Communities the place the business as soon as flourished will likely be left to cope with the environmental penalties that observe for generations. (Photograph courtesy of Unsplash)
One of many fondest recollections I’ve of residing within the South is the distinct odor of rain. I may odor it from a mile away. I’m informed it’s a talent that solely Southerners appear to have. The rain introduced life into our home. It referred to as the frogs out of the makeshift pond we had within the entrance yard, watered the terraced rows of snow peas, corn, okra, squash and peppers we had within the yard or rolled off the backs of the chickens that ventured out from the shack they nested in to search for the bugs that will come to the floor. The little creek that ran behind our home would swell however by no means received too excessive.
Wet climate is simply one other reality of life within the South, however in sure circumstances, rain has changed into a demise sentence — one thing hurricane and flood-prone areas of the area, like Louisiana and Florida, are all too conversant in. A pair quick months in the past, rain turned to reckless abandon in a spot just a bit additional inland.
My final natural-diaster-related piece got here out earlier this 12 months after I wrote concerning the tornadoes in Mayfield, Kentucky. It’s to Kentucky the place I return, sadly. It’s been a few months because the japanese a part of the Bluegrass State was struck by heavy rainfall that changed into floodwaters which finally cascaded down these inexperienced mountains quicker than a College of Georgia working again. The flood broken or destroyed houses and communities — about 10,000 of them. It killed not less than 37 individuals.
I can already hear the sounds of a few of y’all’s eyes rolling to this point into the again of your heads (except you’re an everyday reader — which in that case, you’re my favourite individuals and you’ll ignore this callout). You’re in all probability questioning why you must care about some people on the opposite aspect of the nation. Or, possibly you’re the short-sighted Ben Shapiro-type and also you’re considering, “Why can’t these people simply decide up and transfer in the event that they preserve getting hit with stuff like this?” In any case, we’re all coping with this local weather disaster, proper?
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It issues as a result of, in a single small holler affected by the floods, a Kentucky neighborhood is combating again within the courts. Blackhawk and its subsidiary, Pine Department Mining, are being sued by residents of Breathitt County. The mining firm operates a coal mine on this notably poor neighborhood, already haunted by the darkish cloud of native coal mines which have lengthy been deserted. The neighborhood is alleging that the corporate mismanaged their silt retention ponds, which exacerbated the flood and unleashed contaminated water as a aspect impact.
It additionally issues as a result of local weather change will all the time affect individuals of shade — in addition to these laid low with poverty — most severely. It’ll hit these that may’t transfer as a result of they will’t afford to, these whose solely supply of wealth could also be within the house they will’t simply up and take with them.
Whereas wealthy white billionaires are escaping to different planets via the opening that they and their company greed have drilled into the ozone layer, a conservative Supreme Court docket has gutted the Environmental Safety Company’s energy to fight local weather change of their ruling on West Virginia v. EPA. In the meantime, the U.S. authorities continues to twiddle its thumbs. The prospect of a greener, higher world — and a greener, higher South for all — stays bleak. However don’t let our present predicament depress you an excessive amount of.
The truth that Breathitt County residents are already taking it upon themselves to choose a worthwhile and vital struggle with the corporate that has used and disposed of treasured land, whereas additionally making an attempt to choose up the items of what’s left of their livelihoods within the aftermath of the flood, makes their instance all of the extra inspiring. And let me remind you that you needn’t lose all hope in our authorized system as a result of individuals have taken on coal corporations prior to now and gained. So preserve that in thoughts for those who ever need to take your native coal-rolling, pollution-causing enterprise to court docket.
And one other factor: Horrible political figures would possibly signify Kentucky and states prefer it, however don’t you dare let their presence dissuade you from doing one thing for the parents right here. Don’t let any ill-formed thought let you know to brush this off as one thing Kentuckians “deserved” for giving the nation Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul. Come hell or excessive water, we’re going to pay the worth for ignoring these most impacted by local weather change if we select to let electoral maps dictate the place our empathy goes.
Quynh Anh Nguyen is a junior writing concerning the implications of present Southern political occasions. Her column, “I Reckon,” runs each different Tuesday.
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (3-2) at Kentucky Wildcats (5-0)
Lexington, Kentucky; Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wildcats -22.5; over/under is 164
BOTTOM LINE: No. 8 Kentucky takes on Western Kentucky after Koby Brea scored 22 points in Kentucky’s 108-59 win over the Jackson State Tigers.
The Wildcats have gone 4-0 at home. Kentucky is 10th in college basketball averaging 12.6 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 42.3% from downtown. Brea leads the team averaging 4.0 makes while shooting 74.1% from 3-point range.
The Hilltoppers are 0-1 in road games. Western Kentucky ranks third in the CUSA shooting 37.4% from 3-point range.
Kentucky scores 97.0 points, 24.2 more per game than the 72.8 Western Kentucky allows. Western Kentucky averages 9.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.8 more made shots on average than the 6.0 per game Kentucky gives up.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Brea is shooting 74.1% from beyond the arc with 4.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 16 points.
Julius Thedford averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Hilltoppers, scoring 11.4 points while shooting 54.5% from beyond the arc.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Mark Stoops owns a five-game winning streak in the Governor’s Cup series. The Wildcats have won three games in a row at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium and have not lost to Louisville at Kroger Field since 2017 when Bobby Petrino was holding the call sheet and and Lamar Jackson was playing quarterback. The Wildcats have also covered a lot of spreads in this series.
Stoops is 7-2-1 against-the-spread (ATS) in this series with with covers as a double-digit dog in 2014 and 2016. Kentucky has beaten Louisville outright as a dog three times since 2016 and has covered five straight in this series. Those are not the only trends going in Kentucky’s direction heading into this Week 14 contest.
Louisville is 0-4-1 ATS as a road favorite under Jeff Brohm with outright losses to Pittsburgh and Stanford. Kentucky is 5-0-1 ATS as a dog in its last six outing including four games this season. Kentucky covered numbers as a double-digit dog against Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas this season.
The visitor is 11-3-1 ATS (5-10 outright) in the last 14 meetings of this series with 10 outright wins but Kentucky has won the last two meetings at Kroger Field covering each times as a three-point favorite. In 2019, Kentucky ran away for a 45-13 victory and cruised to a 26-13 victory in 2022.
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Kentucky has consistently overachieved pregame expectations in this series. The Wildcats are currently a 3.5-point dog with a total of 48.5. That’s a projected final score of 26-22.5. Will UK exceed expectations again against Louisville? A win would equal four outright upsets for the Big Blue in the last eight meetings of the series.
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Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready to host the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers for an in-state battle in Rupp Arena. This is a game that is always fun as it brings different parts of Kentucky together to share in the state’s favorite pastime, which is basketball.
WKU is 3-2 on the season with wins over Lipscomb, Jackson State, and Campbellsville. The Hilltoppers lost to Wichita State and Grand Canyon.
While Kentucky steamrolled Lipscomb, they are a solid team, and Western Kentucky was able to take them down 66-61, so the Wildcats can’t look past this matchup. This shouldn’t be an issue as Coach Pope respects the game and doesn’t let his team look past an opponent.
While WKU is a solid mid-major team, ESPN doesn’t seem to think the Wildcats will have any issue taking down the Hilltoppers, as they give Kentucky a 97.5% chance to win this game.
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The best player for the Hilltoppers is guard Don McHenry, who is averaging 17.2 points per game five games into the season. The 6’2 guard is shooting 32.4% from three on the season, but he lets a lot of them fly, so the Wildcats can let him get hot from deep.
The goal for this Kentucky team when they take on WKU should be to keep working on defense and rebounding while the offense keeps doing what it has been doing all season long. If the Wildcats can keep improving in these two areas, they will be hard to beat come SEC play and March.
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