With Fancy Farm's St. Jerome's Picnic over for 2021, the organizers of The Political Speaking (TPS from now on) are probably just glad it's over. Until next year. The complete abandonment by state Democratic elected officials and poohbahs cut the crowd down by more than half.

Is it time to change?

...there was one TV show that would pick me up once a week, make me laugh, cry, wonder what it all meant. This window into my new world was simply called "That Was the Week Was.' News events, art, songs, drama were presented and expressed in bundles of humor and satire.

Now, in this year of 2021, I sit here trying to just exist in a new world that seems to be changing every 10 seconds. The old me has become the new me. I read more. I think more. I do art. I build models. I collect stamps.

Changes are in store for the Purchase because census data show gains and losses in unexpected areas. We break down the gains and losses in towns and counties of the most western Kentucky counties.

We break down the numbers in text, charts and zip code map.

Sometimes a dream is so big it pulls a whole county into it. Such was the dream Hickman County librarian Laura Poole envisioned for a children's museum in Paducah. Funding wasn't forthcoming so that the Paducah dream was shelved.

When Laura began working at the Hickman County Library in 2013, she again started thinking about the children's museum. This one would be part of the library she managed and open without charge. As the idea spread, help and helpers started coming.

Hickman County Schools, a system that prided itself on community support and educational pride has run into the 21^st century world of division along ideological lines. A special meeting of the School Board brought out a gym full of angry anti masking parents, teachers and community members.

And it wasn't pretty.

Paducah Public Schools will begin the school year with a Level 3 COVID-19 mitigation strategy due to a surge of COVID cases due to the Delta variant. The Level 3 strategy follows Governor Beshear's Executive Order on August 10 requiring that all Kentucky public school students, staff, and visitors wear masks, regardless of vaccination status.

The first day of school for students is Wednesday, August 18, 2021.

A list of confirmed Political Speakers follows:

Kentucky's two US senators are skipping the 2021 Fancy Farm Picnic citing duties in Washington.

With Graves County in the red zone for Covid infections and 2021 not an election year, there will be empty chairs on the speakers' platform.

Schools across America and the world are struggling to provide in person learning in the face of the Delta variant of the coronavirus. Children under 12 are not cleared to take the vaccine and resistance remains high in Kentucky.

Paducah Public Schools just published its plan to adjust to local, state, and national COVID rates throughout the 2021-22 school year. To see the plan to reopen, follow the jump.

Each Kentucky project will receive $50,000 to continue efforts to preserve these historical sites that represent African American history and culture in the commonwealth. The funding will enhance each project's ability to serve as a tourism attraction in its community. The historic sites that will receive funding in Kentucky are: Cherokee State Park (Kenlake State Park), Hotel Metropolitan (Paducah) and Palmer Pharmacy (Lexington)

Masks recommended indoors for all children under 12, unvaccinated Kentuckians 12 and older

...Governor recommended the following:

• School districts should require all unvaccinated students and unvaccinated adults to wear a mask when in classrooms and other indoor school settings;
• School districts should require all students under 12 years of age to wear a mask when in classrooms and other indoor school settings; and
• School districts wishing to optimize safety and minimize risk of educational and athletic disruption should require all students and all adults to wear a mask while in classrooms and other indoor school settings.

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

Graves County Dems are changing from their early morning eggs, biscuits, gravy and politics event to something new. Not so early in the morning this year with local musicians and poets entertaining.

KY Dem Chair Colmon Elridge will be moderating.

Governor Beshear Announces Funding for Riverport Improvements

Five riverports awarded $500,000 in grants for critical repairs, equipment

The 15th Annual Alben Barkley Democratic Dinner will be Thursday, August 5, 2021 in Walker Hall in Paducah. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. Tickets are $40 each.

For more information, read the story..

Atomic Veterans served our Nation with distinction, but their service came at a great cost. Many developed health conditions due to radiation exposure, yet because they were not able to discuss the nature of their service...

Editor's Note: Honoring Atomic Veterans is a great remembrance for those soldiers who suffered and died unsung for their contribution to America's defense.

There is another group that also suffered in silence. The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant was one of several facilities in the United States that injured workers

In case you are wondering, a Quisling is one who betrays a trust or an allegiance. A hypocrite is a person who acts in contradiction to stated beliefs.

Let's see if we can figure out what Rand Paul really believes.

Four Rivers Indivisible showed up at 100 Fountain Avenue in Paducah on Tuesday, July 6^th at the building housing Senator Mitch McConnell's Purchase office. The group was participating in a nationwide Indivisible action to move the US Senate to pass the For the People Voting Rights Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

PADUCAH, Ky. (July 9, 2021) - On Friday, Gov. Andy Beshear announced a $200,000 award to help the CenterPoint Recovery Center for Men address the continuing need for substance use disorder residential treatment in McCracken County.

MURRAY, Ky. (July 9, 2021) - On Friday, Gov. Andy Beshear congratulated the Murray State University (MSU) Hutson School of Agriculture, which has partnered with Sunway Energy Solutions, based in Murray, and GREE Electric Appliances, based in Zhuhai, China, to build a solar HVAC system on the University West Farm.

Just past the turn off from Highway 22 coming into Union City, Tenn. now lies the remains of a giant. Its death took place on Highway 123 between Union City Tennessee and Cayce, Kentucky ( population 128).

Former Kentucky state representative Charles Booker announced on July 1st he'll be running to unseat Senator Rand Paul in 2022.

The negative attacks have already begun.

2034: A Novel of the Next World War

by Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman

Authors Ackerman and Stravridis, in their techno naval thriller, "2034: A Novel of the Next World War" manage to come full circle to Alfred Thayer Mahan's global perspective of using great power to confront great power.

In a farming world, the name John Deere means life or death. With its product line of heavy and light equipment, farmers can plow, treat and harvest vast acreages with far fewer laborer...

After 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda French Gates are ending their marriage. Reports of their dividing up assets revealed that John Deere stock is part of their portfolio.

On a recent morning, in the small town of Clinton, Ky. the sunshine was just breaking through the trees and leaves of a promising May morning. Having just enjoyed the thrill of my first cup of morning coffee upon the front porch, I took in the beauty unfolding before me.

At first, my mind did not register the fact that there was no water flowing. From the faucet, just a sound forming a cloud of nothingness. It took a whole 3 seconds for the enjoyment and good feeling from that first cup of coffee, to be blown away with the realization that there was no water. The well was not working.