By Linda Blackford | Editorial
It was a Kentucky culture kind of week, some good, some bad, some in between. First off, use your weekend to read Liam Niemeyer’s lovely piece about the disappearing Kentucky tobacco industry. For all its dangers, tobacco kept many a family afloat during the years.
On the bad side of the ledger is the remnants of cockfighting, a cruel and illegal practice that’s evidently not illegal enough. But maybe that’s changing.
Then there’s the tradition of talking about Mitch McConnell, who reappeared this week to the disappointment of conspiracy theorists and the joy of meme creators.
There’s much more – including some commentary on our media landscape – and we hope you enjoy them. Tell your friends. A lot of people still don’t know about the Lantern, and its free, fair journalism about Kentucky. Thanks, as always, for reading.
69-year-old Kenneth Anderson has been around tobacco his entire life growing up in Clark County, Kentucky. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)
By Liam Niemeyer
CLARK COUNTY, Ky. – Kenneth Anderson’s father taught him what to look for in high-quality tobacco, cured for weeks in the rafters of a Clark County barn. How to “grade” or rate the quality of the different parts of the plant, looking for slight variations of the deep brown color of the dried leaves.
The Lexington Herald-Leader recently laid off a majority of its staff. (Julia Shumway/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
COMMENTARY
By Teri Carter
Late last week, the Lexington Herald-Leader gutted its newsroom.
Veteran reporter John Cheves shared this news on Comment on Kentucky, saying, in part, “It’s popular in some quarters to sort of sneer and then mock newspapers, or to greet with apathy the demise of newspapers, but I can assure you you’re gonna miss us when we’re gone.”
NEWS OF THE WEEK
Thanks for reading Weekend Lantern. Did you know our daily morning digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.