The Kentucky Wildcats football team is in the midst of a busy time of year, especially their new coaching staff. Head coach Will Stein is still coaching the Oregon Ducks in the College Football Playoff, and trying to prepare for the offseason for the Wildcats.

The transfer portal for college football opens on Jan. 2, and Stein and his staff will likely be heavily involved. One player they are targeting, per On3’s Pete Nakos, (subscription required) is wide receiver Malcolm Simmons, currently a member of the Auburn Tigers, but set to enter the portal.

Simmons is a former four-star recruit who chose Auburn over schools like Alabama and Tennessee. He was ranked as the number 150 overall player by 247Sports in the 2024 recruiting class, and the number 29 receiver.

As a freshman, Simmons showed off his explosiveness, recording 40 receptions for 451 yards, and he returned a punt for a score. This season, he had fewer catches, just 25, but had more yards, with 457 and 3 touchdowns.

If you are wondering what to do when it’s time to take down your natural Christmas tree at the end of the year, those used trees can have a second life after the end of the holiday season.

Natural trees donated to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources annual “Christmas for the Fishes” tree recycling program can give a home to fish in many Kentucky lakes in the coming year. This annual program uses evergreens donated after the holiday season to create underwater habitats that help fish thrive.

“Donated Christmas trees are put to work in local reservoirs as fish habitat, where they’re arranged in clusters that create dense branches and small pockets for young fish to hide,” said Spencer Phillips, a fisheries biologist with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “These structures also attract sportfish, offering opportunistic feeding as smaller fish venture out from cover.”

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife will be accepting evergreen trees from Dec. 26 through Jan. 16, 2026, at 37 drop-off locations across the state. Trees should be real, not artificial, and should be free of lights, garland and decorations. Limbs, wreaths, brush or other plants will not be accepted.

(In Hopkinsville, there will be a drop-off at Walmart on Clinic Drive.)

Fish thrive in an environment that is full of different types of cover including trees and logs. The donated trees will help restore woody structures that have previously decayed in our lakes, providing protective cover and shade for a variety of fish species.

“Every tree counts,” Phillips said. “Each tree can provide benefits for local fisheries for several years, gradually enhancing fish habitat that has been lost over time. Local anglers also benefit from the creation of reliable fishing hotspots around the sunken brush piles.”

Donated trees will be anchored to environmentally friendly weights and submerged at various depths in different lakes and reservoirs across Kentucky to provide places for fish to feed, shelter and spawn. They make great refuge and feeding habitat for game fish, as well as small fish and invertebrates that are crucial for a thriving ecosystem.

For more information about the Christmas tree recycling program or to find a drop-off location, visit the department’s website (fw.ky.gov) or call 1-800-858-1549, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. (ET) weekdays, excluding holidays.

This story is republished with permission from the Northern Kentucky Tribune. Read the original.

Tom Latek has been the Frankfort correspondent for Kentucky Today, the online news website of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, since 2016. Previously, he covered news for radio and television stations in Frankfort, Lexington, and Louisville. 

Kentucky has produced some of the most well-known songs in the English language. The Happy Birthday song was created at the Little Loom House on South Louisville’s Kenwood Hill in 1893. There’s another ubiquitous tune echoed throughout the holiday season that got its start in Kentucky.

“You’d better watch out. You’d better not cry. You’d better not pout, I’m telling you why.”

Those words have been sung by Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, and Frank Sinatra, and that’s just a short list of artists who have covered the Christmas classic. Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town was originally composed by Haven Gillespie, a Covington, Kentucky native.

The song became a hit in 1933. Even though it’s a cheerful song, it comes from a place of pain, a similar refrain for the most talented songwriters.

“He was beset by personal tragedy, as his younger brother had recently passed away, when a New York contact asked him to write a holiday song,” Andrew Patrick wrote for the Kentucky Historical Society.

“The resulting hit drew on his childhood memories of his mother warning him and his brother to be sure to wash behind their ears, or Santa would take notice. He spun the somewhat bittersweet memory of his childhood Christmases into the jaunty tune that has become a staple of our holiday music.”

The song first hit the public conscience in 1934. Comedian Eddie Cantor sang it during a live radio broadcast during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, just as Santa Claus entered the department store. Within 24 hours, 100,000 copies of the sheet music were sold. Before Christmas, 300,000 people had purchased the sheet music, making it the most popular song in America. You can hear the first recording of the song below, by Tom Stacks and Harry Reser. Perry Como and Bing Crosby kept the song popular in the 1940s, and its legacy was cemented by the Jackson 5 in the 1970s.

The song’s success isn’t what’s most remarkable. Santa Claus was obviously not created by Gillespie, but his lyrics added to the lore. The chorus became instructive, teaching children that Santa is always watching, so you’d better be on your best behavior to ensure a happy Christmas morning.

The success of Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town brought Gillespie fame and fortune. The Tin Pan Alley icon produced more hits, but none of this magnitude. In 1961, a Courier-Journal reporter asked the 73-year-old what he thought whenever the tune was played during the holiday season.

“It’s sort of like a crazy man hitting himself on the head with a hammer–it’s awful good when it stops,” said Gillespie, “but the royalties are so nice.”

Gillespie passed away in 1975 at age 87.

Christmas songs fill the air every December, but few have more of an indelible impact than the one composed by a Kentucky native nearly 100 years ago. After all, the best way to spread Christmas cheer, is singing loud for all to hear.

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