Kentucky
Jayden Quaintance says he is ‘unlikely’ to return for Kentucky this season
It has been over two months since we last saw Jayden Quaintance on the court in blue and white. Well, don’t expect to see him moving forward this season. Knee swelling has been a constant issue in Quaintance’s ramp-up process, but with at most just a few weeks left, things are not looking good for a potential return from the projected first-round NBA draft pick.
On his call-in radio show on Monday, head coach Mark Pope said he doesn’t think the star big man will return this week. “JQ is making progress, but I don’t think he’s going to be able to be able to cross the line before this weekend, although you never know for sure.” After continuously saying that Quaintance has not even returned to the practice floor with multiple bleak updates, Quaintance himself chimed in on his own situation.
In speaking with media ahead of Kentucky’s first-round matchup with Santa Clara in the NCAA Tournament, Quaintance went in-depth on his situation as he continues rehabbing towards what he says is an ‘unlikely’ return at this time for the Wildcats this season. “It depends how fast we ramp up,” Quaintance said on Thursday. “I have the strength to retain, but the swelling has still kind of been lingering around. I haven’t done too much stuff on-court in a long time, so I’d kind of have to reinitiate slowly into that, but it’s probably unlikely currently.”
In the meantime, Quaintance is fully-focused on his rehab, trying to continue making progress controlling the swelling in his knee that has been a constant problem. “Just focusing on rehab, trying to make sure everything’s going well, keeping things on the up and up with my knee. Things have been going pretty well. Trying to get rid of the swelling. I feel like we’ve been making progress.”
The 6-10 big man has not played for Kentucky since the Missouri game on Jan. 7, seeing just five total games of action this season. Since that time, it has been a constant issue with swelling an as a result, Quaintance has not suited up for over two months, nor has he seen any time with on-court stuff other than in-place jump shots.
With the amount of single games left up in the air for the Wildcats at this point, we’re on a time crunch for a potential Quaintance return, but he and the staff are continuing to move as quickly as possible.
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — One person died and several others were injured when an EF-2 tornado tore through Washington County on May 30, 2025.
A year later, Emergency Management Services Director Kevin Devine is now reflecting on the scene left behind.
“It looked like a bomb went off in several houses,” Devine said.
The tornado left widespread destruction in its path.
Covering Kentucky
Community mourns Ron Hill, victim of Friday’s Washington County tornado
“It was just trees mangled, a house blew off, windshields, vehicles cracked and moved,” Devine said.
The tornado touched down on Long Run Road, a rural one-lane road. Crews used chainsaws to cut through debris to clear a path for ambulances.
Access to the area proved difficult for emergency responders.
“It had rained a lot so if you got off the road a little bit you had a chance of getting stuck,” Devine said.
Devine, who has served as director of Emergency Management Services for more than two decades, called the response his toughest experience in that role.
“It was a challenge getting in and out and getting people in and out because everybody’s trying to go both ways,” Devine said.
The search and rescue operation took nearly 100 volunteers from multiple counties.
Now, as the county plans for future severe weather events, Devine said he does not see Washington County adding to its six warning sirens already in place — outside of some additional communication efforts with neighboring communities.
“We’re such a rural county, we can’t really put them next to every house,” Devine said. “With the news the way it is you now can get your warnings on your phone pretty easily.”
At the site on the hill above Long Run Road, recovery has taken a personal shape. Tonya Orberson lost her fiancé, Ronnie Hill, in the tornado. According to Devine, she now has a new home, complete with a basement.
Devine credited the community for making that recovery possible.
“They really pitched in and helped,” Devine said.
Jim Obergefell talks LGBTQ+ rights 10 years after Supreme Court ruling
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide, looks back on its impact 10 years later.
Happy Pride Month!
About 9% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual, and some places are safer for and more welcoming of those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Here’s how Kentucky ranks compared to other states.
How Kentucky ranks for being welcoming, safe for LGBTQ+ members
Kentucky ranks No. 35 out of 50 states for being welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, according to Out Leadership’s State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index. While the commonwealth has climbed eight spots since 2019, it earned about 41 out of 100 possible points, receiving a B- grade.
The report comes as national scores continue to decline. The average state score has fallen for four consecutive years and now sits at 53.1, with 26 states scoring below 60, Out Leadership founder and CEO Todd Sears told USA TODAY.
The index suggests acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has declined in recent years, reversing progress that once improved the well-being and safety of LGBTQ+ communities, Sears said.
“When we started this index eight years ago, the goal was to show Americans the issues that were still live but invisible — HIV criminalization, conversion therapy, where state legislators actually stood — because once marriage equality passed, a lot of people assumed the work was done. It wasn’t,” Sears said. “What we’ve documented since is a genuine regression.”
This year, Out Leadership added 12 new indicators measuring the effects of policies affecting LGBTQ+ people, including restrictions on bathroom access, pronoun and name use and gender-affirming care for adults. Sears said the additions were made to better capture policies that have increasingly affected LGBTQ+ residents and their families.
“For the last several years, we simply weren’t capturing forces that were already hitting LGBTQ+ citizens and their families,” Sears said.
SafeHome.org also ranks Kentucky on the lower side for LGBTQ+ safety. The state ranks No. 27 out of 51 jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and received a score of 80.7 and a B- grade.
The rankings are based on a score that combines state laws affecting LGBTQ+ residents and hate crime data. Researchers evaluated laws across several policy areas using input from a survey of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ people and paired the results with FBI hate crime statistics before calculating the final scores.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY Network. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
Kentucky got consecutive home runs from Jayce Tharnish and Tyler Bell to take a 9-6 lead over West Virginia. Chase Alderman and Nile Adcock combined to record five consecutive scoreless innings. The Bat Cats were three outs away from reaching — and hosting — a super regional.
West Virginia had other plans.
Free passes, a balk, and a three-run home run from Paul Schoenfield plated five runs in the ninth. It was absolute chaos in Kendrick Family Ballpark. Kentucky snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
That sets up one final game between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers again, but this one could sting for some time. Jeff Drummond and myself are reacting to the crushing loss by taking a look at what went wrong, how it got off the rails so quickly. and what could be on the horizon for tomorrow.
Smash that play button.
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