The photo at the top from the U.K.'s Independent says it all. What does another British publication say? The maker of Jim Beam bourbon whiskey will halt production at its main site in Kentucky for all of 2026. The company said in a statement it would close its distillery in Clermont until it took the “opportunity to invest in site enhancements”.

Some bad news on the entertainment front. Baxter Avenue Theaters in Louisville is closing at the end of the year, according to the CJ. Baxter Avenue Theatres is coming to a close after a long life in Louisville's Highlands neighborhood. The theater's last day open will be Dec. 31, according to a Dec. 22 statement from Apex Entertainment, Baxter's parent company.

A month-by-month look at the year in review (and it was a bad one for Kentucky). Among the topics discussed: WalletHub lists the best states for retirement. Kentucky is the worst. Looking back at the No Kings demonstrations across America. The Democrats who backed Republican shutdown deal - and why How the White House and DOGE Are Cutting Kentucky Jobs and Services Thomas Massie on the Epstein files:

Back in October, the New York Times ran a piece on the best states for retirement. Its report was based on a study by WalletHub and listed the top five state as Florida, Minnesota, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. But we're not retired in any of those states. Where is Kentucky on the list? Overall Rank State Total Score Affordability Rank…

That Kentucky state senate election featuring a human leech is over. The open Kentucky Senate seat in Louisville will stay blue in 2026. Gary Clemons is set to head to Frankfort during the upcoming legislative session, as the South End Democrat won a special election Dec. 16 for the chamber's vacant District 37 seat. Clemons, a labor union leader and U.S.

This was an interesting take from Kentucky's junior senator (soon to be senior senator) on state Republican musings on eradicating Democrats from the U.S. Congress: Contrary to what Rand Paul says, the issue isn't "both sides," which plays well in the corporate media. Republicans started this in Texas. The Orange Menace demanded it, and when Indiana didn't do it, he threatened Hoosiers' entire Republican Party.

After the Republicans in the Senate blocked Democratic efforts to extend Affordable Care Act tax credits, ensuring an increase of thousands of dollars a year for all of those who rely on Obamacare to stay alive, House GOP members have decided to do the MAGAts in the upper chamber one better by introducing a bill that accomplishes nothing and adds to costs.

Just when you think the Trump administration has sunk to its lowest degree of depravity, someone in it says, you think that's bad? Hold my beer! Three Kentucky babies are dead from whooping cough, a disease we know how to prevent. What kind of society lets children die from a solved problem? Their deaths were not inevitable. In Kentucky, we know what vaccine-preventable disease looks like.

This appeared in the CJ yesterday. I have no idea why this was even published: Those traveling during the holiday season may be wondering if they can pull over at state highway rest areas for some shut eye. In Kentucky, it is allowed — but there are some restrictions on how long you can stay. Here's what to know.

We're in the season for huge political donations by oligarchs. Which means it's again time to see what it would cost a regular Kentuckian to make a proportionately equal campaign donation. From Kentucky Lantern: A super PAC supporting U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie has won crucial backing from one of the biggest Republican mega-donors — a man who has the wherewithal to offset millions of dollars that Republican President Donald Trump is trying to raise to beat Massie in the spring primary elections.

Looking through various local news feeds this past weekend, we came across this steaming pile of BS from WDRB: Hundreds of Indiana National Guard members arrived in Washington, D.C. The planned deployment of 300 soldiers was part of President Trump's Safe and Beautiful mission aimed at offering security to select cities. Hoosier Guardsmen will assist local and federal law enforcement partners, and they will conduct community safety patrols, manage traffic control posts to reduce crime, minimize property damage and keep the peace.

This is from The New Republic: I knew the Orange Menace's administration was filled with miscreants, but the fact that the current health secretary used to put baby chicks and mice in a blender to show how fucked up he was stuns me. It seemed impossible that this was real. Then I found this (from the BBC):

I was driving around today and realized it's time for the Old Louisville Holiday Home Tour as I saw people lining up to go into houses that weren't theirs. Local TV has the details:

Our Thanksgiving holiday tempered by ICE appeasement (the reason we can't trust our elected officials), political candidates don't understand what offices they should seek, dealing with wealth and affordability, a pitch for college sports and how to show support for mutual aid. Information sources for this week's podcast include: Paul Krugman explains the affordability crisis in Kentucky. JCPS closures harm Black kids the most (as always)

An interesting bit of information in this. From Kentucky Lantern: The Kentucky Democratic Party has sold its longtime headquarters near Interstate 64 and plans to move to a new office in downtown Frankfort.  The state party, which has seen its power dwindle in recent decades, will move to an office on Ann Street Friday, Dec. 5, in hopes of being more accessible to lawmakers, advocates and reporters working at the state Capitol.

We have to deal daily with the insanity of MAGA morons whose leaders are taking away access to healthcare and followers who want to control what women do with their bodies. From Kentucky Lantern: Anti-abortion organizations and Republican elected officials are searching for more ways to prevent Planned Parenthood from receiving federal resources after congressional Republicans successfully cut off federal Medicaid funding until at least July 2026.

An interesting development in today's CJ: Former Kentucky State Representative and U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker (pictured above) is considering another Senate run in 2026, according to a Nov. 26 social media post. In the Facebook post, Booker acknowledged calls for him to run for the Senate seat that U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican who was first elected to the office in 1984, 

I'm visiting part of the Acela corridor this Thanksgiving week, seeing relatives between the nation's capital and the Big Apple. During one visit, a discussion on Sundown Towns was an eye opener. What's a Sundown Town? The History and Social Justice website says: A sundown town is not just a place where something racist happened. It is an entire community (or even county) that for decades was “all white” on purpose.

Here's a Bluesky post from Mr. Spock. It's logical. We've been on Bluesky as an antidote to Elon Musk's (you know, the centibillionaire whose net worth rose $15 billion today to $475.5 billion) garbage dump, X. Anyone who has been on X knows it's a MAGA cesspool filled with far-right feces. And the Guardian tells us where the MAGAt posters live…

During our podcast this weekend, I was stunned by the realization that the four richest people in the world have a combined net worth of more than $1 trillion. As of today, according to the Forbes list of the world's real time billionaires, those four Americans (Elon Musk: $460.4 billion; Larry Ellison: $248.4 billion; Larry Page: $246.2 billion, and Jeff Bezos, $233.5 billion) have a combined net worth of $1.188 trillion, an amount so outrageously big, I have to hold the calculator on my iPhone on its side to see the entire number.

Traveling abroad and domestically, the effect of the UPS plane crash on the Derby City, the political impact of Mamdani and MTG, shortcomings of the Louisville education system and making a difference in the Bluegrass State. Full List of Democrats Voting to Condemn Socialism as Mamdani Comes to Town Roll Call 305 | Bill Number: H. Con. Res. 58 Kentucky secretary of state examines increasing national influence on Kentucky politics We Ain’t Buying It Target Companies

So, a big billionaire-owned corporate giant is paying out a penalty for ripping off consumers. According to the CJ: Amazon customers who are eligible to receive a portion of the company's $2.5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission have started receiving payments. In the first of two waves of payouts, Amazon began issuing automatic payments to some customers beginning Wednesday, Nov.

Here's the latest on the UPS MD-11 jet crash at Louisville's Muhammad Ali Airport, from the CJ: Just two weeks after the fatal Nov. 4 UPS crash left 14 dead in Louisville, a preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report found the left engine detached from the plane and caught fire. Additionally, the investigation found evidence of "fatigue cracks," among other issues.

Honestly, this doesn't appear to be a billionaire donation. But this is how huge financial gifts should be revealed in the news media: For the past few months, a petition has garnered hundreds of signatures in favor of updating the aging sprayground at Chickasaw Park. But thanks to an anonymous $5 million donation, the beloved park is getting so much more than that.