• The small, tight-knit community of Glendale, Kentucky, is mourning the loss of the well-liked young man.
• Pennington was an Eagle Scout and high school athlete who joined the Army in 2017 after graduation.
• Pennington was a decorated soldier assigned to the 1st Space Brigade and will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.

GLENDALE, Ky. – The text message arrived on Mike Bell’s phone early on March 1. It was brief: Benjamin Pennington, the son of Bell’s close friend Tim Pennington, had been seriously injured in an attack at a U.S. air base in Saudi Arabia.

Bell hadn’t seen Benjamin Pennington in a while, but the executive minister and retired pastor of Glendale Christian Church clearly remembered the bright, ambitious boy who attended church every Sunday with his parents before enlisting in the U.S. Army.

Bell asked the Sunday school students gathered before him to pray for the 26-year-old Glendale native. Over the following week, he and Tim talked or texted daily, praying and hoping for the best.

There were signs of hope on March 5. Pennington asked the medical staff for a Pepsi, which his family saw as a positive sign. But by March 7, Pennington’s condition had worsened.

That night, after calling a basketball game at Central Hardin High School, Bell received a call from Tim. Benjamin had died from his injuries.

Bell said Benjamin was about to be moved from Saudi Arabia to Germany when his blood pressure dropped. 

Bell ached thinking about Pennington’s family not being able to be with Benjamin in his final moments.

“Their hurt is so real and so powerful. I can’t fathom the loss of their son,” Bell said. “That distance made a real difference.”

As the conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran enters its second week, Glendale and the larger Hardin County community are now mourning one of their own. According to those who knew him best, Pennington was a well-liked, confident young man who made friends easily. 

An Eagle Scout and high school athlete, Pennington was enrolled in an automotive technology career pathway at his alma mater, Central Hardin High School. However, he changed his career plans and joined the Army in 2017 right after graduating. 

At the time of his death, Pennington was a sergeant assigned to the 1st Space Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado. The U.S. Army said in a news release that Pennington will be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.

Glendale is a typical small town — a Mayberry of today, as Bell likes to say. It’s quiet, with plenty of antique shops and family-owned restaurants lining its historic boulevard. Residents here take pride in how long they’ve lived here, and many have never dreamed of leaving the community they’ve built.

“I moved here 20 years ago, and I’m considered a young-in,” said Sherry Creek, owner of The Mercantile, a home goods store on East Main Street.

Some, like Eddie Best, trace their roots back to the 1800s. On March 10, Best was inside The Whistle Stop, a southern-style family restaurant that has only changed hands twice in its 50-year history. It was a Tuesday, which meant he was picking up his family’s regular order of two open-faced roast beef sandwiches, a side of greens and baked apples.

“Family, that’s why I stayed all these years,” said Best, 45.

The ties that bind this close-knit community make Pennington’s death even more impactful for the town of about 2,000 residents, located about an hour south of Louisville. In the few days since the news broke, Bell said his and others’ phones have been ringing nonstop.

“The people are wanting to know what to do, how to do,” Bell said. “Everybody is struggling in darkness, trying to figure out how to bring a little light to the Pennington family in their struggle and transition.”

The Penningtons, by all accounts, are active and involved community members. Tim Pennington has been a long-standing member of the town’s Lions Club and coaches cross country and track at Central Hardin High School.

WASHINGTON — President Trump will use his stop in Kentucky on Wednesday to try to get his congressional nemesis out of office.

His target is Rep. Thomas Massie, a seven-term congressman who the White House has named the “Democrats’ favorite member.”

Trump endorsed Massie’s primary opponent, Ed Gallrein, who will be at the event in Hebron, Ky., per his campaign. The president will also be making a stop in Ohio.

Hebron is located in Boone County, Ky., just south of Cincinnati.

The White House made its feelings on Massie clear.

“You can have differences, but you have to be constructive.  He is not constructive. In fact, he’s the Democrats’ favorite member,” a senior administration official told The Post. 

Massie has outraged the White House on multiple occasions: he refused to support Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which was the president’s signature domestic policy agenda; he criticized Trump’s foreign policy and accused him of executive overreach on the attacks on drug boats and Iran; and he led the charge on demanding the Justice Department release all its files in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Now Trump is going to Massie’s district along the Ohio River to campaign against him, with the primary election just a little more than two months away, on May 19th. 

Massie won’t be there.

“Congressman Massie will not be attending as he has a previously scheduled official event,” his campaign told The Post. 

Trump has railed against Massie as “the worst Republican.” 

He took a swipe at his biggest naysayer when he spoke to House Republicans at their retreat at Trump Doral on Monday.

“The Republican Party has fantastic spirit, the level I don’t think has been seen before,” Trump said. “We have to get a couple of people on board, which at least one case is virtually impossible. I wonder who that might be, sick person.”

It’s believed he was talking about Massie, who was not seen in the audience. 

In contrast, Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, has praised Trump, his policies and his handling of the war in Iran.

For his part, Massie has been posting Trump’s videos and comments attacking him, hoping to turn the criticism from the president into support from voters.

The May primary will be a test of Trump’s power with Republican voters. It’ll also be seen as a barometer of Trump’s messaging on the economy. 

The White House has argued the cost of living is down but rising gas prices – from the attack on Iran – have dominated the news. Still, the president will tout his work on the issue. 

“President Trump will visit the great states of Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to tout his economic victories and detail his administration’s aggressive, ongoing efforts to lower prices and make America more affordable,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston told The Post. 

Northern Kentucky brought home the Kentucky High School Hockey league state championship once again.

The Northern Kentucky Norsemen defeated Owensboro in dominant 5-0 fashion on March 8 to hoist the trophy. The Norsemen, comprised of players from schools across Northern Kentucky, earned their fourth state title since 2017. The Norsemen previously won in 2017, 2019 and 2023.

After entering the tournament as the top-seeded team, two wins brought the Norsemen to a 27-12-2 final record.

The Norsemen’s defense was in peak performance in the finals. Despite Owensboro getting off over 30 shots, senior goalkeeper Chase Bender kept a clean sheet.

On offense, junior Trevor Bauwens led the Norse, finishing the season with 35 goals and 12 assists. Other key offensive performers were seniors Mitchell Kirby and Samuel Mouser. Kirby ended the year with 19 goals and 22 assists, while Mouser had 16 goals and a team-best 30 assists.

Northern Kentucky is now set to represent the state in the USA Hockey High School National Championships. The tournament be held March 18-22 in Plymouth, Minnesota.