area before moving to Fort Knox where she lived and worked. She ultimately moved to Harrodsburg where she worked at Shaker Village until the time of her death. She was married and divorced during her lifetime, but kept the married name of McComas following the divorce.

A pool team from the central Kentucky area, Bad Habits, will be competing in the American Poolplayers Association 9-Ball National Team Championship in Las Vegas. Three of the eight competitors, Tommy Day II, Joey Lawson and Sherry Lawson, are from Jessamine County. The Bad Habits team will join more than 300 other qualified teams from throughout North America who will be traveling to the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas from Aug. 18-22 to compete for a national title and a portion of more than $150,000 in guaranteed prize money.

Dear Editor: We in central Kentucky have lost a very special person - Brian Collins. Does anyone one remember him hosting the air shows at Junction City, and how much he gave to our community? I lived in Boyle County for 50 years and moved to Cynthiana after retiring. Barry L. Gover Cynthiana

In showbiz, the old adage says the show must go on no matter what obstacles and disappointments get in the way. That’s proving true for Lincoln County modeling star Laura Kirkpatrick. Friday’s fashion show and after-party fundraiser at the Boyle County Fairgrounds will go on as planned, even though Kirkpatrick herself won’t be there, having been called back to Hollywood for some pretty important business. “She’s so disappointed,” said Hannah Kirkpatrick, who is filling in for her older sister at Friday’s event.

The National Association of Realtors reports that while homes sales and median sales prices are falling at record levels nationally, the same is not true for central Kentucky. Existing home sales for central Kentucky fell only 4.74 percent in January 2008 versus January 2007 while NAR reported a drop of 23.5 percent nationwide. Locally, the median sales price for the central Kentucky region dropped 2.34 percent in January 2008 verses January 2007 while the nation saw a drop of 4.6 percent.

Community Editor Rachel Parsons tells you what to check out this weekend around Central Kentucky.

The second annual Father/Daughter Ball, sponsored by the YMCA of Central Kentucky, scheduled for June 20, was cancelled due to a low number of pre-sold tickets. According to information posted by the YMCA, the ball will be rescheduled for Fall 2009.

Feb. 21, 1959 Beverly Yeiser, Winchester poultryman, was named chairman of a statewide membership committee at Friday's meeting of the Kentucky Poultry Federation at Louisville. Lexington, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Research Foundation of the University of Kentucky, Friday completed negotiations to buy Spindletop Farm, a Central Kentucky showplace for $850,000.

Central Kentucky Conference Championships At Henry Clay Friday GIRLS Team scores - 1. Henry Clay 147; 2. Boyle County (BC) 120.5; 4. Casey County (CC) 61; 6. Burgin (B) 52; 8. Mercer County (MC) 30; 10. Lincoln County (LC) 22.5; 11. Danville (D) 21. (Area finishers) 3,200 relay - 1. Boyle County (Logan Arnold, Hannah Harris, Nikki Coffey, Hannah Robertson) 10:02.2; 5. Burgin (Riley Brown, Kiley Luallen, Megan Hughes, Danielle Peavler) 11:48.7. 100 hurdles - 3. Summer Burke (B)

Kim Elliott has been named a Loan Officer with the Danville office of Central Kentucky Ag Credit. She is continuing a 22-year career with the cooperative. Elliott started her career at the Stanford Ag Credit office, where she worked for two years. Since then she has worked at the Danville Ag Credit office, most recently serving as a loan specialist. She has a rich background in rural loan activity, and has worked extensively with Ag Credit member-borrowers in Boyle, Mercer, and surrounding counties.

Through a search that expanded over three decades, a North Carolina man found that his roots are based in central Kentucky and finally gained the opportunity to see their origins. Dorothy Lee McCormack, who would be about 92 if still living, originated from the Stanford area before moving to Fort Knox where she lived and worked. She ultimately moved to Harrodsburg where she worked at Shaker Village until the time of her death. She was married and divorced during her lifetime, but kept the married name of McComas following the divorce.

The Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge will host the first of two spring wildflower walks at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 30. The walk is on the Martha B. Clay Wildflower Trail, which begins near the North Rolling Fork, just past the bridge on Carpenters Creek Road off Ky. 37. This easy, half-mile trail includes both cliffside and riverside segments. The walk will be led by Rob Pendygraft, the refuge's caretaker.  Participants should wear sturdy, comfortable shoes and long socks that can be stretched over pants to protect from ticks and should dress for the weather.

Customers using AT&T in Danville, Winchester and Richmond have been suffereing cell and internet outages since Wednesday morning due to a cut fiber optic cable in Winchester. An AT&T spokesperson told an Advocate reporter this afternoon that the cable was cut on a construction site in Winchester at about 9:30 a.m. She said crews are working to repair the cable and restore service, but there is no estimate on when the repairs will be completed. The outage affects both cell phone and data services.

Now that law enforcement officials and doctors have cracked down on the abuse of prescription painkillers, a growing number of central Kentucky drug addicts are turning to heroin. “We've been finding heroin here, and officers in Lincoln and Boyle are dealing with the same issue,” said Garrard County Sheriff Ronnie Wardrip.  Mercer County also has seen an influx of heroin and is bringing its first cases since the 1970s to a grand jury this spring, said Sheriff Ernie Kelty and Chief Deputy Scott Elder.

You know an idea's time has come when those once among the most inclined to run from it are the ones leading the charge on its behalf. The recent support from federal and state leaders indicate hemp's moment has finally arrived. Legalizing industrial hemp is an idea worth looking at for the sake of farmers and Kentucky's economy as a whole. The state shouldn't maintain obstacles to what could be beneficial for agriculture and give Kentucky a niche as the earliest re-adopter of a resurrected cash crop.  For decades following hemp's criminalization, those arguing in its favor were marginalized as pot smokers seeking a Trojan Horse to conceal their real agenda: the legalization of the plant's cannabis cousin, marijuana.  That has all changed thanks to the vocal campaigning of Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and Kentucky's junior senator, Rand Paul.

Feb. 4, 1988 Richard Lewis, general manager of the Winchester Municipal Utilities Co., spoke to members of the Winchester Kiwanis Club. He spoke of Winchester having the lowest minimum water bill in Central Kentucky and that these rates have been designed to favor the small user.  Lynn Michelle Potter, A Georgetown College junior from Winchester, has been named to  the school's “B” honor roll for the fall semester. The George Rogers Clark freshmen boys advanced to the finals of the 40th District tournament with a 33-25 win over Estill County.

The National Weather Service offices in Louisville and Jackson have issued winter weather advisories. Predictions are that anywhere from a half-inch to 2 inches of snow could fall tonight and early Friday morning, the weather service said. The advisory for Central Kentucky is in effect until 2 a.m. EST Friday. The heaviest snow could fall in the area between Interstates 65 and 75. That area could receive 1-2 inches of snow. The interstate highway corridors could see intense snow squalls, NWS said.

FORKLAND - The Central Kentucky Wildlife Refuge will host a late-fall visit at 9 a.m. Saturday to the Fred Loetscher Bird Blind. The event will give participants a chance to view birds that frequent the area “up close and personal” through a one-way glass in the heated comfort of the blind. Since most of the leaves are gone from the trees this time of year, the birds will be easier to spot. Winter residents, such as pine siskins, dark-eyed juncos and white-crowned sparrows may have arrived to join year-round residents such as goldfinches, titmice, and downy and hairy woodpeckers.