Oh, Kentucky

As previously reported, the Madisonville-North Hopkins High Maroons fell short of winning the Kentucky High School Athletic Association boys' basketball championship. It would've been their first. The Maroons made their first Sweet Sixteen appearance in 1938, when my dad was still a student (and cheerleader!), and they've gone 15 times since, but they've never won. Warren Central High of Bowling Green came from way behind in the second half to beat Madisonville-North Hopkins in Friday's second round, 66-62.

My daughter and I joined about three dozen folks in the gym at our First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and watched the KHSAA's live stream projected on a wall. There was popcorn, cookies and soft drinks, and it was a blast, even given the result. First Presbyterian had put on a similar viewing for Thursday night's first-round win, and there were several other organizations that hosted viewing parties around town for those of us who did not make the trip to Rupp Arena.

The Sweet Sixteen--oh, you asked, and the answer is that some years it has been in Lexington and some years in Louisville--really is a heck of a lot of fun, particularly when your own town is in it. I'm thankful for all of players, coaches, students, teachers, administrators, officials, sponsors, journalists, broadcasters, road builders, tax takers, etc. who all make it possible for me and the rest of us to enjoy it. And I'm looking forward to following the girls' tournament this week. Congratulations to the Trinity High Shamrocks of Saint Matthews, the 1929 Heath Pirates of West Paducah and all of the other #khsbbk champs over the years:

• 1918 Lexington (Henry Clay)
• 1919 Lexington (Henry Clay)
• 1920 Lexington (Henry Clay)
• 1921 Louisville duPont Manual
• 1922 Lexington
• 1923 Louisville duPont Manual
• 1924 Lexington
• 1925 Louisville duPont Manual
• 1926 Louisville Saint Xavier
• 1927 Millersburg Military Institute
• 1928 Ashland (Blazer)
• 1929 West Paducah Heath!
• 1930 Corinth
• 1931 Louisville duPont Manual
• 1932 Hazard
• 1933 Ashland (Blazer)
• 1934 Ashland (Blazer)
• 1935 Louisville Saint Xavier
• 1936 Corbin
• 1937 Midway
• 1938 Sharpe
• 1939 Brooksville
• 1940 Hazel Green
• 1941 Inez
• 1942 Lexington Lafayette
• 1943 Hindman
• 1944 Harlan
• 1945 Louisville Male
• 1946 Breckinridge Training
• 1947 Marysville
• 1948 Brewers
• 1949 Owensboro
• 1950 Lexington Lafayette
• 1951 Clark County
• 1952 Cuba
• 1953 Lexington Lafayette
• 1954 Inez
• 1955 Hazard
• 1956 Carr Creek
• 1957 Lexington Lafayette
• 1958 Louisville Saint Xavier
• 1959 Calvert City North Marshall
• 1960 Louisville Flaget
• 1961 Ashland (Blazer)
• 1962 Louisville Saint Xavier
• 1963 Louisville Seneca
• 1964 Louisville Seneca
• 1965 Breckinridge County
• 1966 Shelby County
• 1967 Earlington
• 1968 Glasgow
• 1969 Louisville Central
• 1970 Louisville Male
• 1971 Louisville Male
• 1972 Owensboro
• 1973 Louisville Shawnee
• 1974 Louisville Central
• 1975 Louisville Male
• 1976 Edmonson County
• 1977 Louisville Ballard
• 1978 Shelby County
• 1979 Lexington Lafayette
• 1980 Owensboro
• 1981 Independence Simon Kenton
• 1982 Laurel County
• 1983 Lexington Henry Clay
• 1984 Logan County
• 1985 Hopkinsville
• 1986 Pulaski County
• 1987 Clay County
• 1988 Louisville Ballard
• 1989 Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park
• 1990 Louisville Fairdale
• 1991 Louisville Fairdale
• 1992 Hopkinsville University Heights
• 1993 Marion County
• 1994 Louisville Fairdale 59
• 1995 Breckinridge County
• 1996 Paintsville
• 1997 Middletown Eastern
• 1998 Scott County
• 1999 Louisville Ballard
• 2000 Elizabethtown
• 2001 Lexington Lafayette
• 2002 Lexington Catholic 83
• 2003 Mason County
• 2004 Bowling Green Warren Central
• 2005 London South Laurel
• 2006 Jeffersontown
• 2007 Scott County
• 2008 Mason County
• 2009 Covington Holmes
• 2010 Pikeville Shelby Valley
• 2011 Christian County
• 2012 Louisville Trinity
• 2013 Richmond Madison Central
• 2014 Covington Catholic
• 2015 Owensboro
• 2016 Lexington Paul L. Dunbar
• 2017 Bowling Green
• 2018 Covington Catholic
• 2019 Louisville Trinity

You also asked about hemp in areas of the state beyond central Kentucky. Just in 2019 so far, I've seen reports of business activity around the crop in Bon Ayr, Cave City, Cynthiana, Glasgow, Jenkins, Kevil, Madisonville and Mayfield, so that's southern, southern, northern, southern, eastern, western, midwestern and western Kentucky. Indeed, AerosourceH, the hemp outfit in Ballard County, held an open house Saturday and announced a second wave of expansion that it says is expected to entail 14 more full-time jobs. “The Bluegrass State continues to lead the way in revolutionizing the hemp industry, and AerosourceH is one of many Kentucky companies finding early success in this emerging market,” Gov. Bevin said in a state press release with an unusual weekend wiring. “As this crop takes root nationwide, the commonwealth’s efforts to set the table for economic prosperity are already paying dividends. We congratulate AerosourceH on its rapid growth, and we look forward to more success stories in the years ahead.”

Billy Kobin of The Courier-Journal delivers a rock-solid accounting of how a Paducah Olive Garden server's alertness quickly led to a child-abuse arrest in Tennessee.

I had no idea that Etown is a hub of Kentucky dog-show planning.