Las Vegas

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.

Montgomery Gentry will appear on the two-hour season premiere of NBC's "Las Vegas. " The two-hour episode will air at 9 p.m. Sept. 28. Now entering its fifth season, the drama follows the Las Vegas team in charge of maintaining security for one of the city's largest resorts and casinos and stars Josh Duhamel, Molly Sims, James Lesure, Vanessa Marcil and Tom Selleck. Eddie Montgomery and Troy Gentry will perform their Top 5 hit, "Hell Yeah," on the show.

LEXINGTON - Jodie Meeks said Kentucky has a chance to redeem itself, while Patrick Patterson said this weekend's games at the Las Vegas Invitational are a "great opportunity" to prove UK doubters wrong. The Wildcats want a chance to show the nation they aren't the same team that lost to VMI on their home floor, or was blown out at North Carolina. They'll get that chance tonight when they play Kansas State. "It's a huge opportunity. We know when we go out there, people are going to talk about the VMI loss or how North Carolina killed us in transition and how our defense isn't that good most likely," Patterson said.

Vernon Azevedo, general manager of Winchester Municipal Utilities, presented WMU employee Joey Perkins for an award 22 years of service to the company. Perkins is moving to Las Vegas.

Megan Kestel, 15, a sophomore at East Jessamine High School won the Top New Student Award at Arthur Murray World Dance-O-Rama competition from March 26 to March 30 in Las Vegas. Ballroom Dancers from all over the World competed in the event. Megan, daughter of Eric and Lisa Kestel, attends the Dance Studio in Lexington under the instruction of Chris Stone.

Maria Montgomery, a Boyle County native who is Miss Kentucky in the Miss USA pageant in April, has been super busy preparing for the big event in Las Vegas. Montgomery is now blogging about events leading up to the pageant for amnews.com. Her blog is called Pageant Preview. See her posts and photos as she is "On the Way to Miss USA" by going here.

Eight students from Danville High School have qualified for the National Forensic League Grand Nationals in Las Vegas. The students qualified during the Kentucky National Forensic League District Tournament March 21-22 at Centre College. DHS was the school sweepstakes winner at the tournament, its fourth state title in as many weeks. This is the first time a Kentucky high school has won all four titles in the same year, or ever. DHS senior Sebastian Pyrek won the Susan Moore Congress Scholarship and was named District Student of the Year during the contest.

Carl and Renee Rapier recently observed their 30th wedding anniversary.They were married Aug. 6, 1976, in Winchester. The couple are residing in Louisville where he is employed with Irving Materials Inc. Mrs. Rapier currently has 33 years service with BellSouth and has obtained her real estate license and is affiliated with ERA Kepple Keene Realtors. The Rapiers celebrated their anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas earlier in the year.

Jim and Beth Lanaghan of Nicholasville announce the birth of their daughter, Mia Ryan Lanaghan, born at 9:25 a.m. on Aug. 6, at the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington. She weighed 9 pounds, 5 ounces and was 21 1/2. She was welcomed home by her parents and big sister Madison. Her maternal grandparents are Roger and Jean Ann Collins of Nicholasville. Her paternal grandparents are Rusty and Cindy Froats of Las Vegas, Nev.

Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie says there's no guarantee his team will bond during a five-day trip to Las Vegas to play games Friday and Saturday nights. "You can say what you want, but that doesn't mean you will bond," Gillispie said. "It's all about the nature of the players and the characteristics they have. I am pleased with the intangibles on this team. They all like each other. "We are a work in progress like every team is. It is an extremely long season. You start finding out things after you start playing games.

In cooking up the final production of its 63rd season, Pioneer Playhouse has concocted quite the recipe for humor: take two men, baste with multiple layers of zany characters, mix in a heaping spoonful of physical comedy and cover the whole thing with a generous amount of cross-dressing. Even though there are at least 18 characters in “Tuna Does Vegas,” there are only two actors. Daniel Hall Kuhn and Michael Kelly take on an impressively large number of cartoonish roles, including radio DJs, diner waitresses, old women and many more.

Melissa Kaye Haynes, 47, formerly of Lexington, died Monday, April 23, in her home in Cincinnati. She was a speech therapist in the Cincinnati area for 20 years. Melissa received her bachelor's and master's degrees in speech pathology at Western Kentucky University. She was the daughter of Bob N. Haynes Jr. and the late Pauline Charles Haynes of Lexington. Melissa was a trumpet player in the Lafayette High School band. An avid musician, she also played both violin and fiddle music, the clarinet and the piano.

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.

“Nice talking with you, folks,” the engineer said to our parents. “Excuse me, sir,” I barked. “Yes?” the engineer answered. “My sister and I found a small hole,” I explained as Chloe pointed to the hole.  “We plugged it for you.” The engineer looked amused as he ran his finger over the plugged up hole.  Then he looked startled. “Is this chewing gum?” he asked. “No, sir. It’s putty from our Sherlock Bones Detective Kit.” The engineer pulled the putty away and immediately water began trickling from the hole.

Gilliam Cole of Winchester and Lynn Marshall of Franklinton, N.C., were married July 5, 2009, in Las Vegas. The bride was attended by her matron of honor, Darlene McKenney. The groom was attended by his best man, David Woods. There was a reception on July 18 in Wake Forest, N.C., to celebrate their marriage, and there will be a patio party to meet and greet the couple on July 25 in Winchester. The couple resides in Winchester.

On April 19th I had the honor and privilege to represent the Bluegrass as Miss Kentucky USA at Miss USA in Las Vegas, Nevada. What an experience! As guests of Donald Trump, 50 new friends and I were escorted throughout the city like royalty with camera crews, security - everything I could imagine! The 2 1/2 weeks provided adventures beyond description as well as friendships and memories that I will cherish for a lifetime. It was important to try to represent Kentucky admirably. As the youngest contestant in this year's pageant, to be named fourth runner-up at Miss USA was an incredible distinction.

Even as she was preparing for the biggest moment of her life, Maria Montgomery couldn't quite get away from her Kentucky roots. She was in Las Vegas for the Miss USA contest at the same time Kentucky was abuzz over the hiring of new UK basketball coach John Calipari. Since Montgomery, a 2007 Boyle County graduate, and her family are self-described "big UK fans," she wasn't surprised by a reaction she got in Vegas. "His hiring was definitely talked about while I was getting ready to compete.

April 18, 1959 Augusta, Ga. (AP) - Christian A. Herter today was named by President Eisenhower to be the new Secretary of State. Herter is being elevated to the Cabinet to succeed cancer-stricken John Foster Dulles, who resigned last Wednesday. Las Vegas, Nev. (AP) - The first aircraft designed to fly in the uppermost reaches of the Earth's atmosphere will make its first gliding flights - without fuel or power - within one to two weeks. Miss Mary David McGuire, Miss Mary Jo Witty of Beloit, Wisc.

Growing up, Maria Montgomery never dreamed of competing for Miss USA one day, but come April 19, the Danville woman will be on the stage in Las Vegas with other contenders. "A lot of people start earlier than I did, but for me, it took a few years for me to build up the confidence," Montgomery, the reigning Miss Kentucky USA, says of pageants. Unlike many queens, Montgomery's foray into pageantry didn't come until age 15 after watching her older sister, Tracy Meiers, participate in various competitions.

Maria Montgomery, a Boyle County native who is Miss Kentucky in the Miss USA pageant in April, has been super busy preparing for the big event in Las Vegas. Montgomery is now blogging about events leading up to the pageant for amnews.com. Her blog is called Pageant Preview. See her posts and photos as she is "On the Way to Miss USA" by going here.