Uncategorized – Page 14 – The Kaintuckeean

Instagrammed: Discovered some old glass Mrs. Butterworth bottles in a basement. #instablog

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Grisham’s Gray Mountain, Mountain Top Removal & Appalachian Citizen’s Law Center

I don’t ordinarily review national bestsellers on this site, but I’m making an exception for John Grisham’s latest work of legal fiction: Gray Mountain.

Set in Brady, Virginia – a fictional town in far western Virginia not far from either West Virginia or Kentucky – the book depicts a recently furloughed New York City lawyer assuming an unpaid internship at a legal clinic after her firm downsized in the wake of the 2007/08 economic collapse. (More on that legal clinic below.)

In the book, the best and the worst of Appalachia are on display and Grisham does a good job of bringing to life some of the turmoil – internal and external – suffered by the people who live there. The lack of economic opportunity, the collapse of the coal industry, environmental and health issues, and the drug issue all appear in the pages of Gray Mountain.

Despite all of the negatives, it is clear that Samantha (the heroine protagonist of the story) learns to appreciate the nuances of Appalachia.

While Gray Mountain follows the classic Grisham mold of a ‘legal thriller,’ it is worth reading simply because its setting seems so familiar.

One issue that features very prominently in the book is mountain removal. A few of the protagonist’s clients suffer from its consequences, while key supporting characters have been impacted even more.

I won’t spoil the plot line, so I’ll jump to my interest in that Grisham rightfully attacks mountaintop removal with a vengeance. The literary pen is strong and Grisham uses his to highlights the evils of mountaintop removal while carefully extracting a clear difference between it and traditional means of coal mining or even old-style strip-mining:

Mountaintop removal is nothing but strip-mining on steroids. Appalachian coal is found in seams, sort of like layers of cake. At the top of the mountain there is the forest, then a layer of topsoil, then a layer of rock, and finally a seam of coal. Could be four feet thick, could be twenty. When a col company gets a permit to strip-mine, it literally attacks the mountain with all manner of heavy equipment. First it clear-cuts the trees, total deforestation with no effort at saving the hardwoods. They are bulldozed away as the earth is scalped. Same for the topsoil, which is not very thick. Next comes the layer of rock, which is blasted out of the ground. The trees, topsoil, and rock are often shoved in the valleys between the mountains, creating what’s knows as valley fills. These wipe out vegetation, wildlife, and natural streams. Just another environmental disaster. If you’re downstream, you’re just screwed. As you’ll learn around here, we’re all downstream.

The blasting described above also resulted in some of the litigation that is at the center of Gray Mountain. But not all the litigation is centered around the coal companies. Much of the legal work mentioned in Gray Mountain is much more mundane.

Samantha’s internship is at the fictitious Mountain Legal Aid Clinic which serves the people living in western Virginia, West Virginia, and southeastern Kentucky. When interviewing for the unpaid position, Samantha was told that the clinic’s clientele have important needs:

There’s no shortage of poor folks with legal problems around here. These people can’t afford lawyers. Unemployment is high, meth use is even higher, and the coal companies are brilliant when it comes to finding new ways to screw people. Believe me, dear, we need all the help we can get.

So while Grisham’s created legal clinic is fictitious, a real-life clinic that takes up the cause of the citizens of Appalachia.

The Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center (ACLC), located in Whitesburg, Kentucky, is committed to “fighting for justice in the coalfields.” In an author’s note, Grisham notes that dozens of nonprofits in the region work “diligently to protect the environment, change policy, and fight for the rights of miners and their families.”

So remember how Samantha was told that the clinic needed all the help they can get? Well, the same is true for non-profits like ACLC. And the good news is … there’s a really easy (and fun) way to support ACLC!

This Saturday – February 7 – from 4-8 p.m., West Sixth Brewing’s SIXTH FOR A CAUSE will promote and support the ACLC!! Actually, 6% of the entire day’s proceeds will help support this great organization, but the ACLC folks will be on hand during that 4-8 window. More details (and say you’re going) at the event’s Facebook page!

TONIGHT: BGT deTour of St. Paul A.M.E. Church

Lexington’s St. Paul AME Church. Photos by M. Sloan, arr. by W. Rhorer.

This month’s Blue Grass Trust deTours program is tonight, Wednesday, February 4! It will feature one of two Lexington landmarks as designated by the city: St. Paul AME Church at 251 North Upper Street.

St. Paul AME moved to this location in 1820, when they began renting a stable on the site. In 1827, the congregation purchased the stable and surrounding lot for $280. Significant updates to the lot and building occurred in 1850, 1877, 1906, and 1986. It is believed that asection of the original stable is thought to be in the basement. And the church was also a stop on the Underground Railroad!

The event is free and open to the public. deTourians begin gathering at 5:30 pm, and the tour starts at 5:45 pm. A social AfterHour will follow at the Atomic Cafe, 265 North Limestone.

Parking is available along Third Street or in the parking lot at the corner of Upper and Mechanic Streets. On Facebook? Let your friends know you’ll be at the deTour and encourage them to come, too! Just click through on the event below and say “I’m Going!”

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Post by Kaintuckeean.

Fire at Weaver’s Hot Dogs in London

London Fire Departments Fighting the Fire at Weaver’s Hot Dogs – London, Kentucky.
Photo by Willie Sawyers of the London Sentinel-Echo.

Fire engulfed a London, Kentucky landmark early yesterday morning. Weaver’s Hot Dogs had been operated by the Weaver family since 1940. In its original iteration, Weaver’s operated as a pool hall. Future plans for Weaver’s, and for the structure it occupied for decades, remain unknown. According to news reports, “Weaver’s was destroyed.”

Famous Chili Dogs

The Laurel County institution was most famous for its chili dogs.

According to family history, the current owner’s grandfather “purchased the chili [recipe] in the 1940s for $25 from a man in Corbin, Ky. who was on his way to New Mexico. [Weaver] took the recipe and tweaked it a little bit and made it his own.”

The following clip from KET highlights just how good those chili dogs were and gives a good perspective of how history played a role in the 70+ year old business. At one point, the location is even described as hosting a virtual history of London.

Several hundred hot dogs consumed each day alongside 90 pounds of made-daily chili. Wow! And a look at the menu revealed that Weaver’s was Kentucky Proud and that it also offered quite a bit more than hot dogs.

Alan Cornett, on his blog Eat Kentucky, noted that the Weaver’s experience was unexpected: a sidewalk sign for hot dogs leads to the expectation of “a bar stool and counter type steup, but Weaver’s, although casual, is a sit down, full-service restaurant.” Cornett concluded that Weaver’s to be “a gem of southeastern Kentucky eating.”

131 North Main Street

Weaver’s location is at 131 North Main Street, is part of the London Downtown Historic District and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register provides this description for 131 North Main:

The Kroger Company was founded in 1883 in Cincinnati, Ohio, and soon became one of the leading
grocery store chains in the upland south. The building is a 1-story 1-bay one-part commercial block
masonry building built in the period 1920-1929. The foundation is undetermined. Exterior walls are
replacement wood paneling. Flat roof clad in replacement rubberized/asphalt composite. While the
front facade has been altered the sides of the building and the rear are original brick. The massing
steps downward toward the rear and the cornice is topped by leaded metal coping.

Imagine just how many Londoners and visitors to the south central Kentucky town, alike, visited this building either during its long life as Weaver’s or before when Kroger occupied the space? Do you have memories of eating at Weaver’s? Share them in the comments! Do you remember when Kroger was on this part of Main Street?

Weaver’s expanded recently into the newer adjacent building (built in the 1930s) that once housed Golde’s Clothing Store.

A Community Landmark

Weaver’s Facebook page is already full of comments from patrons and friends alike mourning the loss, recalling good times, and hoping for a grand reopening:

Post by Teresa Feltner.

Post by Dewayne Sims.

Post by Bonnie Stewart.

Bonnie’s comment of the community’s “strong connection to Weaver’s” speaks volumes of how important Weaver’s was and is to London, Kentucky. The desire for Weaver’s to reopen is strong (I certainly hope it does, because I’ve never gotten to try that chili dog!) and I hope that Weaver’s remains part of the character of downtown London, Kentucky. If it re-opened elsewhere, would Weaver’s be the same?

Another video offers an unfiltered take on Weaver’s from its patrons, staff and owners:

Whispers in Washington

Word of Weaver’s and its long history have even reached the halls of Congress. In 2011, Senator Mitch McConnell rose to honor Clyde Brock (then 94 years old, Mr. Brock passed away in January 2012). Senator McConnell described Brock as “one of Kentucky’s inspiration treasures” and appreciated how Brock had “remembered for us the monumental events and cherished memories that helped shape his life.” Among those memories included in the Congressional Record were Brock’s college days at Sue Bennett College and his recollection of Weaver’s pool room where “you could get a hamburger and a bottle of pop there and it would cost about 15 cents.”

Prices have gone up, but the same order remained under $5.

And McConnell’s mention certainly wasn’t Weaver’s sole claim to fame. The photo-lined wall revealed many famed visitors including former Senator and Vice-President Alben Barkley.

But whether its customers walked the halls of power or the sidewalks of London, it seems like Weaver’s was a place that had a lasting impression on those who dined within.

I haven’t been there before, but I hope I’m there for the re-opening. Fingers crossed.

Pearson’s Parody of Centrepointe

Happy Friday, everyone! Enjoy the afternoon and the weekend. If you are planning on watching the Super Bowl, you can read my thoughts on #deflategate here. (Go Seahawks!)

But in downtown Lexington, I’m admiring the blue skies, cool temperatures, and the stoic cranes that have stood o’er Centrepointe for weeks.

A reader recently sent me a link to his drawings and song about Centrepointe, “Trouble with Bubbles.” Published in May 2014, the song is about “urban development in a southern town.”

With that, enjoy Rolf Pearson’s “Trouble with Bubbles” …

Remembering Wendell H. Ford (1924-2015)

Wendell H. Ford Bust at Daviess Co. Courthouse. Nate Kissel.

I, along with the rest of the Commonwealth, learned this morning of the passing of one of Kentucky’s political greats of the 20th century. Wendell H. Ford was 90. In 2012, NRK wrote Along the Elkhorn Vale about the former Kentucky Governor and US Senator and revised excerpts from that post are included below:

Although it would have been fitting to place the bust of Wendell H. Ford anywhere in the Commonwealth, it appropriately sits on the courthouse lawn in Owensboro. Wendell H. Ford was born in Owensboro in 1924.

From 1967-71, he served as the Lieutenant Governor during the administration of Gov. Louie Nunn. He was then elected Governor, serving from 1971-1974. From the Governor’s Mansion, Ford ran for and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1974. Ford, a Democrat, served Kentucky in Washington from 1974 until 1999. His service was marked with stints as both minority and majority whip.

Ford was born in Daviess County in 1924. After serving in the Army, he went to school and entered the insurance business with his father. Ford then entered politics by serving as an executive assistant for Governor Bert T. Combs. For a short time, Ford served in the state senate before being elected Lieutenant Governor in an era when the Governor and his Lieutenant were separately elected. This resulted in the unusual situation where Gov. Nunn, a Republican, had Lt. Gov. Ford, a Democrat, a heartbeat away from the Governors Mansion. During his time as Lieutenant Governor, Ford essentially rebuilt the organization of the Democratic party in the Commonwealth.

His election as Governor in 1971 resulted in his overcoming one former governor in the Democratic primary (Brett Combs) and another in the general (Happy Chandler mounted an independent bid to retake his old position). By defeating two former, popular Democratic governors, Ford cemented his stronghold on his political party and end some of the sectionalism that had traditionally plagued state Democrats.

The Wendell Ford administration was marked by efforts toward efficient government, consolidation, and raising certain taxes. The coal severance tax was imposed and both the corporate tax and the gasoline tax were raised; these revenues helped to offset the elimination of the sales tax on food items. Kentucky also passed the Equal Rights Amendment and the University of Louisville was transferred to state control while Wendell Ford was governor.

In 1974, Ford ran for and was elected to the U.S. Senate. In Washington, Ford was decisively pro-Kentucky, pro-coal, and pro-tobacco. Among his accomplishments, the Wendell H. Ford Aviation Investment and Reform Act reduced aircraft noise and required airlines to better inform consumers. He supported the increase in the federal minimum wage, welfare reform, research of clean coal technology, and increased retirement benefits for coal miners. A final accomplishment which would have saved the government millions of dollars by using recycled paper and printing in volume through a centralized printing operation was never realized because Congress became stymied in the 1998 impeachment trial of President Clinton.

After Ford’s retirement in 1998, his Senate seat became occupied by Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Jim Bunning, a Republican. Ford’s public papers are at the Owensboro Museum of Science and History along with a replica of his Senate office.

He was a great Kentuckian. A true icon and ambassador for the Commonwealth.

Mayor Gray: Lexington’s rich past will inform and inspire our future

Discussing Lost Lexington with Mayor Gray in City Hall. Mayor’s Office.

In the nearly two and a half centuries since Lexington was
founded in 1775, this once–frontier
settlement has grown into a flourishing city of more than 300,000 residents. It
has produced some remarkable landmarks and people. These entrepreneurs,
intellectuals and civic leaders had the imagination and vision that helped make
Lexington what it is today: a city that embraces new ideas and innovation while
valuing its rural landscape and authentic past. … As Lexington continues to reinvent itself, it is the
city’s unique and rich past that will inform and inspire its future.

I was honored that Lexington’s Mayor Jim Gray penned the words to the foreword of my book, Lost Lexington. In a few paragraphs, he synopsed the entire text with those inspirational words for the future. Best of all, Mayor Gray wasn’t just paying lip service to historic preservation and a dynamic future for Lexington that honors its “unique and rich past.” His commitment was a hallmark of his first time as mayor and was on display yesterday during his State of the Merged Government Address (link to full text).

In Lost Lexington, I focused on the landmarks that once stood in and around Lexington. Those landmarks, however, are gone. I hoped that the book would encourage us to realize the history that was lost and do something about the threatened historical places that are still around.

The dome of the Old Courthouse in Lexington.
Author’s collection.

During his Address, Mayor Gray discussed Lexington being the best city. He said that “being the best means honoring and preserving our history.”

He went on to deliver a plan for the historic old courthouse in Lexington’s core that has been shuttered since 2012: “In 2014 the City shored up the critical needs of the foundation. This year we will be taking steps to save the building. The courthouse needs to be imaginative, innovative and functional … a gravitational pull that will attract citizens and visitors. The courthouse will have an assessment report in the next few weeks and then in February and March we will host a series of public meetings to get the Community’s input. And I will include funding for the first phase in my budget address in April.”

He touched on other important projects, too. Like funding for the Town Branch Commons – a new linear park that would link the urban core to rural Fayette County. And he noted the heavy costs of having city hall in the old Lafayette Hotel. Relocating city hall to a more efficient location would be good for government and could allow private reinvestment into the structure that dates to the 1920s.

These ideas are all good for Lexington. Mayor Gray is right to do these things and I hope the efforts are all successful. Because “being the best means honoring and preserving our history.”

Discovering The Trails of Jessamine County

Kentucky River winding through the Bluegrass. Author’s Collection.

Of the Bluegrass region, J. Soule Smith wrote in his “Bluegrass Region of Kentucky in 1898”:

The best part of it winds the Kentucky River, which has cut its deep bed into the soft rocks there hundred feet below the surface, and presents its picturesque cliffs in many featured crags as sentinels over the wimpling waves below … It is near to Heaven and most blest of all the earth.

If you’ve spent time in the Palisades, either kayaking the waters of the Kentucky River or hiking above or below the cliffs, you have personally witnessed the blessed place we live in. Or perhaps you’ve seen the sun rise or set over the rolling Bluegrass hills on a Jessamine County farm with centuries-old trees dotting the landscapes.

Yes, we are fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. But, too often, many of us are confined to our daily urban and suburban patterns. Getting out into nature is a treat, one made easier with publicly accessible trails.

Trails come in a wide variety. Some require great energy and involve steep grades, while others are paved and easily accessible by those of all abilities.

Some of the region’s best-known public trails include those at Lexington’s 734-acre Raven Run. Across the Kentucky River from Jessamine County are a series of nature preserves along the Palisades and separating the counties is the Kentucky River Blueway Trail along Jessamine County’s 42-mile waterfront.

Trails for all abilities at Garrard County’s Dupree Nature Preserve. Author’s Collection.

There are also a number of trails within Jessamine County. The US-68 mixed-use trail provides jogging and bicycling opportunity, as does the much shorter Riney B. Park trail. The longest mountain bike trail in the county is currently accessible only via Lexington’s Veterans Park. Other trail opportunities exist at Wilmore’s Centennial Park and at Camp Nelson, and there are more trails in Jessamine County. But many of these are unknown to the general public.

Despite the health and economic benefits of trails, local officials have kept secret many of these treasures. Hikes were possible, by appointment only. But restrictions have softened on access to public lands in our county. Now a consortium of parks and recreation, the YMCA, the health department, St. Joseph Jessamine, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Jessamine County Trails Association is in the process of identifying all of the trails in Jessamine County.

The consortium’s goal is to produce a brochure and map highlighting these Jessamine County resources. If you’re interested in helping to evaluate, photograph and help discover Jessamine County’s trails, contact Lindsay Ames at the health department, 885-2310, or John Howard at parks and recreation, 885-9787. You can also learn more on the Facebook page for the Jessamine County Trails Association.

Lindsay Ames, the Jessamine County Health Department’s Health Environmentalist, regularly hikes the trails of the Bluegrass. “When you simply need a quick escape into nature, the [Jim Beam Trail off Payne Lane] is conveniently located just minutes from Nicholasville,” says Ames.

According to Ames, the shorter Jim Beam Trail has a variety of sights close to home: “you are in the woods above the river, the elevation changes for some hill climbs, and you get some pretty cool views of the Palisades. While popular destinations like Red River Gorge are known for hiking trails, the local hiker may be pleasantly surprised to discover that there are actually a few adventurous trails within just a short drive.”

With random warm weekends popping up during Kentucky winters, it is ideal to plan for a spontaneous hiking excursion. With the leaves off the trees, views and landscapes are particularly spectacular. Year round, you can get out and discover that you live in a place that is “most blest of all the earth.”

The post above was originally published in the Jessamine Journal on January 8, 2015.

‘Madam Belle: Sex, Money, and Influence in a Southern Brothel’ Reviewed

Belle Brezing died in 1940 and her business had closed some twenty-three years earlier. Despite the passing of years, Ms. Brezing remains in the conscience of Lexington and a part of our communal lexicon.

Last year, Maryjean Wall’s Madam Belle: Sex, Money, and Influence in a Southern Brothel was published and the book is filled with colorful and illustrious characters just as were Brezing’s brothels. Wall tells the story of a business-savvy woman who had risen from the most difficult of circumstances.

Belle’s first sexual encounter was with Dionesio Mucci; both lived in the Western Suburb, but they were not contemporaries. Belle was only 12 years old, while Mucci was in his thirties. By the age of 15, Belle was both an orphan and a mother with “few prospects for the future.”

In 1879, at the age of 19, Belle entered the employ of Jennie Hill who operated a brothel in what had been the childhood home of Mary Todd Lincoln. Within two years, Belle opened her own “house of ill repute.” It would be the first of several she would own, each being more lavish than the one before. She also shifted operations from the west end of Lexington to the city’s east end.

<br /> Clients included big names in horse racing, breeding, politics and business. Judge John Riley, a police judge, took interest in one of Belle’s prostitutes before marrying the girl. Her connections to the law aided her in keeping out of trouble and when trouble found Madam Belle, but a pardon from the governor came in handy after an 1883 indictment.

Wall’s ninth chapter – ‘Crackdown on Vice’ – begins with almost a vilification of James Ben Ali Haggin and his manager, Charles Berryman, for “advocating a new moral code for Lexington.” The beginning of the 20th century was a challenging one for Belle Brezing and the other madams of Lexington.

Belle’s final brothel, which remained her home during her twenty-three year retirement, was auctioned off after her death in 1940. In 1973, the house burned closing a tangible reminder of Belle’s influence in Lexington.

But her legacy remains clearly visible and Madam Belle provides a thoroughly researched and enjoyably readable account of this Lexington legend and the community in which she lived.

Published by the University Press of Kentucky, Madam Belle is available at all purveyors of fine books.

Disclaimer: The author was provided a courtesy copy of this book. This review/assessment followed.

A Roundup of News to Start 2014

Local beer runs are easier with 14 breweries opening in Kentucky since 2011. [Courier Journal]

My parents relocation from Kentucky to North Carolina must have helped the Tarheel State jump to become the ninth most populous state. Kentucky is still #26 but there are more than 4.4 million Kentuckians for the first time ever! [WKYT]

A spectacular roundup on Northern Kentucky’s 13 biggest historic preservation stories of 2014. [River City News]

Even sinkholes don’t last forever. They are patching the sinkhole at Bowling Green’s Corvette Museum. [WDRB]

Lexington and Kentucky: 2014 reviewed from the media perspective [Herald Leader]

And then the Governor shouts out the accolades for Kentucky in 2014 [Presser]

In case you haven’t noticed, I ❤ historic preservation! So I just love reading a well-written piece on good historic preservation being sustainable, economical, and flexible. A lot of the focus of this effort is coming to Louisville! [Preservation Leadership Forum]

Across the river in Indiana, a circa 1864 bell that survived a 2009 county courthouse fire was rededicated on the courthouse lawn in Madison. [Herald-Leader]

Anyone interested in a weekly roundup of Kentucky and history and preservation news? Let me know if you’d like me to continue this kind of post!