Cake in the office 'as bad as passive smoking' | The Week UK

Taking cake to work to share with colleagues causes as much harm to health as passive smoking, the chair of the Food Standards Agency has warned.

Professor Susan Jebb told The Times that people often “undervalue” the impact that their environment has on their choices. “If nobody brought in cakes into the office, I would not eat cakes in the day, but because people do bring cakes in, I eat them,” she said.

Jebb said that the issues of unhealthy eating and passive smoking were not identical, but added that the latter inflicts harm on others “and exactly the same is true of food”.

The comparison has drawn criticisms, however. Dr Helen Wall, a GP in Bolton, told the BBC that “if somebody's smoking next to you, you can't help but inhale that”. But “if someone's got a cake next to you”, Wall continued, “you don't have to eat it”.

Watchdog boss Jebb also accused the government of damaging public health, by delaying a planned 9pm watershed ban on TV and online junk food advertising. Advertising junk food is “undermining people’s free will”, she told The Times. Allowing advertising “with no health controls” had resulted in a “complete market failure”, she argued, “because what you get advertised is chocolate and not cauliflower”.

Rishi Sunak faced a “furious backlash from health experts” in December after announcing that the implementation of the ban was being pushed back from 2023 to 2025, The Guardian reported.

Chris Askew, chief executive of the charity Diabetes UK, told the paper that the “disgraceful” delay would “disproportionately impact the lowest income households, who have less access to healthy food and are targeted by a greater amount of advertising of unhealthy food”.

A ban on multibuy promotions on foods and drinks high in fat, salt, or sugar was also delayed last May by Boris Johnson. Barbara Crowther of the Children’s Food Campaign accused the then prime minister of “playing politics with children’s health”.

Ventilation: A powerful Covid-19 mitigation measure | CNN

CNN —

Two-plus years into the Covid-19 pandemic, you probably know the basics of protection: vaccines, boosters, proper handwashing and masks. But one of the most powerful tools against the coronavirus is one that experts believe is just starting to get the attention it deserves: ventilation.

Respiratory backwash

“The challenge for organizations that improve air quality is that it’s invisible,” said Joseph Allen, director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

It’s true: Other Covid tools are more tangible. But visualizing how the virus might behave in poorly ventilated spaces can help people better understand this mitigation measure.

Allen likens it to cigarette smoke. “If I’m smoking in the corner of a classroom and you have low ventilation/filtration, that room is going to fill up with smoke, and everyone is breathing that same air.”

Then apply that to the outdoors.

“I could be smoking a cigarette, you could be a couple of feet from me, depending which way the wind was blowing, you may not even know I’m smoking.”

If you’re indoors, you could be breathing in less fresh air than you think.

“Everybody in a room together is constantly breathing air that just came out of the lungs of other people in that room. And depending on the ventilation rate, it could be as much as 3% or 4% of the air you’re breathing just came out of the lungs of other people in that room,” Allen said.

He describes this as respiratory backwash.

“Normally, that’s not a problem, right? We do this all the time. We’re always exchanging our respiratory microbiomes with each other. But if someone’s sick and infectious … those aerosols can carry the virus. That’s a problem.”

It’s airborne

“We’ve known for decades how to keep people safe in buildings from infection, from airborne infectious diseases like this one,” Allen said.

From the beginning of the pandemic, Allen and other experts have waved red flags, saying that the way we were thinking about transmission of Covid-19 – surfaces, large respiratory droplets – was missing the point.

“Hand washing and social distancing are appropriate but, in our view, insufficient to provide protection from virus-carrying respiratory microdroplets released into the air by infected people. This problem is especially acute in indoor or enclosed environments, particularly those that are crowded and have inadequate ventilation,” hundreds of scientists stated in an open letter in July 2020.

Eventually, the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged what the experts had been saying all along: that Covid-19 could also spread by small aerosolized particles that can travel more than 6 feet.

The coronavirus itself is very small – about 0.1 microns – but that doesn’t affect how far it can travel.

“The size of the virus itself doesn’t matter because, as we say, the virus is never naked in air. In other words, the virus is always traveling in respiratory particles that develop in our lungs. And those are all different sizes,” Allen said.

Singing or coughing can emit particles as large as 100 microns (almost the width of a human hair), he said, but the virus tends to travel in smaller particles – between 1 and 5 microns.

The size of these particles affects not only how far it can travel but how deeply we can breathe it into our lungs, and how we should approach protecting ourselves from this virus.

“When you’re talking about an airborne disease, there’s the what’s right around you, you know, the sort of the people who you know can cough in your face, the 6 feet thing, and then there’s the broader indoor air, because indoor air is recirculated,” said Max Sherman, a leader on the Epidemic Task Force for the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

Dilute and clean

“Outdoors is safer than indoors” has become an accepted mantra with Covid-19. Allen points out that protecting ourselves indoors is where our focus should always be, even beyond the pandemic.

“We’re [an] indoors species. We spend 90% of our time indoors. The air we breathe indoors has a massive impact on our health, whether you think about infectious disease or anything else, but it just has escaped the public consciousness for a long time,” he said.

Making sure our indoor air is healthy is not that complicated, Sherman said. “You just want to reduce the number of particles that might be carrying Covid or any other nasty [virus].”

The way you do that is through ventilation and filtration.

Filtration – just like it sounds – is filtering or cleaning the air, removing the infected particles. But think of ventilation as diluting the air. You’re bringing more fresh air in to reduce the concentration of those particles.

Dilution is exactly why we haven’t seen superspreader events outdoors, Allen says.

“We have hardly any transmission outdoors. Why is that? Unlimited dilution, because you have unlimited ventilation. And so, even in crowded protests or outdoor sporting events like the Super Bowl, we just don’t see superspreading happening. But if we did, we’d have the signal be loud and clear. We just don’t see it. It’s all indoors in these underperforming, unhealthy spaces.”

Healthy spaces

Even before the advent of HVAC systems, ventilation was integrated into many building designs.

The 1901 Tenement Housing Act of New York required every tenement building – a building with multifamily households – to have ventilation, running water and gas light.

Builders added ventilation to many of these buildings with a shaft in the middle that runs from the roof to the ground, allowing more airflow.

“In the late 19th century, people are finally starting to understand how disease spreads. So airshafts and the accompanying ventilation were seen as a solution to the public health crises that were happening in tenement buildings,” said Katheryn Lloyd, director of programming at the Tenement Museum. “There were high cases of tuberculosis, diphtheria and other diseases that spread. Now we know that spread sort of through the air.”

Today, we’re facing the same challenge.

“Getting basic ventilation in your home is important, full stop,” Sherman said.

One of the easiest, cheapest ways to do that is to open your windows.

Open doors or windows at opposite ends of your home to create cross-ventilation, the Environmental Protection Agency advises. Opening the highest and lowest windows – especially if on different floors – of a home can also increase ventilation. Adding an indoor fan can take it even further.

“If a single fan is used, it should be facing (and blowing air) in the same direction the air is naturally moving. You can determine the direction the air is naturally moving by observing the movement of drapes or by holding a light fabric or dropping paper clippings and noting which direction they move,” the EPA says.

Just cracking a window can help a lot, Allen says: “Even propping a window open a couple inches to really facilitate higher air changes, especially if you do it in multiple places in the house, so you can create some pressure differentials.”

It’s important to note that if you have an HVAC system, it must be running to actually circulate or filter the air. The EPA says that these systems run less than 25% of the time during heating and cooling seasons.

“Most of the controls these days have a setting where you can run the fan on low all the time. And that’s usually the best thing to do because that makes sure you’re getting you’re pushing air through the filter all the time and mixing the air up in your in your home,” Sherman advised.

This could be something to keep in mind if you’re going to have visitors or if someone in the household is at higher risk for severe illness.

Choose the most efficient filter your HVAC system can handle, and make sure you routinely change the filters.

Filters have a minimum efficiency reporting value, or MERV, rating that indicates how well they capture small particles. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers recommends using at least a MERV-13 filter, which it says is at least 85% efficient at capturing particles from 1 to 3 microns.

If that’s not an option, portable air filters can also work well, but the EPA says to use one that is made for the intended room size and meets at least one of these criteria:

Designed as high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)

CADR rated

Manufacturer says the device will remove most particles below 1 micron

Finding a safe space

When you walk into a space, there’s no good rule of thumb to look around and gauge how well-ventilated it might be, and that can be a challenge when people have been tasked with assessing their own risk.

Allen suggests starting with the basics: Make sure you’re up to date with vaccinations and aware of where Covid-19 numbers stand in your community.

But then it gets harder. Even the number of people in a space isn’t a giveaway of a higher-risk situation.

“The more people in there could be higher-risk because you’re more likely to have someone who’s infectious, but if the ventilation is good, it really doesn’t matter.”

Ventilation standards are based on “an amount of fresh air per person, plus the amount of fresh air per square foot,” Allen explained. “So if you have a good system, the more people that enter the room, the more ventilation is brought in to the room.”

One tool that can help you assess ventilation in a room is a CO2 monitor, something Allen wishes he saw more in public spaces. He likes to carry a portable one, which you can order online for between $100 and $200.

“If you see under 1,000 parts per million, generally, you’re hitting the ventilation targets that are the design standard. But remember, these are not health-based standards. So we want to see higher ventilation rates.”

Allen prefers to see CO2 at or under 800 parts per million. He also notes that just because a space has low CO2 levels, it might not be unsafe if filtration is high, like on an airplane.

A gamechanger for schools

Atlanta Public Schools Superintendent Lisa Herring says the installation of 5,000 air filtration units – enough for every classroom – in her school district is “a gamechanger.”

The district had begun upgrading HVAC systems in several schools even before the pandemic, but federal funding allowed it to add filtration units during a crucial time when masks have become optional.

“It gives a greater level of confidence for us as a system to know that our air filtration systems are in place,” Herring said.

School districts all over the country have been jumping at the opportunity for ventilation upgrades made possible by an influx of federal funding.

An analysis in February by FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, found that public schools had earmarked $4.4 billion for HVAC projects, which could grow to almost $10 billion if trends continued.

New Hampshire’s Manchester School District is pouring almost $35 million into upgrading HVAC systems, and interim Superintendent Jennifer Gillis says federal funding is “absolutely key.”

“You think about a district of our size with all the competing demands and the need to be fiscally responsible, a $35 million project, that’s a large project to introduce to our budget. Having those funds available to us lets us do 19 projects – and 19 projects in a very short span of time.”

For Gillis, ventilation has been an important mitigation strategy and an unobtrusive way to keep people safe.

“It’s something that most in the building don’t think about, but it’s a very passive way for us to create safety within the schools. Since the beginning, the goal was always ‘let’s get our kids in, let’s get our staff in, but let’s do it in a way that’s safe for all of them.’ “

Good ventilation isn’t only about keeping students safe from Covid-19, Sherman says. It can also improve their performance in school.

“They’re going to learn better; they’re going to be awake more; they’re going to be more receptive. They’re going to be healthier if they’ve got good indoor air quality,” he said.

Finally front and center

Helping solidify ventilation’s role in the Covid-19 battle, the Biden administration announced a Clean Air in Buildings Challenge last month.

The challenge calls on building operators and owners to improve ventilation by following guidelines laid out by the EPA.

Get CNN Health's weekly newsletter Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team.

The main actions include creating a clean indoor air action plan, optimizing fresh air ventilation, enhancing air filtration and cleaning, and engaging the building community by communicating with occupants to increase awareness, commitment and participation.

The message may seem overdue, but it’s one that Allen enthusiastically welcomed.

“The White House used its pulpit to say unequivocally that clean air and buildings matter. That’s massive. Regardless of what you think about what will happen next with implementation or what happens with the funding. That is a crystal-clear message that is already being heard by businesses, nonprofits, universities and state leaders. I see these changes happening already.”

Health is more than absence of illness

Daniel P. Finney, dafinney@dmreg.com

MORE MAKING WEIGHT: Current updates to this blog are here

THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2016

Redefining health

Thank you to everyone who turned out earlier this month for our Making Weight event at the Wellmark YMCA of Greater Des Moines.

It was a wonderful evening of conversation between myself, members of my medical team and readers who’ve followed this journey for more than a year.

We spent most of the session answering questions from the audience. It was a thoughtful public discussion of obesity, mental health and wellness.

I offer my deepest thanks to dietitian Jacque Schwartz of Mercy Weight Loss and Nutrition Center in Clive, physical therapist Stefanie Kirk of Mercy South Physical Therapy, Dr. Eric Barlow, psychiatrist from Compass Clinical in Urbandale, and trainer Nate Yoho of CrossFit Merle Hay.

Regular readers have read many a praiseful paragraph about these people, as well as Dr. Shawna Basener, my family doctor, who could not attend, and my psychologist, who chooses to remain anonymous in these columns.

The event allowed a lot of people to learn just how spectacular these people are and how much the care about not only my personal health but that off all their patients and clients.

One of the points I emphasized in response to an audience question is one that I want to make here: It is essentially that you connect with your healthcare providers on an intellectual and emotional level.

I’m not a fan of the word “providers” when describing the people have helped me to lose nearly 100 pounds in the last year. I prefer the term “partners.”

This isn’t just semantics. A partnership is a dynamic in which both people involved benefit from progress. I believe every member of my team is invested in my continued improvement. And if you can’t say that about your doctor, your coach or mental health professional, they it might be time to make a change.

An intimate relationship with your team is essential. You have to be able to trust doctors and therapists with your worries, be open about uncomfortable things in your life, with your body and goals.

Barlow brought up an interesting point during the event. He said he wished he could have similar meetings with the health care teams that worked with his regular patients.

The realities of the daily practice of medicine prevents regular face-to-face meetings between physicians, mental health professionals, trainers and dieticians.

But all professionals present agreed the holistic approach would benefit patients. Hopefully, as the medical field continues to evolve from reactive care to preventative care, we will figure out better ways for medical professionals to communicate more effectively between offices and across disciplines.

The most surprising question of the evening came from my dear friend Tyler Teske, a fellow East High School alumnus, who showed up to support his old locker mate.

Tyler asked me if my experiences working to curb morbid obesity, contain my mood disorders and other issues helped me redefined the meaning of health for me.

The question gave me pause.

The truth is I don’t think I ever gave much thought to a definition of health until mine failed me. I never thought about the long-term consequences of what I put in my body, how sedentary my life had become or the psychological consequences of those actions or inactions, as the case may be.

I think I thought healthy simply meant not being sick. But now I know it is much more than that. It is more than just diet, exercise, medicine and maintenance.

Health, to me, is not merely the absence of illness, but the presence of wellness. And wellness, like life itself, is not a destination but a journey.

Here is to Year 2 of Making Weight. As always, I thank you for reading and wish you the love, dignity and respect all humans deserve.

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2016

Anxious days

I’ve really been struggling with my anxiety disorder the last week or so.

That’s bad news on multiple fronts.

First, panic attacks stink. My heart races. I sweat. My hands shake. It feels as if I’m in the middle of a life-threatening situation just sitting in my apartment trying to watch the NBA Playoffs.

The worst attacks feel like my skin is itching on the inside.

Secondly, anxiety spurs binge eating. Panic attacks are chemical imbalances in the brain. Biologically, my body will do whatever it thinks is necessary to restore proper chemical balance.

Medication helps. But in the throes of the attack, I’m prone to hit the fridge or drive the restaurant. And I’m not likely to pick green beans or broccoli when I get there.

I’m looking for a tiny boost of serotonin, the most common and one of the most powerful naturally occurring mood regulators in the brain.

Sometimes that comes from fried food or pizza or whatever.

One day last week, in a fit of anxiety, I plowed through a pound of boneless chicken wings and a pound of taco meat slathered on cheese sauce.

It felt great for all of 15 minutes. The good vibes from the short serotonin burst quickly faded. The anxiety again churned my gut. This time the cause was simple: I’d ingested a lot of calories at a time when I’m trying to lose weight.

The third thing I do when my anxiety is bad is buy things I don’t need with money I don’t have. The effect on mood is the same as overeating. It feels really great to get a new toy, book or movie for my collection.

But again the anxiety resurges, because I’ve spent money meant for rent, groceries, retirement or other necessities.

As I have written many times, you can spend yourself into bankruptcy and eat yourself into an early grave.

The most obvious question here that if I recognize the destructive nature of these patterns, why, then, don’t I simply stop them?

I’ve written before about schema. These are the behavior patterns we all develop to negotiate the world. A simple schema would be not putting our hands on hot burners to avoid being burned.

These schemata form when we’re young. And you really can’t change them. What you do is build new ones to create new behavior patterns that are more constructive.

Let me assure you typing that sentence is a lot easier than acting on it. My schemata are deeply rooted and hard to override.

I won’t get into the details of my childhood other than to say it was chaotic. I learned to take pleasure in food and presents. These things gave me the security and comfort in ways my family situation did not.

The trouble is the emergencies of my childhood have long since passed, but the patterns of behavior remain. And so, too, does the nagging anxiety.

Sometimes I can tell what causes a panic attack. I can trace it to an incident or problem I’m having. Other times, panic seems to strike me from what I like to call “free-floating anxiety.”

One afternoon last week, I dozed off during a basketball game. I woke up in a full-blown panic attack. Was I ruminating on some troublesome problem in a dream? It’s impossible to say.

The good news is I have a terrific support system in place. Parents 2.0, the kindly east Des Moines couple who raised me after my first set of parents died, are always there for comfort and support. My girlfriend takes many late night calls, as does my saintly therapist who helps me break the cycle of anxiety.

Still, these cycles are exhausting. The drain my creative energy and I find myself cold, distant and detached from the people I love the most.

I should also mention that the transcranial magnetic stimulation treatments, or TMS, that I underwent last year do not directly treat anxiety.

I consider that treatment a resounding success. It sent my depression into remission or, at least, severely curtailed it. I have not suffered a major depressive episode since I completed the treatment in December.

I controlled the anxiety with prescription medication. And my talk therapist and I work every two weeks to find ways for me to break the negative thoughts that spiral into dark thinking.

There was, at least, one spot of positive news on the Making Weight front. At my latest weigh in, I lost 11.8 pounds in a month.

That brings my total weight loss up to 99.8 pounds since the journey began more than a year ago.

I know there is a long way to go before I’m anything approaching fit. I also know all too well there will be bad days ahead, both mentally and physically.

But even an anxiety junkie like me can say losing nearly 100 pounds is a good day.

FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2016

Talking ' Making Weight'

Daniel Finney recently spoke to Iowa Public Radio about his one year anniversary of Making Weight. Take a listen to the conversation below:

MAKING WEIGHT EVENT

Join Register columnist Daniel Finney for a talk about a year in his effort to lose weight and regain his health. Meet some of the people who've helped him along the way, including trainer Nate Yoho, physical therapist Stefanie Kirk, dietitian Jacque Schwartz, physician Dr. Shauna Basener and psychiatrist Dr. Eric Barlow. The talk, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for Thursday, May 12 from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Wellmark YMCA of Greater Des Moines, 501 Grand Ave. To register, visit: https://tickets.desmoinesregister.com/e/making-weight-one-mans-journey-from-fat-to-fit/tickets.

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016

Fat jokes

Criticism comes with being a columnist. It’s only fair. This newspaper gives me a lot of space to share my opinions. It’s reasonable some people will disagree, even vehemently so.

But there’s one trend I notice in negative responses I receive that I struggle to understand.

For example, a reader who disagreed with my column in which I said convicted murderer Joseph “Jo-Jo” White Jr. should never be released from prison wrote this email response:

“I find it difficult to believe that one who has done such damage to his own body can pass judgment on another judged by the state to have committed a terrible crime against another human being.”

That's a whopper of a non-sequitur, but if I translate this correctly, it really says, “You’re fat. You shouldn’t have an opinion about a murderer getting released from prison.”

Another reader, who described himself as a 31-year journalist, did not care for my profile of Drake University President Earl “Marty” Martin. After he finished his criticism of that piece, he added:

“Eagerly awaiting your next ‘Really folks, I’m trying to lose weight … oops, I gained 7 pounds’ series. I do wish you good health.”

Aside from having severe doubts about the sincerity of the writer’s wishes for my good health, I’m stumped by those sentences.

A generous reading of the email might suggest he’s simply not a fan of anything I write for the paper. Or perhaps in the heat of writing an email — that “firing off a note” cliche comes from somewhere — his desire to get a really cutting line typed overcame his sense of decorum.

I can understand that. It’s happened to me as a writer more times than I would like to admit.

But I think he threw in the dig about my recent gain of 7 pounds as simple spite.

It is as if he did not have enough confidence in his original criticism and decided, “You know what? I'll throw the fat thing in there, too.”

This is where I get confused. I understand disagreement with my work. But I don’t understand the base need to attack me or anyone else because of their weight, body size or appearance.

Please don’t read this as “woe is me.” It isn’t. As I said, I understand criticism comes with job.

But cruelty does not — and it shouldn’t come with anyone’s job. It genuinely troubles me that people think pointing at fat people and laughing is still acceptable.

I’ve written before how I cringed when retired late night TV host David Letterman riffed on New Jersey Gov. Chris Cristie’s weight. There are many things about Christie ripe for lampooning, but his weight seems the least and laziest of topics.

But it isn’t just comedians and emailers. Making fun of fat people for sport is commonplace.

The cruel website peopleofwalmart.com posts unflattering pictures of shoppers at the retail chain, many of them holding obese people up for ridicule.

I have a friend who once posted a picture of an obese woman riding her scooter through the drive-through of a fast food restaurant. He made comments I thought were mean and I posted a response. We argued a bit. Nothing came of it.

Someone will almost certainly accuse me of being politically correct for pleading with the public to be kind to obese people, myself included.

I am OK with that. Political correctness, though it can be overdone, is simply people asking others to describe them with dignity and respect. All people deserve that.

Underlying all these “fat funnies,” I believe, is the myth that obesity is a simple problem of self-control. Put down the fork. Eat less. Move more.

If you’re fat, the thinking goes, it’s your fault.

There are reams of scientific research that show obesity has roots in genetics, changes in the makeup and portions of food we eat, socio-economic status, childhood trauma and a host of other issues.

But instead of scientific evidence, which the public seems all too eager to ignore, I will appeal on humane grounds.

I am not an overly religious person, but I believe the Sermon on the Mount attributed to Christian savior Jesus Christ is probably the finest treatise on how humans should treat one another ever written.

I won’t quote it here because this is not Sunday School. I encourage you to Google it sometime and keep an eye on the lines about mercy.

Then consider whether we might not have a much better world if we focused on mercy instead of fat jokes.

THURSDAY, APRIL 21, 2016

Controlling hunger

Sometimes it’s tough having a former U.S. Army Ranger as your psychologist.

I sank into his recliner last week feeling glum.

My weight was up. I worked with my nutritionist. We decided to trim my daily calorie goal by 200 in an effort to restart the weight loss.

But I was really feeling the difference. I found myself thinking about eating a lot more than I had at any point since I began this effort to lose weight and regain my health.

I complained of the problem to my therapist, who asks not to be identified in these columns because of the work he does with public safety agencies.

My therapist told me a story about Ranger survival training when he and his troop were on one ration a day.

“The first few days, you were so hungry you would drink swamp water just to have something in your stomach,” he said.

Well, then. I guess it isn’t all that bad after all.

Eating is a biological necessity. But hunger pangs can be controlled in much the same way I work to wrangle anxiety when it bubbles in my brain.My therapist wasn’t going with tough love, though. He was making a point.

The best tactic I’ve found for stemming panic attacks before they blossom – besides prescription medication, of course – is by breaking the cycle of thinking that causes panic to spiral.

Sometimes this is phoning a friend. Other times it’s distracting myself with a good book or even taking a nap.

I’ve found the same tactics in nursing my way through attacks of hunger pangs, with a few exceptions.

TV is rarely a good pick because if you’re feeling hungry there are a lot of commercials about food and none of them are particularly healthy options.

But favorite movies on DVD or a Netflix binge watch is much better than a food binge in the kitchen.

Conversation is always good, but don’t ruminate on food. I might call my girlfriend and complain about being hungry, but we switch topics fairly quickly to the latest antics of her cats.

I call my friend Paul in Memphis to talk about how bad the summer movie slate looks. And so on.

I want to make a couple of points here. I’m not talking about starving myself. That’s just as unhealthy as eating junk food.

I’m talking about the hunger pangs that come not from the biological need to eat but thinking about food, being tempted by the smell of a favorite dish or the reflex desire to eat out of sheer boredom.

I struggle with bored eating lot. I find myself looking into the refrigerator for entertainment rather than sustenance.

Another appetite control technique I’ve learned: Avoid fast foods. I don’t mean the drive-through restaurants. I mean premade foods that you can pop in the microwave or tear into like potato chips or other snack food.

Most of my grocery bill goes to fresh veggies, meats, a few fruits, eggs and so on. The only quickie foods I have on hand are protein bars, which are low in calories and high in nutrients. So if I do break down and have an unnecessary snack, noshing on one of those isn’t a terrible choice.

The best thing, though, is a distraction. And the good thing about my apartment it is that it’s stacked ceiling to floor with books, movies and music. I can always find something to do besides eat.

So far it’s worked. As of this writing, I’ve stayed within my new calorie goal for 21 consecutive days. We’ll see how well it’s paid off at my next weigh in in a week or so.

THURSDAY, APRIL 14, 2016

A setback amid celebrations

Last week, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of Making Weight, my ongoing effort to recover from morbid obesity.

I wrote a big front-page story in the April 10 edition. We hosted a Facebook Live chat on Facebook.com/DesMoinesRegister. (Click here to watch a replay.)

I received dozens of emails, letters and phone calls. Almost all praised me and several readers shared their own experiences.

It felt great.

This doesn’t: I’ve gained 7.2 pounds since my last weigh in.

It is the biggest single weight gain I’ve had between benchmarks since I started the process.

I can easily find where I got off track.

I bought foods that I shouldn’t have, like peanuts, which are high in nutrients but also heavy in fats. In the recommended servings, they’re a fine snack.

But the recommended serving is very small. But I take a handful and then another and then another. And pretty soon a half pound of nuts has been consumed.

They are a poor choice to have in the house.

I didn’t do much better eating out. A while back, I had some nachos for the first time in a while. It was like an alcoholic trying to take a single drink.

Pretty soon nachos were regular meals. Sometimes, I’m ashamed to admit, those nachos were “appetizers” followed by full meals.

I got sick in late February and early March. I missed several sessions at the gym. And I didn’t eat well during that down time.

I looked at MyFitnessPal, the smartphone app I use to track calories. Some days I hadn’t logged all my calories. Other days, I blew my calorie goal.

I think I blew my calorie goal for seven out of 10 days at one point in March.

Now, the weight gain is not all bad. The computer at Mercy Weight Loss and Nutrition Center in Clive gives me information about water weight and muscle mass.

Since my workouts with Nate Yoho, owner of CrossFit Merle Hay, began in February, my muscle mass has increased by more than 6 pounds.

That’s terrific news. As Nate says: “You don’t get stronger by adding fat.”

I am getting stronger. But I’ve also added some fat.

I worked with dietitian Jacque Schwartz at the Nutrition Center. I decided to reduce my daily calorie goal from 2,700 to 2,500.

As of this writing, I’ve stayed at or below that goal for 13 days in a row.

But that’s come with its own side effect: I’m hungry.

Since this journey began, I’ve been able to lose weight largely without major hunger pangs.

Yet I feel them with this 200-calorie cut. They’re manageable. If I get too hung up on them, I do what I always do when I get locked into a pattern of negative thinking: I phone a friend.

Sometimes it’s my therapist. Sometimes it’s a text message to Nate. Sometimes I call my girlfriend or my buddy, Paul, in Memphis, Tenn.

With my girlfriend and Paul, we don’t necessarily talk about eating and food. Sometimes we talk about movies, TV and sports — just anything to break the loop of thinking.

Pretty soon I forget about being hungry.

What I don’t want to forget, however, is that are these lapses are natural.

I’m not going to spend a lot of time beating myself up about this. Yeah, I gained some weight. But I have all the tools in place to lose that again and make more progress.

And I’ve already taken action to stop the current slide. There’s been a lot of broccoli and green beans consumed in my house recently. My George Foreman Grill is getting a lot more work.

With hard work and continued vigilance, I’ll have a lot better news to report the next time I step on that scale.

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2016

Throwing weight around

I stayed in bed Monday morning and pulled the covers over my head.

I fiddled with a “Star Wars” video game on my smartphone when the alert from my calendar popped up. It was time to go to the gym.

I did not want to go. I spent part of the weekend, as did many of my colleagues, covering the deaths of four people in a tragic head-on crash on Interstate 80 near Waukee.

Among the dead were two Des Moines police officers. I did not know the officers personally, but I worked as a police reporter for several years before eventually becoming a columnist.

My uncle Larry was a Des Moines cop. I’ve spent years learning about police procedure, tactics, their mindset, the challenges and struggles of the job.

In the process, I’ve gotten to know some law enforcement professionals very well. Some I call close friends. And I felt their grief even though it was not mine to carry directly.

I was having a hard time with my emotions after writing about the incident. In fact, my brain chemistry was so jumbled up that I took some time off just to attempt to relax.

I want to be very clear: I do not equate the emotional state I was in with that of those who lost loved ones, including the police.

My struggles were insignificant and infinitesimal compared to those who lost a son, a daughter, a mother, a father, colleague, friend and so on.

Still, I did, in fact, have an emotional reaction to those officers’ deaths, and the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym.

But I thought of the officers who reported for duty the next day and did a job far tougher than stacking paragraphs. The absolute minimum I could do was get out of bed and go to the gym.

When I arrived at CrossFit Merle Hay, my coach, Nate Yoho, spotted something off about me right away as we began warm-up stretching.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind,” he said.

We talked about the sad events of the weekend and where my head was at.

Nate knows tragedy. I first met him after his wife, Laura, died of brain cancer and their daughter, Caralyn, was born by surrogate a few months later.

Nate, of course, isn’t a therapist. But he’s a smart man and one whose experiences grant him good perspective.

We talked while I worked out. As the sweat ran, my heart rate picked up and my blood pumped, I was able to focus on something other than the confused set of emotions rattling around in my mind.

Nate put me through paces on a deadlifting exercise. For some time, I’ve joked to Nate that I was looking forward to the day when I could throw weights on the floor.

The fitter and more experienced athletes in Nate’s gym do a variety of lifts that after they’re done, they simply let the heavy weights fall to the ground rather than risk injury by trying to lower them to the ground.

Until that session, Nate worked gingerly adding weight to my deadlifts because of my tender, oft-injured back.

Perhaps sensing I was ready for a challenge or simply that I needed to put my mind to work on something other than sadness, he challenged me with the heaviest weight I had deadlifted to that point.

“When you’re done with your reps, I want you to drop that bar on the ground,” Nate said.

He showed me the proper technique. I lifted. I focused on breathing and form. And when my reps were done, I let loose of that bar.

It slammed into the rubberized floor with a satisfying clatter. I lifted my arms in the air with some sense of relief.

Throwing that weight on the floor did not erase my sadness. But it sure helped.

And my exchanges with Nate that day made me realize how much I had come to trust this man with both my physical health but also as a friend and confidant.

That epiphany did lift my mood. Because among the best medicine for sadness is the knowledge that you are not alone in this world.

THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016

Mental, physical health linked

I recently wrote about a woman who is dying of lung cancer. Someone asked me if the subject of my story smoked. She didn't.

The question is, in a way, a natural outgrowth of decades of anti-smoking campaigns. The link between smoking and lung cancer is scientific fact.

But an unintended consequence of those campaigns is that when people suffer from lung cancer, there is almost an attitude of, “Well, they deserved to die wheezing because they were stupid enough to smoke.”

I thought about the question in the context of my own ongoing recovery from morbid obesity. Writing about this publicly has brought scores of kind notes and letters from readers who share the same struggle, know of others who do or empathize with the journey.

But occasionally — and mercifully rarely — I will hear from the reader who believes this ongoing chronicle is self-indulgent and displacing real news. After all, the argument often goes, obesity is my own fault.

In essence, I’m fat because I ate too much and I deserved it.

There is some truth to that. I have overeaten for much of my life and rarely exercised. But no one reaches 563 pounds — the weight at which I began changing my life to avoid crippling myself at 40 — simply by overindulgence.

There is a growing body of research that links childhood trauma with obesity. Kaiser Permanente, a health care company in Oakland, Calif., did some groundbreaking investigations into the link in the early 1980s and was the subject of a Time magazine profile in 2010.

The data essentially says people with high adverse childhood experiences have higher risk for a host of negative health problems as adults, including alcohol and other drug abuse, chronic depression, heart disease, smoking and, yes, obesity.

Adverse childhood experiences describe a wide array of problems ranging from verbal, physical and sexual abuse to problems related to poverty, abandonment, family history of mental illness and drug abuse and other issues.

I took a 10-question survey at acestoohigh.com, a very good website about adverse childhood experiences, and scored a 4. That’s the highest category measured by the Kaiser Permanente ACE Study.

Without going into unnecessary detail about my childhood, it was, to say the least, a challenge.

And, no, I’m not blaming me being obese directly on childhood trauma. But I absolutely believe in the link.

When you suffer trauma as a child, you do what you can to feel safe and comfortable. The things I did most often to feel safe and comfortable was eat and buy things: toys, comic books, movies and so on.

These actions, my behavioral therapist tells me, create a chemical reaction in the brain that calms me, even if briefly.

The problem is, of course, you can spend yourself into bankruptcy and you can eat yourself into the grave.

I work with my therapist twice a month to learn new ways to cope with stress. He takes a call from me two or three times a week when I face an anxiety situation that could spiral into negative thinking that could lead to anything from overeating to suicidal thoughts.

Just the act of talking out those thoughts helps them dissipate and remove the chance of me acting on them.

One knee-jerk reaction might be to say, “Look, childhood was a long time ago. Get over it already.”

Cognitive function, alas, is more complicated than that.

I am also 40 years old. That means I’ve been acting on a series of behaviors ultimately bad for my health for a very long time.

Psychologists called these learned behaviors schemata — a learned cognitive response to certain stimuli.

Here’s the tricky thing about schemata. They can’t be changed. Once they’re in place, you’re stuck with them.

What you can do, though, is build new ones. This is a tough task. I’ve been in therapy off and on since I was 15 years old.

My behavioral therapist, who asks I not name him because of the work he does with public safety agencies, is the best medical professional I’ve ever worked with.

The work we’ve done in our two years of sessions is some of the most important and life-changing in my life.

And still I find myself reaching out to him when I am on the precipice of or in the middle of a panic attack. That is, in fact, part of a new schemata that’s under construction. When the cycle of negativity starts, find a way to break it.

So, to bring this back to the obesity battle, yes, I ate too much of the wrong things for a long time. And sometimes I still indulge where and how I should not.

But like a smoker who is trying to quit or a cancer sufferer trying to survive, I am working as hard as I can to find a new path to a healthier life while fully realizing I will stumble and fall often along the way.

As for the idea that a smoker who gets lung cancer or an obese person with health problems “deserve them,” I think of Clint Eastwood’s line before he kills Gene Hackman’s sadistic sheriff in “The Unforgiven:”

“Deserves got nothin’ to do with it."

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2016

Enjoying exercise? It happens

Boy, it felt good to get back to the gym last week.

And that’s a sentence that I never expected to type. I mean I’m the kid who used to walk the mile in middle school. I rarely even tried in P.E.

But there I was last Monday at the gym eagerly putting on my shoes and getting ready for the day’s activity.

I missed nearly two weeks of workouts because of a heavy chest cold that left my lungs wheezing. Two rounds of steroids and antibiotics and three doctor visits finally got me back on my feet.

As a side note, as someone who lives with an anxiety disorder, the heavy stimulants in steroids and oral inhalers made for a very edgy couple of weeks without much rest.

But once Nate Yoho, my coach and owner of CrossFit Merle Hay, started putting me through my paces, I started to feel spectacular.

In fact, I think I got an exercise high. This is a rush of endorphins in the brain spurred by exercise. Runners talk about it a lot when they push to a new level of exertion.

I’d never experienced it before. But it felt great.

That I actually enjoy exercise and look forward to it as a part of my thrice weekly routine is a compliment to Nate.

He designs workouts that are varied. I rarely do the same thing twice in our three sessions.

Nate also excels at the human touch. On my second day back, the weather was pleasant. We took a short walk in the parking lot as a cooldown activity.

Nate told me my confidence of movement was improving. I didn’t know what that meant.

He said I approach activities less tentatively than I did when we started working together. I pick up weights without fear of injury, he said.

I thought about what this meant. I came to Nate after finishing physical therapy with Stefanie Kirk at Mercy South Physical Therapy.

The pain of limited movement was fresh in my mind. I also had a mindset that an injury meant I had to stop, rehab and restart the process.

But as I’ve gotten more comfortable working with Nate, I’ve begun to realize that some nagging problems — such as knots in my calves — can be treated on the spot.

Nate “rolls out” the knots with a special tool he has. It’s unpleasant, but it’s an intense discomfort in the short term to avoid limping for a full day.

I felt my calves, which had been dormant with the rest of my body during my illness, tighten up during a stepping exercise Nate gave me.

I told Nate they were right on the edge of knotting up. He adjusted the workout to more upper body and core challenges and we avoided aggravating the calves further.

At the end of the day, I drank my protein shake. I had a couple extra bananas that evening as snacks. The calves felt acceptable the next day. They were sore, but not injured. We got on with the business of working out.

The key lesson here is the clear line of communication between Nate and I. I feel comfortable telling him, “Hey, this isn’t working.” And I trust him to challenge me to get better.

The blessing of this is that it allows me to focus on continuing to recover from morbid obesity without relying on the singular metric of how much I weigh.

Yes, I’m still morbidly obese. But in just a couple of months, my strength, flexibility and mobility have all improved that even I, the ultimate skeptic in recognizing my own personal improvement, can notice the difference every day.

This is an important and somewhat risky period in the recovery, I think. Once I cross the 100-pound mark for weight loss, there is a temptation to let up, to look back at how far I’ve come and rest on my laurels.

That’s why I’m so blessed to have Nate and his gym in my life. Nate is a master of thinking both day-to-day and big picture. He comes up with the workouts that get me sweating and stressing three times a week.

But then he talks about what I think is patently impossible: pull-ups, competing in CrossFit Games and so on.

I tend to keep my focus in the present. I’m not even sure I want to compete as an athlete. But having someone looking that far ahead does make it easier for me to avoid feeling too satisfied and, instead, keep moving forward.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 2016

Better even when sicker

Oddly enough, I appreciate the improvements to my physical health most when my body fails me.

Here’s what I mean: For almost two weeks, I’ve been plagued by a bronchial infection that I can’t shake. My lungs sound like a saw cutting through old wood.

The breathing problem curtailed my workouts with my coach, Nate Yoho at CrossFit Merle Hay, for more than a week.

It’s tough to exert yourself when you can barely get a chest full of air.

Still, I think of how much worse I would have been if I were still carrying the 94.8 pounds I’ve lost over the last 11 months.

I am by no means svelte, but I am definitely stronger. Even with diminished lung capacity, I’m able to walk to and from my car without stopping. I’m able to walk into the doctor’s office without assistance or breaking out in a fugue of sweat.

I like how many of those sentences begin with “I’m able.”

An infection like this would have totally incapacitated me a year ago.

I’ve been sickly to be sure, but I’ve mostly been able to work.

My voice hasn’t been strong, but my body has had enough strength for short bursts of energy needed to get things done: Pick up prescriptions or supplies at the grocery store and so on.

I remain morbidly obese, of course, but the progress from March 2015 to March 2016 astounds me most when I hit a challenge such as illness.

Then there’s this strange feeling: I actually miss the gym. Early in the lung ailment, I pushed through a workout and I got sicker. It wasn’t my brightest move, but I have come to enjoy my time with Nate.

His gym is as he promised: a place where anybody of any ability level can feel comfortable getting stronger.

I’ve come to look forward to my thrice weekly appointments there the way I used to look forward to hanging out with my high school sports teammates or my weekly Dungeons & Dragons group.

There is a camaraderie. The gym is absent of judgement and heavy on encouragement.

So that I haven’t been able to go due to illness has been a disappointment both physically and socially.

I really want to round off a full 100 pounds before the end of March, when the year anniversary of Making Weight rolls around.

I still hope to pull that off, but this lung problem slowed that, to be sure, but Nate checks in on me nearly every day. That’s dedication.

And I must admit, I’ve been blessed with a good cross-section of people who work very hard to help me get better.

When the cold first started to migrate to my chest, I went to an urgent care clinic. The doctor prescribed a round of medications. But as that course wound down, it was clear the problem wasn’t working.

I groused about this on Facebook and got a surprising response.

My family doctor, Shauna Marie Basener of Mercy Westown Internal Medicine Clinic, messaged me and told me to get into see her at once.

Does that count as a house call in the social media age?

I don’t know. I guess we’ll see when the bill arrives.

But I must appreciate a doctor who is paying close enough attention to my health that she reads my status updates.

I did, in fact, go to see Shauna and she got me on a new round of medicine. A chest X-ray showed no signs of pneumonia. That’s good, though I’m still wheezing as of this writing.

Still, I feel pretty good, at least from a mental standpoint. Just as I appreciate the physical transformation spurred by Nate and physical therapist Stefanie Kirk at Mercy South Physical Therapy, I am grateful for Shauna’s doting care.

In fact, I’m so enamored with Shauna’s work that I’m going to follow her when she changes offices in April and moves to an office in Ames.

Sure, it’s a few extra miles on my Dodge, but when you develop a relationship with a good doctor – or any healthcare provider – you do what you can to preserve it as long as possible.

So my message to my fellow travelers on the journey back from obesity is that there are good people out there – doctors, therapists, trainers and others – whose mission in life is to help you get better.

Who are we to turn our back on such open acts of kindness?

THURSDAY, MARCH 3, 2016

Now we're getting somewhere

"Have you tried on some of your old pants?" said Mom 2.0, the kindly east Des Moines hairdresser who raised me after my first set of parents died.

"No," I said.

"Well, you should," she said. "These are getting pretty baggy. The cuffs are dragging on the ground."

This conversation repeated itself a half dozen or so times in the last two or three months. She asked. I said, "No."

I still had several smaller sizes of khakis hanging in my closet at home. But I refused to pull them off the hanger.

I was too scared.

Yes, I'd lost weight since my efforts to recover from morbid obesity began nearly a year ago. But I refused to recognize it.

I looked in the mirror and did not see what I was, but remained haunted by what I was not.

This is the way of things for a lot of people in a vain culture. But it is an especially acute problem for the obese. I simply could not see any difference.

Sure, when my physical therapist, Stefanie Kirk of Mercy South Physical Therapy, pointed out specific things I could do after working with her that I couldn't do months ago, I intellectually understood that to be true.

But I didn't feel it. I still felt like the same lumpy, hopeless fat guy who was a few french fries away from a heart attack.

Sometimes, I still do.

Even now, when my fitness coach Nate Yoho works me out three days a week at his CrossFit Merle Hay gym, I see great leaps forward in physical abilities.

A major part of Nate's program is retesting me on exercises we've done a few weeks earlier to see how much stronger and faster I've become.

He posts the numbers to a private Facebook page that only he, Stefanie and I can see. We talk about the improvements.

I really do feel stronger. I notice it in small ways, like the ease in getting up from a chair or getting out of my car.

At the beginning of this journey, it must have looked like my Dodge Charger was giving birth to a 563.2-pound baby elephant every time I got out of it.

I once needed my arms to pull myself to a standing position because my poor, overburdened and arthritic knees couldn't take the strain.

Now, I just stand up without so much as a sigh or groan. That's a credit to the paces both Stefanie and Nate put me through.

But this pants thing was too much for me. I was afraid that despite all that progress, I would somehow slip on that smaller size and they would be as tight as they were when I pushed them to the back of the closet with the other "maybe someday" clothes.

I finally acquiesced to Mom 2.0's request after a session at Nate's gym. He takes videos of me doing various exercises to show me what I'm doing right and wrong with form.

He showed me squats from my first week working with him and squats about a month later. I happened to be wearing the same shirt and shorts in both videos.

I noticed my belly was visibly flatter in the profile shots. I made Nate show me both videos multiple times. He agreed. There was much less Finney in the second than the first.

Still, it was hard for my brain to accept it. I showed the videos to my girlfriend. She reminded me she had been telling me for months that I'd slimmed out in the face and my belly was less bulky.

So I went home and pulled that pair of pants a size smaller and pulled them on. They fit marvelously, maybe even a hair looser than I would have expected.

After that, I decided it was time to do something I'd been avoiding since December: Get weighed.

I knew my diet had faltered during the holidays and my exercise evaporated before I started working with Nate.

But now it was late February and I was wearing slightly smaller pants. Progress seemed to be lurching in the proper direction. I might as well test the theory with an actual measurement.

The result: I was down 13 pounds between Dec. 14 and Feb. 23. I've lost a total of 94.8 pounds since this journey began nearly a year ago.

I want to knock out that last 5.2 pounds before the year is up, just to get a nice triple-digit loss.

But, of course, I immediately got a vicious chest cold that sidelined me at the gym for several sessions.

Still, the momentum is shifting in the right direction. It's going well enough that even I can see it.

FRIDAY, FEB. 19, 2016

Challenge, encouragement hallmarks of workouts

It still feels weird to call Nate Yoho “my personal trainer.”

Nate owns CrossFit Merle Hay, where I’ve taken up an exercise regime in my latest effort to recover from morbid obesity.

There is something very gauche about the phrase, like showy jewelry or riding around in a stretch SUV limo. I guess I’m just aggressively middle class that way.

The term I prefer is “coach,” because it feels both more accurate and less pretentious. And it describes my relationship with the man.

The best coaches are teachers. And Nate definitely teaches me with each session.

Early on, my legs burned and my back ached so bad I wanted to quit.

Nate taught me about protein drinks. I always thought protein drinks were for body builders.

Not so, Nate said. Science says a high-protein drink within 45 minutes of an intense workout will help build muscle and encourage recovery.

I was skeptical. But I went off to the grocery store and bought a few of the Hy-Vee brand plastic jars of whey protein that were low in sugar and carbohydrates and high in the nutrients Nate recommended.

I put two scoops in some water, shake it up and drink it after workouts.

And … wow.

The difference was awesome. My muscles were still sore after workouts, but the searing pain from lactic acid buildup was gone.

“Recovery,” Nate said, “is just as important as the workout.”

These protein drinks gave me new life for workouts. I don’t tolerate pain well.

And since I live with general anxiety disorder, my brain chemistry malfunctions tend to take a rational caution about pain and turn it into a paralyzing fear.

Now that I knew the protein shakes work just like my coach said they would, I could embrace workouts with greater vigor.

One of the things I enjoy most about working with Nate is the way his mind seems to be always working on the parallel processes of challenging me and encouraging me at the same time.

Early in our workouts, we did a cycle of exercises that were timed. I performed four cycles of belly crunches, calorie burning on a rowing machine and ring rows, which require me to pull myself up to a standing position from an incline using gymnast’s rings.

I was to do four cycles, taking breaks as I needed.

The first time we did this on Jan. 26, it took me 13 minutes, 38 seconds. I gasped for air the entire time and took many water breaks.

I confess I needed the water less than I was simply stalling for time to get my breath back.

We retested the cycle about two and a half weeks later on Feb. 11. I made the cycle 2 minutes, 36 seconds faster than the last time.

Nate said he typically doesn’t retest this quickly on exercises. But that’s where the encouragement side of his challenge-encouragement dynamic comes in.

Nate wanted to show me that I was making progress even if my brain stubbornly refused to see it.

“The numbers don’t lie,” he said.

Another little touch Nate offers: He checks in every day by text.

He texts after workouts to see how my body is feeling.

He texts before workouts to check my mental readiness.

He texts on off days just to ask how I’m holding up.

The other day I told him I had some soreness in my triceps after some bench press work we did.

I told him it didn’t hurt. In fact, it felt kind of cool. It reminded me, “Oh, yeah. I worked out and that was cool.”

Nate replied: “You’re body is starting to figure out what’s going on.”

And maybe my brain will follow along soon, too.

TUESDAY, FEB. 9, 2016

Life after my 'brain zap'

Many readers have asked me how my “brain zap” treatment for chronic depression went.

I hesitated to answer right away because I wanted to get more data before I gave a definitive answer.

But more than a month after I finished transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, under the direction of Dr. Eric Barlow at Compass Clinical Associates in Urbandale, I can safely say the treatment was a resounding success.

A brief recap: TMS uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the nerves in the brain to make them more receptive to the naturally occurring mood-regulating chemicals swirling around in our gray matter.

I live with what is known as progressive depressive disorder and general anxiety disorder.

That simply means that I sometimes get very sad or very scared beyond what is reasonable for what’s going on in my life.

A portion of this problem is caused by chemical imbalances in my brain. I’m essentially not getting enough of the juices that make me better at handling stress or grief.

I took TMS five days a week for six weeks and once a week for another several weeks.

Others noticed the change in my mood before I did. My Grandma Newcomb said I seemed like my old self. Barlow said after a couple weeks that I was a lot more animated and brighter than I had been when the process began.

I remained skeptical, in part because that’s how a good paragraph stacker should be, and in part because hope is a tough thing to embrace for people who live with depression.

Now, though, having lived life after treatment, I would say my depression is in remission.

I don’t know if that’s a term Barlow or the medical community would use, but that’s how I feel.

Remission feels like the right noun because I recognize my depression is not cured. It’s a condition I live with like high blood pressure or Type II diabetes.

I can do what it takes to keep those conditions in check, but they’re still a part of my health profile.

I still have down days. But that’s it. It’s a day or two at the most. It isn’t a month or three months.

I’m much better at recognizing when I’m down and acting to break the cycle. Sometimes this involves changing activities. Sometimes it means taking a nap.

I still see a cognitive behavioral therapist twice a month. The other part of mental illness is understanding how you think, why you think that way and developing new ways to cope with the world.

I liken the process to being asked to run 10 yards on a football field loaded with dozens of tackling dummies.

After a while, you get winded because there are so many obstacles you can’t make progress.

TMS removed half or more of those tackling dummies from my path. I work in therapy sessions to either dodge those other obstacles or find new ways to cope with them.

I’m not the kind of person who endorses medical procedures. That’s a personal choice that individuals need to make in consultation with their medical team, family and their own values.

I will say this: My behavior therapist is deeply skeptical of TMS and believes I am experiencing a strong placebo effect.

He might be right. I trust my behavioral therapist with my life. And he’s by far the best therapist I’ve ever had, and one of the finest men I’ve had the pleasure to know.

He might also be wrong. TMS, placebo or otherwise, helped me be more comfortable with who I am.

It didn’t make me a cheerful person. My coworkers and editors will attest to that.

But it allowed me to be more comfortable with who I am and accept myself, foibles and all.

And that’s a wonderful thing, when I used to spend days ruminating on what a crummy person I am.

One side note: though anxiety and depression often occur together as mood disorders, they are separate conditions.

My anxiety is probably about the same as it always has been. It ebbs and flows, spiking and dropping based on what’s going on my life.

I still find myself calling my talk therapist when I get into a mess of persistent ruminative thoughts — that is, getting stuck in a rut of negative thinking that tends to take a small problem and expand it to the worst possible ending.

But even my talk therapist agrees that I am getting better at recognizing those periods of gloomy rumination and breaking the cycle by calling him to talk it through.

So for now, I’m embracing life without the burden of feeling like I’m a bum, but I’ll always be braced for the possibility such thoughts will reoccur.

THURSDAY, FEB. 2, 2016

Wanting to quit

Sometimes I feel like Humpty Dumpty, the fairy-tale egg man who fell off a wall and required all the king’s horses and men to reassemble him.

I propped my right knee on pillows and gingerly leaned back into my bed.

Two weeks of training at my friend Nate Yoho’s CrossFit Merle Hay studio left me with a swollen knee, knots in both calves and the return of the lower back pain that started me on my journey to recover from morbid obesity.

I was ready to quit. I wanted to quit. I was hurt, humbled and ashamed.

I knew joining a gym and working with a personal trainer would be a challenge for my obese body.

I just did not realize how much my body would rebel against the change – and how hard the emotional repercussions of that rebellion would hit me.

First, I should note that Nate is an excellent trainer. He speaks in a clear, gentle voice and explains all the exercises, lifts and other activities to me in clear instruction.

He focuses on proper form and injury prevention just as much as my physical therapist, Stefanie Kirk, of Mercy South Physical Therapy.

The problem is my body. I carry a lot of weight in the front of my torso – my gut. Over years of hauling this girth around, I’ve developed the bad habit of leaning back slightly to balance out the extra weight that pitches me forward.

The problem is all that leaning back has compressed my spine in the lower back. And those compressed vertebrae pinch nerves. This leads to shooting pain that I sometimes feel all the way to my finger tips and toes.

It also makes sitting, standing or any kind of movement from a prone or supine position exceptionally painful.

I aggravated my back doing a lifting exercise. When fatigue sets in, I start to rush. When I rush, I lose form. And when I lose form, I hurt myself.

In this case, I leaned back a few too many times while lifting weights.

Nate didn’t notice it at the time because I didn’t feel pain and didn’t grimace. Conversely, when knots developed in my calves, he stopped the exercise right away because he saw the pain in my face.

But over a few days, the back injury caught up with me. I became immobile.

That’s when the fear and shame crept in.

Nate has made every effort to make his gym as comfortable and inviting to me as possible. But there are mirrors and I see myself. I may have lost a lot of weight to this point, but I still don’t like my own reflection. That’s a self-esteem problem and I’m working on it.

When the back injury returned, I knew exactly what happened. I overcompensated for that weight on my gut pulling me forward.

It felt as if my own body betrayed me. I got emotional. My thoughts spiraled to unrealistic finalities. Had I done so much damage to my body that getting from fat to fit was actually impossible?

I was ready to quit the gym and just crawl under my blanket and hide from the world.

Enter all the king’s horses and men.

The first call I made was to my therapist. I told him my dilemma. He suggested that maybe the exercise was too much for my current weight.

I told him I was worried that I liked him saying that because it was what I wanted to hear. I wanted to quit.

If I quit, though, I wanted it to be because I was injured or was really overwhelmed, not because I was afraid.

My therapist replied: “Then you’re going to make the right decision whatever you decide because you’re asking the right question.”

I texted Stefanie and told her of the injury. I confessed I was thinking about quitting.

She urged me to stick with it. Care for the injuries, she said. Tend to the pain. But I had to keep moving.

“There were days in the first five sessions with me that we didn’t make any progress but you kept coming back,” Stefanie wrote.

It may be cliché, but it is often difficult for men to talk to other men about emotions. Still, I confided to Nate my emotional worries along with my physical ones.

He, too, urged me to come in for my final workout of the week. He said we didn’t have to go hard. We could even meet for lunch. He just wanted the conversation going.

“It’s OK to be emotional about it,” he wrote. “How could it not be? I think if you continued your old ways making it to 50 would be pushing it. Look at what you’ve done in the past six to nine months. You’re on the right path.”

How could I turn my back on a man who was working so hard to convince me to get better?

Finally, I called my primary care provider, Dr. Shauna Basener at Mercy Internal Medicine in Clive. She thought exercise – at a reduced level – was OK.

She renewed a muscle relaxant prescription and another anti-inflammatory that is slightly stronger than over-the-counter stuff.

So, I iced my knee. I took my medicine. And with a mixture of trepidation and resolve, I went to my last workout of the week.

Nate put together a cycle of exercises that didn’t require much bending. He constantly checked on the condition of my back. We both remained vigilant on spine position.

The workout was not as intense as previous sessions. But it did not matter.

For that day, winning was just getting through the door.

FRIDAY, JAN. 29, 2016

THE NEW GYM

I barely slept the night before I reported to CrossFit Merle Hay to work with my new trainer Nate Yoho.

Anticipation is the worst part of starting anything especially for a chronic anxiety junkie like me.

I passed off my trembling upon walking in the studio as an effect of the cold weather. The truth was I had no idea how this was going to go.

I half expected to leave on a stretcher.

The activity started off poorly. The first thing Nate did was take my picture, front, profile and side.

I enjoy having my picture taken about as much as I enjoy listening to a dental drill at top volume on a movie theater speaker system.

Nate said they were to mark my progress. He posted them to a Facebook page that only he and I are a member of.

We started with some stretches. I managed to get through that without breaking into flop sweat.

Nate explained every step calmly and articulately. I started to settle.

Next were something called box squats. Per Nate’s instruction, I held my hands over one another and sat down on a box.

This is not as easy as it reads, especially for someone who carries his weight in his doughy middle.

Nate cautioned me to be mindful of form. He told me which muscles to use and how to rotate my legs.

The sweat the fell by this point was from exercise rather than nerves.

We moved to standing push-ups. He put a weight bar on a rack. I leaned forward into it and pushed back to a standing position. This too is not as easy at reads.

Again, Nate directed my form. I followed directions as best I could. My editors wouldn’t believe how easy I was to command.

The bench press came next. I just did the standard 45-pound bar. We rotated between the bench press and a stepping drill similar to one I had done many times in physical therapy with Stefanie Kirk over at Mercy South Physical Therapy.

We finished with some dumbbell exercises. I was beat. I pulled my towel out of my gym bag and changed my shoes.

Day 1 was finished. I had survived.

Stefanie texted me: “I haven’t received an SOS call, so I’m guessing everything went OK.”

It did. The workout was good. I felt like I’d really done something.

The second day brought a new set of exercises. Nate introduced me to deadlifting technique. We worked just with the bar again focusing on form rather than strain.

I got plenty of strain anyway.

We worked on a shoulder exercise before we advanced to the toughest part of the workout.

Nate sets a series of exercises out. This time it was something called “ring rows,” crunches and using a rowing machine.

Ring rows involve grabbing metal rings attached to straps that are lashed to a metal frame. I leaned back to about a 45 degree angle and pulled myself up to standing position. I did that eight times in a row.

Then I hustled over to do 10 crunches — what old people like me used to call sit-ups with a slightly different technique that involves a special pillow to support the lower back.

When I finished that, I switched to the rowing machine, where my goal was to burn eight calories.

The goal was to complete four sets of all three exercises. I wheezed and groaned my way through it. I stopped to get water. Nate made me stop once to catch my breath.

The whole thing took 13 minutes, 38 seconds. We finished with a 300 meter walk.

Nate said we’ll revisit that work out in a few weeks and mark the progress by how much more quickly I’m able to work through the cycle.

Things went along fine, but I don’t think I truly trusted Nate until my third day at his shop.

We worked a step exercise and I felt my right calf muscle pull. It was a familiar feeling. It happened several times in physical therapy with Stefanie.

But Nate caught my grimace right away. He asked what hurt. I told him. We stopped. I laid prone on the floor.

Nate worked the calf muscle with a piece of PVC pipe, rolling the knot out similar to the way Stefanie used to torture me with these metal tools.

He cautioned me that when I feel something off, I needed to tell him. The goal was always to avoid injury.

And this is a weird thing to say about your trainer, but in that moment I felt safe with him. I knew he cared about my health. He offered to train me after all.

But here he was working on the injury, telling me how to handle it and looking for ways to keep the workout moving forward without causing a bigger problem.

This is the kind of moment that builds a bond between coach and “athlete.” (Nate calls all his clients athletes. I don’t feel like one, but it’s not wise to contradict the guy who spots you when you lift weights.)

We finished the last day with some rope climbing. I sat on a bench. My goal was to pull myself into a standing position by mostly using my arms.

It was tough.

“This is the first step to you one day being able to do a pull-up,” Nate said.

I told him that my life has been pull-up free for 40 years. It’s never happened. I couldn’t even do it in high school when I weighed 190 pounds, played basketball and regularly jogged.

Nate smiled.

“I’ll take that as a challenge,” he said.

And I had this odd feeling that he might just get me to pull it off.

THURSDAY, JAN. 21, 2016

UNCERTAINTY ABOUND

My nerves are really getting to me now.

By the time these paragraphs reach our print edition, I will have graduated from physical therapy for a second time.

The next step is work with personal trainer Nate Yoho of Crossfit Merle Hay in Urbandale.

And I am terrified.

I can’t get a good handle on why. I know some of it rests with a fear of failure.

And if I’m honest, I’ve let nutrition and exercise slide in recent months.

That enthusiastic burst this summer faded in the fall and all but evaporated in winter.

This is true for lots of people who exercise and struggle with weight.

The holidays provide so many irresistible treats. The weather discourages activity.

But I’m in a funk and I won’t deny it anymore. Weight loss plateaued in October.

I’ve probably gained a few pounds because more fried foods, fatty foods and carbohydrates have found their way onto my plate and into my stomach.

No, that’s not the right way to say it. Food isn't animated. It didn't jump down my throat. It was me. I chose and chose poorly.

Even Mom 2.0, the kindly east Des Moines hairdresser who raised me after my first set of parents died, has had to scold me not to go for a third bowl of her delicious chili.

I haven’t made an appointment with my nutritionist, Jacque Schwartz at Mercy Weight Loss & Nutrition Center in Clive, since late November.

I put it off using the holidays as an excuse. The truth is I didn’t want to look at that number, because I knew it went in the wrong direction or, if I was very lucky, just stayed the same.

Jacque has again and again admonished me not to take my weight as the end all, be all of my health.

But I do. Everybody does. Thinner and leaner is better. Rounder and plumper is not.

So I’ve avoided going to see her because I’m afraid to face the number.

I know, I know. I should just suck it up and go and get back on track.

I should. And yet I don’t.

Because not knowing gives me a slim hope that I haven’t undone as much work as I think I have.

(And given my penchant for anxiety-driven self-flagellation, I’ve practically convinced myself I weigh more than I did when I started this process last March.)

I’ve enjoyed my work with physical therapist Stefanie Kirk at Mercy South Physical Therapy. She’s the best. She really is.

Aside from my talk therapist, I cannot think of a better relationship I’ve had with a medical professional in my life.

Stefanie has worked with me as much as possible on this transition from her clinic to Nate’s gym.

She went as far as to talk to Nate on the phone about what we’ve done, what I can do and where I need to improve.

She tries hard to convince me I’m in better shape than I feel. But my anxiety is stubborn even when controlled by medication.

I am afraid I am going to fail. I am afraid I’m not going to get any better and the slide to immobility will begin again.

This is the reality of the recovery. I’ve written about this many times: “Rocky” movies have montages. Life does not.

Right now, I feel like I’m playing the same note over and over again. It’s tedious. It’s tiring. I want to give up. I just want to roll over, pull the covers up and go back to sleep.

But Stefanie stares me down with her big brown eyes and reminds me I once couldn’t walk more than 156 feet without stopping because of pain.

Now I’m doing balancing exercises that weren’t even possible back in May when I discharged from physical therapy the first time.

I try hard to keep these positives in mind. But I have a mirror. And I don’t like what I see. And every little comment, even the ones by people I don’t know and shouldn’t care about, seems to hit like a punch.

I spoke to a fraternal group the other day. The first question from an audience member — the first damn question — was “how much do you weight?”

I answered, but I felt like an exhibit at a freak show. I feel that way more often than I’d like to admit.

I wish I could type inspiring paragraphs for readers every week with a smile on my face and joy exploding from my fingertips.

But that isn’t how this works. There are highs, lows and everything in the middle.

I’m in a low right now and have been for longer than I’d like to admit.

So I’m going to have to take some of my own advice. When you get low, you’ve got to ask for help.

Stefanie has taken me as far as she can. Now I turn to Nate and his skills.

And I’ll have to find the fortitude somewhere to keep moving forward.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 13, 2016

TOUGH TALK

A reader wrote in to ask my advice on a delicate question.

I’ll pause for regular readers to stop laughing.

The reader carries a few extra pounds herself and has followed this blog as I write about my efforts to recover from morbid obesity.

She noted that a friend of hers is obese. The woman loses her breath walking from her desk to the restroom.

The reader wanted to know my advice for talking to her friend about the subject.

Well, that is dicey, isn’t it? The reader knew that.

“I know that when people would tell me that I needed to lose weight, it only saddened me — making me more likely to eat more,” the reader wrote.

I am afraid I don’t have very good advice here.

Obesity is absolutely a life-threatening health condition.

But unlike most diseases, it comes with a great deal of shame and scorn.

I don’t want to get into the victim culture debate when it comes to obesity. But no one blames someone who gets cancer for getting cancer.

Well, unless they smoke. I always find it odd and crude after someone dies of lung cancer to have someone ask, “Did he smoke?” If so, I guess he must have deserved to die.

Anyway, there is, of course, some measure of personal responsibility in maintaining a healthy weight.

But to argue that a person is obese simply because they overeat oversimplifies a complex disease.

And yes, I call obesity a “disease.” Because that’s what it is. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agrees with me.

Obesity has roots in genetics, food portions, the chemistry of food and even trauma.

Sure, the No. 1 reason I am morbidly obese is because of overuse of my excellent hand-to-mouth coordination.

But the underlying causes: including a chaotic childhood and depression and anxiety conditions that I’ve written about here are just as important.

I overeat when I’m stressed. I binge eat to feel better. I make poor food choices when I’m anxious or depressed. These are all part of a holistic approach to treating the problem.

So the first bit of advice I’d give: Don’t assume obesity is just because the person lacks self-control.

The second thing, and this is very important, remember that the person knows they are obese, or at least fat.

Nobody ever had to tell me I was fat. I knew. I thought about it every time I saw a reflection in the mirror or a window.

I knew it every time my arthritic knees cracked and popped when I stood up or my embattled back cried out when I tried to shop for groceries.

And, as the reader noted of her own experience, when people brought it up to me, I just slipped into a deeper depression, ate more and was more self-destructive.

I had a good friend tell me point-blank that I was too fat and he was worried he was going to have to attend my funeral soon.

I knew it came from the heart and he meant it from the deepest part of personal concern.

I ignored him. I ignored the doctor who diagnosed me with Type II diabetes, too.

I only sought help with my body broke down to the point that I could not do my job and could barely function.

I don’t believe it has to come to that for everybody.

I do believe that everyone has to come to terms with their disease in their own way.

I would never discourage a friend from expressing concern over the health of another friend.

But be forewarned: Even if you do it in the kindest possible way, with the gentlest language or with blunt force honesty, there’s every chance there will not lead to immediate change.

So, yes, dear reader, talk to your friend about your concerns about her health. But take extraordinary pains to make sure she knows your words come from a place of love and not judgement and scorn.

Because believe me, she’s doing enough of that to herself already.

TUESDAY, JAN. 5, 2016

MOST IMPROVED

Nate Yoho was busy with a client when I arrived at his gym shortly before 10 a.m. Tuesday.

Nate owns Crossfit Merle Hay, located on the backside of the former Carlos O’Kelly’s restaurant in a strip mall south of the Interstate 35-80 bypass.

I took a seat on one of the barstools – still emblazoned with the defunct O’Kelly’s logo. I watched the action.

A woman easily taller than 6 feet jumped on a wooden box that looked to be about 3 feet tall.

The woman looked like an athlete. Her body size and shape reminded me of the late Missy Lange, a former Drake women’s basketball player who was 6-foot-4 whose former coach, Lisa Bluder, once described as “having the perfect body for basketball.”

The woman jumped on the box about 30 times. She didn’t grunt once. Her balance was impeccable.

She moved from the box jumps to deadlifting what appeared to be 225 pounds. She sweat, but she was in total control – strong, powerful and determined.

Behind her, another fit man was squatting on one leg in a balance exercise that looked nigh impossible to me.

My first thought, my only thought, was to get the hell out of there. This place was not for me. This was for fit people, not fat slobs who injure their back lifting 10-pound barbells.

Nate was a minor league baseball player. He was a real athlete. I was never a real athlete. I played basketball and baseball as a boy, but I was terrible. I just wanted to be on the team with the other guys. It was something to do other than go home.

I won “Most Improved Player” my sophomore year at Winterset High School. This is because I went from making zero of 10 free throws at the beginning of the season to four of 10 free throws by the end of the season.

Nate finished with his client and took me next door to a quieter room. His 2-year-old daughter, Caralyn, was with him. She ran around with adorable boots with animal faces on the toes.

Nate had kind eyes and a gentle manner. He shares the same gift of making a person feel welcome and at ease possessed by Mom 2.0, the kindly east Des Moines hairdresser who raised me after my parents died.

Still, I could not conceal my nervousness. I felt overwhelmed at the sight of the powerlifters next door.

Nate assured me.

“You won’t start there,” he said. “If anything, the first few days are going to be kind of easy. I would rather have that than you going too hard and getting hurt.”

Nate opened with a thorough interview. He wanted to know what kind of exercise I’ve been doing in physical therapy, how I hurt myself most recently and my comfort level with various stresses on knees, my back and so on.

Nate is good at his job. I can tell because when he talked, I actually believed I could do whatever he put in front of me. I feel the same way when I work with my physical therapist, Stefanie Kirk of Mercy South Physical Therapy.

Yet as I walked out to my car, I felt overwhelmed again. I was never, ever going to be powerlifting like those people I saw today. I remembered trying out for the East High School basketball team my junior year.

I was so slow in sprints that Coach Chuck Sutherland, after two days of tryouts, offered to let me be team manager. I was much better at taping ankles and handing out towels and Gatorade than playing sports.

I had a talk therapy appointment after meeting with Nate. My therapist asked me what I was so afraid of.

I said I was afraid of getting hurt and I was afraid I couldn’t do it.

My therapist said what I was really afraid of was embarrassment. He said I was focused on the wrong thing.

“Embarrassment is an emotion, not a measure of performance,” he said. “You’re right. You may never be able to do what those other people in the gym can do. But that isn’t the goal. The goal is to improve your health.”

I thought about this. He’s right. I’m not shooting for varsity here. I’m just trying to fit into movie theater seats and build up the strength and endurance for everyday life.

Come to think of it, “strength for everyday life” was a phrase Nate used.

So, in a few weeks, I’ll be at Nate’s gym. I’ll be the one in the back, covered in flop sweat and going about an eighth of the speed of everybody else.

But if everything goes well, I might just win Most Improved Player again.

THURSDAY, DEC. 31, 2015

RECLUSE NO MORE

I start work with personal trainer Nate Yoho, who owns Crossfit Merle Hay in Des Moines, as soon as I discharge from my latest round of physical therapy, which looks to be about Jan. 22.

I meet with Nate soon to look at his gym and talk about training techniques. The occasion will mark the first time we’ve met in person despite the fact that I’ve written four stories about him as both reporter and columnist.

Regular readers will remember the beautiful, tragic love story of Nate and his wife Laura. They met while working at a gym. They fell in love.

Nate’s proposal was so romantic a jewelry store later recreated it for a commercial. But Laura got aggressive brain cancer. She died in July 2013. Their daughter, Caralyn, was born in November that year by surrogate.

The story is easily the most heart-wrenching and beautiful I’ve written in my career. But I never met Nate.

The first time I wrote about him, I was on a tight deadline trying to beat the TV competition. The other times, though, well, that’s a little hard to talk about.

READ THE SERIES:

When I was writing about Nate, I was at the peak of my obesity: more than 560 pounds. I was having a real hard time getting around physically.

The walk from the parking garage to the office, about a block, was almost too much for me at the beginning and ending of my workdays.

Nagging and cyclic injuries often laid me up for days at a time.

So whenever possible, I did my interviews over the phone, even on stories as sensitive as this one.

There were many reasons for this. One was that I was afraid wherever I met people, there would not be a chair strong enough to hold my weight.

This was a real concern. Once I was at an assignment where I was sitting on a metal folding chair. It collapsed beneath my weight. I landed flat on my back in a room full of laughing school children.

There is a sort of slapstick humor to that, of course. Even I can see it.

But there is an underlying truth that is far more terrible: I was so ashamed of my body and appearance that I didn’t want to be seen.

That’s a horrible feeling to have.

Nate, for his part, was always kind to me. He actually wanted to meet me after one of the stories I wrote about him.

And I admitted to him something that I never told anyone: I was afraid to meet him because I didn’t feel worthy.

Nate is a guy who is doing life right. He was a pro baseball player in the Milwaukee Brewers system. He takes care of his body.

He married a beautiful, loving woman who shared his passion for fitness. He tended to her until her last moments.

And he dotes on their daughter.

I look at Nate and see all the things I am not, especially physically.

I don’t know why I opened up to Nate in this way. Like I said, we’d never met before in person.

But he trusted me with his intensely personal story about his wife and daughter. There was a connection there beyond the paragraphs.

Nate asked me some time ago if I was a recluse when I felt ashamed, even around the people I trust.

I did and I do. I never want the people I love to see me at my worst.

But that was a long time ago. I’ve lost 82 pounds since then. I can do things physically that I thought were impossible when I first spoke with Nate.

So finally I took Nate up on his offer to help me get fit. That’s what he does for a living at Crossfit.

And hopefully he will help me show myself and the people I love me at my best.

TUESDAY, DEC. 22, 2015

BAD MATH

I sat down at Jethro’s BBQ near Drake University for dinner with a pal last week.

I opened up MyFitnessPal, the smartphone application that I use to track my calories. A new feature popped up.

It allowed me to search restaurants in my area based on the GPS location of my phone.

This is a major development.

Since I began using the app, back in March when the weight-loss journey began, I’ve been forced to estimate the calories in foods at my favorite restaurants.

I eat out a lot, more than I should. This would, at least, provide me with a consistent baseline.

That was the good news.

The bad news was I was vastly underestimating the calories of several of my favorite foods.

Not all the restaurants in my area are on the app, but Jethro’s is. And a few of my favorites are heavier in calories that I figured.

This goes a long way to explaining the lengthy plateau in weight loss. I was guessing wrong and it was going against me. I was treading water instead of making meaningful strokes to the other side.

The truth is I’ve probably been blowing my calorie goal more often than I thought for months.

This was a frustrating revelation, but it is better to know than to constantly be wondering what is going wrong.

Once you know what’s going wrong, then you can make adjustments.

Speaking of adjustments, my work with physical therapist Stefanie Kirk at Mercy South Physical Therapy continues to go well.

I’d been sick with a fever and some gastrointestinal issues and missed our last session.

I don’t like missing appointments with Stefanie. No matter what my mood is going in, I’m usually feeling centered and sharper going out.

The rest was doing well. My posture has improved as well as my form in walking.

It is still a strange thing for me to think about so many different things as I walk.

Tighten the abs. Adjust the pelvis to a neutral position. Flex the gluteus muscles as part of my stride. Keep my hips steady and not swaying. Force my toes to point forward.

What a list to consider just to take a step.

But bad form leads to injuries and that leads to more setbacks. This plateau has gone on long enough. It feels too much like wallowing. It’s time to break through to the next level.

Holiday eating is always a challenge. I was frustrated enough with my plateau in November to skip one Thanksgiving meal with my Uncle Larry and Aunt Sharon and have a scaled-down, healthier offering with Parents 2.0, the kindly east Des Moines couple who raised me after my parents died.

I have two Christmas celebrations planned this season. I’ll have lunch – pork loin is the main course – with my parents.

My folks are watching their weight, too. Mom 2.0 is a type II diabetic like me, so she’s mindful of carbs and sugars in her offerings.

Mom 2.0 also will be cooking the meal for the other Christmas gathering, set on Dec. 28, which brings Dad 2.0’s side of the family to my folks’ stately east-side manor.

There will be more foods to avoid at that gathering than our Christmas Day festivities, but I think I’ll manage.

I find my appetite can be slaked by good helpings of foods that I like and are low in calories and high in nutrients. I just have to be mindful of portions.

But if the story MyFitnessPal tells me is true, then I’ve got a lot of work to do to get my diet changes back in order.

I eat out to socialize, either with friends or with the acquaintances I meet among bartenders and servers.

My girlfriend is changing jobs soon and that means she’ll be working fewer nights. We are committed to eating healthier.

The easiest way to do this is to make our own meals. I think it’s time I started putting my crock pot to use as well as my George Foreman Grill.

I’m sure there will be plenty of trips to Jethro’s, Tasty Tacos and other favorite haunts.

But now is the time to hunker down and get serious about this recovery. I’ve made great progress to be sure, but this isn’t the time to start feeling satisfied.

FRIDAY, DEC. 18, 2015

CHANGING DIRECTIONS

Anxiety precedes every visit to my primary care doctor.

This is not a reflection on Dr. Shawna Basener of Mercy Westown Internal Medicine Clinic. She is an excellent doctor with a terrific, upbeat attitude whose approach to medicine matches mine: The best medicine is no medicine.

Under her care, I’ve already shed an expensive cholesterol medication and a diabetic pill. In my latest visit, she encouraged me to drop an iron supplement because my blood hemoglobin numbers are strong.

Still, I get very worked up before every visit. I feel like going to the doctor is like going to the mechanic. She's going to find something wrong and it’s going to be very expensive.

The night before doctor visits, I’m rife with anxiety. I sleep fitfully if at all. I drive myself to the brink of a crack-up just to get a checkup.

The news came in mostly good. My A1C, the critical measure for diabetes, was down to 5.3, lower than my September visit. My blood pressure, the doctor said, was perfect.

But the weight, well, it was the same. Actually, it was up two-tenths of a pound. That’s such an insignificant number that it could be thrown off by how big a cup of water I had when I took my morning medications.

Still, I was discouraged. For nearly three months, I’ve been unable to move that number on the scale.

I know. I know. Plateaus are a part of weight loss. My nutritionist tells me that. My physical therapist tells me that. Social media commentators tell me that.

Still, I feel like I’m in a car that just won’t start.

My eating habits aren’t horrible. My blood work shows that. I’ve excised most sugars and carbohydrates from my diet. I keep to my daily calorie goal of 2,700. I’m usually much lower.

Injuries have hampered my physical activity. I reinjured my back going too hard on the elliptical machine at my gym. I went back to my physical therapist to get it worked on. She’s focused on form and balance.

This involves a lot of awkward retraining of my posture. Tuck the pelvis in. Tighten the butt muscles. Squeeze the hips. It feels silly and weird. But if there’s a person in this world I trust to get me on the right physical path, it’s Stefanie Kirk of Mercy South Physical Therapy.

Stefanie and I are going to be working through the end of the year and maybe slightly into the new year.

After that, well, I need to change my fitness routine in a significant and meaningful way.

My attitude toward exercise is soured. I don’t know if it is the colder weather or the rain and gray skies or simply apathy. But home seems so warm and comfortable and the gym seems so dull and uncomfortable.

Still, if this weight loss effort — and this column, for that matter — is going to be anything more than complaining about not having the mojo to exercise, I need to do do something different.

As soon as I’m discharged from physical therapy, probably in mid-January, I’m going to start working out with my friend Nate Yoho.

Regular readers might remember Nate from a story I wrote about him and his late wife, Laura, who died of cancer. Their daughter, Caralyn, was born by surrogate a few months after Laura died. It’s probably the most popular and touching story I’ve ever written.

Nate and I have kept in touch. He is a former minor league baseball player and fitness guru who owns his own gym. Several times, he’s offered to develop a program for me. I always turned him down.

I gave lots of lame reasons. But the truth was basic: I was afraid.

Nate is the real damn deal when it comes to fitness. The guy has arms like steel cable.

And, well, I’m a wimp. I was afraid I would get hurt or be embarrassed.

But these days, it’s pretty embarrassing to write once a week about how I haven’t really been exercising and I haven’t lost any weight.

So I finally took Nate up on his offer.

To his credit, he’s got the same upbeat attitude Dr. Basener has when I visit her. So maybe I’m worried about nothing.

In a way, this is only fair.

Nate trusted me with the most intimate story of his life. The very least I can do is trust him to help in my ongoing effort to save my own life.

FRIDAY, DEC. 11, 2015

DEPRESSION SPECTER

I’ve lived with chronic clinical depression for a long time.

The transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, treatments I took under the direction of Dr. Eric Barlow at Compass Clinical in Urbandale seem to have done their job.

To recap, TMS uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the nerve endings in the brain to make them more receptive to mood-regulating chemicals such as serotonin.

I took acute treatment five days a week for six weeks. I’m finishing the year taking maintenance treatments once a week.

I think it worked. I would like to declare it an unqualified success, but, like I said, I’ve lived with depression for a long time. I’ve had breaks in the blackness only to fall right back down that bottomless elevator shaft.

In real, measurable terms, I feel less depressed. And that, in itself, is a strange thing to feel.

Sometimes I think depression is stalking me, just outside the periphery of my vision, waiting to strike if I let my guard down.

So far, that hasn’t happened.

Barlow is so pleased with my progress, he suggested we begin to taper my antidepressant medication and sleeping pills.

I am wary of this, but also excited.

The excitement comes from the fact that many antidepressants, including the ones I take, come with a side effect of increased appetite and weight gain. Since I’m fighting morbid obesity as it is, it would be nice to remove one of the obstacles, no matter how small it is.

But the wariness is great as well. I feel pretty good right now. Do I dare tamper with it?

In the short term, anyway, the answer is yes.

Not long after I finished the acute treatments, I noticed I was sleeping a lot.

Sleeping a lot is a behavior I associate with depression, especially the deeper varieties that include anhedonia — loss of interest in things that previously gave me pleasure.

I would put on a ballgame and sink into the recliner. I would be asleep in moments. Sometimes I would sleep for a few minutes. Other times, it was for hours.

The thing was, I didn’t feel low. I wasn’t in a “woe is me” mode. I was just sleepy and, on the positive side, so relaxed that I drifted off to sleep.

There are far worse fates than this, of course. But I wanted the lift of depression symptoms to correspond with a bit more pep. I love to read and when I was in the thick of the major depression episode, I couldn’t concentrate enough to stay with a story for more than a page or two — even a comic book.

And my exercise mojo seemed to have evaporated completely. If it weren’t for my physical therapist, Stefanie Kirk of Mercy South Physical Therapy, working on my posture and strengthening my bum right hip and groin, I wouldn’t be moving much at all.

So, Barlow and I consulted and we decided to halve my sleeping pill and drop my antidepressant down by a quarter.

This has corresponded with a slight uptick in anxiety.

Unfortunately, TMS treatments don’t address anxiety directly. Anxiety and depression are two heads of the same mood disorder dragon. But the chemicals that cause panic attacks are different than those that cause depression.

So, I know anxiety is probably always going to be a part of my life. It’s something I’ll have to manage, like high blood pressure or cholesterol.

I am worried that the drop in my antidepressant is contributing to my anxiety. Then again, we’re in a chicken-or-egg argument, aren’t we? Is a lower dose of antidepressant causing more worry or is me worrying about a lower dose of antidepressant causing the worry?

I don’t know. The only thing I can do is stay the course. I show up for my maintenance treatments and meet regularly with Barlow to talk things over and keep the brain juices in a proper cocktail.

Hopefully, one day, I’ll stop looking over my shoulder for the bad juju of depression.

But for now, I try to enjoy the relief, but keep one eye on the rear-view mirror.

FRIDAY, DEC. 4, 2015

BALANCING ACT

I lean left, but not in the way Register columnists are usually accused of.

Instead of a political sensibility, it is an issue of physical balance.

I favor my left leg. Much of the time I find myself standing with most of my weight on my left leg and my right leg dangling almost like a kickstand.

The lean may seem harmless enough, but it’s the latest focus of my ongoing effort to recover from morbid obesity.

I reinjured my back by taking on aggressive workouts at my gym. The setback frustrated my efforts to lose more weight, leaving me stalled for more than a month.

Further, it brought back the same pain – though not at the same level – that led me to seek treatment for the health issue in March.

I was happy to be working with my physical therapist, Stefanie Kirk of Mercy South Physical Therapy, again. But I was annoyed that I wasn’t able to keep healthy.

Stefanie, as she usually does, saw the problem right away: my butt.

Specifically, the gluteus muscles weren’t firing when I was climbing stairs or walking.

This was likely caused by bad posture I assumed when I weighed more than 530 pounds.

These are the small, harmful changes in your body that you don’t realize occur when you’re obese. You can see the fat. You mop up the flop sweat. You know your endurance is low.

One of the many things I really didn’t understand about my condition was how much damage the extreme weight was and continues to do to my physical structure.

Morbidly obese people make all sorts of adjustments to their posture and movement. They’re slight and almost imperceptible, but over time there are terrible consequences.

My bulging belly forced me to carry myself in a poor posture, which in turn changed my gait.

This wasn’t a problem when I was content to wheeze a few hundred feet to the car or mailbox and be done with movement for the day.

But when I started doing more walking outside and on the elliptical machine at the gym, the out-of-whack walking style caused my back to break down on me again.

The weight loss also has one negative side effect: My center of gravity changes with each handful of pounds that come off. That means my body is relearning balance on a regular basis.

Stefanie has me working on a variety of posture-improving techniques, strengthening my gluteus muscles and my hip flexors.

Since I’ve been so large for so long, one of the bad habits I’ve picked up is sitting with my hips splayed wide open. This is particularly acute when I’m driving my car.

Stefanie tells me the body has something called a neutral position, similar to a car transmission. However, my neutral positions are out of alignment with the center of my body.

My right hip – which I used to work the pedals in my car – is especially open.

This might all sound rather technical, but what it boils down to is that when you don’t stand and move the way the body was designed, you injure yourself.

This round of physical therapy with Stefanie is a lot different than my first. I was much more passive then. I just did what my physical therapist told me. I was happy to get any movement.

Now I’m trying to move the right way. It’s the difference between throwing a baseball casually with a buddy in the park and throwing nine innings for a major-league club.

I ask a lot of questions. And the physical therapy sessions are less sweaty endurance tests and more about the right form, concentrating on making sure the right muscles are firing at the right time.

I have a lot of problems with my hips. They dip and sway in the wrong way. Some days it feels like Stefanie is one of the censors on the old “Ed Sullivan Show” and I’m Elvis Presley trying to break all the rules.

Still, the constant correction is helpful. It feels awkward to concentrate on every step.

I have a list of things I’m supposed to do just when I walk. Tighten my abdominal muscles. Make sure my shoulders are back. Tighten the glutes, especially when I’m climbing stairs. Unlock the knees. Point my toes forward and force my hips to move in the proper direction.

I bet I look pretty silly watching my feet when I make a stride just to see if my toes are in the right place.

I don’t remember how old I was when I learned to walk, but I’ll likely always remember that at 40, I had to learn to walk all over again.

TUESDAY, NOV. 24, 2015

BRAIN BUILDING

I wrote a column earlier this month about how transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, helped ease my chronic depression symptoms.

But I want to make an important clarification: I am not cured of depression.

I’m not even in remission, which by definition is the absence of symptoms over a sustained period.

I feel fine, better than I have in a long time, but I’m not free of depression or anxiety. In fact, I still have quite a bit of anxiety in crowds and in social situations.

TMS is not meant to be a cure. It is, like prescription medications, a tool in helping rein in a sometimes debilitating health problem.

Depression and anxiety are controlled on two fronts. The first is medicine and treatments such as TMS.

Those treatments address brain chemistry. Severe depression occurs when the brain is deprived of serotonin — the brain’s mood-regulating hormone.

A plethora of medicines exists to try to regulate this. Many of them are very effective. But my depression was treatment-resistant and my psychiatrist, Dr. Eric Barlow, suggested TMS.

TMS uses magnetic pulses to stimulate neurons in my brain, making them more receptive to natural levels of serotonin and other mood hormones.

And, so far, that feels pretty good.

What it did not do, however, was change my thinking patterns. As we grow up, our brain develops ways of dealing with the world. These are called schema.

A simple example of a schema is learning about a hot stove. At some point in your childhood, you probably touched the burner of a stove despite the warnings of your parents. The pain that resulted led your young brain to build a schema that said, simply, “Don’t touch hot stoves.”

But I had a chaotic childhood. Along with the more common “hot stove schema,” I developed some schemata to deal with the struggles associated with a mother who was addicted to prescription pain killers, suffered violent mood swings and memory loss, and had other boundary issues that I choose to keep private.

I developed schema to survive these situations.

For example, if I recognized my mom was lashing out angrily, saying cruel things, I learned to keep quiet and make myself scarce, but a part of me believed my mother’s erratic behavior was triggered by me being a bad little boy.

This is a reasonable response to what seemed like a threatening situation as a boy. But as an adult, I have a job that often leads me into conflict with people.

Honorable people disagree, but sometimes, especially behind the veil of social media, unkind things are said and feelings are hurt. My reaction is often to either withdraw or lash out.

And always there is a rush of self-loathing, assuming that I am still a bad person because of the flawed schema I developed under a now outdated set of circumstances.

Such self deprecation is not particularly helpful in fostering productive, civil dialogue.

So while I hope TMS has given me a long-term break from major depression, I still have plenty of mental health work to do with my talk therapist.

For example, when I was a boy, I often felt uneasy or nervous. My parents quelled this disquiet by giving me toys or taking me out to dinner at a fast food restaurant.

So the schema my brain built included thinking that the way to feel safe and loved is to buy things and eat. And, to a degree, that still works in that I get a serotonin rush from a buying spree or a food binge.

But it is not a particularly effective way to live as an adult because it drains my bank account and expands my waistline.

The work I’m doing with my talk therapist now is focused on building new schema. My therapist said you can’t remove an old schema. You can only create new ones.

This all seems rather technical, but the brain is a complicated organ. And I like that my medical team explains the science to me.

Knowledge is power. I like the idea that I can take more control of how I think by understanding why I think that way.

There are still bad days. An incident arose just the other evening that had me on the phone with my therapist for a half hour.

I was in a loop thinking I was a bad person. The truth was, I had run into an old thinking pattern triggered by a current conflict.

I was somewhat downtrodden that I was still struggling with these same kinds of thinking errors, but my therapist reminded me that I’m getting better at catching these moments when thoughts start with a relatively minor incident and then increase in awfulness until I’m nearly panicked.

And he reminded me that now that my brain chemistry is under better control, I can more freely work on better thinking.

That is very good news … I think.

FRIDAY, NOV. 20, 2015

GIVING THANKS

Thanksgiving is associated with overeating more than any other holiday.

And why not? Such a bounty of delights: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casseroles, pumpkin pies, pecan pies and, for the sadistic, mincemeat pies, and, of course, delicious gravy.

My mouth waters at the thought of a heaping plate with heavy dollops of everything and then some.

But I’m fighting morbid obesity. I’ve lost nearly 82 pounds since March. Nothing I could eat on Thanksgiving could undo all that work.

Still, my journey is long. I have 220 pounds to go before I’m outside the obese range. Thanksgiving poses a challenge for which I have no good answer.

I could attend a family event Wednesday night at my aunt and uncle’s Bondurant home. I could, as I did at my family’s annual July 4 celebration, map out what I was going to eat in advance and limit myself to that.

I could stick to the green veggies and salad and skip the pie altogether. My family would understand. They’re a good family like that.

I needn’t worry about them being uncomfortable at the chow line while I poke at a few slices of turkey, green beans and salad.

No, the problem is with me. I want to eat big and bad. And I don’t trust myself at the event. My family might remind me of my goals if I forget in a frenzy of pie, but I don’t want them to have to do that, either.

What I want to do is feel confident enough to eat sensibly at Thanksgiving or any other day. And the truth is I just don’t right now.

My weight-loss efforts have been stagnant since fall began. Plateaus are commonplace in weight loss. This one seems too long to me.

I have to admit my culpability in that. I eat out too often. Wings, which is fried food, are my kryptonite. I’ve indulged too often.

Meanwhile, injuries and a general malaise have stymied my exercise efforts. I’ve lost my workout mojo. Some of it is just plain laziness. Some of it is a cramped schedule the past six weeks while I went through an intense new treatment for my chronic depression and anxiety issues.

Regardless, I’m moving less and while I’m not necessarily eating more, I’m definitely not eating as well as I should be.

So this Thanksgiving, I’m taking a knee. I’m sitting it out. Parents 2.0, the kindly east Des Moines couple who raised me after Parents 1.0 died, and I will have a quiet dinner together Thanksgiving Day. My apologies to Uncle Larry and Aunt Sharon, but this year I’m won’t be at the table.

They’ll understand and I’m thankful for that.

In fact, despite recent foibles and the occasional unkind gripe from disgruntled read

Indiana killer Paula Cooper: The Executioner Within

Robert King

robert.king@indystar.com

This 13-chapter story, told as a real-life novel, raises questions about race, justice, poverty and abuse. But it is also the story about the human capacity for forgiveness and a young woman’s struggle to find peace.

Still shrouded in darkness, she sat alone in her car, parked between night and day, between this world and the next.

Behind her, a family of teddy bears sat strapped in by a seat belt. In the front seat next to her was a digital recorder. And a gun.

She picked up the recorder and clicked it on.

"This is Paula Cooper."

A short introduction, a simple statement. Even though nothing had been simple about being Paula Cooper.

"I believe today is the 26th; 5:15 will be my death."

She saw it clearly now, even in the pre-dawn gloom. She'd spent so much of her life searching for peace. But early on the morning of May 26, 2015, the end was in sight. She would reach it before sunrise.

She just had a few things left to say.

—

"My sister. My queen. My everything."

Every morning she spoke to Rhonda. Why should this morning be different?

—

"My mother, I felt like you didn't love me. You didn't care about me. You cut me off. You judged me. You didn't want me at your church. You hurt me about the man I loved. But I still love you."

Others had forgiven Paula. Yet she never felt it from the woman who mattered most.

—

"To Monica, I'm so sorry. This pain that I feel every day. I walk around. I'm so miserable inside. I can't deal with this reality."

Monica had been like a godmother in the fairy tales — someone to fill the void in the absence of a mother's love.

—

"LeShon, I love you. … You showed me how to love.You showed me how to be a woman."

LeShon looked beyond Paula's past. As if it had never occurred.

—

"Michael, I'm so proud of you. And thank you for apologizing."

Michael was her first love. She wanted a life with him; he wanted something else.

—

"Meshia … you helped me when I was down, but I explained to you better than anybody how I feel."

Meshia knew Paula's pain; she'd just been unable to stop it.

—

These were the people Paula loved most. And to each one she had revealed part of herself, but never the whole. It was a select list from a life populated by characters: Her brutal father and her innocent victim; the judge who condemned her and the man who forgave her. There were friars and a bishop and a pope; jailers and journalists; people who were zealous to save her life and people eager to end it. There were too many to consider, really. And the sun would be up soon. She could wait no longer.

"Forgive me," she said in a recording that would soon become part of a police investigation. "I must go now."

Her coda finished, Paula stepped out of the car and into the shadows. She took a seat against a blighted tree. She felt the breeze in her hair. She felt the gun in her hand.

She was familiar with death. She'd seen it up close. She'd been condemned to it, resigned to it and reprieved from it. She had debated its merits and come to terms with it. Never had she stopped thinking of it.

But the question that would vex those she was leaving behind was maddeningly simple.

Why, after all she had endured and all she had survived, after all she had done and seemed capable of doing, had she chosen to die now?

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The garden spot in the woods — where her father grew vegetables and beat his daughters — was only an occasional venue of torture.

More often, for Paula Cooper, it happened at home.

As a child, Paula went to bed night after night next to her sister, listening to their parents argue, listening to her father make threats to come after them. Sometimes her mother would talk him out of it. Sometimes the man's wrath ebbed and they fell asleep. Sometimes they would be jarred awake at 3 o'clock in the morning, her father standing over them, ready to beat them.

Paula believed there were other kinds of families out there. She watched the people on "The Cosby Show," and they seemed to have such a nice family. But that was television. This was real. This was her family. And it looked as if there was no escaping it.

—

Paula was born in Chicago to Herman and Gloria Cooper on Aug. 25, 1969. Her sister, Rhonda, was three years older. Early on, the family lived in Michigan City, but by the time Paula was old enough for school they had moved to Gary.

The girls attended Bethune Grade School, a stone's throw from home. They went to nearby New Testament Baptist Church, where Paula sang in the choir and helped with the little children's Bible classes.

By the late 1970s, Gary's downward spiral from a midcentury boomtown was picking up speed. Manufacturing jobs were disappearing. White families were fleeing to the suburbs. Crime was rising. Like many black families still in the city, the Coopers were left in the wake of all this.

Gloria worked as a lab tech at a hospital. She had an assortment of health problems, none of them helped by the drugs and booze she added to the mixture.

"One day my mother be nice, the next day she be angry," Paula would tell Woman's Day, years later, when her story was national news. "And the next day she be real strange-acting."

Herman worked for U.S. Steel and worked construction, but his employment was sporadic. He had a girlfriend on the side and would be gone for long stretches. When he returned, chaos followed. Herman and Gloria were a volatile pair, drinking hard and arguing often, creating an atmosphere that was not just unstable, but dangerous.

The result, as Paula would say later, was that the girls had to "fend for themselves." Sometimes, on evenings when Herman was gone and Gloria worked late, Paula took meals with the next-door neighbors, who allowed her to stick around and watch TV. Most of the time the girls had food and nice clothing. But, as Rhonda would say later, "we hardly ever had any love."

Except from each other.

In the middle of all the darkness, Paula and Rhonda clung tightly to each other. They found moments to giggle together, play pranks together and share secrets.

More than just a sister, Rhonda became Paula's caregiver. Yet, through their early years, they were unaware of an important family secret: Rhonda was the child of a different father. It was a secret Gloria took great pains to hide, even though she allowed Rhonda's father, Ronald Williams, to visit occasionally. She said he was her uncle.

Before Herman came along, Ronald and Gloria were engaged. They broke it off, as Williams would later tell a courtroom, because he felt Gloria had a "split personality." In short, he thought she was crazy.

Living with Herman Cooper didn't help.

Herman beat everyone in the house. He beat Gloria in front of the girls. He beat the girls together. He beat them separately, sometimes in front of their mother. Sometimes Gloria seemed to egg on the violence.

"We did everything we was supposed to do, but it just wasn't never good enough for her," Paula told Woman's Day many years later. "… She get mad at us and he'd beat us. 'Be a man,' she'd tell him. 'Take care of it,' she'd say. And he'd take care of it."

The girls grew up unable to remember a time before the abuse. When they were little, Paula would later say, Herman beat them "for the things little kids do." When they were older, Rhonda remembered, he beat them for forgetting to take out the trash, for not doing the dishes and for skipping school.

Herman employed an assortment of tools for punishment, whatever he could get his hands on — shoes, straps, sticks, a broom. Sometimes he used an electrical cord from an air conditioner.

"He'd triple it up and go to work," Paula would say later. "It got to the point I was so used to it I didn't cry anymore."

To heighten the pain, Herman sometimes ordered the girls to remove their clothes before a beating. Questioned later, he denied that he ever abused the girls at all.

—

This stark picture of Paula Cooper's childhood emerges from several sources; the courtroom testimony from Rhonda and her father; testimony from Dr. Frank Brogno, a clinical psychologist who discussed what he learned from examining Paula. Some of the glimpses into the darkness come from now-yellowed news clippings. Others come from anecdotes Paula shared with friends and loved ones and the few journalists she favored. Finally, there's the freshest source of insight into Paula's world — more than 100 personal letters she wrote to a treasured friend that were reviewed by IndyStar.

Taken together, they amount to a catalog of horrors. Her father's beatings, Paula said, left her "close to death so many times." With no apparent means of escape, she seemed to stop fearing death at all. "I just cried," she wrote, "until all my tears were gone away."

—

In 1978, when Paula was 9, the tears were still flowing. Her parents separated, but it was often fuzzy as to when they were back together and when they were apart. Once, when Herman returned home to find the doors locked, he forced his way in. According to testimony Rhonda gave in court, Herman entered their home, beat up their mother and raped her in front of the two girls.

The incident seems to have been a tipping point. Not long after, Gloria began telling her daughters the world had nothing to offer them. Instead, she said, they'd all be better off going to heaven. On this point, Rhonda would say later, Gloria began pressuring her daughters. Eventually, the girls came to believe, like their mother, they had nothing to live for.

Gloria phoned Ronald Williams, Rhonda's father and steady friend. It was late. She'd been drinking and taking pills. She was crying. Herman had been giving her problems, she said, and things weren't good at work.

She was thinking of killing herself.

Williams had heard this kind of talk from Gloria before. Always, he had been able to console her, to talk her back from the precipice. He reminded her that she had Paula and Rhonda to think about. What would happen to them? His question made Gloria think. But only for an hour.

She called Williams back. Between her tears and her wailing, Gloria said: "I finally found out what I'm going to do with the kids."

Williams was alarmed. He demanded to know what she meant.

"I'm going to take them with me," she replied. "I'm going to let you speak to your daughter and Paula for the last time."

The girls took the phone in turns. They were crying, too. Rhonda said they were going to heaven with their mother.

"Don't do nothing drastic," Williams told them. "Let me speak to your mother, OK."

The phone went dead.

Williams panicked. Gloria and the girls had recently moved. She hadn't shared their new address. He didn't know where to find them, how to stop her.

He called the operator and asked for his last call to be traced; it was no good. He called Gary police. Without an address, they could do nothing.

There was nothing anyone could do. Williams waited. For three weeks, he waited. He feared what had become of them.

Had Gloria killed them all?

—

After she hung up the phone, Gloria decided not to act right away; she'd wait until morning. When she awoke, Gloria took the girls out to the car in the garage. She put them in the back seat and started the engine. The garage door remained closed.

From there, accounts differ. Williams testified that a friend told him neighbors noticed something and called the fire department. Rhonda testified that, as the fumes gathered, the girls drifted off to sleep. They thought they were going to heaven; instead, they woke up in bed. How they got there isn't clear. Rhonda said Gloria had changed her mind. When the girls awoke, she said, their mother was coughing on the lawn.

From then on, Williams tried to coax Gloria into letting him have the girls. Rhonda was his daughter, and he was fond of Paula, too. Gloria would have none of it.

"I'd rather see them both dead," she said.

—

The girls survived their first brush with death. But Paula and her sister were being shaped in a world without hope. And now their mother had planted a seed: The ultimate escape was death.

Rhonda looked around at this nihilist world and began seeking a way out. Several times she tried to run. Soon, she began taking Paula with her. "I couldn't take it no more in that house," she would say, "and I didn't want her to, either."

By 1982, when both girls were teenagers, they made an unsuccessful attempt to run and were sent — together — to the Thelma Marshall Children's Home in Gary. Within a short time, they were returned to the Coopers. For Paula, it was the beginning of a cycle — of running and being returned home. For Rhonda, that cycle ended only when she learned Ronald Williams was her biological father. At her first opportunity, she left the Coopers to live with him.

If the move helped Rhonda, it had grievous consequences for Paula, then 13. Her sister had been the most stable person in her home. Now she was gone. Paula came to believe her parents blamed her for Rhonda's departure. Now that her father's anger had one less target, Paula's beatings grew more frequent and more brutal. Even as her parents divorced, Herman never quite left the picture. And his handiwork began to show.

At school, Paula revealed to an administrator a rash of injuries — a bruise on her thigh, a welt on her arm, a rug burn on her elbow.

When a welfare caseworker visited the Cooper home, Herman and Gloria cursed at her. They blamed Paula's problems on interference from the courts, from the school psychologist and from the welfare department itself. When the caseworker recommended family counseling, Gloria said she'd rather go to jail.

At various times, Gloria and Herman seemed to vacillate between wanting Paula and considering her a curse. Paula began running away on her own. After one attempt, welfare officials wanted to send Paula home, but her mother objected. If Paula returned, Gloria vowed to leave.

On another occasion, when Rhonda made a rare visit to spend a weekend with Paula and her mother, arguments ensued and Williams returned for Rhonda. He couldn't find her there, but he found Paula. She was crying so loudly he heard her without going in. Gloria, who stood in front of the house fuming about Paula, simply said: "I'm going to kill that bitch."

Paula emerged and, seeing Williams, ran to him and jumped into his arms. He asked her if her mother would really hurt her.

"Yes."

Williams told her to get in the car. Gloria charged out toward them and began to threaten Paula. "I'm going to kill you and if I don't (Herman) will."

Williams considered it serious business to take Paula. He lived in Illinois and assumed it would be a crime to take a child across the state line without permission of the parents. He took her anyway. Gloria and other family members threatened to phone the police.

At his home, Williams asked Paula what she wanted to do. They talked about the logistics of her staying with him without her mother's permission. It would be impossible for her to go to school. Then there was the trouble Williams might face. With tears, Paula looked at Williams and said, "It's best for me to go home … I don't want to get you in no trouble." Paula's respite lasted only a few hours.

Even though he wasn't keeping Paula, Williams couldn't fathom returning her home. Instead, he just let her walk away. She was young, no more than 13, but Williams believed she was safer on the streets of Chicago than at home. Under scrutiny for making such a choice, Williams later told a courtroom he thought Paula was in danger there. "I would rather see her in the street as a slut than for her mother to blow her brains out."

For several days, Paula survived on her own. Inevitably, she wound up back home.

—

By 1983, when Paula turned 14, she stayed away from home as much as possible. She was smoking cigarettes and drinking. She smoked marijuana almost daily. Tall, but heavy, she took speed to lose weight. She tried cocaine. She skipped school routinely. She was sexually active. Years later, she would warn others against making similar choices. But for the moment, it was her life.

And it was a rootless life. She spent six months at a children's home in Mishawaka and three months in a juvenile detention center. She was removed from one home after only six days after she threatened a staff member and another resident — with a knife.

With each new address, Paula changed schools. She attended four high schools without ever finishing the 10th grade. Her schoolwork, decent at first, nosedived. She called a teacher "crazy," resulting in a suspension. She struggled to keep friends. She developed a reputation as a bully. All the while, Paula struggled to wake up in the mornings. When she was evaluated for the problem, a doctor at a local hospital asked if she ever thought of killing herself.

"Yes," she replied.

For that answer, she was sent to a mental hospital. Released four days later, she returned home.

"I told people I needed help and to talk, but all they did was move me from home to home," Paula would write a few years later. "I didn't care about life or trouble or consequences at all."

—

Perhaps the pinnacle of Paula's abuse came, ironically, after her father visited Gary police seeking advice on how to deal with a wayward child. Paula was 14, and Herman Cooper couldn't keep her reined in. Frustrated, he asked the police what he should do with her. It was a family matter, they said; he should do what he thought was right.

For Herman Cooper, that meant one thing: another beating. But for what he had in mind this time, he'd need some privacy. He took Paula to a woody patch near a spot where he kept a garden. Paula had been there before; so had Rhonda.

"If you scream where I take you," he told Paula, "no one will hear you."

Several times in her life, Paula thought her father was going to beat her to death. This was one of them. "He just kept beating me and beating me," she would tell the clinical psychologist, for what seemed like half an hour. Instead of the cord or a broom or a stick, this time Herman beat her with his bare hands.

When he was done, Herman put Paula in the car to take her home. But as they drove through the darkening streets of Gary, Paula knew she couldn't go back there. Not when the possibility of more punishment lay ahead in the Cooper house of horrors.

As Herman pulled the car up to the house, Paula jumped out and took off running into the night. Running and screaming. Herman gave chase, but porch lights began to click on. Up and down the street, neighbors stepped out to investigate the commotion. The neighbors had seen this show before; it never seemed to end. This time, though, Herman retreated.

Paula ran until she wound up where the night had begun — at the police station. She told officers there about the beating, told them she couldn't go home. At least not while Herman was around. The state pulled her away from the Coopers. It isn't clear from the record where she was placed. But soon, she was sent back home.

—

In the summer of 1984, when Paula turned 15, she felt as lonely as ever.

Adrift, Paula briefly took up with a guy she hoped might offer her a haven. Later, she would tell others he was a rough character who dealt drugs and treated her poorly. The one thing he did for Paula was leave her pregnant.

Many teenage girls would consider pregnancy a tragedy; Paula saw it as a blessing. She had almost forgotten how to care about anyone. She wanted a family, wanted someone to belong to. The child growing inside her represented someone she could love, someone who would love her in return.

And then it was gone.

Gloria had been dead set against the pregnancy; she wanted Paula to end it. Paula refused and ran off — perhaps to seek help from a woman she knew in Chicago. Her mother tracked her down and, as Paula would write years later in a letter and tell friends, forced her to have an abortion.

Paula was several months into the pregnancy; the procedure nearly killed her. "She took something that would have completed my life," Paula would write later, "and after that I felt I had no one."

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Ruth Pelke was gentle, an old woman with silvery hair and horn-rimmed glasses. As her stepson Robert and his wife pleaded for her to leave Gary, she listened.

Robert pledged to do everything necessary to make her house ready for sale — the legal stuff, the touch-up jobs, whatever. She listened as they talked to her about how dangerous her neighborhood had become.

But Ruth didn't really need reminding. Her Glen Park neighborhood was still one of the better places to live in Gary, although that wasn't saying much, given the city's downward lurch. There were abandoned houses now. There were burglaries. Her own home had been hit five times in recent years, including when her husband, Oscar, was still alive. Now, at 78, she was widowed and alone, and things were only getting worse. But Ruth had been in Glen Park for 41 years; it was home. She still had some good neighbors. Just as important, she had a mission.

For decades, she'd opened her home and heart to the neighborhood children. She'd taught them the Bible using felt cutouts of Bible characters that she stuck to a flannel board. She'd given the kids candy when they memorized Scripture. She'd driven them to church. She believed these were children who needed hope, and they could find it in Jesus. No, she finally said that night after her stepson's plea — she wouldn't be leaving the home in her neighborhood.

"I'll stay here until I go there," she said.

Ruth Pelke was pointing a finger to heaven.

—

The next day, Tuesday, May 14, 1985, Ruth's doorbell rang.

She answered it and found three teenage girls standing on her porch. She didn't recognize them, but she opened her door. One of the girls said, "My auntie would like to know about Bible classes. When do y'all hold them?"

Ruth wasn't up to teaching anymore, but she wanted to help the girls. "Come back on Saturday," she said. And closed the door.

—

The girls — Karen Corder, Denise Thomas and Paula Cooper — walked back across the alley. Sitting on a porch, April Beverly was waiting.

The foursome — all ninth- and 10th-graders at Lew Wallace High School — left school at lunchtime that afternoon with no intention of going back. The girls walked the 10 blocks or so to an arcade near 45th and Broadway where they spent what little money they had on games and candy. When their money was gone, they headed back to the house where April was staying with her sister.

They were a ragtag bunch.

At 16, Karen Corder — known to her friends as "Pooky" — was the oldest. More than two years earlier, she'd given birth to a baby boy whom she'd delivered in a toilet. She'd managed to keep the pregnancy secret from her parents until the child was born, according to court records.

At 15, April Beverly was seven months pregnant. She was part of a divided family with 11 children, and she bounced between two homes, her father's and her sister's. Her mother was dead, her father had remarried. On occasion, April benefited from the kindness of the old lady across the alley. She'd listened to Ruth Pelke's Bible lessons. And the old woman had brought food over to April and her siblings when she was concerned they might be hungry.

At 14, Denise Thomas was the youngest of the four and the smallest. The others were mature young women — at different places on the spectrum of teen motherhood. Denise still looked very much like a little girl. In the context of this group, some would later describe her as a tag-along.

And, of course, there was Paula Cooper. At 15, she was only months removed from an unwanted abortion that had nearly killed her. She was tall, somewhat heavy and had the bearing of a girl beyond her years. She would be described as the "prime mover" of the quartet — the ringleader. But it was a label she'd never cop to.

—

To date, the sum total of their illicit behavior was strictly small-time. Karen had tried her hand at shoplifting. Paula, Karen and April had pulled off a burglary a few days before that netted them $90. Mostly, the girls were truants. And on this Tuesday afternoon away from school, their immediate priority was to raise some money so they could go back to the arcade.

Their first attempt was a harebrained scheme April cooked up to get some cash from a woman up the street. All four girls had gone to the woman's door. April introduced Denise, the small one, as her daughter. April claimed the woman's husband had taken $20 from Denise and they'd come to collect it. For added zest, April threw in this detail: The woman's husband had been naked when he stepped into the street to take Denise's money.

The woman didn't go for it.

After that failure, April turned her focus to Ruth Pelke. She seemed to recall the lady keeping a jar of $2 bills. She thought the woman might even have some jewelry. The question was how to get to it all.

As they sat on the porch at her sister's house, April asked Paula to come inside — she might know where there was a gun. For the girls, a gun crime would be a considerable step up the criminal ladder. But the gun wasn't where April thought it was; she couldn't find it. Then it occurred to April: Something else might do.

"I have a knife you could scare the lady with," she said.

Soon, April produced a 12-inch butcher knife. It was sharp and had a curving blade that graduated to a fine point. It was a cooking tool, but also a potentially lethal instrument. Paula took the knife and hid it in her light jacket. Out on the porch, she and April explained to the other girls: This was their new weapon of choice. And Karen came up with another approach to getting inside the old lady's home: They would ask her to write down the time and place where the Bible classes would be.

In all this planning, Paula and the other girls would forever swear, the subject of killing the old woman never came up. The most they would admit, according to Corder, was that they'd knock out the woman and rob her. Still, the reality of what they were planning — to con their way into her house, pull a knife and take the old woman's valuables — was fraught with danger.

As their scheme unfolded, April stayed back again, resting on her sister's porch; she didn't want the old woman to recognize her. Karen, Paula and Denise crossed the alley.

They rang the bell, and soon Ruth Pelke appeared at the door. This time, when she answered, Karen said: "My auntie wants to know where the Bible classes are held at. Could you write it down for me?"

Ruth said she no longer taught the classes, but she knew of a lady. "I'll look up her telephone number for you." She invited the girls to come in. And she turned to walk to the desk on the far side of the room.

—

Ruth Pelke looked for all the world like the kindly grandmother drawn up in children's books. She was also a woman whose Christian faith was essential to who she was. She went to church on Wednesday nights and twice on Sundays. She visited church members who were too old or too sick to get out. She sang in the choir. She hosted missionaries in her home on their trips back from foreign lands. She took her own missionary journeys, going deeper into the heart of Gary to share her faith with children.

What followed — recorded in statements to police, testified to in court, reported in newspaper accounts and, in brief instances, described in letters Paula would write years later — was a scene that would shock Northwest Indiana and the rest of the state.

As Ruth Pelke crossed her living room to the desk where she kept phone numbers, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck.

Paula had put her jacket on the couch and run up on Ruth, grabbing her from behind. For a moment, the teenager and the old woman struggled. Ruth still tended a garden and did a little work outside the house to keep fit, but she was in no shape for a chunky 15-year-old girl who now had her in a headlock.

Paula threw Ruth to the floor.

On a table nearby sat an item some would describe as a vase but others likened more to a triangular snow globe. One of the girls picked it up and hit Ruth Pelke over the head. Prosecutors would allege it was Denise Thomas; Paula took the blame.

Paula demanded to know where Ruth kept her valuables. She threatened to cut her with the knife. "Give me the money, bitch," she said.

Ruth looked up and said simply: "You aren't going to kill me." She began hollering for help. Paula's anger rose now. Then she looked at Ruth's head. Blood was streaming from the place where she'd been hit with the vase. Paula saw the blood and reacted in a way she would struggle to explain for the rest of her life.

To police investigators, she would say she entered "a blackout stage."

To a judge, she would say, "Something clicked in on me."

To a psychologist, she said the sight of the blood altered her perception of whom she was attacking: "I saw somebody else inside of that body."

Several friends and supporters who heard similar explanations from Paula concluded that, in this moment, Paula no longer saw the meek and mild Bible teacher in front of her. They believed Paula saw the woman who watched her suffer so many beatings and did nothing to stop them, the woman who took away the baby she'd wanted to love. They were convinced that, in the defenseless woman pinned to the floor, Paula saw her mother.

Whatever she saw, Paula reached for the knife. She grabbed it by the handle and began slashing. She sliced open the old woman's cheek. She stabbed at her head, without deep penetration. Ruth fell back, flat on the floor. And Paula went to work, cutting her arms and legs.

The other girls stood by in disbelief.

Karen Corder, the oldest, told Paula to stop.

Denise Thomas, the youngest, cried and screamed for Paula to quit. Later, she would claim she yelled, "I'm getting out of here," only to be met with a withering threat from Paula: "Leave and you're dead."

Paula's barrage was relentless. She stabbed the old woman in the belly and, finally, thrust the blade deep into the side of Ruth's chest. With that, Paula stopped; she pulled back from the carnage.

"I can't take it no more," she said.

Paula looked at Denise; she told her to come hold the knife. But Denise refused. She looked at Karen, communicating the same message. Karen knelt beside the wounded woman. The blade remained lodged in her chest. And Karen held it in place.

April Beverly, who concocted the robbery scheme, initially held back. After the others went inside, she had come up to Ruth's porch and acted as lookout. Now she entered the house. The old woman was lying on her back, her dress covered in blood, her arms and legs still moving. Karen, she noticed, held the knife as it protruded from the woman's side. To April, it appeared that Karen wasn't just holding it: She was wiggling the knife back and forth. Out of some morbid curiosity, she would tell police later, Karen pushed the blade farther into the hole to see how deep it would go. At one point, she concluded, "The bitch won't die."

Karen estimated she held the knife in Ruth Pelke's side for upwards of 15 minutes; Paula thought it closer to 30.

Ruth Pelke moaned through most of this. The old woman's torn and tortured face was too much for the girls to bear. One of them went to the bathroom and got a towel to cover Ruth's face — and try to smother the last breaths of life from her. Paula and Denise said it was Karen; Karen said it was Paula.

In her dying moments, Ruth Pelke managed to share a few last words. Denise heard her saying the Lord's Prayer.

"Our Father, which art in heaven …"

Paula had stalked in and out of the room, and the last words she heard from Ruth were something else. Words that would haunt her the rest of her life.

"If you kill me," she heard Ruth say, "you will be sorry."

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Paula and Denise began tearing the house apart, rifling through drawers, ripping items off shelves and upending furniture.

For Paula, it was a mad search for some reward for the awful business she'd just concluded. There had to be some money somewhere. Maybe some jewelry. But as she continued her desperate search, a nervousness began to grow inside her. Whether it was regret for the killing or the chilling final words of her victim, she felt uneasy. And she didn't like it. As they were going through the upstairs rooms, Paula tried to pull herself away. But the only place to go was back downstairs, where the source of her angst lay dead on the floor. She resumed the treasure hunt and soon managed to turn up some cash — all of $10. She came across a key and thought it might start the old woman's Plymouth in the garage. She ran out to give it a try. Nothing.

April joined in the search and quickly turned up another key. This time when Paula tried it, the engine stirred to life. April went inside to fetch the other girls.

By then, Karen and Denise were alone with Ruth Pelke's body. Karen had watched the rise and fall of the old woman's chest until it grew shallower. Finally, it stopped. Maybe April sensed some new panic; she sternly warned the other girls: "If you tell anyone, I'll kill you."

The girls had spent roughly an hour in the old woman's house. They hadn't found a jar of $2 bills. They hadn't found a trove of jewelry. But it was time to go. Someone might come looking. Before they could leave, Karen grabbed one last item.

She knelt down again beside Ruth. The butcher knife was planted firmly in the left side of her chest, just below her breast. Karen grabbed the handle. She pulled it out. As they headed out to the car, Karen carried the knife at her side. She climbed into the back of the car and dropped it to the floor. The blade was still coated in blood.

—

Paula Cooper was 15. She was too young to drive. But with her three accomplices as passengers, she managed to steer Ruth's car out of the neighborhood and onto 45th Avenue. They were just down the street from Lew Wallace High School. School was out now and, almost immediately, they saw a classmate walking along the street. Almost reflexively, they waved to Beverly Byndum. And Beverly waved back.

This was the paradox they now faced. They were teenagers in possession of a car, the apex of adolescence. Yet they had acquired it in the most horrific way imaginable. Years later, Paula would say things just "got out of control." But here she was — a killer. Now that the deed was done, now that they had a few bucks, Paula and the others seemed in no mood to enjoy it.

Before they arrived at the video arcade, Karen asked Paula to let her out of the car; she wanted to go back to April's house. Paula let her go, but not before asking her to perform a little task: Go back to the old lady's house and get the jacket Paula had left inside.

Next, Denise said she wanted to go home. She asked Paula to let her out at a convenience store and she would make her way from there.

When Paula and April pulled up to Candyland Arcade, they were alone. For a few minutes, they just sat there, talking about what they'd done. April hadn't witnessed everything that went on inside the house. It's not clear how many of the missing details Paula shared.

Paula said she needed to use the restroom, and she ventured into the arcade. When she returned, five girls from school were standing around the car. One of them was Beverly Byndum, whom they had passed on the street. Her sister, Latesha, asked where they had come by the car. Paula said it was her sister's.

Within minutes, Karen walked up to the arcade out of breath, as if she had been running to catch up with the crew. Wherever she had been, she hadn't stayed long. Paula pulled her aside and asked if she'd gone back to the house, if she'd picked up the jacket. No, Karen replied. It was probably the last place on Earth she wanted to go. And she didn't hang around long enough to talk further about it. In a few minutes, she caught a bus for home.

Whether Paula remembered it or not, she had left more than her jacket in the house. Inside one of its pockets was a newly filled prescription for birth control pills — her pills. She had picked them up earlier that morning before school. It was just one of the clues she had left for investigators to find.

Paula and April looked around at the girls and asked if anyone wanted a ride home. Eagerly, their friends piled into the Plymouth. Latesha Byndum was among those who jumped into the back. As she did, she felt her foot brush across something on the floor. She reached down to pick it up. It was a knife. And there was blood on it. There was also blood on her shoe. Latesha looked at Paula and April in the front seat and asked, "What you all do? Just kill somebody?"

The girls looked back at Latesha.

No, they replied.

And, in a response that would reverberate across the community, Paula and April laughed.

—

Paula and April dropped off their passengers at various addresses around Gary. But details about where and how they spent their next two days are choppy and imprecise.

Prosecutors would characterize their time in the car as a joy ride. But from this point on, Paula and April seemed to have a different sense of what to do next.

April wanted to go to a park in Hammond; she wanted to see her brother Tony; she wanted to see her boyfriend. When she found $40 in Ruth Pelke's glove box, she wanted to spend it. When they picked up April's boyfriend and he brought some alcohol, she drank it.

Paula wanted to go to a girl's home where she had lived for a time; she wanted to pick up some friends there. But she quickly decided she and April needed some time to focus on what to do next. When April found the money, Paula thought they should save it for gas. While April got drunk, Paula wanted nothing to drink. She was too nervous.

Most symbolic of their division, perhaps, is what happened to the money from Ruth's glove box. The girls wrestled over it, and one of the $20 bills was torn. Paula gave up the fight. April could keep the money and do with it what she wanted.

—

On Wednesday morning, the day after the crime, Robert Pelke phoned Ruth's house to check up on her. She didn't pick up the phone, and he decided to check on her in person. Just three days before, he and a large portion of the extended Pelke family had taken Ruth out for a Mother's Day dinner. Just two days earlier, Robert and his wife had pushed Ruth to think about selling her house and leaving Gary. Robert rang the doorbell, with no idea how prescient that conversation had been.

There was no answer, so Robert opened the mail slot on the door and called inside. There was only silence. But through the mail slot, something caught Robert's eye: The dining room was torn apart. He went to fetch a spare key Ruth kept hidden outside. Looking around the place, he noticed Ruth's car was missing from the garage, and he assumed Ruth must be gone, too.

He found the key, unlocked the door and stepped into the house. The place appeared to have been ransacked. Pictures that had adorned the walls were now scattered about the floor. Cushions from the couch had been pulled up and cast about. And then his eyes turned to the dining room floor.

The cloaked figure of a woman lay there motionless. Her dress was caked in blood. Her arms were slashed. A towel masked her face.

Robert knelt down next to her. He pulled the towel away and called her name. Still, there was no movement. He touched her, and the body was cold. He knew she was dead.

Robert got up and went for the phone. In an age when every phone was a landline, Ruth's had been ripped from its place on the wall. He stepped outside and began going door to door, looking for someone who would let him use their phone. But at house after house, he found nobody. Finally, Robert looked farther up the street and saw a man and a woman getting out of a car. He approached them and asked them to call the police.

His stepmother had been murdered.

—

Robert's son, Bill Pelke, arrived home just after 3 o'clock from his shift at Bethlehem Steel and soon received a phone call. It was one of his uncles. Nana, he said, was dead.

Nana was the term of endearment everyone in the family used for Ruth. Bill had grown up listening to her Bible stories. He'd loved her flannel board tales of the three men in the fiery furnace, of Noah and the ark and his favorite — Joseph and the coat of many colors.

Even as a 37-year-old man, he still loved to go to Nana's house for the holidays, to warm himself beside her fireplace and congregate there with the rest of the family. His grandfather had passed almost two years before, but Nana was still a magnet. She could still bring the family together. And now, suddenly, she was gone.

At such moments of shock, the brain's processor goes into hyperdrive. And some key facts rushed through Bill's head: Nana had been 78; she was the oldest Pelke; she'd had a good life; it must have been her time. But that instant of comfort evaporated quickly. He sensed something else in his uncle's voice that was borne out in his next words: There'd been a break-in at Nana's house. He didn't know if there was a connection.

Bill hung up and turned on the television, wondering if there might be some news about it. Sure enough, his father appeared on camera. He was saying something about it being a terrible murder. For Bill, everything else was a blur; he had to go. He had to be with his family.

As it turned out, Ruth Pelke had been dead for a full day.

—

By that spring of 1985, crime was a painful reality in Gary. Its murder rate was among the highest in the country. It was on its way to becoming the murder capital of the United States.

Gary was a city in decline; poverty was growing like a cancer. But the violence was being spread through an influx of gangs with names such as The Family and the Black Gangster Disciples.

Yet as accustomed to crime as the city had become, the murder of Ruth Pelke shocked and angered people in a whole new way. There was the innocence of Ruth herself — the elderly Bible teacher. As one observer put it, she was a grandma to the neighborhood. The killing's effect also might have been amplified because it happened in Glen Park, which a prosecutor later described as a "last bastion" of the white population in a city from which white residents had disappeared.

On the day after the discovery of Ruth's body, The Post-Tribune in Gary devoted two front-page columns to the story: "Bible teacher, 77, murdered in her home." It had her age wrong, but the dominant image on the page was a picture of Ruth — silver-haired and smiling behind her horn-rimmed glasses from another era.

The newspaper reported that neighborhood children "were visibly upset and shaken by the murder." They spoke of Pelke as "meek and mild," serving cookies during summer Bible classes and giving out boxes of candy to the children who memorized Scripture.

As for who might be responsible, the initial story carried some important nuggets: Police were searching for a 15-year-old girl who'd been seen driving Pelke's blue Plymouth. They weren't releasing her name, but the girl was a student at Lew Wallace High and lived in Gary's Marshalltown neighborhood.

—

Paula Cooper lived in Marshalltown.

As they combed through Ruth's house, police found the jacket with the prescription in the pocket. Eyewitnesses had seen Paula and the other girls in a car that matched the description of Ruth's missing Plymouth. And on the day Ruth's body was discovered, Gloria Cooper phoned police to report her 15-year-old daughter missing; she'd been missing since the day before.

The ink was barely dry on the newspaper stories when Karen Corder, walking around school on Thursday, two days after the crime, began looking for someone on whom she could unload her conscience. She had opted out of the joy ride and gone home and had a couple of restless nights' sleep. She found a gym teacher who'd been nice to her and said they needed to talk; she'd witnessed a murder. Soon, police were at the school. They took Karen and Denise into custody. And Karen was telling her story about the crime.

In the two days since the killing, Paula and April — with April's brother, Tony — had driven aimlessly from Gary to Hammond and to various parts of Chicago's South Side. They'd had no real sense of direction.

Tony pressed on in Ruth's Plymouth until the gas needle dropped well below empty. Then he pushed it some more. Finally, the car died. Their money gone, they found a phone and called April's sister. Thursday night, with the police dragnet closing around them, she took the girls to see the Gary police.

—

Detective William Kennedy Jr. had been looking for Paula Cooper and April Beverly for the better part of two days. When his phone rang around midnight, the news was good: They'd turned themselves in.

In addition to being a cop, Kennedy worked security at Lew Wallace High School. He'd seen Paula Cooper walking the halls. He never knew her name, but they'd exchanged hellos. Now, he was tidying up the loose ends of a case for murder against her.

When he arrived at the station, Paula's parents were waiting. Kennedy asked Herman and Gloria Cooper if Paula could make a formal statement about the crime. Herman, speaking for everyone, declined. They were interested in talking to a lawyer, and he seemed annoyed at the article in the morning paper, which he felt pointed a finger at Paula even if it didn't name her.

The Coopers met briefly with Paula, then returned to the waiting room. Soon, Rhonda arrived at the station. She'd read the papers. She knew Paula was in jail. And she was upset. She wanted to see her sister.

Gloria was OK with that but urged her to persuade Paula to talk about what she'd done. When the police wouldn't let Rhonda see her sister without a parent, Gloria agreed to go with Rhonda.

After so many years of turmoil and strife, Gloria and her two daughters were together again — for a moment alone in a police interrogation room. What they said isn't clear. But when Kennedy, the detective, rejoined them, Gloria gave Paula a nudge.

"Say something," she said.

Paula hesitated. She said she didn't want anyone looking at her. So Kennedy turned 45 degrees and looked at a wall. Paula began to speak. She kept speaking for 15 minutes. She laid out the essential elements of Ruth Pelke's murder, described the girls' desire for money and a car, described how they came up with the Bible class as their way in. She described how she got the knife and stabbed the old woman more times than she could remember. She talked about the aftermath, when they took the car and gave rides to their friends. At one point, according to the account the detective would later make from his "mental notes," Gloria Cooper asked Paula in front of the detective: Were you and Karen basically responsible for the lady's death?

Paula's answer: "Yeah, you could say that."

When Paula was done, Kennedy left the room. Her mother and her sister left, too. As Paula stood alone in the interrogation room, April Beverly was giving a statement in a room nearby. When Kennedy returned to Paula, she was newly animated. She began unloading a rapid-fire addendum to her confession to the detective.

"April is lying. She's lying on me, so I'm going to tell you where the murder weapon is. It's at the McDonald's in Hammond on Calumet Avenue, next to the police station. Her brother threw it out the car right by the drive-thru window side. It was by a tree right there."

For Paula, this was the start of one of the great grievances of her life — her claim that the other girls lied. A few details aside, their stories largely matched up. But in the discrepancies, Paula saw injustice. And correcting the narrative to fit her exact version of the truth would become an obsession.

The legal ramifications of what she'd shared, in her two statements, were that Paula had essentially confessed to the key elements of the murder. She had gift-wrapped a case for the authorities. She also had put herself in the cross hairs of a zealous prosecutor. She had no idea just how precarious her own life had become.

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Jack Crawford — with a swooping, blow-dried haircut that gave him an appearance not unlike the televangelists of the era — came before a bank of reporters with material certain to make a splash.

A rising star in Indiana's Democratic Party, Crawford had swept into the Lake County prosecutor's job years before, having pledged to get tough on crime. Since then, he had pursued the death penalty more than any other prosecutor in the state. In the first five months of 1985, he'd already won four death penalty convictions.

Now, flanked by a pair of cops, Crawford came before the gathered media with an announcement sure to make headlines: For the first time in Lake County, his office was charging four girls with murder. He would seek the death penalty against the oldest — 16-year-old Karen Corder — and if the other girls were moved out of juvenile court, he'd likely seek death for them, too.

"I've been a prosecutor for seven years," Crawford told the media, "and we've never had a case like this before."

As zealous as he was, Crawford privately acknowledged that same day that his chance for death sentences had already taken a big hit. That's because the clerk's office announced that the judge handling the Ruth Pelke cases was Superior Court Judge James C. Kimbrough Jr.

Kimbrough was a former public defender and NAACP lawyer who'd grown up in the civil rights heartland of Selma, Ala. More important than all of that, everyone around the courts — from prosecutors and public defenders to reporters and clerks — knew Kimbrough hated the death penalty. Hated it for its unfairness. Hated it for its inability to deter crime. And in a county where other judges had shown themselves willing to brandish the ultimate weapon, Kimbrough hadn't sent anyone to the electric chair during 12 years on the bench. Only once had he come close: Kimbrough sentenced a man to death who had been convicted of a double murder. Soon, though, the judge reversed himself and gave the man a new trial. Eventually, he was set free.

So, at word of Kimbrough's assignment, Jack Crawford and his team murmured that the path to a death sentence was a steep one. "We certainly thought we had an uphill climb," he would say later.

—

In the Lake County Juvenile Detention Center, Paula Cooper's life behind bars was getting off to a rough start.

She was no stranger to jail, having spent three months in the same detention center two years earlier after she ran away from home. She was a bit weepy then, even tender, the guards remembered. But this 15-year-old version of Paula Cooper was angrier, explosive and cocky. She acted as if she owned the place. She was a handful.

Two weeks after the crime, Paula took a seat next to two of her friends in the jail during "quiet hour." Soon they grew noisy. A guard told them to shut up and disperse; Paula refused. The guard ordered her back to her cell. But as she stepped into the hall, Paula struck the guard across the bridge of the nose. She fought until reinforcements arrived to pull Paula off. As they were dragging her away, Paula issued a warning: They'd better transfer the guard or she would get a knife and come after her.

The dust-up prompted a transfer for the girls — from the juvenile center to the Lake County Jail. It also made the local papers, which didn't help the cause of saving their lives.

By the end of July 1985, the cases against all four girls were formally moved to adult court. Crawford, after sifting through the ample evidence, made his purpose clear: He would seek the death penalty against all four.

The case had pricked the public's consciousness of crime at a new level.

Crawford's decision made news on the Chicago television stations; it made headlines across Indiana. The public defender assigned to represent Paula, Kevin Relphorde, was incredulous. "They must be the youngest females in the country facing the death penalty," he told reporters.

By then, Paula and Karen, sharing a cell in the Lake County Jail, had been locked up two months. They began telling jail staff they were considering suicide. On cards they were given to report health problems, they wrote things such as "Give me the electric chair" and "Give me that shock. I want to die."

As a precaution, jail officers took their personal belongings and stripped them to their underwear; they were on suicide watch.

Paula and Karen responded by banging on the bars and making noise. To calm them, a nurse broke out the oral sedatives. Karen took hers; Paula refused. The guards teamed up to hold down Paula so the nurse could give her a shot. But as they tried to restrain her, Paula jumped up and hit one guard in the shoulder.

"Oh you tough, huh?" the guard replied. "You stabbed an old lady." It was less than professional, but it was a gut reaction.

"Yeah, I stabbed an old lady," Paula replied. "And I'd stab that bitch again. I'd stab your fucking grandmother."

The jail incidents were part of a pattern to be repeated in years to come. Paula didn't respond well to restraints; she bucked authority. In such instances, she could be aggressive and hostile. A psychologist noted her tendencies and something else plain to see: Battered and badgered as a girl, she was now mistrustful and suspicious.

Soon, Paula's interaction with the jail staff would grow more complicated. By August 1985, about the time she turned 16, Paula began receiving a series of private visitors. Two were male corrections officers. Another was a male recreational therapist. They weren't visiting just because of their jobs.

They were coming for sex.

—

Outside the jail, the stories about the angry young prisoners seemed only to add to the public's contempt. And as the details of their crime emerged, they were already easy to hate. Especially the girl who had wielded the knife — Paula Cooper.

Paula had not just killed Ruth Pelke; she had stabbed her 33 times, according to the coroner. Some of the cuts on her arms looked like saw marks, as if the knife had been pulled back and forth. In other instances, the 12-inch knife had been wielded with such ferocity that the tip of the blade went through Ruth's body, pierced the carpet on which she lay and chipped the wood flooring beneath. Worst of all, it appeared Ruth Pelke survived the torturous assault for more than 30 minutes. The Post-Tribune called it "possibly the most brutal killing in Gary history."

If all that wasn't bad enough, two of the girls had bragged about the killing at school. As defendants go, they were about as unsympathetic as they come. With guilt hardly in doubt, letters began appearing in the Gary newspaper debating the punishment. Some asked for mercy; others wanted severe justice. One letter directed at Paula appeared under the headline, "She should pay."

All of it left Kevin Relphorde, Paula's lawyer, searching for a viable strategy to save Paula's life. The evidence was overwhelming, and the prosecutor was determined, which made a plea deal unimaginable. Paula's childhood had been bad, but it didn't seem to add up to an insanity plea. Her youth and relatively clean prior record were assets, but they looked meager compared to the brutality of the crime. Then there was the jury. Any panel drawn from across Lake County would be mostly white. And Paula was a black teenager who had killed an old white woman. All of it added up to a grim outlook.

As best as Relphorde could figure, the only thing Paula had going for her was the judge. Relphorde knew of Kimbrough's opposition to the death penalty. Ultimately, he suggested to Paula a stomach-churning strategy: Plead guilty.

Relphorde was a part-time public defender who'd never handled a death penalty case. But he figured Paula's chances were better in the hands of a liberal judge than with 12 angry jurors.

As risky as it sounded, Relphorde wasn't the only person who sized things up the same way. David Olson, who was Karen Corder's attorney, came to a similar conclusion. He'd had a nightmare about Karen, he told the Post-Tribune in March 1986, and awoke fearful of "losing her." His fears were amplified when he attended the trial of Denise Thomas, the first suspect to answer for the death of Ruth Pelke.

Just before the case against Thomas went to trial, in November 1985, prosecutors withdrew the death penalty charge, concluding she'd been more of a bystander to the crime.

But that didn't stop the jurors from reacting strongly to the horrific details of Pelke's death. They quickly found Denise guilty. Olson didn't want to risk that with death on the line for his client. So in March, 10 months after the crime, Karen went before Kimbrough with a guilty plea. Her sentencing would follow two months later.

How well Paula understood the risks of her plea — and how much say she had in it — is now a matter of dispute. Relphorde said he met with Paula regularly to talk strategy and that the plea was ultimately her decision. Years later, Paula would recall only three brief meetings with her attorney, who she said assured her the judge opposed the death penalty and would be sympathetic to a black girl. If she pleaded guilty, she said she was told, she wouldn't get a death sentence.

On April 21, 1986, Paula appeared in court to plead guilty to murder.

Herman Cooper came to the courtroom that day; so did Paula's sister, Rhonda. But Gloria Cooper, Paula's mother, was nowhere to be found. She had moved to Georgia and stopped answering the calls of Paula's attorney.

When the hearing began, Kimbrough asked Paula more than once if she knew she could be sentenced to death. Each time, Paula answered yes. To the most important question — How do you plead? — she never hesitated: Guilty.

For the record, Paula retold the story of the crime — the scheme to get into the house; what she did to Ruth; how the girls took the car.

"We went to commit a robbery, you know," she told the judge.

Was there any discussion in advance about what you'd do with Mrs. Pelke? he asked.

"No. It wasn't a discussion to go and kill anyone, you know."

Kimbrough accepted the plea. Paula's life was now in his hands. But she would have to wait months for an answer. Relphorde left convinced Paula had made her best play: "We were basically throwing ourselves on the mercy of the court."

Paula's strategy seemed to appear sound when, in May 1986, Kimbrough spared Karen Corder's life, giving her 60 years in prison. In fact, three of the girls had escaped with their lives. Denise Thomas, found guilty at trial, received a 35-year sentence. April Beverly, who conceived the robbery but waited outside during the killing, pleaded guilty in exchange for a 25-year prison term.

Only Paula's fate remained unresolved.

Lost in the news of Corder's reprieve, perhaps, was some language the judge used in reference to Paula. It seemed ominous. Kimbrough said it had been "conceded by all that Paula Cooper was the leader of this group of four young ladies. That Paula Cooper was the dominant factor in the crime." He said Corder was "operating under the substantial domination of Paula Cooper." Despite such words, the prevailing view in legal circles was that Kimbrough would spare Paula's life.

—

As her judgment approached, there were hints that Paula Cooper's case was starting to resonate beyond Indiana. Jack Crawford's first clue came when his secretary stepped into his office with an unusual message: "There's a man outside who says he's from the Vatican. He's dressed like a monk and wants to talk to you about Paula Cooper's case."

Crawford took a look. Sure enough, in a brown tunic bound at the waist with a cord, there stood a Franciscan friar. He told Crawford he was from Rome. He offered a letter validating his credentials. And he brought a simple message: Pope John Paul II and the Vatican weren't pleased with Crawford's decision to seek the death penalty.

Crawford was Roman Catholic. He'd gone to Notre Dame. He knew the church's opposition to the death penalty. But, as he explained to the friar, this was a legal decision, not a religious one. The friar left unsatisfied. He would not be the last Franciscan to stand with Paula.

More surprising than the friar's appearance was the visit Crawford received in June 1986 from Paula's attorney, Kevin Relphorde.

It was just weeks before Paula's sentencing, and Relphorde had few cards to play in Paula's defense. This time, though, it appeared he might have a game changer.

"You can't execute Paula Cooper," he said.

"Well, why is that, Kevin?" Crawford asked.

"She's pregnant."

—

The sex scandal at the Lake County Jail erupted in June 1986.

For months, corrections officers Vernard Rouster, 25, and Parmaley Rainge, 27, had been coming to see Paula for sex, officials discovered. So, too, had Michael Dean Lampley, a recreational therapist from a mental health center. Their encounters occurred even as a 40-year-old female corrections officer and a police patrolman were supposed to be maintaining security for the state's highest-profile murder suspect.

—

One of the guards admitted the sex began when Paula was still a week shy of 16 — the age of consent in Indiana. That people working in the jail were having sex with a captive wasn't illegal in Indiana in 1986. After the revelation, the jail workers resigned their jobs and the therapist was fired, but no one was prosecuted. Supervisors on the jail floor were suspended — for 15 days.

For all of its tawdriness, the scandal had the potential to affect Paula's case. State law prohibited the execution of a pregnant woman; punishment would have to wait. And while a death penalty appeal was certain to outlast a pregnancy, the strange episode raised the possibility of a sentencing delay.

Kimbrough ordered a medical exam for Paula. Quickly, the matter was put to rest: She wasn't pregnant. But, in a sign of the times, public discussion about the scandal seemed to focus less on the culpability of the jailers than on the promiscuity of the 16-year-old girl in jail.

James McNew, a deputy in Crawford's office who prosecuted the case, told the Post-Tribune he suspected Paula Cooper tried to get pregnant to stir up sympathy and avoid death.

However it came about, the sex scandal prompted a change in state law: It became a crime for jailers to have sex with their prisoners. Soon, though, the jailhouse sex scandal would become little more than a footnote before a judgment heard around the world.

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Bill Pelke sat on the wrong side of the courtroom.

His grandmother was the murder victim. Unwittingly, Bill took a seat on the side of the murderer. He was unfamiliar with the trappings of the courtroom. And unlike some in the community — in his own family — Bill carried no blood lust into the chamber. He thought people who committed murder should die. And Paula Cooper had killed his beloved Nana. But he wasn't fuming about it.

Bill had stayed away from the previous court hearings, but decided this was one he shouldn't miss. It was July 11, 1986. And for Paula Cooper, it was judgment day.

Courtroom 3 of Lake Superior Court was a small space. The gallery, oriented outside a circle where the business of the court was conducted, had seats for just 43 onlookers. This day, it was packed to overflowing. People stood, straining to hear, just outside the public entrance. Lawyers and other court personnel did the same just outside the doors normally used by the judge and juries. All wanted to know the fate of a 16-year-old girl who faced a potential death sentence.

Into this cauldron, Paula Cooper entered under the escort of a jail matron. She didn't need to look around to see she had few friends in the room. Her sister and her grandfather were there, but neither of her parents was present. Her mother had moved to Georgia, her father to Tennessee. As Paula entered, the matron said something that made the young defendant smile. The gesture surprised Bill Pelke; it struck him as unbefitting for the moment. When this day is done, he thought to himself, she's not going to be smiling.

Deputy Prosecutor James McNew began the proceedings by calling Bill's father to testify. Robert Pelke hadn't missed a hearing — for Paula or any of the other girls. He had been the family spokesman, and he wanted a death sentence for Paula. He described going to Ruth Pelke's home when she hadn't answered the phone, finding her home in disarray and her body on the floor. He described her bloody dress and the towel wrapped around her head. When the attorneys finished questioning him, Robert asked to read a statement to the court.

This, Robert Pelke said, was a crime that deserved the maximum sentence the law would allow. He quoted the Bible about submitting to authorities and God's vengeance and punishing evildoers. He said Paula gave Ruth no second chance, and he saw no reason to give Paula one.

"Paula reveled in her doings and enjoyed it," he said. He spoke of ridding society of those who would prey upon the innocent. "This is a tragedy that should never have happened," he said, "and a tragedy that family and friends will never forget."

Next, one of the girls from Lew Wallace High School testified about seeing Paula and the others on their joy ride and about finding the bloody knife on the floor of the car.

A crime lab technician discussed grisly photos from the scene — pictures of Ruth Pelke, of the knife-torn carpet and the gouge marks in the hardwood floor.

The prosecution introduced into evidence the autopsy report, which expressed the damage done by the 33 stab wounds. There was also an anatomical diagram noting the points where Ruth had been wounded — so many it looked like a star chart.

Jailers who had been attacked and threatened by Paula detailed her bad behavior; they recounted her admission about stabbing "an old lady."

Entering into evidence the grisly details of the crime and the accounts of Paula's callous behavior was part of the prosecution's effort to build a case that the only just punishment was death.

In Paula's defense, only three witnesses spoke.

Rhonda Cooper gave a picture of how she and Paula grew up terrorized in the home of Herman Cooper. She testified to the beatings, to their father's raping their mother in front of them, to their mother's suicide attempt and to their attempts to run away.

Ronald Williams, Rhonda's biological father, testified that he wanted to take Paula away from the misery, but her mother refused. He spoke of Gloria's threats against Paula and of the suicide attempt.

Dr. Frank Brogno, a Gary psychologist who examined Paula, described how Paula's abuse left her angry and confused, depressed and hostile. He said she was prone to confusion and bizarre thinking, even drifting into fantasies. Still, he said, Paula knew right from wrong. There was still hope for her, but also a real danger she could become a sociopath.

McNew, on cross-examination, ripped into the doctor. He pointed out how Brogno had testified in Karen Corder's case that Paula was the "prime mover" in the crime.

—

Relphorde made a plea for Paula's life, saying she had gone to Ruth Pelke's home to rob, not kill. He said the other girls were intensely involved in the crime and their lives had been spared. The death penalty, he said, was applied at the whim of prosecutors. He said Ruth Pelke, a woman of faith, wouldn't want Paula to die. In the end, he said, Paula was the handiwork of an abusive home and a system that failed her.

"I don't think Paula was born violent," he said. "I think Paula was a product of what was done to her."

McNew, closing the prosecution's case, checked all the boxes needed for a death sentence: Paula wasn't crazy. She wasn't doing someone else's bidding. She'd struck the death blows. She had a criminal record, as far as a juvenile goes, for skipping school and running away from home. And Paula's abusive childhood? To use that for an excuse, McNew said, was to insult everyone who has endured similar treatment and found a way to overcome the horrors. Giving Paula the death penalty, McNew said, would have a sobering effect on others who might be considering crime. But McNew said there was one reason, above all, for a death sentence.

"I am not seeking a deterrence to crime when I ask the death penalty on Paula Cooper. I seek justice for the family of Ruth Pelke."

—

With the attorneys done, Kimbrough asked Paula if she had anything to say. And Paula did not shrink from the moment.

She hadn't wanted a trial, Paula began; she only wanted to tell the truth. "Now my family life, it hasn't really been good. … Nobody understand how I feel."

"This man," she said, pointing to the prosecutor, "sit here and say he want to take my life. Is that right? I didn't go to Mrs. Pelke's house to kill her. It wasn't planned. I didn't go there to take somebody's life. It happened. It just happened. Something. It wasn't planned. We didn't sit up and say we was going to go and kill this innocent old lady. I didn't even know the lady. But everybody put the blame on me."

She said Jack Crawford had described her in the newspaper as the ringleader. "I wasn't the ringleader. I didn't make those girls go," she said. "They went on their own."

Looking around at the people in the courtroom, Paula seemed disgusted. "Well, where was all these people at right here when I needed somebody? Where was they at? They turned their backs on me and took me through all this. All I can say is now, look where I am now, facing a possible death sentence."

She pointed at the Pelke family and repeated her plea that killing wasn't her intention. "I hope you all could find some happiness in your hearts to forgive me. And I know your mother was a Christian lady, and she is in heaven right now. I read my Bible. How do you think I feel? I can't sit here and tell you I understand how you feel because I don't."

She acknowledged that "sorry" would never be good enough.

Paula looked to Judge Kimbrough. But, as Bill Dolan would report in the Post-Tribune the next day, the judge "didn't return her gaze." "I don't know what the decision is going to be today, or whenever you make your decision. I know justice must be done. And whatever the circumstances, or whatever your decision is, I will accept it, even if it is death." She acknowledged she couldn't change what happened: She hoped to get out one day and start life over, maybe even finish school.

"Will I have a chance?" she asked. "Will I get a chance?"

For a couple of minutes, Paula rambled. She repeated that she hadn't forced the other girls to act; she felt it important everyone know she wasn't a gang member. Then she reined it back in for one final thought: "I am sorry for what I did. And I know my involvement in this case is very deep. But all I can ask you is not to take my life. That is all I can ask you. That is all I can ask is to spare my life."

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the courtroom. There was shouting in the gallery. "My grandbaby, my grandbaby."

Bill Pelke looked at the wailing man near him and saw the tears run down his cheeks; the visage burned into Bill's memory. He watched the man as the bailiff escorted him out of the courtroom.

It was Paula's grandfather, making one final plea on Paula's behalf.

Now it was up to the judge.

—

Judge James C. Kimbrough had been wading through the sordid details of Ruth Pelke's murder for more than a year. He'd parsed the depressing narrative, and people had speculated whether he had a death penalty in him, especially for a girl. Now they were about to get their answer.

There was no doubt about Paula Cooper's guilt. Kimbrough dispatched that with his first breath. The murder had been disturbing: Paula had inflicted the 33 stab wounds in the body of 78-year-old Ruth Pelke.

Those were the strikes against her.

But the defendant had no prior criminal history, and she was 15 at the time of the crime.

Those were factors to consider on her behalf.

The other requirements for the death penalty, Kimbrough said, didn't work in the defendant's favor. She acted of her own free will. She wasn't under the influence of drugs. Her mental problems didn't rise to the level of incompetence. But all those things, Kimbrough said, were legalities. Ultimately, he said, death penalty cases boil down to a "political utterance."

"This case has received an unusual amount of publicity," Kimbrough said. "There is worldwide interest in the outcome of these proceedings today. And the court is certainly aware of that interest."

When he left law school in 1959, Kimbrough said, he had been "totally against" the death penalty — and most of the country shared the view.

Nearly 30 years later, he said, public sentiment had changed, perhaps because of the violent activities of people such as Paula Cooper. Now, the vast majority of the public favors the death penalty, Kimbrough said, Normally, he wrote out his sentences in advance. But this case had challenged him to the point he'd been unable to do so.

Kimbrough praised the deputy prosecutor for speaking "eloquently" — he said McNew brought the matters into focus "better than all of the turmoil that I have been through in the last several months."

He criticized state law for being too general when it came to giving minors the death penalty. It left him unsure what to do on that fundamental question. "I don't know what the right political answer to that question is."

Then Kimbrough, in a moment of vulnerability judges don't always reveal, showed some insight into his restless mind. "I don't believe I am ever going to be quite the same after these four cases. They have had a very profound effect on me. They have made me come to grips with the question of whether or not a judge can hold personal beliefs which are inconsistent at all with the law as they were sworn to uphold. And for those of you who have no appreciation of it, it is not a simple question. It is not a simple question for me."

Kimbrough interrupted his confessional to take issue with something Robert Pelke said: "I do not believe the failure to impose the death penalty today would be unbiblical. … I don't profess to be an expert in religion. But I know the Bible has passages which are merciful, and do not demand or mandate an eye for an eye."

Returning to his inner turmoil, Kimbrough said he'd concluded that a judge must decide a case based on facts, regardless of whether it satisfies him. "I will tell you, very frankly now, on the record, that I do not believe in the death penalty."

This seemed to launch Kimbrough on a rant. "Maybe in 20 years, after we have had our fill of executions, we will swing back the other way and think they are unconstitutional. Maybe."

At about this point, Jack Crawford, sitting at the prosecutor's table, was ready to give up hope for a death penalty. He turned to McNew, he remembered later, and whispered into his ear.

"He's not going to give it."

Then Kimbrough directed his eyes to the girl awaiting his judgment.

"Stand up, Paula."

She had stabbed Ruth Pelke 33 times, he said. He was concerned about her background. She had been "born into a household where your father abused you, and your mother either participated or allowed it to happen. And those seem to be explanations or some indication of why you may be this type of personality that you are."

"They are not excuses, however."

However.

That word caught Crawford's attention. So did the fact that Kimbrough's shoulders seemed to slump, as if the weight of the moment was getting to the judge. Crawford leaned in and whispered again to McNew.

"I think he's going to give it. I think he's going to give it."

Kimbrough continued.

"You committed the act, and you must pay the penalty," Kimbrough said. Briefly, he trailed into some legalese about the charge. Then he gathered himself for the final judgment.

"The law requires me, and I do now impose, the death penalty."

—

The courtroom erupted.

"What did he say?"

Paula Cooper looked at Kevin Relphorde for help; amid the chaos, she wasn't sure what had just happened. She looked back for the judge; he had already left the bench. She asked Relphorde what had happened. He delivered the verdict again: He gave you the death penalty.

The smile Paula wore into the courtroom was gone, indeed. Bill Pelke took note of that. Instead, he saw a river of tears streaming down her cheeks. As she was led from the courtroom, the tears soaked the top of her blouse.

Just like that, Paula Cooper — at 16 years, 10 months and 16 days — became the youngest person ever sentenced to death in Indiana; she was now the youngest female on death row anywhere in the United States. In this age before the cellphone, news reporters from national outlets raced out of the courtroom to the nearest bank of pay telephones. It took a few hours, but the verdict soon circled the globe.

In the hallway outside the courtroom, Rhonda Cooper yelled in anguish at members of the Pelke family and the prosecutors nearby.

"Are you satisfied now?"

They seemed satisfied.

Strangely, one of the most unsatisfied people in the building was the source of the commotion: Judge Kimbrough.

After delivering the verdict, he darted out of the courtroom and into the hallway leading to his chambers. There, between the two rooms, he spotted William Touchette, a public defender who handled appeals. Kimbrough told Touchette to follow him.

Touchette (pronounced TOO-shay) had been among those outside the courtroom straining to hear the proceedings. Like so many local lawyers, he was friendly with the judge; they'd socialized outside of work. He followed Kimbrough into his chambers.

The judge was angry. As angry as Touchette had ever seen him. Angry that the defense hadn't given him enough to spare Paula Cooper's life. Then Kimbrough uttered seven words Touchette would never again hear from a judge.

"I want you to get me reversed."

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Paula Cooper's death sentence was one of Indiana's biggest news stories in 1986. It garnered network television news coverage. Once it hit the international news wires, it was picked up by newspapers in Europe, where it inspired protests.

But Monica Foster, working for a nonprofit death penalty defense group in Downtown Indianapolis, somehow missed all that. To her, it was as if the Paula Cooper case had never happened.

It wasn't that Foster was uninterested in current events or that she was dull. In fact, Foster was a wunderkind. She'd graduated from high school at 16, college at 19 and law school at 22. She'd come to work for the Indiana Public Defender Council, researching and offering advice to lawyers with death penalty cases, even before finishing her law degree. But at 27, she had a tendency to get absorbed in her work. And when that happened, the outside world ceased to exist.

So when William Touchette, the Lake County attorney preparing Paula Cooper's appeal, called the council looking for some help, Foster knew nothing of the case. Without hesitation, Foster agreed to be Touchette's local connection to Paula, who was being held at the Indiana Women's Prison on the city's east side. Foster even said she'd donate her time, seeing the client on evenings and weekends, as a sideline.

Foster didn't realize she'd just signed on to the case that would become the most noteworthy of her career.

When the case file arrived in her office, Foster began reading about Paula Cooper. Right away, she was puzzled.

Here was a black girl from Gary who had been sentenced to death by a black judge whom even Foster knew to be one of the most liberal, anti-death penalty jurists in the state. The girl had brutally murdered an elderly woman during a robbery, but Foster told the people in her office that to get a death sentence from this judge Paula Cooper had to be some kind of rabid animal.

"She must be frothing at the mouth."

Foster decided to go to the prison and see Paula Cooper for herself.

—

Paula had arrived at the Indiana Women's Prison — America's oldest women's prison — five days after her sentencing.

Established shortly after the Civil War, it was originally in the countryside east of Indianapolis. Over time, brick storefronts and wood-frame houses sprang up around the prison's series of boxy brick buildings — situated around a grassy courtyard — and now the prison was landlocked in the middle of an urban neighborhood.

Awaiting Paula was a cell tucked away on the second floor of the segregation unit. It was stark: block walls and tile floor; aluminum sink and toilet; a desk and a chair; all of it packaged in a space slightly bigger than a walk-in closet.

She had one window to the outside world. Depending on which side of the hallway she was assigned at the time, it featured either a view of the courtyard or, just beyond a fence topped by razor wire, the backside of a row of decaying houses.

Paula's cell had two metal doors. One was made of bars, the other was solid. Most of the time, the solid door remained open, allowing her to talk through the bars to passing guards and nearby prisoners. But when the solid door was closed, it was as if she was locked in a vault. Worse, the prison had no air conditioning. As summer temperatures outside climbed into the 90s, the only air moving through the wing was pushed by a floor fan at the end of the hall. Most of the time, the place felt like the inside of a cook stove.

Here, Paula Cooper spent 23 hours a day. In the remaining hour, she had 30 minutes to shower and 30 minutes for recreation, which meant a short walk to a larger room where she could play Ping-Pong or cards with other prisoners. Meals were delivered to her cell.

She was 16 years old and, in the grand scheme of things, set apart from the rest of the human race.

The treatment was harsher than what Paula's three co-defendants in the murder of Ruth Pelke faced. They were housed elsewhere in the prison, with the general population. They had greater freedom of movement, time outdoors and an ongoing interaction with other people. Paula was allotted 10 hours of visits per month, but she wasn't sure who would fill the time. Her sister had moved to Minnesota. Her mother had moved to Georgia. Her father had moved to Tennessee. Paula was as alone as she could be.

Yet she faced a struggle greater than isolation and heat. She lived in fear that the executioner was coming for her any minute. Whatever she'd been told about the appeals process hadn't registered. She thought she was about to be taken away and killed. She existed moment to moment, in dread the guards were about to drag her away to the electric chair. In letters, she would describe her situation in the bleakest of terms — "a mental hell." Paula needed hope. She needed a friend. But who?

—

Monica Foster entered the security checkpoint at the Indiana Women's Prison and was shown to the glass-walled consultation room. In short order, she watched as a guard escorted her client in to meet her.

Paula Cooper was nothing like she expected. Monica came looking for the heartless killer who had murdered an old woman in cold blood, fought the guards at the county jail and been given a ticket to the chair by the most liberal judge in Lake County.

Instead, Foster found a girl, sobbing uncontrollably, who had been on suicide watch. Foster tried to calm her. After some questioning, she gathered the reason for the emotional meltdown: Paula thought they were coming any time now. To kill her.

Foster's blood boiled. She realized that, since the sentencing, no one had explained to Paula the years of appeals; the good chance for a reprieve; and, should all else fail, the notice she would receive well ahead of an execution. Foster felt sorry for Paula. She explained the process. Above all, she told Paula she'd never be ambushed by the executioner.

Paula went back to her cell in a little better shape, but Foster left the prison rattled. She couldn't believe how she had misjudged her client. She realized that her role in this case was about more than legal counsel. She would need to offer her client a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen.

Foster began going to the prison on weekends, sitting and talking with Paula for hours. She listened to Paula talk about being depressed, and she tried to buck her up. She listened to Paula's troubles with the prison administration and offered advice on ways to get along. She listened to Paula describe the abuses of her childhood, and Foster shared some of the tougher aspects of her own. The conversation wasn't always heavy. Sometimes they talked about places they dreamed of going and about men Foster was dating. Paula, in particular, was quick with a jab about Foster's romantic failures. Even in a maximum security prison, with one of them facing death, they spent a good deal of time laughing. And Foster found Paula's laugh to be infectious. That she could laugh at all impressed Foster. The girl seemed to have some kind of resiliency. After a while, Foster could deny it no longer: She liked Paula Cooper.

—

Bill Pelke felt no such affection.

In the 18 months since Paula Cooper killed his grandmother, Bill had lost the ability to think of Ruth Pelke as the sweet person she'd been; he could only see the murder victim. He couldn't remember the warmth of Ruth's home; he could only think of it as a crime scene. When Paula Cooper received her sentence, Pelke felt justice had been served. His father, Robert Pelke, warned him that the justice wouldn't last. On a trip to Florida they took to get away from it all, Robert Pelke said Paula would probably never see the electric chair. "Some do-gooder will probably come along and help get her off death row," he'd said. Bill struggled to imagine it; he just tried to get on with his life.

But moving on wasn't easy. And at 39, Bill already had other things on his mind that bothered him. He'd dropped out of college and wound up in Vietnam during the height of the war. As a radio operator, he was supposed to take cover during the fighting and call in air support. But he still carried shrapnel in his side from the wounds he suffered. Worse than that, he carried memories of the Army buddies who'd never come back. The experience left him sick of death. When he returned home, he'd married and started a family, but his marriage failed. So many things in his life hadn't gone as he'd planned. One afternoon in November 1986, all of this seemed to coalesce in Bill's mind.

Bill worked in a steel mill as a crane operator. He sat 50 feet above the manufacturing floor in the cab of his crane, moving heavy loads as the need arose. But on this Sunday night shift, things were slow; his mind began to drift. He wondered why life was so hard, why God had allowed Ruth to suffer such a horrendous death. He wondered why his family — his good family — was made to suffer in the wake of the crime. It was an unlikely perch for prayer, but Bill closed his eyes and began seeing images in his mind. He saw the courtroom where Paula had been sentenced to death. He remembered the outburst of her grandfather and the tears streaming down the man's face. He remembered Paula's reaction and the tears streaming down hers, how they soaked her blouse.

A hard realization hit Bill: Ruth wouldn't have wanted these things. She had invited Paula and the girls into her home to help them find faith. It occurred to Bill that Ruth would be more interested in Paula's salvation than her execution. He was certain, too, that Ruth would have hated seeing Paula's grandfather in anguish.

Bill thought of the Bible stories Ruth had taught and the lessons he'd learned from a lifetime in church. He remembered Jesus taught that you shouldn't forgive someone just seven times, but 70 times seven — in other words, forgiveness should be a habit. He remembered being taught that the measure of forgiveness we show others is the measure by which we shall be judged. He remembered hearing about Jesus on the cross, offering salvation to the man dying next to him, offering grace to those who sought his death. "Forgive them," Jesus had said, "for they know not what they do."

And then Bill realized something: Paula hadn't known what she was doing. Nobody in their right mind would take a 12-inch butcher knife and stab someone 33 times. It was crazy. Senseless.

In his mind, Bill began to see a new image: It was the picture of Ruth, the one published countless times since her death — silver hair, horn-rimmed glasses, sweet smile. Except now, he saw her face in the picture with tears running down her cheeks. Bill felt certain Ruth wanted someone from her family to show love to Paula and hers. Bill wasn't capable of it right then, but he thought he should try. He was a blue collar guy — a steelworker — and now he was at work crying a river of his own tears. From his seat in the cab of the crane, Bill prayed: "God, give me love and compassion for Paula Cooper and her family." In return, he promised God two things. First, Bill would give credit to God for giving him the ability to forgive Paula whenever success came his way. Second, he'd walk through whatever door opened as a result of forgiving Paula.

Eventually, the sweet memories of Ruth would come back to Bill. He would be able to put aside the horror story. First, though, he felt he had to take a greater leap of faith. He had to get in touch with his grandmother's killer. He had to reach out to Paula Cooper.

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The next day, Bill phoned Paula's attorney. He wanted her prison address, and he was willing to do whatever it took to help save Paula's life. Kevin Relphorde's response wasn't encouraging: "It's kind of late for that."

Undeterred, Bill took the address and sat down at a desk in his Portage home to write perhaps the most intense letter of his life. He told Paula he had forgiven her; he wanted to visit her; there were Bible verses his grandmother would want him to share. He also wanted to meet her grandfather, he of the tearful courtroom outburst.

Bill dropped the letter in his mailbox and, at some level, thought that would be the end of it. But in the days following, he found himself checking his mailbox almost daily. Ten days after he sent his letter, an envelope showed up. The return address said: "Ms. Paula Cooper."

The envelope was thick. Inside, he found a letter dated Nov. 10, 1986, six pages of a teenage girl's loopy cursive, written in pencil, on pink stationery. The contents were far from a schoolgirl's bubble gum dreams. It was a snapshot of Paula's mind on death row. Her thoughts darted back and forth — between apologies and self-pity, between empathy for those who hated her and preachiness about why they should forgive her. Much of the letter was frenetic. Sentences ran on and on like the transcriptions of a nervous talker. Her misspellings and limited punctuation seemed to reflect the erratic schooling of someone who'd been on the run since eighth grade. But it also bore the hallmarks of a mind in overdrive, overloaded with conflicting emotions. Here are some excerpts. Periods have been added for clarity.

Bill 11/10/86

Hello how are you? fine I truly hope. me I'll survive, I received your letter today & it was nice of you to write me. one of Ms Pelkes friends wrote me also, I answered it back also. Im not the mean type of person your family thinks I am but I can except that. I really do. your cousin Robert was something else & what he said about not knowing if Ms Pelke would forgiving me. Ive read my bible & I know it says the way you judge others the Lord will judge you the same way. Ive prayed for your family. a lady in a wheel chair use to visit me at the jail. she said God would be pleased if I prayed for all of you, I am doing fine. They treat me ok & I am always isolated 23 hrs a day. thats how it is on death row, it is a mental hell because no one cares except for themselves. I am thankful to the Lord for them letting the others have a little time, because I've had hell all my life. so it really doesnt matter if I live or die because Im ready any time they come …

In his initial letter, Bill expressed a desire to save Paula from her death sentence. But in her reply, Paula told Bill he need not write, travel or speak on her behalf; she just wanted his forgiveness. She seemed proud of her performance in court — how she looked his family in the face and apologized. She seemed to excuse her parents for missing her sentencing. Although they had beaten and neglected her, Paula said, her actions affected them, too.

At various times, her words ranged from fatalistic to self-pitying:

I cant stay here like this & I don't want to be here, I deserve a chance one that Ive never had before. but one day Ill be free even if its when Im dead…

I cry every time I think of your grand mom. the others think it's a joke because you all let them be free. Im not an evil person, or what ever you think of me to be, Im just some one who is real angry, angry with life & all the people around me …

Ive never done anything wrong before except ask for help, I was turned away & introduced into a life of drugs, sex & crime, but now its too late for help. Im dying inside because of this but I only hope for the best for others.

In closing, she made it clear she wanted more interaction with Bill, even if she was passive about it. She would put him on her list of allowable prison visitors; she would write him whenever he wrote her; she offered her grandfather's phone number and address. In a dark world, it was as if she had seen a flicker of light.

Well, Ill go now, Ill continue to pray for all of you.

Take care

Paula

Their first exchange was the start of a surprising correspondence that would span years and delve into the core themes of Paula's life — searching for forgiveness; grappling with remorse; her closeness with death; her search for peace.

The letters also chart the course of a relationship that many people would struggle to understand, especially Bill Pelke's father.

—

After a second exchange of letters with Paula, Bill felt compelled to share with his parents the news of his surprising correspondence: His father had once warned of a do-gooder who would get Paula off death row. Now it appeared Bill wanted to be that do-gooder.

At first, his parents were speechless. "We don't understand why you are doing this," his mother, Lola, said. Surprisingly, his father acquiesced.

"Do what you got to do," Robert said.

Bill wrote Clarence Trigg, the superintendent of the Indiana Women's Prison, a letter that spent most of a page describing Ruth Pelke's faith and her commitment to sharing it. He concluded with a request:

Clarence, if Ruth Pelke could speak with you right now, I am sure she would say, "Please let Billy see Paula."

Thank you for your consideration

In the name of Jesus and His Love

William R. Pelke

But the prison doors weren't about to open to Bill anytime soon. Corrections officials didn't know what to make of his request — a murder victim's grandson seeking an audience with her killer. They suspected he had another motive, such as revenge.

—

The aftermath of Paula's case was confounding in other ways. Since giving Paula a death sentence, Judge James C. Kimbrough had been very public about his discomfort with his own ruling. Based on the law and the case in court, he said Paula qualified for the death penalty. But he hadn't been able to square it with his own opposition to capital punishment. The decision was costing him sleep. In an interview with the (Gary) Post-Tribune, published Aug. 4, 1986, a reporter noted the judge's nervous appearance.

He fidgeted in his chair. His gaze varied — at times less steady and slanted toward the desktop. He removed his glasses, toying with them.

Friends who knew Kimbrough said the judge was different than he'd been before the Paula Cooper sentencing. The man they knew as friendly and jovial, even gregarious, was more reclusive, less outgoing. "It weighed heavily on his mind," said Earline Rogers, a state legislator and a friend. "That was something he felt legally he had to do but, personally, he would not have taken that path."

Some in the legal community began to think there was a good chance Paula's death sentence would be overturned. But Kimbrough wouldn't live to find out.

On April 30, 1987, less than a year after his judgment of Paula, Kimbrough drove his car into the back of a semi and was killed. He had been drinking. The tragedy cast a pall over the Lake County courts, but it also landed hard at the Indiana Women's Prison. When Monica Foster told Paula her judge was dead, Paula was inconsolable. Days later, in a letter to Bill Pelke, she shared her thoughts about the judge.

"all I could do was cry, even though Kimbrough sentenced me to die. I felt a closeness to him as if he were my father. I have been sentenced to die many times by a lot of people and it's only words. We are all on Death Row and the last day of April his death sentence was completed & it should teach a lot of people we all have a date that is already planned & the way it will happen."

Paula's own father had been cruel; at least Kimbrough had agonized over the punishment he gave.

The letter about Kimbrough was the 20th she'd written to Bill Pelke in less than six months. She was surprising herself at her output: "I didn't even know I had a good handwriting or a great vocabulary until I was locked up."

By then, she was 17 and a condemned killer with hours to contemplate her past, present and future. Several themes recurred in her writing.

Life on death row. She struggled to sleep, to breathe, to deal with the noise. "To be on death row is worst than when I was in a mental hospital. At least it was quiet." She had ailments from toothaches to a bad back. Mostly, she was confused and on edge. Life on the row made her feel like "a walking time bomb."

Memories of the murder. Her thoughts were plagued by it. She described what she did to Ruth Pelke as "awful." She wished she could erase it. "Every day," she said, "I see my nightmare."

Death. It was constantly on her mind, whether by execution or by her own hand. She alternated between dread of the electric chair — "I hope it never happens to me" — and anticipation of it — "sometimes I wish they would just go ahead & do it. They continue to put this death threat on my life and I'm tired of it."

Suicide. She seemed to ponder the merits of killing herself. She wasn't sure what it would solve but, in words that seemed to echo from her mother, she said, "there isn't anything here for me." She talked about hanging herself but acknowledged she couldn't follow through. "I know that if I do that I might go to hell (and) I don't want that to happen."

Meanwhile, people from across the country wrote her. Some, including a death row inmate in North Carolina, wanted a romantic relationship. Some wanted answers to the plague of juvenile crime. Others sent her Bibles and tried to save her soul. Yet her faith — another frequent topic — had grown cold. As a child, she read her Bible often, she said, but "my faith started to shatter because of a lot of feelings, hopes and unanswered prayers. I love the Lord but we aren't rea

Bear attack, thwarted inmate escape, rescued pup: News from ...

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Hoover: A police officer was shot multiple times Sunday after police responding to a report of gunfire on an interstate faced off with a suspect at an apartment complex, police said. The officer with the Hoover Police Department is expected to survive. Hoover is just south of Birmingham. Hoover police Lt. Daniel Lowe said a driver reported that someone fired multiple shots at his vehicle on Interstate 459 Sunday morning. No one was injured. Officers had information about the vehicle used in the shooting and located a possible suspect at an apartment complex in Hoover. As they attempted to make contact with the person, he produced a weapon and opened fire, Lowe said in a news release. One officer was struck multiple times, but his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. Hoover police returned fire, though it wasn’t clear whether the suspect was hit, Lowe said. Police evacuated some apartments and advised other residents to stay inside on the belief that the suspect was still at the complex. The department announced later on its Twitter page that the suspect was in custody.

Alaska

Anchorage: The Elders and Youth Conference is underway in Anchorage this week, KNBA-Anchorage reports. For the last two years, the pandemic kept them from meeting in person. On Sunday, the First Alaskans Institute held a “Warming of the Hands” reception at the Alaska Native Heritage Center to celebrate the start of the conference. The head of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium thanked the institute for requiring masks and proof of vaccination, according to the news outlet. The conference, now in its 39th year, is a way for both young and old to make a personal connection through their love of Alaska Native culture.

Arizona

Tucson: A $1,150 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the killing of a radio collared bobcat that was part of a Tucson research project, according to authorities. The Arizona Game and Fish Department said the bobcat was found fatally shot on Sept. 28. Officials said the research project, which is partially funded by a state Game and Fish grant, is studying how bobcats use the wildlife-urban interface on the west side of Tucson. Department officials said the maximum penalty for illegally killing wildlife is four months in jail and a $750 fine and civil penalties could also apply. The Arizona Game and Fish Department manages managing more than 800 native wildlife species.

Arkansas

Decatur: A 71-year-old man was fatally shot by a northwest Arkansas sheriff’s deputy who found him driving a tractor and displaying a handgun, authorities said. Nelson Amos was fatally shot Saturday by a Benton County sheriff’s deputy, according to Arkansas State Police. State police said Sunday that they were investigating the shooting. State police said that sheriff’s deputies had been called after someone reported hearing gunfire on Amos’ property. State police said that when a deputy later encountered Amos driving a tractor on a local road and brandishing a handgun, the deputy fired his rife, killing Amos. State police said their investigation will be submitted to the Benton County prosecutor, who will determine whether the use of deadly force by the sheriff’s deputy was consistent with the law.

California

Whittier: A person suspected of being under the influence while riding a horse through city streets was arrested after leading police on a pursuit in Southern California, authorities said. Officers in a patrol car chased the suspect Saturday in Whittier, about 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, according to police. “An intoxicated person on a horse, galloping through traffic… refusing to pull the horse over… that was our afternoon,” Whittier police posted on Instagram. The pursuit ended with the DUI suspect in custody and the horse receiving lots of love from officers, police said. Accompanying photos showed officers leading the brown horse with a saddle on its back from the scene and offering it water.

Colorado

Pueblo: The city of Pueblo and Pueblo School District 60 are seeking to improve safety and accessibility to a pair of East Side schools through a grant application to the Colorado Department of Transportation. The Pueblo D60 board directors voted unanimously Thursday to apply for a Safe Routes to School grant to add sidewalks, Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant ramps, bike lanes and road markings at various places along Monument Avenue where Park View Elementary and the Risley International Academy of Innovation are located. The total project area spans from East Second Street to East 12th Street along Monument Avenue. During a Pueblo D60 board work session Thursday, Pueblo Area Council of Governments (PACOG) Transportation Director Eva Cosyleon explained the need for creating a “pedestrian and bicycle safe corridor” in the project area. “We have broken sidewalks, we have missing sidewalks at driveways and alleys, and also missing ADA curb ramps – which poses a huge issue for people with a handicap,” Cosyleon said. “They need to have accessibility for wheelchairs or even mothers who have strollers and are trying to take their kids to school.” Cosyleon also presented traffic-crash data from the past five years to board directors. From 2017 to 2022, there have been 280 accidents within a two-mile radius of the Monument Avenue corridor and two people have been killed. Among those crashes, seven involved pedestrians, two involved school-aged children, two involved bicyclists and one involved an individual in a wheelchair.

Connecticut

Morris: A 250-pound black bear mauled a 10-year-old boy playing in his grandparents’ backyard in Connecticut and tried to drag him away before the animal was fatally shot by police, authorities said. The child was attacked about 11 a.m. Sunday in the town of Morris, the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening. Officers from the state police and DEEP’s environmental conservation force responded and shot the bear, authorities said. The boy’s grandfather described the harrowing attack to the Republican-American of Waterbury. James Butler said his grandson was playing near a trampoline when the bear emerged from thick woods behind the house. “I heard him yell ‘bear’ and when I looked up, I saw his leg in the bear’s mouth and the bear trying to drag him across the lawn,” Butler said. Butler, who uses a wheelchair, wheeled his chair toward the bear and threw a metal bar at its head, he told the newspaper. The bear released the boy but then grabbed the child a second time and used its claws to try to roll the boy onto his back, the grandfather said. A neighbor alerted by the boy’s screams raced over and scared the bear off by brandishing a pipe and yelling, Butler said. The bear was fatally shot by police a short time later. Butler, and his wife, Christina Anderson, who was inside the house when the bear attacked, said the boy suffered a puncture wound to one thigh, bite marks on a foot and ankle and claw marks on his back. State biologist Jenny Dixon said the risk of negative bear-human interactions is increasing as the state’s expanding bear population becomes acclimated to humans and develops a taste for their food.

Delaware

Middletown: One person is dead and two others were seriously injured in a crash involving two trucks early Saturday morning in Middletown, according to Delaware State Police. State police said at approximately 4:23 a.m., a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 driven by an unidentified 24-year-old was traveling south on Route 13/South Dupont Highway. At about the same time, a 2018 Ford F-150 had entered the left lane of Route 13 from Hyetts Corner Road headed north. A police investigation determined that, at some point north of the Route 1 overpass, for an unknown reason, the Dodge left the southbound lanes, crossed the grass median and entered the northbound left lane of Route 13, where it collided with the Ford. Police found that neither the 24-year-old driver of the Dodge nor a 26-year-old front-seat passenger were wearing their seat belts. They were both seriously injured and taken to an area hospital. The 67-year-old driver of the Ford, who was wearing his seat belt, was pronounced deceased at the scene of the collision, police said Sunday. His identity was being withheld pending notification of next of kin. Route 13 was closed for almost four hours while the crash was investigated and the roadway was cleared.

District of Columbia

Washington: A man was reunited with his 5-month-old puppy after police say he was robbed and shot at last Wednesday in Northeast D.C., WUSA-TV reports. “Thank you to everyone who submitted tips to help find this furry friend,” D.C. police tweeted out Monday. D.C. police worked with the Humane Rescue Alliance and received community tips to safely locate the puppy that had been missing since Oct. 12 when the dog’s owner was allegedly robbed at gunpoint in the 4500 block of Polk Street, Northeast D.C. According to the police report, the robber got away with the dog and shot at the owner as he ran away. The dog owner was not injured. The case is still being investigated, according to the news outlet.

Florida

Fernandina Beach: Two men face attempted murder charges for allegedly firing into each other’s vehicles on a busy highway and wounding each other’s daughters, who were passengers in their back seats. William Hale, of Douglasville, Georgia, and Frank Allison, of Callahan, Florida, were charged last week with attempted second-degree murder in the Oct. 8 confrontation on U.S. Highway 1 in Nassau County. A witness told Nassau County sheriff’s deputies that both vehicles were being driven so erratically and engaging in a “cat and mouse” chase that he called the authorities out of concern, according to an incident report. Hale, driving a truck with relatives as passengers, told deputies that he and Allison were “brake checking,” or braking in front of each other repeatedly, during the confrontation. He said at some point, he heard a “pow” at his back door, so he grabbed a gun he kept in his center console and fired out of the driver’s window, according to the incident report. “It was an instant reaction,” Hale said, noting that he fired “everything that was in the clip,” deputies reported. Allison told deputies that he fired his gun at the truck’s bed or tire after a water bottle was thrown into his car. Before the water bottle was thrown, his wife had been “flicking them off,” he said. “Mr. Allison said his goal of firing the shot was to ‘get out of the whole situation,’ ” the deputies reported. Hale’s daughter suffered a wound to her upper calf, while Allison’s daughter suffered a collapsed lung, according to the report. There was no attorney listed for Hale in an online docket. An attorney for Allison didn’t immediately respond to an emailed inquiry on Monday.

Georgia

Atlanta: Four people were hurt, including three students, in a shooting during Clark Atlanta University’s homecoming outside a campus library early Sunday, authorities said. A large group of people were listening to a DJ near Atlanta University Center’s Robert W. Woodruff Library around 12:30 a.m. when officers on patrol in the area heard gunshots, Atlanta police said. A preliminary investigation found three students and another person were injured when shots were fired from a vehicle, Clark Atlanta University said. Atlanta police said multiple people were shot. One of the victims was grazed and refused medical attention. Three others were taken to a hospital, though they were conscious and alert. Clark Atlanta is part of Atlanta University Center’s consortium of historically Black colleges.

Hawaii

Maui: Maui County’s race for mayor is turning into the most contentious in the state, HawaiiNewsNow reports. In Saturday’s debate, organized by Akaku Maui Community Media, incumbent Mayor Mike Victorino defended his record, and retired judge Richard Bissen accused Victorino of being a passive mayor. The candidates had similar views on land swapping for properties facing erosion, homelessness, supporting reservations and fees to manage over-tourism, according to the news outlet. The general election will be held on Nov. 8.

Idaho

Boise: The state Department of Agriculture announced that it plans to crack down on the sale of pet CBD, the Idaho Statesman reports. The department began having new conversations about pet CBD when the Legislature passed a law legalizing industrial help. The agency sent out a letter in July warning sellers that enforcement would begin Nov. 1, according to the news outlet. Supporters of pet CBD say it eases their animals’ anxiety and pain.

Illinois

Springfield: The second and final Illinois gubernatorial debate is set for Tuesday, potentially the last time that Democrat Gov. JB Pritzker and Republican challenger Darren Bailey will share a televised stage at the same time. Recent polls indicate Pritzker has a sizable lead over Bailey, a Xenia state senator, with a possibility to win in November by similar margins to his 2018 victory over former Gov. Bruce Rauner. Public Policy Polling conducted a poll on the behalf of the Chicago Sun-Times/WBEZ, which found the Democrat with a 49% to 34% lead over his opponent. In 2018, Pritzker received 54.5% of the vote compared to 38.8% going to Rauner, the Republican incumbent. With election day now a little more than three weeks away, University of Illinois-Springfield political science professor emeritus Kent Redfield says the upcoming debate provides both candidates with an opportunity to gain, maintain or lose support.

Indiana

Evansville: Firefighters were battling a large fire Monday in southwestern Indiana that’s left an Evansville warehouse and neighboring buildings in ruins and produced a smoke plume visible for miles around. Evansville Fire Department spokesman Mike Larson said about “every truck in the city” as well as one fire unit from Henderson, Kentucky, was called to the scene of the warehouse fire along Morton Avenue. He said the fire was contained as of 9:15 a.m. CDT and no longer a threat to spread, but fires were still burning inside the warehouse and neighboring buildings. Dozens of firefighters would likely remain at the scene for hours, Larson told the Evansville Courier & Press. Larson said there were no reported injuries, and there was no word yet on a possible cause of the fire in the city about 170 miles southwest of Indianapolis. The fire, which was reported about 4:40 a.m., produced a smoke plume so thick it was clearly visible on weather radar in the city. Video footage of the scene showed that flames were still rising by mid-morning from multiple collapsed buildings across a large area and producing smoke plumes. Authorities closed the Lloyd Expressway near the Evansville’s Division Street and U.S. 41 exits and asked motorists to avoid the area.

Iowa

Cedar Rapids: U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Iowa, has been hospitalized with a kidney infection, her office said Monday. Hinson’s chief of staff, Jimmy Peacock, issued a statement saying Hinson was admitted Sunday night to a hospital in Cedar Rapids. “She is looking forward to being back on the road soon,” Peacock said. Hinson’s congressional office confirmed that Hinson, a Republican, remained hospitalized Monday morning. The office did not respond to a question about when she was expected to be released. Hinson is running for reelection to Iowa’s 2nd Congressional District seat and is being challenged by Democrat Liz Mathis, state senator.

Kansas

Topeka: Kansas will begin winding down a COVID-19-era rental assistance program, a move that was expected but still has housing advocates worried about whether renters and the nonprofits that help support them will be prepared. The Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance program was created in March 2021 as the latest iteration in a series of efforts to provide aid to renters affected by the adverse economic conditions created by the pandemic. Backed by $200 million in federal funds and run by the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, the program’s launch was rocky at first due to limited staffing and high demand, though things eventually stabilized. State officials announced Wednesday the program was entering a “hold phase,” where the agency has received enough applications to exhaust its funding. All current applications under review will be put on pause unless more money becomes available. “We may not have the funds to ultimately be able to review or fund those applications,” Ryan Vincent, executive director of the KHRC, told KMUW. “We’ll have them ready, and if we end up receiving any additional funding … we can go back and fund some of those applications in the second hold phase.” The prospect of obtaining additional federal funds is uncertain. Congress could ultimately choose to appropriate more funds for the program, though such a move seems unlikely. The U.S. Treasury Department has also reallocated money from states that have been slower to spend their funds or declined to participate in the program.

Kentucky

Frankfort: A county’s court operations that have been closed since historic flooding in July will resume this month. The Knott County Office of Circuit Court Clerk will reopen Oct. 31 in the county Judicial Center. Circuit and district court proceedings will be conducted remotely due to ongoing repairs to the center. Proceedings may be heard in person in another county if all parties agree, according to the Administrative Office of the Courts in Frankfort. The Supreme Court issued an administrative order amending the emergency order that suspended court operations after the flooding. The order clarifies that the clerk’s office was legally closed from July 28 to Oct. 30 for time computation purposes and allows the presiding judge to grant additional time extensions. Gov. Andy Beshear said last week that 43 people from six counties died in the flooding that hit parts of eastern Kentucky in late July. He said one person remains missing.

Louisiana

Lafayette: Republican Tim Temple, a wealthy insurance executive from Baton Rouge, will run against incumbent GOP Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon in 2023 with the state mired in a homeowners insurance crisis. Temple posed a strong challenge to Donelon in 2019 by spending $2 million of his own money, but Donelon pulled out another win with 53% of the statewide vote. Donelon first won the office in 2006. “Over the last 17 years, Louisiana auto rates have soared to the most expensive in the country, while recently we’ve seen an explosion of homeowner rate increases and an expansion of attorneys promising quick claim settlements and loosely regulated public adjusters,” Temple said in a news release. “Just last week, the current commissioner approved a 63% homeowner’s insurance rate increase,” Temple said. “Continuing to recycle old plans ignores the actual problems and shortcomings altogether, and these issues are too serious to ignore. More than ever Louisiana needs an insurance commissioner with experience in the insurance industry, that will be honest, transparent, accountable, and put the people of this state ahead of insurance companies.” While it’s true Donelon approved a 63% rate hike for customers in the state’s quasi-government safety net insurance company Citizens, he had little choice. By law, Citizens’ prices must be 10% above the highest market rate in each parish or the actuarial rate, whichever is higher. Citizens provides insurance to homeowners who can’t secure protection in the private market.

Maine

Kittery: Town leaders have taken steps to ensure a diverse range of reading materials stay on shelves of the historic Rice Public Library as book-banning efforts have surged nationally. A formal “Freedom to Read” policy was adopted by the Town Council at its Oct. 12 meeting. “The freedom to read is essential to our democracy,” the policy states in part. “The Town of Kittery is devoted to reading and wishes to assert the public interest in the preservation of the freedom to read,” it reads. “We trust our Kittery residents to recognize propaganda and misinformation and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe. The freedom to read is guaranteed by the Constitution.” Approved by the Town Council in tandem with the policy was a step-by-step book challenge process, which outlines how Kittery’s Library Advisory Committee receives and evaluates contested reading materials. Only Kittery residents are permitted to initiate a challenge. “The library considers material objectionable only if the material taken as a whole lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value,” the challenged materials policy reads. Lee Perkins, the town library director since 2010, noted Rice Public Library previously followed the American Library Association’s “Freedom to Read” statement. Because the library officially became a town department in 2019, however, the Town Council had to approve the town’s own “Freedom to Read” library policy “to carry forward this commitment,” according to a report to the council from Town Manager Kendra Amaral.

Maryland

Salisbury: The Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration has launched a survey to receive public input on preliminary improvement concepts and highway needs for the expansion of Route 90 (Ocean City Expressway). The survey, which was announced in an Oct. 12 news release, is available to the public through 11:59 p.m. Nov. 10. Results will be used to form preliminary improvement concepts. The survey is part of the MD 90 Planning and Environmental Linkages (PEL) Study. Expansion of the entire 12-mile corridor between Coastal Highway and Route 50 is a part of the state’s long-term “Reach the Beach” plan. Improvements include general road safety, traffic congestion relief, and allowing first responders such as police, firefighters and EMTs to respond to emergencies swiftly. As stated by the Maryland Department of Transportation’s State Highway Administration, the western end of Route 90 at Route 50 carries roughly 33,000 vehicles per day throughout the summer season. By 2045, the highway’s average daily traffic volume is expected to increase by 10%.

Massachusetts

Swampscott: Police came to the rescue of a person who was out walking their dog over the weekend when they were surrounded by a pack of coyotes. Police in Swampscott received a call at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday from the dog walker who said they were surrounded and the coyotes were “not backing down,” police said in a Facebook post. Responding officers counted at least nine coyotes. They were apparently scared off by the arrival of the cruisers with their lights flashing. Police escorted the dog walker and their pet to their home with no additional danger. The dog walker’s name was not made public. Police also posted a series of tips from the Humane Society for how to deal with bold coyotes, urging residents to be aware of their surroundings when walking their dogs, especially during evening hours when coyotes are most active. Police also recommended that people bring noisemakers, squirt guns or pepper spray with them to scare coyotes away.

Michigan

Detroit: Michigan students, and particularly those experiencing homelessness, continue to attend school at a lower rate than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. The statewide school attendance rate for the 2021-22 school year fell to 88%, down 4.1 percentage points from the previous school year, when attendance hovered at 92.9%. The decline marked a 4.3-percentage-point drop from 2019-20’s attendance rate of 93.1%, according to state data released in September. It is the first time in at least five years that the statewide attendance rate has dipped below 90%. Economically disadvantaged students attended school at a rate of 88% last school year, down from 90.7% in 2020-21. Students experiencing homelessness attended school at a rate of 79.8% in 2021-22, a decline of 5.4 percentage points from the prior year’s rate of 85.2%. State attendance rates are calculated by dividing the total days students could attend school by the total days students actually attend. “There has to be a recommitment to intentionally addressing chronic absenteeism here in this great state of Michigan,” said Delsa Chapman, deputy superintendent at the Michigan Department of Education.

Minnesota

St. Cloud: Mayor Dave Kleis announced Friday the city was awarded $1.09million in state grant funds for the installation of green hydrogen and renewable natural gas demonstration projects. Funding came from the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources. These technologies will reduce operating costs, keep user rates low, provide additional revenue opportunities, provide economic growth opportunities for the community, reduce dependence on natural gas and high carbon fuel sources, reduce carbon dioxide emissions and increase energy resiliency, according to a press release from the city.

Mississippi

Oxford: A pickup truck struck two University of Mississippi students in a parking lot in downtown Oxford, killing one of them and injuring the other, police said. Two suspects, both from Collierville, Tennessee, were arrested by Monday in the crash, which occurred early Sunday, authorities said. Tristan Holland was taken into custody Sunday in Shelby County, Tennessee, on accessory after the fact. He will face extradition to Oxford, according to the Oxford Police Department. Seth Rokitka was taken into custody Monday after investigators found his wrecked truck in Marshall County, Mississippi, between Oxford and Collierville. The Oxford Police Department said it would provide more information after Rokitka is charged. It was not immediately clear whether either Holland or Rokitka had an attorney who could comment on their behalf. Oxford police said the department received an emergency call after 1 a.m. Sunday from passersby who saw two people injured in the parking lot behind City Hall. Mayor Robyn Tannehill said the student who died was 21-year-old Walker Fielder of Madison, Mississippi. Fielder was a 2020 graduate of Jackson Academy in Jackson, Mississippi. The injured student was transferred to a hospital in Memphis, Tennessee. Oxford police told WRAL-TV that she is 20-year-old Blanche Williamson of Raleigh, North Carolina. Williamson graduated from Episcopal High School, a boarding school in Virginia.

Missouri

Springfield: Two teenagers were killed Saturday evening when the vehicle they were in traveled off Farm Road 170 near Republic and struck a tree. Two other teenagers were taken by ambulance to CoxHealth Hospital in Springfield. According to the Missouri State Highway Patrol, a total of four teenagers – ages 15 and 16 – were riding in the 2005 Honda Accord. At 6:15 p.m. Saturday, the vehicle was traveling east on Farm Road 170, just east of Republic, lost control, traveled off the left side of the roadway, and struck a tree, the patrol reported. The Republic district provided some details to teachers, staff and parents late Sunday. The two students killed were a 16-year-old male from Republic and a 15-year-old male from Billings.

Montana

Billings: A police officer shot an armed man at the Billings Clinic Emergency Department on Sunday, the Billings Gazette reports. When officers responded to a report of an armed man at the hospital, the man fired one round. An officer fired one round, hitting the suspect, who was then taken into custody, according to a social media post from police. Police said no hospital staff or patients were injured in the incident, according to the news outlet.

Nebraska

Omaha: Record-low temperatures are expected Tuesday in Omaha, Lincoln and Norfolk, the Omaha World-Herald reports. “A cold front dropping down from Canada will be sitting right over the top of (eastern Nebraska) Tuesday morning,” Taylor Nicolaisen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Valley, said Sunday. “The records for Omaha, Lincoln and Norfolk could be in trouble, especially Lincoln.” The low temperatures for all three cities were set in 1972 – Omaha recorded 20 degrees, Lincoln 21 and Norfolk 18. But the cold won’t last. Highs in eastern Nebraska expected to rebound into the 50s to low 60s on Wednesday, according to the news outlet.

Nevada

Reno: Nevada reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 1,130 new cases. That’s down 11.9% from the previous week’s tally of 1,283 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19. Nevada ranked 46th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.

New Hampshire

Portsmouth: New Hampshire public health officials say they see a dangerous combination ahead: a winter rise in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, and low interest in coronavirus booster shots, especially the new bivalent dose targeted at omicron. Approximately half of Granite Staters eligible for the first booster have gotten one and far fewer, about 35%, have received a second, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency has not reported state-level uptakes of the new bivalent booster but has put the national rate at just 4%. “It’s one thing to have the vaccine,” said Dr. Sally Kraft, vice president of population health at Dartmouth Health, in a briefing on the bivalent booster Tuesday. “It’s another to get that vaccine in people’s arms.” On Friday, the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services asked lawmakers for approval to use $8.9 million in federal pandemic aid to expand access to vaccines and antiviral medications.

New Jersey

Trenton: Democrats in competitive Garden State congressional races vastly outraised and outspent their Republican challengers in the three summer months after the state’s primary. In the 7th Congressional District, Rep. Tom Malinowski – who faces a tough reelection effort after redistricting added more Republican-leaning towns to the district – raised more than anyone else in the state, at over $1.8 million, and spent $3.3 million, according to the latest Federal Election Commission filings, due Saturday, which cover campaign activity from July through September. He collected more than twice as much in donations as his challenger, Thomas Kean Jr., who raised $866,000, and spent three times the $1 million that Kean paid vendors. Rep. Mikie Sherrill of the 11th District spent more than any other congressional contender over the summer, $3.7 million, more than 21 times what her Republican opponent, Paul DeGroot, managed with $175,000. She raised $970,000 to DeGroot’s $171,000. Rep. Josh Gottheimer of the 5th District continued to stockpile an eye-popping amount of money, with more than $14 million in the bank after raising another $1.1 million and spending $1 million in the third quarter.

New Mexico

Roswell: Roswell officials say the city’s UFO Festival had an economic impact of more than $2 million. The Roswell Daily Record reports the Roswell City Council’s finance committee looked earlier this month at an economic report for the event. It indicated more than 40,000 visitors came to the four-day festival, which ran June 30-July 3. The cost for the city to mount it was more than $200,000. Officials applauded the results as a “10 to 1 return on your money.” Staff who put together the report reviewed gross receipts taxes, occupancy or lodgers’ tax, ticket sales and other factors. They also analyzed data from trash collection to estimate the number of visitors. This year’s festival marked the 75th anniversary of the alleged Roswell Incident. Something crashed at what was then the J.B. Foster ranch in 1947, with the U.S. Army announcing it had recovered a “flying disc” but later saying the debris was merely the remnants of a high-altitude weather balloon. Speculation about extraterrestrials and government cover-ups has existed ever since, inspiring books, movies and TV shows. The milestone anniversary brought various businesses and groups together to organize 34 events for the UFO Festival.

New York

New York City: Are your New York state license plates peeling or falling apart? The New York state Department of Motor Vehicles will replace them for free. “We are encouraging New Yorkers who have peeling license plates to get new ones, without any charge, to avoid the risk of being ticketed and having to pay a fine,” DMV Commissioner Mark J.F. Schroeder said. A driver can be ticketed if their plate number is no longer clearly readable. Customers who want the next available standard plate number for free can email the DMV at dmv.sm.peelingplates@dmv.ny.gov.

North Carolina

Salisbury: Two people were shot and others were injured as they fled gunfire that broke out at a North Carolina college homecoming concert on Saturday night, officials said. Officers called to the campus of Livingstone College in Salisbury around 11 p.m. found two people shot and others who were hurt as attendees fled the gunfire, city officials said in a statement. Officials didn’t release details of their conditions. There was a fight during the concert and one person, who isn’t a Livingstone student, fired one or more shots, police and school officials said in a joint statement. The school’s priority is to ensure students’ mental health and evaluate public safety measures to create a safe environment, Livingstone President Dr. Anthony J. Davis said in a statement. The college is cooperating with police as they investigate, he said. “I am saddened because our students, alumni, family and friends were exposed to this senseless act of violence,” Davis said.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Republican Congressman Kelly Armstrong has raised nearly $2 million for his reelection bid for North Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat, the Bismarck Tribune reports, outraising his independent challenger, former Miss America 2018 Cara Mund. Recent campaign finance reports indicate Armstrong has more than $1.8 million to Mund’s $77,790. This is the first official comparison of the two candidates’ fundraising efforts, according to the media outlet.

Ohio

Cincinnati: Democratic Rep. Jeff Crossman says he would drop an appeal of the state’s six-week abortion ban if elected attorney general over Republican Dave Yost. Crossman said he would refuse to defend Ohio’s law, which bans doctors from performing abortions after cardiac activity is detected, in court. As a state lawmaker, he voted against the six-week abortion ban, but it passed the GOP-controlled Legislature anyway. Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bill in 2019. But Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Christian Jenkins recently blocked that law indefinitely. Yost filed an appeal Wednesday with the Ohio 1st District Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Crossman said he would drop that appeal. “I intend to end this crusade against women and protect their constitutional rights,” Crossman said. “I will end the appeal immediately and I will honor the court’s decision.” Yost campaign spokeswoman Amy Natoce slammed Crossman for not defending Ohio’s law. “He literally just promised to cancel democracy because he doesn’t like a law passed by the General Assembly. Doesn’t that bother you?” she asked. “The attorney general has a sworn duty to defend laws passed by the people’s elected legislators regardless of his personal opinions – something Jeff Crossman is too inexperienced and morally bankrupt to understand.” Practically speaking, that might not end the appeal. In 2014, then-Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, a Democrat, refused to defend the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, so outside attorneys handled the case instead.

Oklahoma

Okmulgee: Authorities are trying to determine if four bodies found in an Oklahoma river are those of four men who were reported missing several days ago after leaving a home together. Police in Okmulgee, about 40 miles south of Tulsa, said Friday that the bodies of four males had been found in the Deep Fork River. They have been sent for autopsies. Police said they’ve been searching for four friends – Mark Chastain, 32, Billy Chastain, 30, Mike Sparks, 32, and Alex Stevens, 29 – who were believed to have left a house in Okmulgee on bicycles on the evening of Oct. 9. Mark Chastain’s wife reported that he, Billy Chastain and Mike Sparks were missing, police said Tuesday. A few hours later, Alex Stevens’ mother reported him missing, police said. The bodies were discovered after a passerby saw something suspicious in the river near a bridge, police Chief Joe Prentice said. The bicycles have not been found, Prentice said. Police did not immediately respond to a message left Sunday. The men were all from Okmulgee, which has a population of around 11,000.

Oregon

Eugene: Twenty-five Oregon mayors joined together for the common goal of creating a strategy to address the statewide homeless crisis using funding and construction investments, submitting the plan to state officials Friday. A subcommittee on the Oregon Mayors Association put together the request calling for a partnership between the cities and the state to fund a response to local homelessness and preventative programs – totaling about $123 million annually. In addition to the annual funding for those programs, the plan also calls for construction investments for shelters and transitional housing projects. The letter to legislators highlighted the crisis, stating the municipal leaders “cannot be left to solve this statewide crisis” on their own. “The No. 1 issue throughout Oregon – in both rural and urban communities, large and small – is homelessness. We know this humanitarian crisis is impacting both the individuals directly experiencing homelessness as well as communities at large,” stated the OMA letter. Although many cities have individual or regional programs to address local issues, the statewide crisis has exceeded their “individual capacity.”

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The state and national Republican parties are suing anew in the state in an effort to block some mail-in ballots – those lacking the voter’s handwritten date on the outside envelope – from being counted in November, when voters will elect a new governor and U.S. senator. The GOP’s filing late Sunday went straight to the state Supreme Court, with barely three weeks left before Election Day. The court does not have to take up the lawsuit. “The time for the Court to act is now,” lawyers for the Republican Party told the justices in the lawsuit. The effort by Republicans to ensure that improperly dated or undated ballot envelopes are thrown out could help their candidates in tight contests around the state. As of Friday, nearly 1.2 million voters had applied for a main-in ballot, with applications from registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans by an almost 4-to-1 ratio. Throwing out undated ballots would theoretically ensure that more Democratic ballots are tossed out, helping Republican candidates. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration last week told counties that they are expected to include ballots with undated or improperly dated envelopes in their official returns for the Nov. 8 election.

Rhode Island

Providence: A jury has convicted a former corrections officer at the Adult Correctional Institutions of having sexual relations with two female inmates over the course of a year. Collins Umoh, 44, of Warwick, on Thursday was found guilty of three counts of criminal sexual conduct with an inmate under his direct custodial supervision between 2017 and 2018 after a five-day trial before Superior Court Judge Joseph A. Montalbano, according to an announcement by Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s office. The state was unable to proceed with four additional counts that were subsequently dismissed, said Brian Hodge, spokesman for the office. He declined further comment. Umoh had been a corrections officer for 11 years at the time of his arrest in May 2019. Authorities at the time accused him of having sex with three women housed in the Gloria McDonald Correctional Facility between July 2017 and August 2018. “This agency has no higher priority than running safe, secure and constitutional facilities, and the protection of ACI inmates from sexual misconduct is something we take particularly seriously,” Patricia A. Coyne-Fague, director of the state Department of Corrections, said in an email at the time of his arrest. “Anyone involved in sexual misconduct will face significant consequences.” Assistant Attorney General Daniel Carr Guglielmo prosecuted the case, with State Police Detective Herb Tilson leading the investigation with the assistance of the Department of Corrections Office of Inspections. Umoh is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 15. The charges are punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a fine of $10,000. Umoh’s lawyer, Stefanie Murphy, could not be reached immediately for comment.

South Carolina

Spartanburg: Hundreds of incorrect absentee ballots were mailed to Spartanburg County voters due to an error by the vendor who prints them, county officials said Wednesday. “This is an unfortunate situation, but thankfully there is time to correct it,” Elections Director Adam Hammons said in a statement. “My office is working hard to ensure every affected voter receives the correct ballot as soon as possible, giving the voters ample time to return them before 7 p.m. on Election Day.” Hammons said after sending to the vendor the file of voters’ names to be sent a ballot, his office identified one voter that had applied for an absentee ballot but later moved out of the county. He said his office asked the vendor to remove the voter from the file prior to printing and mailing the ballots. “During that process, the data shifted, unbeknownst to the vendor, causing the error,” Hammons stated. County spokeswoman Scottie Kay Blackwell said the county elections office is immediately mailing a new, correct ballot to all 699 voters who received the incorrect ballot. The office is also reaching out to voters directly, telling them the correct ballots will arrive in an envelope with a yellow stripe, she said. “The issuing and return of the new, correct ballots will be tracked by the elections office, ensuring that only one ballot is counted for each voter,” Blackwell stated. She said voters who are unsure if they’ve been impacted by the error can visit scvotes.gov and click on “Get My Sample Ballot.” If the sample ballot matches the one they received in the mail, they will know they received the correct ballot.

South Dakota

Yankton: Authorities say an inmate who tried to escape from a hospital where he was receiving treatment was caught within 10 minutes. The 26-year-old man who was housed at the Yankton County Jail had been taken to Avera Sacred Heart Hospital for a medical issue Thursday evening when he ran away from a correctional officer, the Yankton Press and Dakotan reported. The suspect was apprehended less than two blocks away, according to the Yankton County Sheriff’s Office. He was charged with first-degree escape, which carries a maximum charge of two years in prison.

Tennessee

Gatlinburg: A campground at Great Smoky Mountains National Park that has been closed for nine years has been reopened, park officials said. Look Rock Campground is a 68-site facility that provides camping along one of the park’s most scenic drive, according to Superintendent Cassius Cash. The campground opened Saturday and remains available through Nov. 13. “We are grateful for the voices who supported us in our efforts to secure the needed funding for repairs, including the Friends of the Smokies and their donors,” Cash said in a news release. Look Rock Campground and Picnic Area were closed in 2013 after the water utility systems failed. The picnic area reopened with limited services after the park received funds in 2019 to install an accessible vault toilet. The water system has now been completely replaced, with access to flush toilets and potable water. Campground sites were rehabilitated. Ten sites were renovated to accommodate larger recreational vehicles and offer the first electric and water hookups in a park campground, the park said. The park received $4.7 million for the work from campground fees, donations and federal funds. Campground reservations must be made through Recreation.Gov.

Texas

Fort Worth: A Fort Worth police said an officer fatally shot a 29-year-old man who pointed a handgun at him after police responded to a call from the man’s mother, who said he was damaging her home with a hammer. The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office has identified the man killed early Sunday as Taylor Grimes. Fort Worth police said that during the mother’s 911 call late Saturday, the man could be heard saying he would hurt his mother if any officers responded. Police said that when officers arrived, Grimes came to the door holding a handgun, closed the door and then refused to leave the house. The SWAT unit and hostage negotiators then arrived and tried to convince Grimes to surrender and to allow his mother to leave the house, police said. When his mother eventually left the house, Grimes was seen standing in the doorway, pointing a handgun at an officer, police said. Police said that the officer fired his weapon, striking the man. The medical examiner’s office said Grimes died in the living room of the home.

Utah

Provo: Provo has a new acting chief of police after the sudden resignation of police chief Fred Ross, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Ross didn’t cite specific reasons for his resignation, other than saying that the job had “been determined to not be sustainable.” He was appointed to the role in November 2021. “After discussing this with my family,” Ross continued in a statement, “I’ve determined it is in my best interest personally and professionally to resign my position as chief of police, effective immediately. I thank you sincerely for the honor of serving you, the department, and the people of Provo.” Mayor Michelle Kaufusi appointed Capt. Troy Beebe, a 24-year veteran of the Provo Police Department, as the acting chief in an early Monday announcement, according to the news outlet.

Vermont

Burlington: Students will be taking a different standardized test this spring. Students will no longer take the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and the Vermont Science Assessment (VTSA) tests that they have since 2015. The new test, Cognia, encompasses the subjects of English language arts, math and science and will first be administered in the spring of 2023. The Agency of Education chose Cognia after the former testing provider’s contract was up, noting Cognia’s focus on equity. “Cognia’s approach to diversity, equity and inclusion in the development and implementation of assessments aligns with Vermont’s values, and the accessibility and user experience of their testing resources will make working with the assessments easier for students, families and educators,” said Dan French, Vermont’s secretary of education.

Virginia

Harrisonburg: A man has been charged in a shooting at an outdoor gathering over the weekend that sent eight people to hospitals, police said. Harrisonburg police arrested Tyreaf Isaiah Fleming, 20, of Harrisonburg, on Sunday afternoon, the department said in a statement. Fleming is charged with attempted murder, aggravated malicious wounding and firearms offenses, police said. Online court records do not list an attorney who could speak on Fleming’s behalf. Witnesses said shots were fired into the crowd at an outdoor gathering on Devon Lane in Harrisonburg around 2:20 a.m. Sunday, police said in a statement. Statements from witnesses and security camera video helped investigators identify Fleming as a suspect. Eight people ranging in age from 18 to 27 were taken to hospitals with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, police said. Police said they are investigating whether anyone else was involved in this incident.

Washington

Kitsap: The Navy has scrapped a plan to lease local base space to a developer to build a power plant that could feed Kitsap’s electricity grid when outages occur. “The project was determined to not be financially feasible,” said James “Ken” Johnson, a Navy spokesman. The Navy had offered up to 95 acres at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor of mostly forested lands and up to 10 acres of what are mostly surface parking lots at Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton for lease. Johnson said the Navy had entertained multiple proposals that led to a potential leasee, but that leasee decided to drop out of contention earlier this year. Running power plants and facilities is nothing new for the Navy in Kitsap, a place where 13 nuclear-powered submarines are homeported along with two aircraft carriers powered by twin nuclear reactors. Naval Base Kitsap-Bremerton is also home to a steam plant that generates heat for buildings at the base and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard using natural gas. But coinciding with the Navy’s initial proposal in 2020, Puget Sound Energy – owners of most of Kitsap County’s electricity grid – had made its own request for proposals to help make the grid more resilient. Among them is a plan to build a biodiesel-fueled power plant at a former rock quarry at Ueland Tree Farm, and several proposals for battery-fed energy storage in both the West Hills of Bremerton and in Suquamish. The Navy would not comment on any of those specific proposals. But Johnson said Navy officials are “focused on meeting the Navy’s goals for energy efficiency, reliability, and resiliency.”

West Virginia

Charleston: The deadline has arrived to register to vote in the Nov. 8 General Election. A voter registration form must be in the county clerk’s possession by Tuesday for people who register in person, Secretary of State Mac Warner’s office said. Registration may also be completed by mail, and that must be received or postmarked by Tuesday. Voters may also register online by the close of business of their county clerk’s office. Voters can download a mail-in form, register online or find the county clerk’s contact information at GoVoteWV.com. Warner says anyone who has moved, changed their name since the last election or wants to change party affiliation may update their registration by Tuesday. Warner’s office and county clerks around the state held more than 100 voter registration drives during the month of September. A total of 5,326 people in the state registered last month, Warner said. Absentee voting began Sept. 23. Early in-person voting starts Oct. 26 and continues through Nov. 5.

Wisconsin

Green Bay: A nationwide study ranked Wisconsin No. 1 in mental health. Despite a shortage of therapists and wait times for mental health providers that can stretch up to and beyond six months, the study, conducted by Mental Health America, found the Badger State still had enough high points to top other states when it comes to tackling its residents’ mental health needs. Compared to other states, fewer Wisconsin adults are reporting that their mental health needs are going unmet, more adults are seeking treatment and fewer students are being reported for emotional disturbances with their individual education program. Another possible reason for its elevated status is the fact Wisconsin has invested in the mental health needs of its residents, industry professionals say. The report, published Thursday, covers a range of measures, including adults with any mental illness, youth with major depressive disorder, and those struggling with mental health conditions who couldn’t receive treatment due to workforce shortages or a lack of insurance coverage.

Wyoming

Jackson: Teton County Emergency Management will be testing its alarms Tuesday, Jackson Hole Daily reports. The county is testing its outdoor warning sirens to ensure they work for emergencies, such as inclement weather, incidents with hazardous materials and wildfire evacuations. “Most people associate outdoor warning sirens with tornadoes,” said Rich Ochs, coordinator for Teton County Emergency Management, in a press release. “Hearing a three-minute siren wail means that you should tune into local radio, All-Hazards Weather Radio, trusted online local media, or your phone for an alert.” According to the news outlet, the test will sound like a few short siren bursts and will go for no longer than one minute at a time, at siren locations in Teton Village, Teton Pines, downtown Jackson, Gregory Lane, Adams Canyon and Hoback Junction. Residents indoors will likely not be able to hear much, as the sirens are not designed to sound inside of buildings.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Winery testing, 'Gretch the Grinch': News from around our 50 states

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Birmingham: Part of the holiday season will be missing in some cities this year as officials cancel Christmas parades because of the coronavirus pandemic. The cities of Birmingham and Anniston called off their parades in recent days as caseloads and hospitalizations increase across the state. The cities of Bessemer, Gadsden and Madison were among those that previously called off their Christmas parades, citing safety concerns related to the virus. Some places are still planning events like tree lightings that residents can watch online, and other places are creating alternative events. Hartselle plans a contest in which residents can compete for prizes by decorating their homes. Tuscaloosa announced a “reverse” parade in which people can stay in their cars and drive past decorated floats in a park, but organizers canceled it, citing low participation.

Alaska

Anchorage: Bars and restaurants in the city will be closed for indoor service, employers must allow people to work from home if possible, and many businesses will be limited to 25% capacity for the month of December as the state’s largest city tries to stem the increase in coronavirus cases, Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson said Wednesday. The new rules go into effect Tuesday and don’t end until Jan. 1, she said during a teleconference. “Today, we find ourselves in a situation that nobody wants to be in. There are no easy answers, but we must act because continuing on this path is the worst of all bad options,” she said. The director of the Anchorage Health Department, Heather Harris, said the agency “has been waving red flags for weeks as we have experienced record-breaking case counts.”

Arizona

Phoenix: With their annual Thanksgiving meal for disadvantaged students canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak, alumni from one local community college held a drive-thru food distribution Tuesday so people could cook their own holiday dinner. The vehicles of 100 students who signed up beforehand lined up in the Phoenix College parking lot. Masked staff and volunteers placed a bag with turkey, mashed potatoes, pie and other fixings in the back of each vehicle. It’s an example of how traditional meals for the disadvantaged have had to be reimagined this year to prevent spread of the virus even as the ranks of the needy have grown. “A lot of the students are focused on trying to figure out what they are going to eat” for Thanksgiving, said Monique Briones, a nursing student helping distribute food. She also signed up for her own family to receive food for a holiday meal donated by the Phoenix College Alumni Association. Briones is living with her boyfriend, their five children and his parents during the pandemic.

Arkansas

Little Rock: The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state hit another record high Wednesday, crossing the 1,000 mark for the first time since the pandemic began. The state saw an increase of 40 virus hospitalizations to bring the current number to 1,028, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said. That tops Tuesday’s record high of 988 hospitalizations. Arkansas reported 1,965 new cases and 20 more deaths. One in every 243 people in Arkansas tested positive in the past week, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. “While we express our thanks across the state in smaller groups than normal years, I am more grateful than ever for the dedication of our health care workers,” Hutchinson said in a statement. “The new hospitalizations today adds to the burden, and let’s all go the extra mile to protect each other.” On Tuesday, the state’s largest school district said it would temporarily switch to virtual learning after the Thanksgiving break because so many teachers were quarantined because of the virus. The 22,000-student Springdale School District said classes will be remote until Dec. 7 because of a shortage of available substitute teachers.

California

Los Angeles: The state reported a record number of coronavirus cases Wednesday as Los Angeles restaurants prepared to close for three weeks and as firefighters in Silicon Valley were being enlisted to enforce public health rules to try to halt the spread of infections. Cases of COVID-19 have been climbing at an alarming rate for weeks and hit a new high of 18,350 recorded Tuesday, surpassing a previous record of more than 15,000 cases announced Saturday, state officials said. The seven-day average of positive tests has gone from 5.3% to 6.5% in the past week. “We are really, really concerned,” said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, COVID-19 testing officer for Santa Clara County. “All of the metrics that we have been following, that have done well in previous months, are now going up very steeply. Our positivity rate in our county is rising and especially in our most affected communities.” Nearly all of the state is now under a 10 p.m.-to-5 a.m. curfew and subject to the strictest regulations for businesses to operate, including a ban on indoor dining and limited capacity in stores. But Los Angeles has gone even further. As cases spiked in the past week, it ordered restaurants to stop serving meals after Wednesday night and has been mulling another stay-home order.

Colorado

Denver: Gov. Jared Polis warned Tuesday that some restaurant owners who defy or ignore strict state health orders to stem spread of the coronavirus could lose their licenses to operate. Colorado’s restaurant sector has been hit hard during the pandemic, with many forced to close and thousands of workers laid off. In recent days, restaurants in counties designated “red” by the state in a color-coded scheme that gauges increasing COVID-19 infection cases have been forced to halt indoor dining. “Every business in the state of Colorado needs to follow our laws and, whether you agree with it or not, in red counties, not having indoor dining is the law of Colorado,” Polis said. “Any type of business that violates a health order, whether it’s hepatitis, salmonella or COVID … could lose their license to operate.” The Democratic governor’s comments came after several Loveland businesses in Larimer County signed a letter stating that they will continue operating at full indoor capacity even though the county was placed in the “red” restriction category Tuesday. Polis said government financial aid for the restaurant sector is coming – possibly in the form of sales tax breaks – when the Legislature convenes in a special session next week.

Connecticut

Hartford: A small number of flagrant violations and concerns about the holiday shopping season prompted Gov. Ned Lamont to impose a steep, new $10,000 fine on businesses that break the state’s coronavirus rules. The new fine was to replace the current $500 maximum penalty beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, the Democratic governor announced Tuesday evening. A small number of restaurants have been cited for essentially operating as bars, which have been ordered closed during the pandemic. The governor said the harsher fine was the result of concerns by municipal leaders, public health officials and people in the business community. He also cited concerns about keeping workers and customers safe during Black Friday and the rest of the holiday shopping season. The state has an array of rules on businesses during the pandemic. Restaurants, for example, are limited to 50% capacity, with a maximum of eight people per table, and must stop inside dining service at 9:30 p.m. Local health directors or other municipal officials can issue the fines with the support of police.

Delaware

Dover: State officials are inviting residents to get outside Friday as an alternative to going shopping, especially amid rising coronavirus case numbers. Officials are waiving state park and Brandywine Zoo entry fees on Black Friday as part of the nationwide #OptOutside movement. State parks will open at 8 a.m., with the exception of Fort Delaware State Park, which is closed for the season. The Brandywine Zoo and its new Madagascar Exhibit featuring rare lemurs and radiated tortoises will be open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are required by calling, and members can reserve time at the zoo online. Visitors who are kindergarten age or older must bring face coverings with them to enter a park and wear them when they cannot maintain social distancing from other visitors.

District of Columbia

Washington: As a second wave of the pandemic meets a second blood shortage nationwide, the Red Cross in the D.C. region reported a “grave” scarcity of convalescent plasma, WUSA-TV reports. The critical liquid part of the blood in COVID-19 survivors can be harnessed and used to treat coronavirus patients in intensive care. Blood plasma from coronavirus survivors contains antibodies, which may help trigger immune responses in people severely stricken by the virus. The Red Cross is now testing all blood, platelet and plasma donations for coronavirus antibodies, so if donors didn’t know they once had the virus, their plasma can help patients in dire need of treatment. “The need for convalescent plasma supersedes all the needs that we have right now,” Red Cross spokesperson Regina Boothe Bratton said. The Red Cross is imploring people looking for ways to help over the holidays to visit the organization's blood donation website and schedule an appointment. The organization said it generally experiences a blood shortage between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, but COVID-19 has compounded the problem.

Florida

Tampa: A popular waterfront festival has been postponed amid a surge in confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in the state. The annual parade Gasparilla Pirate Fest that attracts about 200,000 people to Tampa’s downtown waterfront is typically held every January but is now planned for mid-April amid continuing health care concerns. Organizers said they consulted with city leaders and health care providers and decided to postpone the festival until next spring to restrict events that attract large crowds. Meanwhile, the Miami Herald said Miami Beach hotels were experiencing last-minute bookings for the Thanksgiving holiday week that may get them near full occupancy for the first time since they were forced to shut down to curb the spread of coronavirus in March. Other events in the state that attract large crowds in the winter such as Art Basel have already been scrapped. The prestigious December art fair draws collectors, socialites and celebrities from around the world.

Georgia

Atlanta: As the ravages of the coronavirus forced millions of people out of work, shuttered businesses and shrank the value of retirement accounts, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged to a three-year low. But for Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., the crisis last March signaled something else: a stock buying opportunity. And for the second time in less than two months, Perdue’s timing was impeccable. He avoided a sharp loss and reaped a stunning gain by selling and then buying the same stock: Cardlytics, an Atlanta-based financial technology company on whose board of directors he once served. On Jan. 23, as word spread through Congress that the coronavirus posed a major economic and public health threat, Perdue sold off $1 million to $5 million in Cardlytics stock at $86 a share before it plunged, according to congressional disclosures. Weeks later, in March, after the company’s stock plunged further following an unexpected leadership shake-up and lower-than-forecast earnings, Perdue bought the stock back for $30 a share, investing between $200,000 and $500,000. Those shares have now quadrupled in value, closing at $121 a share Tuesday.

Hawaii

Lihue: The first coronavirus death on the island of Kauai has been reported. Mayor Derek Kawakami announced in a statement Monday that an elderly resident with no travel history died. COVID-19 has killed 232 others in Hawaii. “It is heartbreaking to report this news especially as the Thanksgiving holiday approaches this week,” Kawakami said. “As a community, we share in this painful loss together and we extend our sincere prayers, love and aloha to the family and loved ones of this individual.” Another Kauai resident died in Arizona earlier this year, The Garden Island reports. Kawakami said Tuesday that he wants to reinstate a requirement that all travelers arriving in his jurisdiction quarantine for 14 days, regardless of whether they have obtained a negative coronavirus test. Kauai had no cases of community spread of the coronavirus for several months starting in July. But it’s had six cases of community spread since Oct. 15, when the state began allowing travelers to bypass the two-week quarantine if they tested negative for the disease 72 hours before arriving. Kawakami asked Gov. David Ige for permission to temporarily opt out of the pre-travel testing program.

Idaho

Boise: Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin has proposed using millions of dollars in coronavirus relief aid to have additional safety technology including “walk-through disinfectant cubes” installed at the state Capitol in Boise. McGeachin, a Republican, promoted the “very high-tech equipment” manufactured by Xtreme Manufacturing in Las Vegas to reporters Tuesday while criticizing Republican Gov. Brad Little’s coronavirus response, the Idaho Press reports. “A person can walk through a cube and be disinfected from head to toe, including on the bottom of their feet,” she said. But the technology has been widely disputed. The National Institutes of Health published a study in June that found “walk-through sanitation gates” were ineffective and potentially dangerous, noting that the practice violates World Health Organization standards. “Fumigation is meant for inanimate objects and surfaces, and it should never be used on people,” the study said. The proposal calls for spending about $17 million, including $80,000 for two walk-through disinfectant cubes, three mobile units for emergency overflow and staffing for the units.

Illinois

LaSalle: State officials are investigating a coronavirus outbreak at a veterans nursing home in rural Illinois that has infected nearly 200 residents and staff and killed 27 veterans. Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office and the state’s Department of Veterans Affairs are attempting to determine what caused the outbreak at the state-run LaSalle Veterans Home in LaSalle, about 90 miles southwest of Chicago. The department on Tuesday requested an independent probe into the facility, which was the focus of a state Senate committee virtual hearing on the outbreak. “The tragedy of what has unfolded at the veterans’ home cannot be understated,” said state Sen. Sue Rezin, who represents the district where the home is located. The current outbreak was identified in late October when a staff member and a resident tested positive for the virus. Since the beginning of November, two-thirds of residents and employees have tested positive, according to the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs. State officials have increased staff testing at the facility, and the governor said an infection control team was sent to the home.

Indiana

West Lafayette: Purdue University plans to reward its faculty and staff with a $750 bonus for their “heroic work” keeping the West Lafayette campus open amid the coronavirus pandemic, school officials announced Wednesday. The university said more than 15,000 faculty, staff and graduate student staff hired before Sept. 1 will get the money in their checks in December. Part-time staff will get a prorated amount. Purdue President Mitch Daniels said staff in executive-level positions will not get the $750 bonus. Daniels congratulated faculty and staff in a campuswide letter sent Wednesday morning for getting through the in-person portion of the fall semester. He called the bonus an “appreciation award” for their work that kept the campus open during the pandemic. “I admit I was far from certain that even a collection of can-do problem-solvers like ours could pull off that achievement,” Daniels wrote in the letter. “Well, we’re here, and only because of the collective effort we could only imagine in August.”

Iowa

Des Moines: The state reported its highest single-day increase in COVID-19 deaths Wednesday, topping the mark set one week prior. The Iowa of Department of Public Health reported another 47 deaths due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. In total, 2,271 people with COVID-19 have died in Iowa, according to the state’s Coronavirus.Iowa.gov website. Another 3,365 coronavirus cases were added to the state’s tally Wednesday. The increases come as Iowa hospitals struggle with the coronavirus surge. On Tuesday, Dr. Tammy Chance, the chairperson of the Iowa Hospital Association, warned that the Iowa hospital region that includes the state’s most populous area has at times in the last week been down to two or three intensive care unit beds as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The lack of beds and staffing shortages have forced some Iowa hospitals to transfer patients to other facilities, said Kirk Morris, the president of the association. Other doctors said their regions were experiencing similar shortages.

Kansas

Great Bend: Resistance to masks appears to be weakening as the coronavirus surges, straining the capacity of the state’s hospitals. Gov. Laura Kelly’s latest effort to require face coverings took effect Wednesday, although Kansas law still allows the state’s 105 counties to opt out. Most counties did so the first time Kelly tried to require masks in July. But with the average new case numbers more than nine times higher now than then, there appears to be less pushback. The governor told reporters Tuesday that adoption of mask orders by counties had so far been “pretty good,” The Wichita Eagle reports. “I think it’s because people are so much more aware of how serious this is, how widespread it is,” Kelly said. “And it is no longer an urban issue. I mean, it’s clearly from border to border.” In Barton County, commissioners voted Tuesday to unanimously adopt a countywide mask mandate that went into effect immediately. The commission had rejected mandates twice before, instead appealing to the public to do the right thing. Enforcement is an oft-cited concern. “I don’t want to be on the wrong side of history when it goes down and says we did nothing,” Barton County Commissioner Jennifer Schartz said.

Kentucky

Louisville: Payments that are part of a federal program to aid those unemployed because of the ongoing pandemic will end this weekend under federal rules, affecting roughly 4,700 Kentuckians, the Kentucky Labor Cabinet said Tuesday. On Monday, the U.S. Department of Labor notified the state agency that the number of people receiving extended benefit unemployment insurance as a percentage of the labor force had fallen below the qualifying threshold for the state to continue dispersing funds under the program. As a result, the state will be barred from such payments for a minimum of 13 weeks. Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary October unemployment rate was 7.4%, the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet announced last week. The preliminary October jobless rate was up nearly 2 percentage points from September. Gov. Andy Beshear said there was no recourse to reverse the federal agency’s decision and acknowledged that Kentucky families are hurting financially because of the pandemic. After Saturday, no new applications will be accepted, and claimants who have yet to exhaust all benefits will not receive the balance of their funds.

Louisiana

Shreveport: Caddo Parish is weighing whether to pay $500 to families who have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Legislation was introduced Nov. 19 by Caddo Parish Commissioner Stormy Gage-Watts at a parish council meeting that would pay $500 to 500 eligible families. Families would have to apply and meet income requirements, give proof of income, and provide a statement of how the pandemic has affected their family’s finances. The money, which would be available on a first-come basis, would come from money already set aside for emergency disaster assistance. “Just a couple of years ago, we were able to be able to provide allocations for tornado victims, so we did that through a special fund, which is an emergency ordinance, and this is the same thing. It’s no different,” Gage-Watts told KTBS. The station said there will be a public hearing on the issue Dec. 3.

Maine

Guilford: A local medical supplies manufacturer has been awarded more than $11 million from the federal government to produce millions of additional testing swabs. Puritan Medical Products of Guilford received the money through the federal Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins said Monday. The company will increase its production of swabs by 3 million per month, Collins said. Puritan has played a major role in the nation’s efforts to conduct enough testing to help corral the coronavirus pandemic. The White House announced in June that the federal government was providing more than $75 million for Puritan to double its production to 40 million swabs per month. The company’s total production of flock tip swabs and foam swabs is at least 90 million per month now, Collins said.

Maryland

Annapolis: “Answer the call” and “download the COVID Alert app” have joined the growing list of pandemic precautions as the Maryland Health Department battles a pandemic surge this holiday season. Dr. Katherine Feldman, director of the Maryland Department of Health’s contact tracing unit, told Capital News Service it was important for Marylanders to enable the MD COVID Alert exposure notification app, answer calls from contact tracers, wear a mask, socially distance and continue to take other protective measures to “reduce transmission and have all of us stay safe and healthy.” MD COVID Alert is a passive system that users enable on their iPhone or download to their Android phone in order to receive notifications when they have come in close proximity to another user who may have tested positive for the coronavirus. The state Department of Health launched the system Nov. 10 and reported over 1 million Marylanders, about 17% of the state’s population, downloaded the app within the first week. Gov. Larry Hogan said at a press conference last week that while the number of state contact tracers has been “ramped up,” there are other challenges to address. “Our problem is that so many people refuse to give the information,” he said.

Massachusetts

Boston: The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is doing its part to control the spread of COVID-19 by handing out free face coverings at several subway stations and trolley stops. The service that launched Monday is backed by athletic footwear company New Balance, which donated 100,000 masks to the MBTA. MBTA commuters have been required to wear face coverings since early May. Transit police can fine people not wearing a mask up to $300. “Wearing a face covering is one of the most effective ways to combat the virus,” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said in a statement. “We ask that riders do their part by wearing face coverings while within the MBTA system and distancing while on public transit.” The masks will be offered during peak morning and evening commute times at the Charles/MGH, Downtown Crossing, Forest Hills, Hynes Convention Center, Maverick, Orient Heights, Park Street and Quincy Center stations.

Michigan

Trenton: Restaurant owner Jeremy Syrocki hit frustration overload with the latest restaurant restrictions shutting down indoor dining for the second time this year, and he’s using an inflatable Grinch to show how he feels. New rules from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services came in an announcement Nov. 15 by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and took effect last Wednesday. Syrocki decided to take a stand and do something about it. While shopping for portable patio heaters, he spotted an inflatable of the main character in the Dr. Seuss classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” The Grinch reminded Syrocki of Whitmer, he said. The 10-foot-high creature now stands on Truago’s patio in downtown Trenton – one of Syrocki’s three downriver restaurants. The inflatable has a sign hanging from its neck that reads “Gretch the Grinch.” Syrocki also added red lipstick to the Grinch. In a Facebook post the morning after the Grinch went up, Syrocki wrote that the stunt is about getting the attention of the governor. He said he voted for Whitmer but now believes he shouldn’t have.

Minnesota

Minneapolis: A surge in COVID-19 cases has led to critical staffing shortages at some nursing homes and assisted living facilities, forcing the state to send the National Guard to help out and ask all state employees to consider volunteering in facilities. New data from the Minnesota Department of Health shows 90% of the state’s nursing homes and 58% of assisted living facilities have active virus outbreaks. The data includes more than 70 senior care homes that didn’t have any coronavirus-infected residents one month ago, the Star Tribune reports. Minnesota Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said Tuesday that 47 long-term care facilities are in “a crisis staffing situation” and are receiving active support from the state, including help from federal health nurses. Gov. Tim Walz’s administration has taken the unusual step of emailing all state employees and asking them to consider volunteering for two-week stints in long-term care facilities, particularly in greater Minnesota. The email, which was sent to the heads of all state agencies, says no prior experience is required, and the state would cover travel and temporary housing costs.

Mississippi

Jackson: Gov. Tate Reeves announced Tuesday that he is expanding his mask mandate to cover half of the state’s 82 counties. Reeves had previously placed under the mandate 22 counties with the highest number of new cases of coronavirus. “It’s clear we are in the middle of our second surge,” Reeves said during a briefing at which he announced he was adding 19 counties to that list. Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor and dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s School of Medicine, had called on the governor Monday to reinstitute a statewide mask mandate. She said last week that no intensive care unit beds were available at the hospital, Mississippi’s only level-one trauma center. “I think we have reasonable evidence to believe that the county-by-county approach is not working,” she said Monday. Meanwhile, Mississippi’s top health official said this week that he is exhausted trying to convince people in the state to take the coronavirus seriously and follow public health guidelines. “It’s just going nowhere,” Dr. Thomas Dobbs, Mississippi’s state health officer, said Monday during a meeting with members of the state Senate. “We have chosen, very clearly, to prioritize social events over disease transmission.”

Missouri

Kansas City: The state’s two largest metropolitan areas are cracking down on restaurants that violate rules designed to stem the spread of the coronavirus. Kansas City’s liquor control authorities found two dozen bars and restaurants in violation of the city’s new COVID-19 restrictions after a weekend sweep of 185 establishments. The city’s Department of Regulated Industries, which governs liquor licenses, used to rely primarily on complaints to enforce restrictions. But as the latest set of rules issued by Mayor Quinton Lucas took effect Friday – limiting bars and restaurants to 50% capacity and a closing time of 10 p.m. – the city became more proactive. Meanwhile, the St. Louis County Department of Public Health sent certified letters to three dozen bars and businesses ordering them to cease indoor service or face lawsuits or criminal charges. Eleven of those establishments had already received a second notice from the county, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Many of the restaurants were among the same establishments that are suing the county seeking to block its suspension of indoor dining.

Montana

Helena: Schools will receive nearly $13 million in additional coronavirus relief funds before Dec. 30, Gov. Steve Bullock announced Wednesday. Public and private schools were allowed to request additional funding in October after Bullock directed $75 million in July from the state’s coronavirus relief funds to K-12 schools. More than 180 schools were approved for additional funding. The new funding includes about $5.7 million in unspent funding from the original $75 million allocated to schools and about $7.2 million in newly allocated funds. Federal coronavirus relief funds must be spent by the end of December, and Bullock called on Congress to pass additional school financing relief for 2021. “While this additional funding will serve our schools with continued needs through the end of this year, our schools head into the new year empty handed,” Bullock, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Nebraska

Omaha: A meatpacking plant has been accused in a lawsuit of failing to take adequate precautions to protect workers from the coronavirus. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the federal lawsuit Monday against Noah’s Ark Processors in Hastings, Nebraska. The suit said the plant has made no effort to spread workers out to limit the spread of the virus, and it fails to promptly replace workers’ masks when they become soiled with blood and sweat. The plaintiffs include several former workers at the plant. “Noah’s Ark has shown a shocking indifference to its employees and the community by failing to take common-sense steps to protect them from the spread of COVID-19,” ACLU attorney Spencer Amdur said. Company officials declined to comment on the lawsuit Monday. The meatpacking industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic because workers stand shoulder-to-shoulder as they toil inside the plants and often crowd together in locker rooms and on breaks. The ACLU lawsuit said managers at Noah’s ark pressured people to continue working even when they were sick and showing symptoms of COVID-19.

Nevada

Reno: The coronavirus is spreading so fast in the state that one person is diagnosed with it every minute, and someone is dying from it every two hours, state health officials said Wednesday. Nearly half of the state’s 142,239 total cases since the start of the pandemic in March have occurred since September – fully one-fourth of those in the month of November and 10% in just the past seven days, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services. “We have COVID-19 exploding in our community. It is spreading rapidly,” Washoe County Health District Officer Kevin Dick told reporters in Reno. “We have exponential growth going on.” While the majority of the state’s cases and 2,071 total deaths have been reported in Clark County – the most populous county that includes Las Vegas – the Reno-Sparks area in Washoe County has been hit the hardest in recent weeks.

New Hampshire

Concord: State legislators are working on a bill to offer price protections for adult vaccines, such as those pending for COVID-19. Rep. Jerry Knirk, a Democrat from Freedom, told WMUR-TV that by expanding a New Hampshire nonprofit association that pools insurance company money to buy vaccine doses in bulk, the savings to the state and patients could be immense. The process is already done in New Hampshire for pediatric vaccines, he said. The bill would expand the New Hampshire Vaccine Association, which purchases vaccines for children under 19, to all adults. “In the pediatric program, we purchase about $38 million worth of vaccines for about $28 million,” Knirk said. “The savings is roughly about 26%. For the adults, it is estimated it should be very similar in terms of the degree of savings.” The federal government is expected to pay for a COVID-19 vaccination, but the bill could come in handy if gaps in funding arise next year or if suddenly states find themselves in the position of trying to obtain more vaccine.

New Jersey

Trenton: With COVID-19 cases rising at an “alarming rate,” Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday abandoned the formula to determine which out-of-state travelers should quarantine once they reach New Jersey. Instead, Murphy said anyone coming into the Garden State from beyond the four-state region of Connecticut, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania should isolate for 14 days. “Given the increased risk of spreading COVID-19 for both residents who travel outside the state and for visitors into the state, New Jersey continues to strongly discourage all non-essential interstate travel at this time,” Murphy said in a statement. His announcement came on one of the busiest traveling days of the year. About 50 million people were expected to travel in the United States for Thanksgiving, according to AAA. That would be a decline from past years, but federal and state officials, including Murphy, have urged people to stay home this year and keep their celebrations to immediate family members and fewer than 10 people to avoid spreading the virus.

New Mexico

Santa Fe: State lawmakers on Tuesday passed a bipartisan coronavirus relief bill that will deliver a one-time $1,200 check to all types of unemployed workers and up to $50,000 for certain businesses. The bill also provides smaller stimulus checks to immigrants without legal status in the country and dependents, as well as additional funds for food banks, virus testing and contact tracing efforts. Republican lawmakers were unsuccessful in their efforts to provide aid for low-income essential workers. Democrats said federal guidelines would prevent such spending, and they promised to find ways during the regular session in January to address the issue. Most of the proposed spending will be made possible by federal relief funding previously assigned to New Mexico, including about $319 million in unspent funds that were expected to expire soon. An additional $10 million in state general funds was allocated for the testing and tracing efforts.

New York

New York: City Winery, an upscale chain, is trying a novel approach to indoor dining during a pandemic: Two nights a week, all patrons and staffers at its Manhattan location have to take a rapid virus test on-site and get an all-clear before coming in. Other nights unfold without testing but with precautions including temperature checks and spaced-out tables. Costing diners $50 per person on top of their tabs, it’s an elite experiment – complete with a free glass of sparkling wine – and health experts caution that a test isn’t a failsafe. So does City Winery CEO Michael Dorf, but he thinks the idea is worth trying as restaurants try to get through a year of shutdowns and social distancing. With winter looming over New York eateries’ outdoor-dining lifeline, “how do we get people to dine inside, feel comfortable, feel as safe as possible so that they can spend money in our restaurant, and our staff can feel comfortable?” asked Dorf, who said City Winery’s business is down 85% compared to 2019. A hotel with a rooftop lounge and restaurant in Queens’ hip Long Island City neighborhood briefly tried a similar testing program this summer. But it’s not clear how many other restaurants might follow suit.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Some of the state’s colleges plan to require students to show a negative coronavirus test in order to return to campus after their winter break. At the University of North Carolina System Board of Governors meeting last week, President Peter Hans said schools will do reentry testing or require students to show a negative test before they can return for the spring semester. None of the universities in the UNC System required students or employees to be tested for the virus before coming to campus in the fall. While many offered ongoing surveillance testing throughout the semester, it was mostly voluntary. UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State University and East Carolina University each had to send students home, close dorms and move classes online because of spikes in coronavirus cases in August. Now, each is requiring students to get tested for the coronavirus at the start of the spring semester.

North Dakota

Fargo: The head of the largest hospital in the city is pleading for people to wear masks, warning that not following COVID-19 safety measures could have other consequences aside from spreading the coronavirus during the holiday season. Sanford Fargo President and CEO Bryan Nermoe said the failure of people to follow COVID-19 protocols could force some patients who need treatment for ailments other than the virus to be put on waiting lists or sent to facilities hundreds of miles away. In Fargo alone, the city’s three hospitals were down to four staffed intensive care unit beds and 19 staffed inpatient beds, according to state data compiled Tuesday. That included no ICU beds and 17 regular beds at Sanford, which recently opened 14 new patient rooms at its main facility in southwest Fargo. Nermoe is asking people to keep front-line caregivers in mind when deciding whether to wear masks, wash hands, maintain social distancing and avoid large gatherings. “On behalf of them, mask up,” Nermoe said. “Do it for them because they are really going above and beyond, 24/7, 365, of really trying to meet the needs of people in our region.”

Ohio

Columbus: Seven of the state’s biggest counties on Wednesday urged residents to stay home and follow guidelines on social gatherings and wearing masks. The counties said in a joint statement that they want people only to leave home for work, school, medical appointments or buying essential items such as groceries. “Cases and hospital admissions are at the highest levels we have seen during this pandemic, by far. These county health advisories reflect the urgent need for all of us to protect ourselves and our families to stop the spread of this virus,” said Denise Driehaus, president of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners. The counties are Franklin, Cuyahoga, Hamilton, Summit, Montgomery, Lucas and Mahoning. Cases in Ohio continue to spike. The state’s seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen over the past two weeks from 5,049 new cases per day Nov. 10 to 8,495 new cases per day Tuesday, according to an Associated Press analysis of data provided by the COVID Tracking Project.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: The Oklahoma State Department of Health announced Wednesday that public schools will be allowed to offer in-school quarantines for students exposed to the coronavirus. Schools in Mustang became the first in the state to adopt the policy, the department said. “In the past, if a student had tested positive for COVID-19, any students who interacted with the case – up to the entire class – would have been required to move to distance learning for 14 days,” said Dr. Jared Taylor, Interim State Epidemiologist. “An in-school quarantine option is the best way to keep our kids in school and prevent them from falling behind.” Mustang Superintendent Charles Bradley said in a statement that the policy allows the suburban Oklahoma City district to avoid moving entirely to online teaching. Students who are quarantined will be allowed to go to school to take part in virtual classes but kept out of individual classrooms in buildings such as gyms or an auditorium, where they would be socially distanced and must wear masks. The policy will be in effect from Nov. 30 through Dec. 23.

Oregon

Salem: Bars and restaurants can reopen for limited outdoor service next week, but many restrictions will remain in place until a vaccine against the coronavirus is widely available, Gov. Kate Brown said on Wednesday. She pleaded with Oregonians to stay safe during the holidays and protect others by not ignoring safety protocols, like wearing masks and limiting personal contacts. Meanwhile, the rate of infections continue to skyrocket. A total of 8,687 new daily cases occurred last week, a 34% increase over the previous record-high week. Weekly hospitalizations rose to a record 366, a 26% increase. The revamped restrictions take effect when the current two-week “freeze” expires Dec. 3. Currently, only takeout restaurant service is allowed. The restaurant industry pushed hard against the restrictions, as several eateries closed for good, and others were at risk of doing so. Asked if at a virtual news conference if she was bending to industry pressure, Brown said: “I’m in the business, frankly, of saving lives and also preserving livelihoods.”

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: Cellphones across the state received an alert Wednesday afternoon notifying them of a growing COVID-19 emergency. The alert was shared on the day Pennsylvania surpassed 10,000 coronavirus deaths. More than 6,700 new cases were announced Wednesday, and 3,897 hospitalizations were reported. Of those people hospitalized, 895 were in intensive care units. “In PA, COVID-19 rates are rising & hospitals could soon be at capacity. Stay home if possible,” the phone alert said. “If you must go out, maintain social distance, wear a mask, wash your hands for 20 seconds. Stay up to date on the spread of COVID in your community so you can protect your loved ones with the COVID Alert PA app.” The alert was sent by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency through the national Wireless Emergency Alert system. Wednesday was the first time Pennsylvania used that system to share a message about COVID-19, and it reached phones about a half-hour before bars and restaurants were required to stop serving alcohol on what is typically the biggest drinking night of the year.

Rhode Island

Providence: The state will provide an additional $100 million in relief to businesses and residents expected to suffer during a two-week period of new restrictions starting Monday meant to control the current spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Wednesday. Half of the federal stimulus money will be available for businesses that must close or will be severely limited during that period, the Democratic governor said at a news conference. Raimondo said she wants businesses to use the money to continue to pay employees during the two-week pause. “The program that we have developed is meant to ensure that companies who are being put out of business or severely limited by the pause can get a check in their bank account quickly to help make up for the lost revenue of these two weeks,” she said. The other $50 million will go to provide an additional $400 to Rhode Islanders already collecting unemployment insurance benefits. She also reminded state residents who are in the U.S. illegally that they can apply for $400 debit cards through Dorcas International, a nonprofit that provides services to immigrants and refugees.

South Carolina

Columbia: University of South Carolina President Bob Caslen said Wednesday that he has tested positive for the coronavirus. Caslen said he tested positive Tuesday evening and is isolating at home, according to a news release, which added that he is asymptomatic. The test was administered through the university, which offers saliva-based and nasal swab testing to students, faculty and staff. “My diagnosis reinforces the need for everyone to get COVID tested regularly to protect yourself and your loved ones,” Caslen said in a statement. He had announced earlier this week that the university would institute monthly mandatory testing for students, faculty and staff who work on campus or are enrolled in at least one face-to-face or hybrid class. Those living, learning or working on the Columbia campus will also have to show proof of testing before returning to school in the spring. After reports of large crowds of students at Columbia bars, Caslen visited some establishments on Halloween night to see the conditions himself, WACH-TV reports. He also stopped by a neighborhood where thousands of students had gathered at an outdoor party earlier in the fall.

South Dakota

Sioux Falls: The head of one of the largest regional health systems in the Midwest was replaced Tuesday, less than a week after telling employees he had recovered from COVID-19 and was not wearing a mask around the office. Sanford Health said in a release that it has “mutually agreed to part ways” with longtime CEO Kelby Krabbenhoft, who took over in 1996 and helped expand the organization from a community hospital into what is billed as the nation’s largest rural nonprofit health system. Krabbenhoft left the executive position after telling employees in an email that he believes he’s now immune to COVID-19 for “at least seven months and perhaps years to come” and isn’t a threat to transmit it to anyone. He said wearing a mask would be merely for show. Other Sanford executives tried to distance themselves from the comments. Sanford Health, based in Sioux Falls, has 46 hospitals and more than 200 clinics concentrated in South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa. It employs about 50,000 people. The Dakotas have for weeks had the country’s worst spread rates of the coronavirus, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

Tennessee

Nashville: Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccines will be optional in the state’s K-12 public schools, once they become available. The Republican said at a news conference that vaccines will be very important for Tennessee to “ultimately really be able to handle” the virus. But he said he doesn’t foresee COVID-19 mandates for school districts in Tennessee. “Vaccines are a choice, and people have the choice and will have the choice in this state as to whether or not they should take that vaccine,” Lee said. “That will be our strategy, and that is what we think will happen all across the state.” The comment comes as the state and the country look toward initial, limited doses of vaccine that could arrive in the next few weeks, amid a surge in the coronavirus that is increasingly straining hospital systems. In Tennessee, the first doses, likely through Pfizer, could arrive around Dec. 15, with the initial Moderna vaccines expected a week later, said state Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey.

Texas

Houston: The value of oil fields in West Texas has plummeted due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has caused the demand for crude to go down. Eli Huffman, a land broker and attorney at Houston-based Lone Star Production Co., said he has seen land prices fall below $1,000 an acre for property that used to be worth more than $10,000 an acre. “When (oil) prices are too low, no one is buying land,” Huffman said. “Everybody is risk-averse at the moment.” The average price of U.S. shale acreage has fallen by more than 70% in two years – from $17,000 per acre in 2018 to $5,000 per acre in 2020, according to Norwegian energy research firm Rystad. Despite that, the prices of some shale plays has held up, the Houston Chronicle reports. The Permian-Delaware basin is still valued at $30,000 per acre, and the Midland basin is valued at $17,000 an acre, Rystad said. But prices for devalued oil and gas lands will not be able to bounce back as quickly if the pandemic worsens and lockdowns keep pressure on demand for petroleum.

Utah

St. George: Dixie State University said testing will be encouraged but not mandatory despite state health orders mandating college students get tested weekly for the coronavirus. “The truth is we don’t have enough tests to even test everyone,” said Jordon Sharp, vice president of marketing and communication at Dixie State. “Now, if that changes, then then we’ll see what happens.” Republican Gov. Gary Herbert issued health orders earlier this month requiring that college students get weekly COVID-19 tests starting no later than Jan. 1, KUER-FM reports. Sharp said the university received 2,000 kits, which it hoped to administer to students before Thanksgiving break, but that it is unlikely to happen because there are not enough tests to give to its 12,000 students. “There’s just really no process in place because we don’t have enough tests,” Sharp said. “So we’ll begin testing any student that would like (one).” Herbert said the goal is to screen 250,000 students a week at all the colleges and universities in the state, but the institutions are waiting for more equipment from the federal government.

Vermont

Montpelier: A school district in Orange County is concerned about families not complying with quarantine rules after a cluster of coronavirus cases turned up in the district that serves Randolph, Braintree and Brookfield. The Orange Southwest School District has moved to remote learning but is encountering apathy from some people contacted during contact tracing, WCAX-TV reports. Superintendent Layne Millington estimates about a third of the families that were called discounted concerns about possible exposure or exposing others to the virus that causes COVID-19. “ ‘Didn’t care’ is probably a good expression for a lot of them,” Millington told WCAX-TV. “And then we had at least one family that had positive cases that said they were going to be noncompliant with the quarantine.” Gov. Phil Scott has said the state can impose penalties for people unwilling to comply with contact tracing requirements, but he’s reluctant to do that. “We don’t want to use our limited resources in public safety to go after people,” he said. “We’re asking people to tell the truth to protect others. I don’t think it’s tattling on anyone.”

Virginia

Verona: Recent accounts from inmates at Middle River Regional Jail have shed light on the growing threat of COVID-19, as inmates now find themselves bunking with the pandemic. Four nurses, 25 officers and 15 inmates had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday. A number of people are still quarantining at home, waiting for their test results, according to a press release from MRRJ. While officers and nurses have the option to avoid the crowd, the inmates don’t get that luxury. MRRJ conducted a spot test only on two housing units and people who showed symptoms. Kandi Harner, 32, tested positive and was told of the results Tuesday. She had been working a laundry job in the jail and said she was sent back to her pod after she suffered from nausea, a sore chest and an excruciating headache. Her pod consists of 35 women, 10 of whom tested positive. Harner said none of the 10 women were removed from the pod. “They still haven’t done anything for us or changed anything, short of giving us a mask,” Harner said by phone from the jail Tuesday. “This morning they tried to send me to work again, but I refused to go because I’m feeling so bad.”

Washington

Seattle: A new report shows people infected with the coronavirus in the state’s most populous county in recent weeks have been mostly exposed in homes, during social activities and gatherings, and in workplaces. Instead of a few “hot spots,” the report shows the risk of exposure is now widespread throughout King County as cases have increased in the past two months. Public Health – Seattle & King County released the report on outbreaks and exposure settings Wednesday showing where people most frequently reported being exposed. Cases related to social activities and out-of-state travel have increased over the course of the pandemic, while cases associated with long-term care and other health care facilities have decreased in the county, according to the report. It also noted differences in potential sources of exposure by race and ethnicity, geography and age. In many communities of color, for example, particularly in south King County, workplaces are more frequently reported as possible exposure sites, the report said, whereas in the north Seattle and suburban Shoreline area, the most common exposure settings are social gatherings.

West Virginia

Charleston: Gov. Jim Justice blasted critics of his mask mandate Wednesday, saying he would not follow the lead of other Republican governors rejecting the advice of public health experts. “I don’t want to be South Dakota,” Justice said at a news conference. He then played a news clip from the state, where Gov. Kristi Noem has refused to issue a mask mandate, reporting that South Dakota has the most deaths per capita linked to COVID-19 in the world. There are 13 states currently without a statewide mask mandate in effect, all led by Republican governors. “I know that we are a strong-willed people in West Virginia, and we have our rights, and no one is trying to infringe on your rights in any way,” Justice said, a reference to some conservatives in the state who criticize his pandemic executive orders. Justice has vocally defended mask-wearing and recently tightened a mandate to wear one indoors when in public at all times, as cases have skyrocketed in rural enclaves. He has resisted more stringent lockdown measures and championed for schools to stay open where outbreaks are less severe.

Wisconsin

Madison: The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections in the state continued to tick downward Wednesday, a rare bit of good news for health officials as they struggle to contain the deadly disease. The state Department of Health Services reported 5,469 confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday. The number of confirmed cases has now declined for five days, an encouraging sign after the state saw a record-high 7,989 cases Nov. 18. What’s more, the seven-day average of positive tests was 28.3% as of Tuesday, continuing a downward trend from a record-high 36.6% on Nov. 11. But the disease is still running rampant across the state. According to DHS, the total number of confirmed infections stood at 369,442 as of Wednesday. The disease was a factor in 63 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 3,178, according to the department. Wisconsin remains sixth in the nation in per-capita infections, according to Johns Hopkins University. And any progress against the disease appears fleeting. Health officials are bracing for another surge in infections and deaths stemming from Thanksgiving gatherings.

Wyoming

Casper: Officials in northern Wyoming have voted to remove Dr. Ed Zimmerman from his position as Washakie County health officer, a decision Zimmerman believes is in response to his implementing a mask mandate. Washakie County Commission Chair Fred Frandson said Tuesday that Zimmerman’s departure was not a result of the local mask mandate but said he could not discuss why he was removed because the county does not publicly discuss personnel matters, The Casper Star-Tribune reports. Zimmerman said there were several health officials who were worried they could lose their jobs by implementing mask mandates. “It had to do with the health order in some way,” Zimmerman said of losing his job. Zimmerman said he met with the county’s three commissioners Nov. 17 to discuss the forthcoming mandate and said the commissioners “were really, really not happy with me” about the decision. Zimmerman said he then received a call on Monday from Frandson informing him that his contract was terminated and that all his duties would end immediately.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

300+ haunted places in Kentucky, Indiana: Waverly Hills, Seelbach

Eastern Cemetery is haunted by some of its dead who are angry the cemetery is in such bad shape.

Hot Rod Hill hosts the ghosts of a tragic prom couple

Waverly Sanitorium: You can check out, but you can never leave

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Halloween is the perfect time to visit haunted houses, spooky theme parks and ghostly attractions.

Sure, a trip to the Baxter Avenue Morgue or The Haunted Hotel can be scary fun, but what about those really haunted places — cemeteries with legends of ghost visits, abandoned hospitals with stories of tragic deaths.

The Courier Journal assembled a map of hundreds of places in Kentucky and Southern Indiana with reports of paranormal activity, as collected by the Shadowlands Haunted Places Index.

We also gathered up some history and a few legends surrounding some of Louisville's eeriest locations, you know, just in case.

So, if you want to find out if these ghost stories are real, check them out for yourself.

We dare you.

Eastern Cemetery's angry spirits

Eastern Cemetery on Baxter Avenue is said to be haunted by some of its dead who are angry the cemetery is in such bad shape. It has endured severe overcrowding — cemetery ownership even began to reuse graves at one point — and general neglect over the years.

Gravestones date back to the 1700s, and there could be any number of people buried at Eastern Cemetery with reason for vengeance, including whoever is under one crumbling gravestone covered in dead grass and leaves, or the people near a rotting pumpkin strewn across the sidewalk.

According to Louisville Ghost Hunters Society, Eastern Cemetery Corp. opened the first crematorium in Louisville in the early 1930s in what is now an apartment building. There is supposedly a ghost of a woman that takes care of the graveyard's babies, who have a special section in the back.

You may like:This Louisville store has serving up Halloween scares for 99 years

Mitchell Hill Road's tragic prom couple

At the top of Mitchell Hill Road is a cemetery, and legend says buried there is a girl who died at the bottom of the hill in a car crash in the 1940s when she and her boyfriend were on their way to prom.

Apparently, some people have reported seeing the girl on top of the hill wearing her prom dress, wandering through the cemetery or walking along the road.

The stretch of the road where the accident supposedly happened is known as "Hot Rod Haven" because it was a popular, dangerous place for teenagers to race their cars in the mid-20th century.

According to Keith Age, director of the Louisville Ghost Hunters Society, county records show an accident similar to the one described in the legend did occur on Sept. 23, 1946, when Roy Clarke and Sarah Mitchell were on their way to a school dance.

However, a search of an online archive of the graves at Mitchell Hill Cemetery did not yield any gravestones with the name Roy Clarke. Two women named Sarah Mitchell have gravestones at the cemetery, but neither died at an unusually early age.

More:Your guide to 50+ best things to do in Louisville and Kentucky

Seelbach Hotel's disembodied spooks

The Seelbach Hotel was built in the early 20th century, opening in 1905. According to the hotel's website, it began as the dream of Bavarian brothers Otto and Louis Seelbach, who came to Louisville in 1869 to learn the hotel business.

During its 100-plus years downtown, the Seelbach has had many guests report strange sounds and activity during their stays.

There have been reports of televisions turning on at a loud volume at around 4 a.m., as well as the sound of running footsteps on wooden floors, even though the halls are now carpeted.

Some guests have said they heard disembodied voices or felt cold patches throughout the hotel.

The ghostly Waverly Hills Sanatorium

A list of haunted places in Louisville wouldn't be complete without mention of Waverly Hills Sanatorium.

Waverly Hills in southwestern Louisville opened in 1910 as a two-story hospital to accommodate Louisville patients struck by a tuberculosis outbreak, according to Waverly Hills Historical Society. It eventually expanded to a new five-story building, which could hold more patients and opened in 1926.

Before the discovery of an antibiotic that treated and cured tuberculosis, a diagnosis of the disease was more or less a death sentence. The hospital was its own community set apart from the rest of Louisville to avoid contaminating the healthy population — it had its own post office and water treatment facility, and it grew and raised its own food.

"Once you went to Waverly Hills, you became a permanent resident," the historical society states on its website.

The tuberculosis hospital closed in 1961 and reopened in 1962 as WoodHaven Medical Services, a geriatric facility the state closed down in 1981.

After it closed, Waverly Hills quickly gained a reputation for being haunted. It was purchased in 2001 by paranormal enthusiasts Charles and Tina Mattingly, and many volunteers working on the building's restoration have reported hearing ghostly sounds and slamming doors, seeing apparitions in doorways and being struck by invisible hands.

Today, Waverly Hills attracts tourists from around the country with its paranormal and historical guided tours. It also allows private paranormal groups to host investigations of the facility, many of whom claim to have experienced inexplicable paranormal activity during their visits.

More:Explore Louisville's secret underground tunnels and the creepy stories they tell

300+ haunted places in Kentucky and Indiana

Want more? Here are all the ghost stories submitted to Shadowlands Haunted Places Index for Kentucky and Southern Indiana.

Read it at your own risk.

Alexandria, Ky. Witch Hill

There is a tree in the middle of the road in Wilder where 3 witches were supposedly hung, and there is a curse on the tree to whomever tries to cut it down or spits on it. I have been to this place many times, and taken pictures, and many times even though it was a clear night, the pictures have come back covered in white blotches. You will find many out of the ordinary happenings on the way out to the tree. - September 2004 update /correction: It has recently been cut down and moved to the church parking lot at the top of the road. The three humps were also left off the story. There are three evenly spaced humps right before the bend the tree was on. These are the graves of the witches. The stories of distorted pictures are true though.

Annville, Ky. Hwy 577

Off Hwy 30 on Hwy 577 in Annville in Jackson county at night during a full moon you can see a glowing grave late at night. You can only see it from the road. When you go to the graveyard it disappears.

Ashland, Ky. Paramount Art Center

It is said that during some early renovation work on the Paramount Theatre, a death occurred there, and the man's ghost has forever since haunted the Paramount. In the early 1940s, four construction workers from Boyd Theater Company in Cincinnati, Ohio were working on a project inside the auditorium. It is reported that all of them had gone to lunch except for one man, a guy named Joe. When the other three returned, they found Joe hanging from the curtain rigging, dead. And since then, sounds have been heard, things have gone missing, cold drafts have been felt, and some folks even claim to have seen the image of a man appear on occasion. However, he is, by all means, a "good ghost" - one who seems to look out for the benefit of the theatre and its occupants. When Billy Ray Cyrus was here filming his video for "Achy Breaky Heart," he was told about the legend of Paramount Joe. Between breaks, Billy Ray would talk to Joe, laughing and joking with him, sometimes even asking for his help. It is customary to get 8 x 10 photographs signed by each performer that appears at the Paramount and then hang the photo on the 'Wall of Fame' in the box office. Billy Ray personally autographed large color posters to each of the female employees working here at the time - and one with a personal inscription to Paramount Joe, whom he now had a fondness for. Each lady put her poster near her desk and Joe's was hung in the box office, near all the other performers. As time passed and the walls in the box office became too full of 8x10’s signed by other performers, the executive director felt that some of the pictures and posters needed to come down. Since there were so many of Billy Ray, she asked the women to remove their posters since they were all so similar. Nobody wanted to take their personally autographed picture of Billy Ray down, so they took down the one he had signed to Paramount Joe. The next day, when the ladies came to work, every single 8x10 and poster that had been hanging neatly on the walls the night before were now lined strewn on the floor, many of their glass frames shattered! It was as if someone had wiped each one off the wall. To this day, Paramount Joe’s poster still hangs in the Paramount, in a very special part of The Marquee Room, which is now the site of Paramount Joe's Rising Star Cafe.

Ashland, Ky. Small Blvd

There is a picture of a young Irish woman that hangs in the 5th house on the left. If you look at the picture the eyes will glow non-stop! If you look at the picture at night and walk across the room at the same time you will see the eyes follow you across the room. This lady had 5 kids, the picture has been passed down through the generations.

Barbourville, Ky. Union College

Financial Aid office - Many people in the Financial Aid office have witnessed doors opening, closing, locking, and unlocking. Some have said that they have seen a woman. The office was once a house. The woman died in that house of mysterious causes.

Barbourville, Ky. Union College

Pfeiffer Hall room 245 - there is said to be a ghost of a student that attended Union College in the 1960s. His name was James Garner and he was a football and basketball player at Union. James was about 6'4 or so and weighed about 250. Records say that he fell from his 2nd-floor window while trying to close it on a cool night. The date of his death was have said to be on October 30, 1963. Sources say that if you go to the room around midnight and open the window, James ghost will shut it. Many sightings have been reported. - March 2008 additional information: doors opening & lights turning on when no one else is present.

Barbourville, Ky. Warfield Cemetery

Something follows you. Its footsteps move as you do, and stop when you do, yet this unseen thing moves very fast. You can feel its sense of urgency, and the steps crunch over the ground, as if it's agitated. When it starts this, you are standing there cringing, just certain something is going to knock you down from behind, but the steps just stop abruptly and don't start back up until you begin walking again. When you step outside of the gate, the sounds of the footsteps stop.

Bardstown, Ky. Old Kentucky Home Middle School

During the Civil War the school was used as a hospital. The Morgue was in the basement. The floors and the ceilings have been said to bleed. The school’s art room (which is also located in the basement.) smells of rotting flesh. It has been said that this room was used for holding of decomposing bodies. They painted the basement walls white and blood-red spots bled back through.

Bardstown, Ky. Jailers Inn

many reports of this place being haunted. It was formerly the jail and now is a bed and breakfast. Former employees reported hearing footsteps and people crying.

Bardstown, Ky. Old Smith Mansion

Across from Heaven Hill distillery, is the old Smith Mansion on Loretto Rd. On clear nights during the summer, a German shepherd can be seen stomping the yard around the old house.

Bardstown, Ky. The Old Talbott Inn

Haunted by numerous spirits that were killed there.

Bell County, Ky. Hutch

there is a small area off the main highway called Hutch. In this small community, there is a local swimming hole called "Devil's Garden". Before it earned this name, a small group of partying teenagers was swimming one summer night. After partying too much, one of the kids slipped and hit his head on a rock in the shallows. Not thinking straight, the other kids decided to hide the body under water, tied to a rock. The next day, the kids went to see if the night before had really happened. They arrived to find that the local authorities had already arrived and discovered the body. To their surprise, their friend had drowned and not died of the fall. They lived with their secret for over 15 years until they each started disappearing mysteriously, and the remaining two confessed and were sentenced to ten years in prison. Now every full moon, the moon's reflection casts a skull-like image on the water's surface.

Bellefonte, Ky. Bellefonte Hospital

Bellefonte is an Old Catholic hospital and it is said that the ghost of an old nun named Fannie haunts the hospital. There have been reports of things mysteriously falling off shelves and things making loud crashing noises, but when you go to look, nothing is there. Fannie is said to be seen most often in and around the emergency room.

Berea, Ky. Berea College

Boone Tavern Hotel - Once a part of the underground rail road. The basement had several rooms that were used to hide runaway slaves and for other purposes. Voices can sometimes be heard, and on more than one occasion a photograph of a young African American boy was taken. He appeared to be frightened and about 12 years of age. - March 2007 Correction: Construction on the Boone Tavern Hotel began in 1908, long after the Civil War and Railroad. Berea, Ky. as a city wasn't even established until after the Civil War, and during the war Berea College (which owns Boone Tavern) was only a normal school with two buildings. Also, Boone Tavern has no basement, only a sub-basement that houses an office and laundry. The sub-basement was dug out under the building in the 1940s.

Bloomfield, Ky. Maple Grove Cemetery

Anna Beauchamp, of the famous 1825 Romantic Tragedy can be seen walking along the road and throughout the cemetery at times.

Booneville, Ky. Owsley County High

In the gymnasium boy's sower room two students were punched so hard they were sent flying back and hitting the wall. Pairs of glowing red eyes were seen along with someone's finger poking through the door. Cold drafts have been felt and voices were heard.

Bowling Green, Ky. Greenwood Mall

Back in '96, a man was found dead in his pickup truck in the rear parking lot. The cause of death was never determined, and the vehicle was stolen. No one ever figured out who he was, or what he died of. These days when people park in the spot where his truck was and leave their vehicle overnight, you can walk up to it and see a man in the passenger seat who looks to be dead or sleeping. It’s always the same guy. When any of the guards on duty call a police officer over to remove the guy, they find the car empty. Every single time. The parking spot has an oil stain that looks like a face and has never washed off or changed over the years. The police have nicknamed him "the sleeper". It’s so common; when they call PD dispatch they just say, "We have a sleeper".

Bowling Green, Ky. off the bridge

There is an old metal bridge with a wooden road ... a girl once jumped off the bridge and drown. The theory is if you go to the end of the bridge and turn your car off and put it in neutral the ghost of the girl will pull you across the bridge.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

Academic Complex - The Academic Complex used to be an old hospital and now houses several classrooms, medical facilities, and the campuses TV and Radio stations. There have been DJs working for the Radio station that have heard things in the night, seen people out of the corner of their eyes. One night two DJs were talking about haunted places in the area and their CD player started to move about, opening and closing and rattling. It has been rumored that in the old hospital days, people had died in some of the classrooms and in a radio station studio. - February 2004 Update: It is said this is a rumor started by upper classmen to scare newcomers.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

Barnes-Campbell Hall - showers have been reported turning on and off by themselves, and chairs crashing against walls. A young man fell to his death down the dorm’s elevator shaft.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

Helm Library - is known to be haunted by a student who fell to his death from the ninth floor when trying to open a window.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

The Kentucky Museum - Located on campus is haunted by an unknown male.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

McClean Hall - McClean Hall on campus is supposed to be haunted by Mattie McClean the woman it’s named for. Supposedly if you stare at a picture of her long enough in the lobby she will smile back at you. Pearce Ford Tower (Dorm Hall) is supposed to be haunted by a construction worker crushed by an elevator.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

Potter Hall - In 1977 a girl hung herself in the basement. Change has been heard dropped in soda machines, but no one is there, scratching sounds of the basement floor. - February 2004 Update: is now just used for the office of the register, housing has been moved down to South West Hall. Which did once have a creepy incident involving an Ouija board where a wall began to crack open. Also, for Potter, it was in room 8 on the bottom floor that the girl hung herself -- though that is debated some believe she was murdered. - January 2006 Correction/ Update: A student that attended school with the girl has cleared a few things up on this haunting. She was a very quiet but very nice girl. Though she didn’t leave a note, she had taken her own life. They report her name was Teresa nicknamed Tye-Dye. Many on campus believe it to be Penny because of several of the office workers in that area of the building said they often find pennies rolling down the hall and find them on the floor. So, if anyone happens to notice pennies rolling down the hall or hears change clanging in the vending machines, don't be afraid. Potter Hall is Tye-Dye's old stomping ground where one day back in 1978, she made the decision to exert the only control she had over her own life.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

Schneider Hall - Objects disappear and then reappear. Knocks and strange noises during the day and night. Sudden temperature changes in certain rooms. Feelings of being watched. - February 2004 Update: It is no longer used as a dorm, it is being renovated to be a math building. Also, a student claims that - White Stone Hall and White Hall are the same building as Florence Schneider hall.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

Rhodes Harlin Hall - is haunted by a girl who jumped to her death. People hear scratching on their windows and doors.

Bowling Green, Ky. Western Kentucky University

Van Meter - Auditorium - The auditorium is reportedly haunted by a man that fell to his death there while working on one of the catwalks. Students, workers and performers have seen him. Also rumored, he fell onto the stage and his blood, of course, soaked into the wood. In the 1950s and again in 1968 this stage was re-floored, and the stain again returned.

Boyle, Ky. Perryville

Perryville Battlefield - Sightings of a soldier walking the battlefield at night. Reported to be seen by local police.

Bradfordsville, Ky. North Rolling Fork River

During the summer of 1965, several of the children of Bradfordsville heard a mysterious sound coming from the North Rolling Fork River which flows parallel to the streets of the town. The sound was very similar to a whip being cast. If you got close to the river looking for the source of the sound--the sound got quieter. If you got farther away from the river the sound became louder. It went on and on. Many adults were called out by the children to find out what was causing the strange "whip" like cracking sound. No one ever was able to explain what caused the strange sounds.

Brandenburg, Ky. Meade County High School

After those horrible tornadoes on May 4 used the old high school gym as a morgue for all those who passed on. Sometimes you can hear voices in the hallways.

Brandenburg, Ky. Meade County High School

Band room - There are cold spots in the room, voices can be heard, there have been sightings of a boy with a tuba standing in the window when the school is empty. Also, there were rumors that our vice principal had photos of a concrete worker bent over inspecting something on the floor. The story goes that this person died when he fell while the school was being built.

Brandenburg, Ky. Meade County High School

behind the football - field of the school is a graveyard, and people have their own opinions as to why the school is haunted. Also, on April 7, 1974, the gym was used for a funeral.

Breathitt County, Ky. Salyersville

Frozen - Old Vancleave Bible Institute - Located near Frozen Creek, this was once a bible school which housed both male and female students. Due to the difficult terrain, students lived on campus. In the flood of 1939, many students and staff perished while holing up in the boiler room. (They were warned of a tornado, not flood). Little remains of the school after the flood. Buildings include a dorm, a gym and a stone chapel. It has been reported that sounds of children laughing and crying can be heard. It is also reported that heat can be felt coming from the "punishment rooms". You can go there and feel like you are being watched, the laughter of little kids and in the third building you can feel heat as you go up the stairs to the punishment rooms. Some have even seen red glowing eyes in the upstairs. There is also what seems to be a small chapel that has an aboveground basement that sits out in a field. The basement is filled with black mud like substance. If viewed from above it has a whirlpool design to it. Several people say that they have heard cries of young children and have even seen them. It has been said that you will see and hear terrifying things. - December 2006 Update — has been torn down.

Calloway, Ky. Dexter

Hill - There is a hill that is almost perfectly dome-shaped, like someone took a bowl of dirt and turned it over. Witnesses report they had seen it light up at night, heard strange sounds, and that it was haunted.

Campbellsville, Ky. Campbellsville University

Fine Arts Building - The Fine Arts building was originally a Catholic Hospital. Some say they have heard babies crying where the nursery was, footsteps heard in the hall when no one was there, and art students have witnessed pottery wheels beginning to spin by independently. There are also numerous cold spots throughout the building.

Campbellsville, Ky. Hiestand House

This house is haunted by the Hiestand family.

Campbellsville, Ky. Taylor County

M&R estates - In the civil war days the confederate soldiers took the war prisoners to this house for execution. They were murdered and hung in the barn behind the house. As the legend goes there are extreme temperature changes in the house, also the screams can be heard at night by people that walk down the road. On some occasions, people have been known to see blood dripping from the rafters of the old barn. The entire property is haunted and not many people dare to cross its boundaries if you do there is no telling what could happen. It appears people that go across its lines have been tortured in the future as in their dreams and everyday life. it will be a life-changing experience.

Clermont, Ky. Jim Beam Distillery

Several years ago, there was an old man worked as a guard at the whiskey distillery in Clermont, KY. The guard was old and possibly out of his mind. One of his favorite things to do was to holler at the moon when it was full on his work shift. Some of the guards say that on a night with full moon, they can sometimes hear him screaming when they are on their patrol rounds.

Clinton, Ky. The Old Hickman County Elementary School

Before the old elementary school had burned down in 1998 it was believed to be haunted by the people who were once buried there. The tombstones were said to be removed but the bodies remained under the school. Numerous of students were said to be locked in the bathroom, heard and seen doors shut by themselves, and could also hear noises.

Closplint, Ky. the child's creek bridge

it is said that on a late night when you are all alone, there is a woman that appears and in a split second as she holds your attention you wreck ... it is said that the woman died after being run off the road at the curb and keeps coming back to get her revenge.

Columbia, Ky. Lindsey Wilson College

Horton Hall - Horton Hall is one of the many old buildings on the college campus. It is located between the Soccer Field and the Gym. Most of the horrific sightings have been spotted in the dorm rooms on the 2nd Floor. There have been many encounters late at night and mostly on the weekends of Dark Figures pulling up and shaking the ceiling tiles. Others have reported that if you lay really still without any movement at all that the Dark figures will slowly Creep down into your room. If you do let things get this far do not startle the shadow looking spirits. Once reported that loud screams would come from the spirits if they see any type of human life in the room. These spirits have no history to the area but just seem to appear random time during the course of the year.

Combs, Ky. old combs school

the old combs school was used for many years. Closed in the early 1970s.for the new school that is still used today. The old abandoned school is on a hill above the new school. It has been told you can hear kids talking, teachers still give kids the lessons. Walking can be heard in the old halls. lights are seen, and sights of someone in windows. The school was kindergarten to the 8th grade. it is thought principal Spicer, who died in the late 60s or early 70s.still is on the job today. The building is in poor shape, and not too safe anymore. after all, that’s why it was abandoned that long ago.

Corbin, Ky. old Corbin hospital

Even though the old hospital has been closed for many years and has no electric. Strange noises and lights were always seen.

Corbin, Ky. Cumberland Falls State Park

Back in the 1950's, a Bride and Groom came to Cumberland Falls State Park for their Honeymoon. The couple decided to take in some of sites at the falls area before going back to their room at the lodge. Before leaving the falls, they wanted to have their photos the with the falls in the background. The couple found an overlook just a few hundred feet from the falls that would work great for the photo. As the Bride stood on the Pillars at the edge of the 75 to 80-foot cliff, the Bride lost her balance and fell to her death. This place is now called "Lovers Leap". There have been reports of people driving around the last curve and hitting a woman that seems to be wearing a wedding dress and when they go to look for her, she is nowhere to be found.

Corbin, Ky. Florence Road

Located near Early Addition St. There is a certain place in the road where people passing by will experience a strong sense of fear and the feeling that they are being watched. These feelings disappear quickly after they leave this one certain spot in the road. There have been no known reports of anything terrible having happened in the past to account for this haunting. - February 2004 update/correction: The zone of fear is mainly experienced by pedestrians. It is a road with a lot of hills and curves and while the speed limit is posted as 15 mph, many people drive as fast as they can through this area just for fun. The submitter believes there have been a few accidents in the area, but they don't have the facts with them. Could be more of an urban myth than anything else. A variation they’ve heard is that the area of fear lies off the road along the railroad tracks.

Covington, Ky. Old Theater

The old theatre (and church) on Maine Strasse in Covington is frequented with glimpses of spectral figures in the corner of the eyes or in reflections, footsteps, light switches turn themselves on, and occasionally a loud noise as of something heavy being dropped to the ground and dragged across the floor on the ground level.

Crittenden, Ky. Juvenile Detention Facility

There have been numerous occurrences there: hearing voices in the hallway, feeling something touching or grabbing your arm, seeing lights, a young woman twice and she almost instantly disappears.

Cumberland, Ky. Benham Inn

Sounds of children running in the hallways, and the sounds of a child's laughter in the distance, slamming doors and lights turning off and on by themselves.

Cumberland, Ky. Lynch Mountain

Reports of an apparition of "Headless Annie" laying on the hood of a car when it stalls out, when she is gone, it starts back up.

Cumberland, Ky. Power Street

It is believed that a little girl haunts this neighborhood. The people that live there tell at night they hear noises like someone trying to get into doors and windows. If you look out they say you can see where her mother hit her in the head with an ax. It is believed she is hunting the people who did not come to her rescue when her mother was doing this to her.

Cumberland Falls Sawyer, Ky. Cumberland bridge

a while back a couple was getting married, but their parents would not let them so they both jump off the bridge and you can see the woman’s ghost at night crying.

Cynthiana, Ky. WCYN radio station building

It is the oldest building in Cynthiana. It used to be a house. The old occupants still haunt the building because they don't like that their house has been turned into a business and abused. There are voices, sightings, and objects mysteriously moving.

Dawson Springs, Ky. Lick Creek Cemetery

Numerous incidents have been reported over the years at this small cemetery just outside Dawson Springs. Glowing eyes, ghosts of the dead, things appearing and disappearing.

Dawson Springs, Ky. Olney Road

McNeeley graveyard - about 3 miles down Olney Road. A road to the right Walter Calvert road. Up the road about 1 mile a graveyard on right named McNeeley. You will hear a baby crying at night. - Always get permission or tell the proper authorities before exploring this site after hours.

Dawson Springs, Ky. West Hopkins accelerated school

There are rumors that the school is haunted. slamming doors, doors not opening, and hearing things.

Diamond, Ky. Wynn Cemetery

Rumors are there are 2 bodies of people who were believed to witches, buried in this cemetery. They both have an above-ground body coffin (they were thrown in the ground and cement was poured over them). The cemetery also used to have 3 trees on which the witches were hanged. Every anniversary of the night they were killed you will hear and see things. There is also a change in the climate in which after you walk into the gates that surround the cemetery.

Dunmor, Ky. Peach Orchard Rd.

sounds of the man who was killed and rolled off the hill on peach orchard rd. can still be heard

Eddyville, Ky. Kentucky State Penitentiary

Many inmates, the correctional office says that numerous ghosts haunt this former castle.

Eddyville, Ky. Lyon county elem. gymnasium girl’s bathroom

A 9-year-old girl named Lisa is said to haunt this bathroom. she was stabbed, and her ghost now haunts the restroom. you can hear her knocking on the door, screaming, shadows on the walls, water coming on, and misplaced items. it is also said that she has torn down the doors to the stalls.

Elizabethtown, Ky. Bethlehem Academy

Now a restaurant, this old house used to be a convent later a hotel. It is said that several nuns were murdered here along with others. Cold spots are present and during restaurant hours chairs are moved and things are misplaced. Drive by at any hour after midnight and you will see windows open and close along with lights being turned on and off. If you're brave enough walk up on the porch and feel the bad feelings that seem to radiate from the building.

Elizabethtown, Ky. Gates of Hell cemetery

The "Gates of Hell" is the nickname of a cemetery at the end of St. John Road. In Elizabethtown, the cemetery at the end of Saint Johns road, known as Gates of Hell, is said to be haunted. The interesting thing about this haunted place is that when traveling to the cemetery one of the last buildings you see is Elizabethtown’s other haunted place, Bethlehem Academy. No more than a couple of miles to the end of the road where surrounded by trees and overgrowth the cemetery contains the graves of unknown people from the 1700s and 1800s. The place right outside the remains of the iron and stone gate is where people go to party away from town. Many years ago, while parked there at night witnesses report they watched an enormous green orb suddenly suspended right above them. After a couple of long minutes, the orb shot straight up so fast that it was out of sight in a second. Others have claimed other phenomena while hanging out at the cemetery such as hearing screams, seeing shadow people, having electrical problems with their cars, and becoming so scared that many of them never returned.

Eolia, Ky. Arlie Boggs Elementary

There used to be downstairs bathrooms in the school back in the late 1900's but after many reports on a baby crying down there and due to the need for new bathrooms more where built upstairs and the bottom one sealed off. Now at night, you can hear a baby crying and the sound of an older woman, thought to be the mother, saying, "LET ME OUT", and beating on the floorboards.

Erlanger, Ky. Narrow's Road

Narrow's Road is a winding back road. In the 1950s a police officer was hit and killed pulling someone over. Local legend says that if you drive this road at midnight, an officer will pull you over in a 1950's style cruiser talk to you, then go back to his car and disappear.

Evarts, Ky. Black Mountain Elementary school

In the Black Mountain elementary school, they have been things seen in the girl’s locker home in the gym they have been names hollowed out. People have often heard kids laughing and shoes tapping on the floor.

Evarts, Ky. Coxton

On rainy or foggy nights, a woman can be seen either on the side of the road or in the back of the car. It is said that one night her and her husband got into a fight and he beat her and threw her out of the car and left her to die, now she will take rides to try to get back home.

Evarts, Ky. Eastbrook

Many residents of the apartment complex have told that they have heard cries for help in the middle of the night and have seen random faces appearing in their home many have had exorcism done on the homes.

Evarts, Ky. Evarts High School

The band room is told to be haunted. Many students have heard strange noises and seen ghostly figures in the band room. It is also said to be haunted by a janitor that died in the basement. He was found covered with coal and nobody ever found out what exactly happened.

Evarts, Ky. Hwy 38

If you stop on the side of on the second curve a head- less woman will get in and ride so far. She was claimed to have been killed in the old sawmill off in the woods. She was reported to have been raped and murdered, but there have been many other versions of this story reported over the years.

Feds Creek, Ky. Feds Creek High School

water faucets coming on and off. Televisions in classrooms blinking on and off with no intentions. Bats and crows (blackbirds) coming in and out of the windows or sitting on the windowsills. It is a place that is dark and damp anyways, but the strange Phenomena that goes on is still horrifying

Fisherville, Ky. The Trestles

There was supposed to have been a little boy who lived in the house next to the creek under the trestles. He went out one day to watch a train go by from the top of the hill and fell onto the tracks, he was then run over. If you drive under the trestles right at dusk, you can see his blue shirt blowing in the wind stuck in the middle of the tracks, and him waving to you from the tracks.

Flemingsburg, Ky. Simons Middle School

Auditorium - there have been reports of footsteps being heard coming down the large aisle and echoing in the room. They are that of a man wearing what sounds like hard-soled dress shoes.

Florence, Ky. Bone Lick Park

You can drive down the road in which it is located and experience phenomenal things. Things such as whispers, undeclared figures, and unknown noises. This supposedly happens to a numerous amount of people. Like the spirit is looking for help. THE BONE LICK PARK is a place in which is Indian related. There are buffalo and such in the park. Many believe that the noises have to do with cries of many children who wander off into the woods surrounding the area and never return because of an evil spirit who takes lives because his was taken. Some people also say that this person was murdered there and is just in search of the killer (in look for help). This is a tourist attraction around Kentucky and fewer cases have happened because of this. So, on some night drive down that road and get out of your car and walk on the outskirts of the woods and you may be able to hear the cries.

Florence, Ky. Yealey Elementary

When they were redoing the cafeteria, a worker got decapitated by a falling light fixture. He's seen after hours by the cleaning staff juggling his head and laughing.

Floyd, Ky. Prestonsburg

Cliffside Apartments - The apartments are said to be built on an Indian barrel ground. Strange things happen there. Unoccupied apartments with lights on, the sound of footsteps walking up and down the stairs. A ghostly figure of a man appearing in closets of children. TV's turning on by themselves. The dials of radio's turning by themselves. It is definitely a very haunted place.

Floyd, Ky. Wayland

Millcreek - in 1956 there was a coal mines collapse that killed 26workers at night you can walk down the road the miners will follow you and you can see the miners go into the mines wearing their hardhats with light.

Fort Thomas, Ky. Carmel Manor Nursing Home

A young woman in the late 1800s was murdered and decapitated at this location--the killer took her head and threw in a well located at Bobby Mackey's bar in Wilder, Ky (another haunted place seen on Unsolved mysteries) --The spirit of the headless woman is said to roam the grounds. Unexplained noises come from the 3rd floor of the assisted living wing of the nursing home--Some staff and residents have claimed to have seen the ghost of "pearl"-The nursing home is run by the Carmelite Sisters--do not go uninvited as this is a nursing home and respect the residents that reside there - WARNING - the area is highly patrolled by Ft. Thomas police in addition to Carmel Manor Security.

Fort Thomas, Ky. Highlands High School

Highlands High School is haunted by a former student named David Cecil. He was a football player and suffered a fatal accident during a home football game. What was the locker room at the time was turned into the music/band room and is constantly full of paranormal activity. Chimes will swing, symbols will slide down the split-level floor, his "spot" gets icy cold when it's disturbed, trophies will fall from the shelves, and a door with no knob or lock will shake uncontrollably as if someone were locked inside that closet (you hear and see this as it happens), and the TV goes on and off "by itself". And sometimes, during home games if you look into the band room from the stands of David Cecil Memorial Stadium, you can see a figure of a teenage boy peering through the window even though no one is allowed access after school hours but the band members

Foster, Ky. Foster Dam

Many people have been killed, died accidental and committed suicide at this location. If you go you can always feel the presence of somebody who has died there.

Frankfort, Ky. Liberty Hall

Lady Grey haunts this building along with a ghostly Indian and soldier. There is also a young woman in the back yard that was murdered. And another woman inside the house. So, altogether there are five ghosts there

Frankfort, Ky. Old State Office Building

During renovation of the office building, several workers have stated that they have felt like they were grabbed by something in stair tower #2. This building is located on the old State Penitentiary grounds.

Franklin, Ky. Octagon House

Spirits of civil war soldiers are said to still haunt the house. no one really knows why they are there but there are many visitors to experience this spine chilling oddly shaped house.

Frenchburg, Ky. Carrington Rock

Images of Confederate Soldiers have been seen on and around this very high sandstone rock formation, it has been said, this was once a lookout post during the civil war. Also, there have been several sightings of a woman who paces around on top and for a few minutes and then plunges herself over the edge. Her screams, as she falls, can be heard up to a mile away. The forest and surrounding hollows in this area have produced sounds of orders coming from soldiers on the battlefield, moans, cries of agonizing pain, and sightings of both confederate and union soldiers. Carrington Greens Golf Course has had reports from several of their customers about weird noises and seeing soldiers on the course, which is located on most of the battlefield.

Frenchburg, Ky. Tar Ridge

Locals call this area of roadway the "devil’s backbone". Sightings include solders riding house back late into the night. As well as a woman running down the road with blood coming from her mouth where her tongue was removed. An old man walking along holding a lighted lantern and many more. The ghosts also have been said to haunt several of the homes along the roadway.

Glasgow, Ky. Coral Hill Road

Reports from a man walking home one night of an apparition of a white transparent headless horseman. Later, members of his family report it followed him home and it had been seen outside the home when they awoke to see him in the yard and the doors open.

Grayson, Ky. Big Clifty

A Woman having just left her husband, was on her way to her mother's house when her car hydroplaned off a small bridge. If you pass the bridge around the same time of the accident you can hear the baby cry from the trapped car. Ten years later the same bridge takes two more lives on a rainy night. Two 18-year-old boys a week shy of their high school graduation drowned after hydroplaning off the bridge. Both accidents happened at the same exact time.

Greensburg, Ky. Courthouse

Greensburg has the oldest courthouse in Kentucky. The courthouse was in use until 1931. Sounds of courtroom activity, talking and footsteps have been reported. Whether you are stopping in or passing through the small town, the courthouse will draw your attention with its historical presence outside and from within.

Greensburg, Ky. Old Greensburg Elementary

The school is about to be torn down however years ago a lady was said to have jumped out of one of the upper-level windows and killed herself on the ground below. Also, if you walk next to the large windows on the side of the building you are supposed to be able to see a little girl in a white nightgown hanging in the window. Many people go there at night and claim to see and hear strange things.

Hardburly, Ky. an old graveyard

A graveyard around the mountain in Hardburly is haunted. fog like thing moves around a headstone.

Hardburly, Ky. Coal Spring

Hardburly is an old mining camp in Kentucky. It has legends of hauntings. One is Coal Spring, a stretch of road that lines Jake Branch Stream. It’s here they say you can hear a child scream, with no one there. The story is a boy drown in flood waters there. He still screams. In the 1970s a guy was chased by an unseen thing. Faster he ran it ran, just behind him. He stopped to catch his breath it was heard gasping for air also. After he got up a bank he did not hear it any more.

Hardy, Ky. Mudlick Road

In the early 1980's it has been told that exactly 1/4 a mile up Mudlick Road a white house has been haunted. Usually at 1:20 a.m. you will hear a little girl named Abby whispering, "Get me out!!" They have also been residences say you can hear the doors cracking and footsteps on the front porch.

Harlan, Ky. Bardo Hollow

Up in Catrons Creek in a hollow named Bardo Hollow every spring, there is a mysterious light that appears at the end of the hollow. It usually stays up there and eventually disappears but there have been times that the light will start floating down to the bottom of the hollow. It has been seen for many years.

Harlan, Ky. Cardinal Financial Services

There have been numerous encounters of a female ghost named Cheyenne. There are keys rattling and doors slamming. It has been reported that you can feel Cheyenne walk up behind you and breathe down your neck. When you turn around, she's gone.

Harlan, Ky. Closplint

Childscreek - it is said that on a cold, rainy night that you can see a headless man by the name of Doc walking up and down the hollow trying to find his head and the people that cut it off.

Harlan, Ky. Hall Elementary

Footsteps heard, apparitions seen. The story is a male janitor died from falling into the furnace.

Harlan, Ky. Pine Mountain

at the top of the mountain some nights you can see a ghostly figure of a lady on a dark night.

Harlan, Ky. Wallins creek

Watts creek - there are several hauntings in the small community one that most people in this community has experienced is an old coal miner who died in an explosion he still walks the old path from his mines to his home and is seen quite often.

Harlan County, Ky. East Brook

Residents of the Eastbrook apartments have heard little girls in their bathrooms talking about putting on makeup. And heard voices calling for help and constant banging on doors and a cry for help.

Harrodsburg, Ky. Pepsi-cola warehouse

Television changes channels, Lights, ceiling fans turn on/off by themselves. Doors close, unlock and open by themselves. Cold spots reported at times. Employees feel as if being watched at times.

Harrodsburg, Ky. Shaker Village

Unwanted children were once reportedly thrown into a pond by the Shakers. This was verified generations later when the pond was drained, revealing scores of baby skeletons. It is said that sometimes at night, one can hear the babies crying.

Harrodsburg, Ky. Young's Park

Young's Park was the site of a ball in the late 1800s. A young woman is said to have danced herself to death. Her grave is still there and marked UNKNOWN. People have reported seeing her dancing there late at night.

Hatfield, Ky. big creek

A woman has been seen walking along the railroad tracks, that had got married the same day she was struck by a train in the 1940's. Also, the coal mines, workers have seen a man on his knees working that had been killed several years before, also they have seen men coming out with their mining lights on. There have been several hauntings on big creek too many to be told on here, there are also several houses as well.

Hebron, Ky. Country Place

Many people who have once lived here have reported a weird occurrence. You will sometimes hear beads fall down your steps and your dogs may sometimes stair up the stairs and have an uncontrollable bark. This site is believed to be built on an Indian burial ground. You may sometimes see scratch marks on the trees, because this was how Indians cut their fingernails.

Hi Hat, Ky. Cemetery On a hill overlooking the Hi Hat post office

It’s a spot through the years that a lot have people have visited over the years, so it is telling what has happened there. Anyway, if you visit this cemetery late at night like 1 or 2 something will sound like it is running beside the old church banging very hard on the walls. Sometimes this unseen force that will rock your whole vehicle will slam your whole vehicle. It has a weird feeling like your being watched, and you can see things that can’t be there. It’s really a creepy place.

Hickman, Ky. Wilson Hill

Many years ago, a little girl was murdered and decapitated there. Her body was thrown off the hill. At night if you park your car there and flash your headlights three times the little girl will come walking up the hill with her head in her arms.

Highland Heights, Ky. NKU

Alumni House - This house once belonged to a farming family who owned the land where Northern Kentucky University now sits. The house is now used as the Alumni House for gatherings and functions. At times locked doors are unable to be unlocked. Mysterious footsteps on the second floor where the bedrooms are and the toilet on the second-floor flushing by itself. In the second-floor window, a person can be seen standing at the window with the curtain held back at times seen from outside. The longer you stand there looking at the window the person disappears, and the curtain will fall back into place.

Hindman, Ky. Motel 80

Years ago, a man is said to have found his wife, and another guy together. He shot and killed the other man. Today it’s said the ghost of the man killed is haunting the motel. lights go on and off. sounds of walking can be heard, and no one is found.

Hodgenville, Ky. Creekfront Tunnel

Sounds of a loud stomping as if someone was jumping up and down as hard as they could.

Hopkinsville, Ky. Riverside Cemetery

This is the burial site of Edgar Cayce, A civil war General Killed in Hopkinsville by a Union sympathizer and One of the Bell Kids. (yes, associated with the Bell Witch and Adams Tennessee) There have been reports of screams in the cemetery, People staring out of the front gate and strong smells of Lilac even in the winter when snow is on the ground.

Honey Bee, Ky. Cumberland Falls State Park

Back in the early 1950s a bride & Groom came to Cumberland Falls State Park for their honey moon but, their honeymoon turned fatal soon after. They were at the falls area when they decided to tour the park. As they hiked down through the park trails, they came to one of the overlooks, facing back toward the falls were the view of the falls was a perfect place for a photo shoot. After standing and waiting for that perfect last view, the Bride then stood atop one of the pillars to have her picture taken. As the Groom started to take the picture, she screamed his name for the last time as she fell 73 feet to her death. This overlook is now what they call "Lovers Leap ". An apparition of a floating woman motioning you to come to here has been reported. A Ranger was patrolling around the park we he was heading to the Falls Area when women dressed in a wedding gown walked right out in front of him and hitting her. When he realized he hit this woman he stopped his vehicle and began to check on the women but to his surprise, there was known one to be found. To this day he fills this was the bride who died on that fatal summer night.

Hyden, Ky. Hendover

Tugs point - you hear horses and wagons coming down the river. hooves and guns.

Jackson, Ky. Combs cemetery

Many sightings and noises within the graveyard.

Jackson, Ky. Frozen Creek

July 5, 1939, Frozen Creek was suddenly flooded killing hundreds. One of the most tragic events in Eastern Kentucky History. Supposedly you can hear children's cries at this site which was once a school/church before the flood.

Jackson, Ky. Jackson Independent School

Haunted by a young girl who met her death after falling down a flight of stairs during a fire alarm. - October 2004 correction/additional information: It was a young girl who suffered from seizures. She had one on the stairs one night during a PTA meeting. It was in the 20s or 30s. There have been lockers opened during the night, books scattered up and down the halls. The face of a little girl in the window at night; janitors have chased the apparition down the hall, thinking it was a real child, doors open and close in the old high school building, etc. Her name was "Maxine”. She is not a malicious ghost.

Jackson, Ky. Jefferson Hotel

Many can hear the sounds of the man who was gunned down on the entrance steps.

Jessamine, Ky. Nicholasville

West Jessamine High School - There is an old family cemetery on the grounds. It is enclosed by an old rock wall. The football field was also used as a mass grave during a cholera epidemic. It is also said that three women were hung on a tree in the old family cemetery. They had been accused of witchcraft. Teachers have told of hearing a woman humming while walking the halls. Also, the smell of rose perfume will suddenly overtake a room. If you visit the school after dark you may see shadow figures in the old cemetery. If you leave your car and go down to the cemetery your car will start by itself and the lights will go on and off. Custodians have also told of seeing three ladies, all dressed in red walking side by side in the halls at night.

Knott County, Ky. Caney

Late at night at about 10 o'clock you can walk along the side of the hill, an unseen force in the hills follow you as you walk down the path.

Knox, Ky. Barbourville

Union College - Pfeiffer Hall - In room 212 there is said to be a ghost that haunts the dorm. You can hear her run through the halls and slam doors. No one knows why she is here, they think that maybe she died here.

Latonia, Ky. Value City Department Store

The store is haunted by a man who died in the store in December of 2006. He had worked there for 30 years and he can be seen wandering in the back of the store by where the house wares and toy department is. He has also been seen walking around on the back dock in the early morning.

Lawrence, Ky. Webbville

Diamond Ridge - Irish Creek - For years many of the local people have reported a noise in the woods. If you walk down a particular stretch of the road you can hear something walking with you. A very religious lady, not from the area, said it is the devil himself. She says he walks the ridge. This area has an unusual amount of murders and suicides reported in and near it.

Lebanon, Ky. The Caldwell House

Things fly off the walls out of the blue during the night, They're Christmas photos showed up with blotches of "fog", and at night they turn the heat up VERY high because it gets extremely cold!

Lebanon, Ky. St. Ivos Cemetery

people have experienced when they went there to investigate the haunting of this place they left a video camera on one of the graves and as they were seen walking away in their video when they played it back the camera zoomed in on them and followed them wherever they walked then the camera fell off the grave and went foggy. Reports of voices and other strange noises heard.

Lecher, Ky. Doty creek

on every Halloween night (at 12:00) there is suspected to be a ghost dog coming back to haunt the person that lives in his master home. His master died by a robber who shot the dog and his master four times each. the ghost dog comes every other year, the dog is suspected to be seen the thirty-first of October 2001. we do not know for a fact that he will come this year, but we do know he has come every other year since the happening in October 31, 1911.

Leslie County, Ky. Wotton

W.B. Muncy school - Ghost from the graveyard above the school. and, a ghost from the hills behind the school. a man working in the log woods lost his head and he walks the grounds of the school in the fall trying to find it.

Lexington, Ky. Campbell House Inn

This haunted hotel is very spooky, not to mention very old. Two women have been said to have been murdered here, one on the steps where one woman was stabbed to death. You can still see bloodstains in the carpet on the stairs. Another was shot in one of the third story rooms. Strange happenings have occurred such as doors slamming and seeing things that really aren’t there.

Lexington, Ky. Hunt-Morgan House

The previous residents have stayed here to haunt it.

Lexington, Ky. Leestown Division VA Hospital

Made up of many different buildings and a huge, wooded grounds area, the Leestown Division of the VA Hospital in Lexington has been the site of several strange and frightening occurrences. Haunting images of several ghosts have been seen, as well as screams and moans, doors slamming, footsteps, disembodied voices talking and equipment and appliances turning on and off by themselves.

Lexington, Ky. Lexington Cemetery

The tomb has the feel of anger and often a large black blob can be seen in the back of the mausoleum.

Lexington, Ky. Loudoun House

Loudoun house is an 1852 Gothic Villa that was once home to the families of Francis Key Hunt and William Cassius Goodloe that is home to the Lexington Art League. A partial list of activities includes a Victorian woman who haunts the western half of the house, an apparition of a black cat, the apparition of another Victorian woman seen in the former dining room. The aroma of an antique floral perfume in one of the upstairs rooms now used as a studio, voices and distant strains of ballroom music are sometimes heard.

Lexington, Ky. The Mansion-Griffin Gate

This historic building was once used as a house. A teenager named Gretta lived in it. It is now a restaurant, but employees always warn people about the blue room. It was Gretta's when she lived there. One night she hung herself in her room because a guy had stood her up or turned her down for a date. Visitors claim in the blue room (her room) and every so often the lights and candles would flicker, and you'd feel a cold breeze go across your legs, even though there were no vents. A few other people also noticed it too. Then if someone made her mad, Gretta would slam the shutters on the windows and sway the chandeliers a bit

Lexington, Ky. Transylvania University

There is said to have been a suicide here and at night in a certain dorm you can wake up and see a male student standing in front of your bed with a pair of gym shorts on.

Lexington, Ky. Transylvania University

Founder's Cabin - There is a myth that the founder put a curse on it when he died.

Lexington, Ky. University of Kentucky

Guignol Theatre - Witnesses report feeling as if being watched.... strange banging noises at night. Some claim to have a seen a ghostly man wandering the catwalk or the lighting booth.

Liberty, Ky. Wilson Ridge Hill

A woman in a flowing white bridal gown has been seen wandering and peeking from behind the trees many times over the years. She never makes a sound, but some have come close to her and it's said that she wears a veil to cover her face. No one knows who she may be, however, there is a grave yard and a church at the bottom of the hill ... most certainly her final resting place. She is simply called, "The Bride".

London, Ky. East Bernstadt

No. 8 Tunnel in the old tunnel - It has been said that a man named old Caleb or Caleb red eyes that walks the old tunnel at midnight. The reason his name was Caleb red eyes is that he was always drunk, and his eyes were bloodshot. It's been said that if you turn your vehicle off and lights you can hear him singing and the sound of him will get closer and closer and if you wait long enough you will see a figure that looks just like a person.

London, Ky. McWhorter

Rubin Ridge - There is a tale of a young man riding his four-wheeler when he comes upon a truck parked under a tree which is up on a coal bank. Upon further inspection he finds a man hanging from the tree inches from the tailgate. They say if you ride down to the bottom of the coal bank and shut off your four-wheeler and turn off your lights you can hear the sound of a rope rubbing against the tree. Just as soon as you turn your lights on the sound will stop.

London, Ky. Sue Bennett College

they say the dorms and the theater are haunted and that Bell Bennett roams the halls all night playing the piano’s turning off and on lights and watching people sleep that still stay there if you go in your sure to find something

Louisville, Ky. Cave Hill

Witnesses have seen green lights moving around in cave hill in Louisville. They have also heard noises and graves falling down. If you wait by the back gate it can be heard miles away.

Louisville, Ky. Central State

A phantom man on a tall black horse has been sighted.

Louisville, Ky. Cherokee Cemetery

Witnesses report flashing lights, the scream of a man, and was chased by an unseen force.

Louisville, Ky. Eastern Cemetery

His cemetery has graves dating back to the eighteenth century. It is now in horrible condition. It is said that some of the dead haunt it, angry that the cemetery is in such bad shape. There is supposedly a ghost of a woman that takes care of the babies, who have their own section in the back.

Louisville, Ky. Formerly Hoffman Lighting

Later River City Lighting - Owned by two men one of which killed the other in the showroom. The accused killer was found not guilty. A manager at the showroom from 1979-81 would come in before anyone else to do some work. Very distinct footsteps could be heard in the warehouse above my office. Many people heard this ghost at different times.

Louisville, Ky. Harvey Browne Church

There are variety of things that happen at the church each night. Around 5:00 pm a strange presence can be felt in the largest chapel in the church. This wing during this is time should be pretty much unpopulated. There is even more though. Around 7:00 pm- 9:30pm about things start to get a lot stranger, you can hear footsteps, foot scuffing, and sometimes knocks. there are at least three spirits that haunt the chapel, a male presence was felt. Reports of what sounded like a little girl and mother or older woman laughing.

Louisville, Ky. Hebron Lane Cemetery

on moon lit nights you can see the ghost of Hebron Lane. It is an old woman walking through the cemetery among the headstones carrying a lantern. She is dressed in a long dress with a long apron, and she has a covering over her head. She holds the lantern up high looking in the trees, (some trees are no longer there), the story goes that she is trying to find her cat in the trees. She appears mostly around Halloween. However, she can be seen at other times as well.

Louisville, Ky. Louisville Theater

In the theatre lighting booth an old light tech had a heart attack and died. Since, employees have heard strange noises and have found his name written in the dust in the catacombs that run throughout the theatre.

Louisville, Ky. Meyzeek Middle School

back in the 1930's a young boy was shot in the lobby of the school. To this day he haunts there. At this school there is a lock-in for the graduating 8th graders. Each year they have had a lock-in, something has happened. One witness reports someone's belongings went missing, someone broke a finger, and another sprained her ankle while running down the stairs. She claimed that something had pushed her. In years past people had reported missing items, strange noises, and so-called accidents.

Louisville, Ky. Middletown

Woodland Hills - While driving on one of the roads in Woodland Hills, a lady in her 90's with white hair and black eyes, runs after your car and takes a picture. It is to be known that her husband died in a hit and run, and the lady runs out of nowhere and takes the pictures of the vehicle. The woman’s basement is filled with pictures on her walls, of cars, and teenagers. However, when you take a picture of her, it doesn't come out, but in the film’s negatives, you see a white mark. The lady goes by the name of "The Watcher on Davidson", and to her neighbors, she died twenty years ago.

Louisville, Ky. Phoenix Hill Tavern

Footsteps coming down the stairs and across the Saloon. White-colored flashes in mirrors. The taproom area is extremely old and has cold spots in air when otherwise warm. Objects get moved, disappear for a while, then show back up in the same place. All this happens when no one else is around to have caused it.

Louisville, Ky. Portland Family Health Center

Old Army Hospital - In the back of the property is the original two-story hospital, which was built before the civil war. It was built near the banks of the Ohio river, for easier access to the river. It was used to treat army soldiers. Also used in the Civil War. They stopped using the building because of the said hauntings. People have seen soldiers walking around and have heard strange noises. Windows and doors have been seen to open and close on their own. Lights have been seen on at night when not a person is there.

Louisville, Ky. Rose Bowl Lanes

Employees and customers have witnessed TV sets and pin machines turning on and off only to have found them un-plugged, accompanied by the apparition of a woman.

Louisville, Ky. The Deaf Community Center, Inc.

Formerly known as the Hampton House. It was habited by the Hampton Family in the 1800's. The house had many parties and balls there. Mrs. Hampton always burned a lamp in the second-floor window when Mr. Hampton was not home. The lamp still burns at night when no one is they're watching for Mr. Hampton to come home. The elevator, which was installed after their deaths, goes up and down the 3-story building and opens at every floor as if someone is looking for someone. The spirit of Mrs. Hampton can be seen at times walking the halls of the house.

Louisville, Ky. The Jefferson Mall

The screams of a small boy can be heard coming from the mall's main restrooms.

Louisville, Ky. The Speed Museum

A female ghost is said to appear in the basement and other poltergeist activities occur in the basement of the establishment.

Louisville, Ky. Sleepy Hollow

there have also been reports by locals of hearing a woman crying while parked close to the old dam.

Louisville, Ky. Spring Street Bar and Grill

A ghost of an old man walks the 2nd floor of this restaurant at night when the employees are closing the bar. There is no information currently who he is (was). All the employees and owners who go to this storage area on the second floor report their hair standing on end when they are upstairs in this space. This building is at least 80 years old.

Louisville, Ky. Tucker Station swimming area

The Tucker Station swimming area used to be a large lake that was open to the public during the 1980's. So many young children drowned because of the height of the diving platforms. The diving platforms are three stories high and many inexperienced children would jump off without adult supervision. Stories say that you can still here the children playing in the lake.

Louisville, Ky. Sleepy Hollow

Sleepy Hollow off US42, Brownsboro Road - Reports of phantom cars, a three-legged dog and a deserted house boat where lights have been seen.

Louisville, Ky. The Seelbach Hotel

Reports of running footsteps in the hallway on wooden floors (the floor is carpeted. TV's will come on during the 4AM hour blaring, then after 15 minutes just stop.

Louisville, Ky. Waverly Manor/Waverly Hills

Old T.B. and Mental hospital. Includes crematory and body slide. Several cold spots and a young girl has been spotted on several floors but mostly in the basement and on the third floor. Sighting of a young boy with dark hair in old fashioned clothing and hat, by main entrance (golf course) but watch out if you see him he will come up to you wanting to go home with you. Local rumors are that he was a victim of a doctor who performed illegal experiments on his patients. There is also a body chute that is said to be haunted. The chute was used to transport the dead bodies of TB patients who had died so that the other patients wouldn't see them carting all the dead bodies out of the hospital. Many strange figures and noises can still be heard. The overall feeling of dread in the entire building. - January 2007 Additional information. A visitor has 12 photos out of about 50 that they personally took, and they have orbs in them (one photo has over 20 orbs, and it hadn't rained in days, and there was nothing for light to reflect off).

Williamsburg, Ky. Route 92E

there is rumored to be a black panther that roams the forests at night and then disappear. Locals call it the Mulberry Black Thing.

Lyon County, Ky. Lyon County Elementary

It has been said that in the girl’s bathroom in the gym that a little 9-year-old named Lisa died there. She has haunted the bathroom since her death. People have seen shadows, heard screaming, seen things moving, and seen water come on by itself. Even if you knock on the closet door you will hear her knocking back. It's also been said that she has gotten so angry that she tore the doors off the stalls.

Madisonville, Ky. Grapevine Cemetery

There is a statue of an Angel in the Grapevine Cemetery and it is said that her eyes turn red and bleed and she cries for all the dead babies. There are two different versions of the story to the angel of the grapevine cemetery. One is that at midnight on a full moon she will look up at you and her eyes will leak blood. My friends mother said she saw that about twenty years ago, the story of my generation goes as all my friends grew up within minutes of the cemetery, that her head has been broken off and sits atop her body and her right-wing is broken off and laying in the ground. It is said that if you knock off her head that she will curse you with bad luck and you might die, however, if you place her wing on her then she will give you one wish. There is another story of a grave there, I don't know which one but that you pull up in front of it and roll down all your windows open your trunk and doors and turn a love song up loud, because some guy committed suicide after his girlfriend left him, the ghost of a young teenager will scream a death roar and you have to get the trunk closed along with the doors and roll up the windows before he gets to your car or you will die.

Marion, Ky. Baker Hollow Road Cemetery

Many different things occur at this cemetery. It is located off Baker Church Road going toward Morganfield. You turn to the left off Baker Church Road on to Baker Hollow Road. There is one cemetery behind the church on the left. After you pass this church there is a fork in the road, follow it to the left and this is where everything begins. However, on a good night, it begins when you first turn on the road. You must go after dark but the best time to go is around or after midnight. This cemetery disappears and then reappears in different locations. However, it will not show itself when you drive down the road. You must drive down to the end of the road and turn around and come back to see the cemetery. You will know when you are close to the cemetery because you will have an overwhelming feeling of sadness and will begin to cry for no apparent reason. You will see and hear various things. Sometimes you can hear music playing, laughter, screams and hear things trying to get in your vehicle. There have also been fingerprints and dents in vehicles visitors have taken but there as well as scratches that came from the outside but went all the way through the glass. If you are lucky enough to find the cemetery and drive up into it, you will not be able to drive out. It is so spiritually active that it drains the battery of your car leaving you stranded until the morning or until you get brave enough to push your car out. There have been images of Soldiers killing each other and those around them. There have been sightings of the dense woods opening where you can see more than you should. The fork in the road rolls and a dense mist appears and disappears as you drive the road. There is also a guardian dog. This dog closely resembles the "Hounds of Hell" as described in the Bible. This dog has dead yellow eyes and casts the shadow of a demon when it gets ready to disappear in the triangle at the fork in the road. The dog appears to be injured when it first appears on the side of the road, thus making you want to stop and pick it up, which in turn gives an open invitation to any spirit that is around. When you fail to pick up the dog things begin to change. The dog will walk a few steps and then turn to see if you are still following it. However, if you speed up the dog will speed up, if you slow down it will slow down, if you go to the left it will go to the left, if you go to the right it will go to the right and it is impossible to run over this dog. There have also been sightings of wrecked vehicles with people screaming for help. Due to the period when this cemetery was beginning you will see images of men who were hung from the trees out this road before and after you pass the cemetery. You will also see images of dead family members calling to you. You will also experience a change in the weather when you turn out this road. For instance, it will be raining before you turn on the road, but when you turn on to this road the rain mysteriously stops, and the mist begins until you exit this road where the rain will start again. There are many other things that occur out this road, but you must be very alert and very open to the spirit world and you cannot show fear, or it can take your soul, according to the legend. There are many trapped souls at this location that will mess with you. Make sure you do not have an open invitation of any kind. This means windows rolled up and doors locked. These spirits can also communicate with you through your dreams if you will let them. So, go if you dare just don't show fear! Everyone sees something different when they go to this location so be prepared to be scared.

Marion, Ky. Pilot's Knob

Witches Grave - This cemetery is located off Ford's Ferry Road in Marion. The legend behind this cemetery is about a five-year-old girl who was burned at the stake, along with her mother, in the late 1800s to the early 1900s for witchcraft. It is not known what happened to the body of the mother, however, the little girl, Mary Evelyn, is buried in a steel lined grave that is covered with rock and not dirt. She has a white picket fence surrounding her grave. The base of this fence is a series of crosses that connect end to end. However, she is not tall enough to climb over the fence, unlike a normal 5-year-old. Her tombstone looks brand new even though it is close to 100 years old, as does the fence. She paces inside this fence when someone comes to visit her making faces at them and reaching out to them. She sleeps during the day but is very evident at night. The legend also says that she cannot rest because she is searching for her mother but cannot escape the confines of the fence. Many unexplainable things occur at this cemetery. For one the "Watcher" makes himself very know and tries to follow you out of the cemetery. The "Watcher" was murdered at the swinging bridge but haunts the witch’s grave. He is trying to get to the little witch but because of the crosses that surround her he is unable to because he is evil. Crosses appear in the trees both upright and upside down, directly over her grave, though they face different directions. She presents herself as a normal 5-year-old little girl in a white dress, though her dress is scorched at the bottom as is her blonde hair. If you lay on her grave she will hold you down refusing to let go until someone from outside of the fence pulls you free. However, never lay on the grave when you are alone because chances are you will be pulled into her grave to be with her thus giving her more power. As with every haunted cemetery people that are open to the spirit world see something different.

Martin, Ky. Arkansas Creek

a man in old army clothing is supost to be seen in the kitchen and roaming the hallways the land was an old cemetery.

Martin, Ky. Crum Branch

a lady has been seen walking around in a white dress with no head and asking the people she sees for their head.

Mayfield, Ky. Maplewood Cemetery

supposedly the angel tombstone located in the center of the cemetery will drop rocks on your head at the stroke of midnight if you're sitting on the bench beneath her feet...

Maysville, Ky. Hayswood hospital

Located at the north end of 4th street, Abandoned since the early '80s. People who live near it have said they have often seen strange lights in the windows and heard infant’s cries. Also, some have claimed to see a figure standing in the last window on the third floor both day and night. Others who have been inside since its closing have noticed an old stretcher that seems to move on its own, others have said to have been followed by shadows accompanied by voices and the feeling of being watched. Others have claimed to see doctors in the halls and heard the cries of past patients. Red glowing eyes and what seems to be some sort of dog that seems to be chasing something have been seen, also cold spots and children playing in the waiting rooms. In the basement and all over the building are strange markings as if they are warnings of some kind, anyone who goes in walks past, or drives by have said they felt sick and a threatening hostility. It is believed to haunt the entire town.

Maysville, Ky. Washington Opera house

A young girl named Maras performing on stage until she fell through a trap door and broke her neck. People that have performed at the Opera house Have seen a blue light where she fell to her death. There is also a reddish stain on the basements carpet.

McCracken, Ky. Paducah

CC Cohen Restaurant - Haunted History - CC Cohen Restaurant - Known to most Paducah residents as the Cohen building, this important structure was built around 1865, probably for M. Livingston & Company. Afterward, it became a clothing store, a dry goods store and in 1914, a Paducah City Directory identified the occupants as the R.L. Peacher Liquor Dealers and the Rehkopf Distilling Company

McCreary County, Ky. Granny's Old House

Built on an ancient Indian burial ground. In the middle of the night, you see balls of light flying at you. You can also hear footsteps, people talking, and doors slamming.

Midland, Ky. Jones cemetery

very large dark figures have been spotted several times in the past. For unknown reasons any visitor at night will encounter these large inhumanly figures and will be chased after by them.

Middlesboro, Ky. Middlesboro Park, near Greenwood Rd.

There was a little boy murdered there by the swings. They claim that she was out playing at night by herself and got raped and killed. If you walk down the park late at night around 12:00p.m., you can see visions on her swinging on the swings.

Morehead, Ky. Clack Mountain

In recent decades there has been occult activity. Satanic symbols have been sandblasted from the mountainsides but soon reappear. People report getting a "bad feeling" as they come into the vicinity of the long-abandoned sacrificial rock.

Morehead, Ky. Fleming Avenue

Cabin - Footsteps heard, apparitions are seen & items seem to move on their own right in front of the residents’ eyes.

Morehead, Ky. Morehead State University

Butler Hall - has had strange noises in the middle of the night and footsteps in empty rooms. And TV's and computers turn on by themselves. It is said to be haunted by three resident that have lived then died in the building previous years

Morehead, Ky. Morehead State University

Buttin Auditorium - in the 1980's a janitor was cleaning a large clock hanging off the balcony and apparently, he fell off the balcony and a chair broke his back and sometimes if you're sitting in the area he fell on you get a crushing sensation and a very odd smell.

Morehead, Ky. Morehead State University

Nunn Hall - A ghost of a former student named Penelope, is said to haunt Nunn Hall. Penelope is said to be seen late at night and in the early morning hours. She plays with lights and televisions, turning them on and off. The story of Penelope is that she was dating someone her parents did not approve of and she became pregnant by him. Unable to tell her parents about the pregnancy, she jumped from the ninth floor, falling to a tragic death.

Morehead, Ky. Morehead State University

Waterfield Hall - On the Third floor in room 358 you can hear screams, the TV goes and off and the door to the room and stairs open by themselves.

Morehead, Ky. Mr. Gatti's

A man named Carl is rumored to haunt this business. Years ago, this Mr. Gatti's was a saloon and Carl was shot in the head by a jealous man in the old apartment (now abandoned) above the store. Employees have reported seeing strange figures moving around the store, mostly during closing hours. Also, voices and noises have been heard in the office area. The strangest of all is employees finding evidence that a game back in the game room has just recently been played when there has not been a customer for hours.

Morgan County, Ky. Wrigley Hill

Just off 519 lays route 7 which flows across Wrigley Hill. Late at night people driving across Wrigley Hill have seen a woman hitch-hiking or the have seen her in their car.

Morganfield, Ky. Earl C. Clements Job Corps Center

there have been reports from students that men with old green army suits have been standing over them. Others say that they were strangled by a ghost while they were trying to sleep. You also feel like someone is watching you, doors close and open on their own. Sometimes you can feel something touching your shoulder and nothing is there. Some people say that General Breckinridge himself walks the hallways of the dormitories

Morgantown, Ky. Woodbury

Years ago, a little girl was left, or her parents/family had all died when she was only 2 or 4 years old. People have heard her crying and going up the stairs. People have blocked the house off, so people can't go in it. People have tried to tear it down, but the girl makes sounds and scares the workers away.

Mount Sterling, Ky. Old Windsor Nursing Home

The old Windsor nursing home is the old nursing home that is abandoned now. The story is that if you go up there late at night, you can peek in the windows and see the old wheelchairs rolling around. You can hear moaning and screaming. This nursing home was shut down in the 80's because they had many patients dying and found out it was abuse. So, their lost souls roam the halls.

Mount Sterling, Ky. Stepstone Church

In an abandoned church on Stepstone. The church still stands but the inside of the church was gutted by a fire long ago. A few men hung 4 teenage girls on a cross in the loft and set fire to the church. If you go at night, it is said you can hear them laugh, cry and see the shadows of them flying around. It is also known that if you do something to upset the girls, you will find hear them scream in rage.

Muhlenburg, Ky. Rosewood

Skipworth Cemetery - It is said that this cemetery, established in the 1800's, is patrolled at night by a Civil war soldier whose body is buried there. If you see a round, white light on a moonlight night in the spring of the year and are not family or friend you must exit the cemetery at once or your entire family will be cursed.

Munfordville, Ky. Hart County High School

A man fell down a manhole in the student parking lot. There are always strange things happening here, but it gets more active around the end of basketball season. You'll find locked doors open, lights turned on after they have been turned off, and in rm. 46 the air conditioners will be on in the mornings during the middle of winter.

Munfordville, Ky. Raider Holler

a little boy was drowned in this well known to be Jacob, this is his well and if you park your car by his well and turn off your vehicle and get out and holler for Jacob and say, "Jacob your mommy is here to get you, can you hear me." He'll be known to say help me mommy! DANGER!! this will happen!!!

Murray, Ky. Asbury Cemetery

Reports of an apparition that chases people. Sounds of a baby crying have also been reported.

Murray, Ky. Coles Campground Cemetery

Graves shift sometimes, strange noises can be heard in the surrounding woods, and this is just during the daytime. At night there is an odd feeling, a feeling of true urgency that is indescribable. Although it is too dark to see anything properly. The farther back you go in the graveyard the older the tombstones get. One is just a crudely carved stone slab that becomes illegible after a few lines.

Murray, Ky. Murray State University

Fine Arts Building - An apparition has been accompanied with very cold air. The Fine Arts elevators always seem to hang on the fourth floor; the significance of this is unknown. Anywhen you ride them there is a weird sense of impending doom.

Murray, Ky. Murray State University

Fine Arts Building -The elevator - they have completely gutted the elevator shaft several times to no avail the young female student who fell to her death in the shaft after the door opened and there was no elevator there. She takes out her revenge upon the riders of the elevator; the elevator shakes and rattles as it travels up and down the shaft. It stops constantly between floors; the doors constantly refuse to close.

Murray, Ky. Murray State University

Hester Hall - In 1998 there was a fire in Hester hall at Murray state university. A young man was purposely trapped in his room and perished in the fire. The room was room 402. The dorm reopened the following and only incoming freshmen were placed on the floor. Former resident claims Room 402 always had a scary presence about it and standing outside the door one felt watched. The room was kept empty and like all empty rooms it was supposed to be locked yet often if you walked up to the door it would be unlocked and even slightly opened on several occasions they with entered the room and closed the door it would open on its own. In room 406 you could on some nights hear a scratching sound on the door and if you opened it nothing would be there. The story is that the young man had escaped his room and was found dead of smoke inhalation outside of the hallway to elevator 406 was across from this hallway.

Murray, Ky. Murry State University

SigEp House - An old lady by the name of "Ma" Crawford rented rooms out to the brothers of Sigma Phi Epsilon at Murray State University when their house burned down in the 1970s. When she died, the brothers inherited the house and still live in it today. She is still heard walking up and down the stairs, the light in what used to be her bedroom still turns off and on from time to time with no one touching it, and you hear people talking downstairs in the living room when no one is down there. Also, the most recent experience happened when one of the brothers was sleeping and his door opened from the shut position (doorknob turned, and the door opened completely) and no one was there. She is believed to just be checking on the brothers and making sure they are alright.

Nicholas Co. -Robertson, Ky. Blue Licks Park

The lodge is haunted by a friendly woman. you can hear her talking.

Nicholasville, Ky. West Jessamine High School

Janitors report being hit by thrown trash cans in the middle of the night. Lockers seen opening and closing on their own. Football field lights go off and on by themselves at strange hours of the night.

Olive Hill, Ky. Bethel Hill

Two things are rumored to happen there. One legend is never pass the old church on a Saturday night when it is drizzling. They say a woman is walking on the side of the road and if you pick her up she will disappear after a few miles. If you don't pick her up she will welcome herself into your backseat. The other one is to go to the church on Friday the 13th and look into the windows the locals say you will see the scariest thing in your life. Although no one has yet to describe what is in there nobody will go out to the church on Friday the 13th.

Olive Hill, Ky. Clark Hill Trail

In the early 1900s, a young woman named Stella Kinney went to live with her aunt and uncle who lived out of town. According to legend, her uncle got her pregnant. Well on the way back he murdered her. He took her placed her on a huge rock and cut her head off with a hand ax. For years after the rock was called by the locals "Bloody Rock" and every time it rained it would bleed. But now it has been buried into the ground because they made the road bigger.

Owensboro, Ky. Ben Hawes State Park

A girl who was accused of witchcraft in the 18th century was burned at the stake in the woods. If you up there at night you can see her ghost walking and the light of the torches of the people who came to burn her.

Owensboro, Ky. Davies County Middle School

in the middle of the day you can hear screams of a woman in the girls’ bathroom of the 3rd floor. You can look around and see that there is no one there

Owensboro, Ky. Davies County Public library

an apparition of a boy with high red knee socks, a red vest, very old-style shoes, high shorts, and one of those hats you see on many men back in the '20s and '30s.

Owensboro, Ky. Fordsville

Deanefield - During the Civil War, Confederate soldiers hiding from the Yankees used a small cliff cave to hideout. It is said that the Yankees ambushed the southern soldiers, killing them all. On summer nights of the full moon, shots can be heard as well as sounds of laughter, a fire crackling, and horses galloping. The cliffs can be found off highway 1414 in Ohio Co, Ky.

Owensboro, Ky. Hospital

On the first floor near the old morgue, you can hear screams coming from empty hallways. Also, you can see shadows on the wall as if someone is walking beside you.

Owensboro, Ky. Wilson House

This house was one of the first built in the area. It was once owned by a large family back in the early 1800s. The family was an outcast family and very odd. The story goes that a son named John killed them all, then killed himself. You can hear screams and laughter late at night at this deserted house.

Owensboro, Ky. Owensboro Catholic Middle School

At night, neighbors have reported screams and wicked laughter. They have seen doors flying open and shut as if possessed. There are dark reddish stains that have never come out of the floors in certain rooms.

Owensboro, Ky. Owensboro High School

When Owensboro High's elevator was first put in the seven-year-old son Johnny of the builder of the elevator was playing with his ABC blocks the elevator wasn’t all finished and there had been no doors to the elevator yet and the boy fell to his death, to this day if you go to the school real late at night right in front of the elevator and say Johnny are you playing with your blocks, you are to hear the sound of the blocks clinging together as if he were playing with them.

Owensboro, Ky. River Park Center

At night on the catwalk you can see a woman in white, dripping water as she continues to walk over the edge to the river below.

Owensboro, Ky. The Old Theater Workshop

In 1809 this theater was a Baptist church. A young priest lived there with his family. His daughter was dating a young man who her father disapproved of. Late one night the daughter came to her father with dreadful news. She told her father she was pregnant. He was so disappointed in her, he told her he never wanted to see her again and sent her away. So, the story goes that night she was out of her mind, she ran up to the bell tower and hung herself. Her father was so sad he killed himself in the basement. With what nobody knows. To this day, lights are said to go on and off constantly, the bell rings when there isn't a bell anymore, coldness out of nowhere surrounds you, and if you’re not careful while standing in front of the basement you just might get pushes as many have before.

Owensboro, Ky. Whitesville

old Whitesville school - If you go to the old Whitesville Public School you can hear doors and windows opening and shut and the lights will flicker on and off. There are reports of people finding an old electric chair in the basement.

Owenton, Ky. Perry Park

Here there is a pre-Civil War plantation that burnt down and killed 2 kids and their nanny. It was rebuilt and later turned into a private country club in 1967. The house was made into the restaurant and the rooms upstairs were rented out (to live in) then redone into a bed and breakfast (just for members guests). If you listen hard you can always hear little kids screaming and running footsteps all around. Doors won’t unlock and open or sometimes they won’t open even if unlocked. The nanny keeps quiet but every once in awhile, someone will get the privilege to see her full body in big windows that start at your nose. Since then the country club has been turned into a resort where they have built a hotel and made the golf course public. The ghosts do not like this, the fire alarms go off in the middle of the night for no reason and even after being reset will go off again. Curtains shut themselves and in the kitchen pots and pans will bang together and the doors will shut and lock themselves. The lights have dimmers and at night employees have said after turning off the switch and the lights on high they will come in the next morning and the lights will be switched on and on low dim. This doesn’t just happen at a certain time it happens ALL the time.

Owsley County, Ky. Booneville

Owsley County High School - A man roams the halls and writes disturbing words and phrases on the walls and chalkboards. The student was supposedly hung by a janitor in 1973 in the shower room in the boy's locker room. Exactly one year later the janitor was found hanging in the same spot as the student and was hanging by an old rusty chain. To this day no one really knows what happens!

Paducah, Ky. Emma Morgan Elementary

In the little-kids playground, through the gates, you will be talking and back around the corner you can hear a bike being slammed up against the gates, but when you walk back there, it stops. There are also voices and footsteps in the halls, especially in the hallway that has the names of the past principals listed. Also, for two miles around it, almost all the houses have had paranormal activity. No one knows the identity of the school's ghosts, but most of the ghosts in the community are either past owners or past owners' pets. Also, the place used to be a gravel pit. According to myth, many people died on construction of the town, and, to keep people from knowing that some people had died unexplained deaths, there buried them under the town. Of course, that's just a myth...

Paducah, Ky. Lone Oak

German Cemetery - This is an old Catholic cemetery located directly across the road from St John’s Catholic Church. There have been many sightings here of unexplained supernatural phenomenon. Such events include but are not limited to sightings of a "werewolf" type creature that charges up the hill at you, a female apparition that is not fond of males, and a strange light that seems to hover over one of the graves in the lower portion of the cemetery. Late at night during certain events, even the crickets are silenced.

Paducah, Ky. Oak Grove Cemetery

The spirit of a young woman named Della Barnes walks through this cemetery on certain nights. Documents claim she was accidentally poisoned by the doctor who was treating her for an illness. Legend has a different story though. Some people believe that her fiancé murdered her in a fit of rage. He even went as far as to cut off her left ring finger to retrieve the expensive engagement ring he had given her. There is also an iron-rod statue of an angel that is said to turn and face a different direction in the cemetery.

Paducah, Ky. Paducah Middle School

There have been reports of 4 gangsters roaming the halls and firing blanks at students. at night the janitors have reported smoke and the smell of marijuana coming out of the boy’s locker room.

Paducah, Ky. Reidland Middle and High School

During the day you could hear someone walking down the hallway and there would be no one there. Then some of the doors would open and close real fast and there would be nothing there some of them would not open it would be like it is stuck. Then the lights would go on and off and would not come on but when the teachers or students would go over there it would stop. Nobody knows what it is.

Paducah, Ky. Whitehaven

A restored mansion, now a rest area, and open to the public. A female apparition has occasionally been sighted on the balcony attached to the second-floor bedroom, believed to be the owner's wife. Legend has it she bled to death during an appendectomy. The feeling in that room is very pleasant, however, due to how much she loved that room---her husband had the room and balcony added on especially for her. She has been known to turn off the lights in that room, and the sounds of long skirts swishing as well as the scent of her perfume have been noted. Also, even though the old kitchen is now the employees' break room, there have been times the smells of someone cooking a huge feast have greeted startled visitors. It has been known to happen during the holidays, mainly Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is a beautiful place to visit, even if you don't get to meet the happy spirits inhabiting this great house.

Paintsville, Ky. the City

built over partially or very near an Indian war and burial ground. This city is named for its numerous amounts of Indian paintings found here, and there are several Indian burial grounds here that businesses had been built on, that have had sightings.

Paintsville, Ky. Local Gas Station

there have been reports, of 'fully dressed' in battle clothing- headdresses and all, Indians, walking through a local gas station and disappearing again and dishes in the eatery of the place falling and being thrown around as well, many employees have quit.

Paintsville, Ky. Mayo Church

Mr. Mayo who was the richest man in a town built a church mostly for his wife. Some said that they have seen Mrs. Mayo praying or just sitting in the chapel late at night. Others say that you can hear whispering or humming coming from the chapel late at night.

Paintsville, Ky. Mayo Mansion

Mr. Mayo has been seen in his era clothing and hat on the sidewalk watching people drive by. a tunnel leading from the house underground to the church has long been filled however you get an eerie feeling standing near the site of the tunnel.

Paintsville, Ky. Old Town Cemetery

There have been reports of an old lady who wanders around the cemetery that overlooks the town of Paintsville in eastern Ky.

Paintsville, Ky. Paintsville Elementary School

Numerous reports of unexplained happenings from within the building including unexplained moaning, a sighting of a woman in one of the classrooms crying out to her husband and a child on the other side of the room, and many of the janitors working there claim there is in fact a ghost within the school.

Paintsville, Ky. Ramada Inn

The RAMADA INN was built on haunted grounds. The once place called BRISTLE BUCK. At the RAMADA, employees have had first hand experience at hauntings. In the kitchen, pans will come flying from off the wall at whoever! Late at night in the atrium, there have been the footsteps of a woman in high heels heard, this is every night. You don't want to go into one of the banquet rooms alone, you will feel as if someone is behind you.

Paris, Ky. The Covered Bridge

Located on Colville Road. Haunted by a young girl who was killed in a wreck with her boyfriend. They were coming home from prom and were going to stop at the bridge. You can set in the middle of the bridge and watch headlights come up behind you, but no car and then you see lights under the bridge as if a car has fallen in the water.

Paris, Ky. Old Hospital

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Liberty State Park, Christmas Tree Lane: News from around our 50 ...

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Alabama

Montgomery: Officials in the capital city are preparing to open a time capsule that contains letters from residents and city officials to their successors and descendants. The capsule was sealed 50 years ago, during Montgomery’s 150th anniversary in 1969. It included instructions to keep the capsule closed until the city’s 200th anniversary, which is this week. The City of Montgomery, the Alabama Department of Archives and History and the Montgomery County Historical Society will commemorate the bicentennial Tuesday with the opening of the capsule. In addition to letters, it contains magazines, newspapers, brochures and other materials. The capsule also holds letters from then-Gov. Albert Brewer, former Mayor Earl James and other city officials to their successors 50 years in the future.

Alaska

Juneau: A new study of environmental threats to Alaska Native communities has found the greatest challenges include erosion, flooding and thawing permafrost. Alaska’s Energy Desk reports that the study results issued last month found the environmental hazards continue to worsen due to climate change. The Army Corps of Engineers and researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks conducted the study for the Denali Commission’s Village Infrastructure Protection Program. Officials say the three-year, $700,000 study examined 187 communities, primarily in Western Alaska areas located on or near the coast or a river. The study provides a rating system that ranks the existing danger levels from flooding, erosion and permafrost degradation. A Denali Commission official says the report may help residents determine the biggest threats facing their communities.

Arizona

Phoenix: The administration of Gov. Doug Ducey has developed a pattern of delaying or withholding public records requests. The Republican governor’s administration takes months or even years to release documents requested under the state’s public records law – if they exist at all. Dan Barr, an attorney specializing in First Amendment issues, says that the government should be communicating policy and decisions in writing and that not doing so “strains credulity.” But the governor’s office says it always follows the law and doesn’t document every decision in writing. Reporters have waited months for requests for comprehensive records such as government contracts or salary information for staff, which are public records. They’ve often been rebuffed when requesting documentation that might show the administration came to a certain policy decision.

Arkansas

Fayetteville: State records indicate a youth mental health treatment center broke federal rules by using chemical injections to restrain young people held in seclusion. Inspection records obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette say the Piney Ridge Treatment Center was cited for at least 13 violations of Medicaid rules prohibiting simultaneous restraint and seclusion in 30 days. The Fayetteville facility, which treats patients 7 to 17 years old, was inspected in October after a watchdog group said staff were using physical and chemical restraints excessively. In November, Piney Ridge sent the state a corrective action plan that included revisions to its policies, additional training for nurses and two months of monitoring. Piney Ridge did not provide comment to the Democrat-Gazette.

California

Fresno: Residents are trying to save a struggling deodar cedar tree that lies at the heart of an annual California Christmas tradition. The Fresno Bee reports homeowners Greg and Dana Pratt have hired an arborist to tend to the first tree of what today is known as Christmas Tree Lane. The tree was first decorated in 1920 by William and Mae Winning in memory of their teenage son who died from a fall. Neighbors decorated trees in front of their homes in solidarity with the grieving parents. Today, the tree is one of hundreds decorated by residents along a 2-mile stretch of Van Ness Boulevard each December. Dana Pratt says she believes the tradition embodies the spirit of Christmas.

Colorado

Denver: Ten grizzly bears from a zoo in Argentina are adjusting to their new home at Colorado’s Wild Animal Sanctuary. The bruins were flown from Argentina to Dallas, then driven to Keenesburg, north of Denver, in late November. After an adjustment period, sanctuary officials plan to move the bears to a 50-acre habitat near Springfield. Wild Animal Sanctuary director Pat Craig tells Colorado Public Radio the sanctuary is the next best thing to living in the wild. The bears come from the Mendoza Zoological Park in the Mendoza Province near the Chilean border. The zoo was the subject of protests for housing a polar bear that died in 2016. Craig says the grizzlies mostly lived in cages and concrete surfaces. He says one was kept in a concrete pit for almost 19 years because he once escaped.

Connecticut

Hartford: U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal is pushing legislation aimed at what he describes as “cyber Grinches.” The Connecticut Democrat says the goal of the bill, which he unveiled last week, is to try to block the use of so-called bot technology that he says allows individuals to bypass security measures to scoop up large batches of the hottest toys of the season and then resell them at inflated prices. Blumenthal says the practice is unfair and may contribute in part to the scarcity of some of the toys. Blumenthal compares the practice to ticket scalping. In 2016 Blumenthal pushed legislation to crack down on those who used the same technology to unfairly scoop up tickets.

Delaware

Wilmington: City officials have moved to repeal laws that restrict the times, places and ways people can ask for money in public, in the wake of federal court decisions ruling those regulations unconstitutional. The restrictions make illegal a wide range of panhandling methods, some of which raise eyebrows over their specific nature and whether it is possible to enforce them. The city code states, for example, that it is illegal to ask for money by “stating that the donation is needed to meet a specific need, when the solicitor already has sufficient funds to meet that need and does not disclose that fact.” Panhandlers are also prohibited from lying about being homeless or being from out of town and stranded. They also must receive a police permit to panhandle more than five days out of the year. The laws appear to have been enacted at least 25 years ago, and city officials say they haven’t been enforced “for at least a year or so.”

District of Columbia

Washington: A D.C. councilman accused of violating board ethics is fighting an attempt to have him recalled from office. News outlets report Jack Evans on Friday filed a challenge to a petition calling for his recall, alleging more than a third of the collected signatures are invalid. Elections officials have less than three weeks to decide whether to validate the signatures or block the recall. Evans’ challenge filed with the district Board of Elections includes declarations from two people whose names appear on the petition but say they didn’t sign it. Evans, first elected in 1991, is up for reelection next year but hasn’t yet filed paperwork to run. A third-party investigation recently found he used his office to benefit private clients. Similar allegations are under federal investigation.

Florida

Orlando: White Castle has announced plans to open its first fast food restaurant in the Sunshine State since closing its Miami burger joint decades ago. The company announced last week that its new restaurant in Orlando will be among the national chain’s biggest. But so-called Cravers will have to wait about 18 months before the store is built and open for business. White Castle is best known for its sliders and became even more of a household brand more than a decade ago with the release of the film “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.” A White Castle restaurant operated in Miami in the 1960s. The chain now operates 375 restaurants in 13 states.

Georgia

Cairo: Litigants are instructed to “All rise” when court begins, but in one south Georgia courthouse, they won’t be rising by elevator. Grady County officials tell the Thomasville Times-Enterprise the courthouse’s elevator needs major repairs after three people got stuck in it last month. Firefighters pried open the door and rescued the group, but officials determined the 30-foot elevator shaft must be replaced. That’s a problem because a term of court is set to open on the second floor in December. County Administrator Buddy Johnson says the county has one bid of $32,400 for repairs but is seeking a second, cheaper bid. The shaft must be cut out in sections and replaced one piece at a time. For now, judges are making special accommodations for disabled people.

Hawaii

Honolulu: The governor plans to announce support for pay increases to help recruit and retain teachers in special education, rural schools and Hawaiian language immersion. Hawaii Public Radio reports Democratic Gov. David Ige has scheduled a public announcement Tuesday to express his support for pay differentials for the specific teacher categories. Ige’s office says he is working with the Hawaii Department of Education and state Board of Education to implement strategies to address teacher shortages. The Board of Education is scheduled to meet Thursday to review proposed pay increases. The education department is seeking an annual $10,000 increase for qualified teachers. The estimated cost for 1,691 special education teachers in fiscal year 2020 is $8.4 million, with the estimate rising to $16.9 million for fiscal year 2021.

Idaho

Coeur d’Alene: Gov. Brad Little is calling for a third-party review of Lake Coeur d’Alene water quality, as the Coeur d’Alene Tribe has expressed frustration with management plans. The Coeur d’Alene Press reports for the past two decades, the state and tribe have worked to track toxins and compile plans to reduce pollutants. Phil Cernera, who directs the tribe’s lake management department, cited inaction and a seeming unwillingness by the state to act to clean up the lake as reasons for the tribe leaving the process. Agriculture, leaking septic systems and municipal sewer plants add phosphorus into the water. Heavy metals on the lake bottom are from mining. The toxins become part of the water column when oxygen is low. Little says a third-party assessment would help inform the state’s response.

Illinois

Chicago: A screening of WTTW’s yearlong initiative on gun violence and a discussion on the topic are scheduled for Wednesday. WTTW and Leadership Greater Chicago will co-host the event on the lasting impact of gun violence. WTTW’s “Firsthand: Gun Violence” follows the lives of five Chicago residents affected by violence with firearms. It’s a 15-part digital series reported in partnership with The Trace, a national news organization covering gun violence. Brandis Friedman of “Chicago Tonight” will moderate the discussion, to feature two initiative participants. Reality Allah is an ex-offender now working with READI Chicago. Police Sgt. Jermaine Harris from the Austin neighborhood’s 15th District advocates social justice. There are admission fees to the 6 p.m. event at Venue SIX10.

Indiana

Indianapolis: Construction is moving ahead on a permanent stage at the White River State Park amphitheater downtown. Work going on now for the nearly $16 million project is scheduled for completion in June. It’s being built at the same site of the temporary stage that has been built and torn down each year since the park started hosting concerts in 2004. The current work includes adding two new LED video screens, a concrete pad for 3,000 permanent seats and more restrooms. A future $13 million phase would add an artistic canopy over the permanent seating area and part of the stage. Tom Mendenhall of concert promoter Live Nation tells the Indianapolis Business Journal that the amphitheater’s summer concert season could grow to 30 shows a year with the improvements.

Iowa

Sioux City: After 11 years of temporary lanes and closed exit ramps, work is finally nearly complete on an Interstate 29 expansion project through the city. The Sioux City Journal reports the Iowa Department of Transportation hopes to finish work on the project by Christmas. Final construction includes pouring concrete bridge approaches, installing guardrails and painting pavement. It was 2008 when crews began the $400 million project to widen the freeway to three lanes in each direction from Sergeant Bluff through Sioux City and to the South Dakota border. Although major construction will be over, workers still will need to make unexpected repairs to a bridge damaged by fire this fall. State transportation planner Dakin Schultz acknowledged that “there are times when it seemed it would never end.”

Kansas

Kansas City: Discussions following vandalism at a historic site linked to abolition and the Underground Railroad may help generate support for preservation efforts there. KCUR reports the vandalism was discovered last month at a statue honoring abolitionist John Brown in Kansas City. Part of his hand and a scroll he’d been holding were missing. The statue marks the entry point to the historic Quindaro Ruins, stone foundations and caves with archaeological artifacts linked to the activity of abolitionists and the Underground Railroad. Media reports about the latest vandalism and community outrage over it are focusing attention on the site. Energy company Phillips 66 has gas lines in the area. A spokesman says the company wants to see what it can do to support preservation of the site.

Kentucky

Frankfort: Gov.-elect Andy Beshear’s administration has announced plans for his inauguration celebration and swearing-in. Beshear and Lt. Gov.-elect Jacqueline Coleman will be sworn in at the state Capitol on Dec. 10. The events include an inaugural breakfast reception at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History followed by a worship service at First Christian Church. The inaugural parade at the Capitol will begin at 10 a.m. EST, and Beshear will be sworn in at 2 p.m. A grand march presenting the new governor and lieutenant governor will begin at 8 p.m., and two inaugural balls will run from 9 p.m. to midnight. A release from Beshear’s transition team says all inaugural events including the balls will be free and open to the public.

Louisiana

Baton Rouge: The state’s coastal protection agency says a coastal restoration project in southwestern Louisiana has been completed. The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority said in a news release last week that the marsh creation project on the eastern shore of Calcasieu Lake in Cameron Parish created or nourished 700 acres of degraded marsh. The agency, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, paid for the $12 million project. Most of the money came through a federal and state partnership designed to restore wetlands. The coastal agency says two other projects have already been completed in southwestern Louisiana this year. The agency’s director, Bren Haase, says more projects are under construction or being planned in the region.

Maine

Bangor: The organizers of a popular folk music festival have decided to discontinue the event for financial reasons. The American Folk Festival took place for the 18th time this year. Organizers say it was the final edition of the yearly three-day event in Bangor, supported by public donations. Organizers said it “celebrated the roots, the richness and the variety of American culture through music, dance, traditional crafts, storytelling and food.” The festival board of directors chair Nicole Gogan says the decision to discontinue the folk festival was “a financial decision” because the board saw “no clear path forward that could be responsibly taken.” She said the decision to end it was “incredibly difficult.” The event began in 2002 as the National Folk Festival.

Maryland

Baltimore County: Anglers will soon get new warnings about fishing in polluted waterways. The Baltimore Sun reports that the Maryland Department of the Environment is providing signs to Baltimore County that indicate fish in certain waterways could have mercury, PCBs and pesticides. The signs, in English and Spanish, will advise anglers to avoid or limit the amount of fish they eat. The county has identified 20 locations for the new signs and is looking at other possible sites. The Maryland Department of the Environment recently provided similar signs to Prince George’s County to put near the Anacostia River.

Massachusetts

Boston: State lawmakers are returning from Thanksgiving with one big leftover on their plate – what to do with a $1.1 billion surplus in tax revenue from the last fiscal year. Passing such spending bills is usually a routine matter on Beacon Hill. Legislative leaders had hoped to button down the bill before Thanksgiving but failed to meet that goal. The debate now carries on into December, when lawmakers are typically taking a break from heavy legislative lifting before returning in earnest in January. The beginning of the year also marks the start of budget negotiations on the next fiscal year’s budget – in this case the 2021 fiscal year. That budget is supposed to be passed by lawmakers and signed by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker by the end of June.

Michigan

Ann Arbor: Nearly two hours before the first sales of recreational marijuana began Sunday, the line at Arbor Wellness snaked around a city block. And Nick St. Onge was the first in line, arriving from his Clinton Township home shortly before 7 a.m. “It’s a historic moment. I wanted to be one of the first ones to buy legal marijuana,” he said. “To not have to worry about it anymore. I can just walk in and buy it instead of going to somebody on the street to find it. It’s tested, and that’s comforting.” The actual first sale happened at 9:50 a.m. to legendary cannabis activist John Sinclair, a Detroit resident who racked up three marijuana-related arrests in the 1960s and landed a 10-year prison sentence for giving an undercover cop two joints. His plight attracted the attention of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, who headlined a concert in Ann Arbor in 1971 to bring attention to Sinclair’s arrest.

Minnesota

Duluth: The Diocese of Duluth says Bishop Paul Sirba has died after suffering a heart attack. He was 59. The diocese says Sirba collapsed at St. Rose Church in Proctor on Sunday morning and was rushed to a Duluth hospital, where he died about 9 a.m. Sirba has led the Catholic Diocese of Duluth for a decade. His vicar general, Rev. James Bissonnette, said in a statement that “words do not adequately express our sorrow at this sudden loss of our Shepherd.” After Sirba was ordained in 1986, he served at the Church of St. Olaf in Minneapolis, the Church of St. John the Baptist in Savage, at St. John Vianney Seminary and the Church of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin, both in St. Paul, and at the St. Paul Seminary. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Mississippi

Gulfport: A new oceanographic research ship will be named for a physician who filed one of the Deep South’s first school desegregation lawsuits and led wade-ins at a federally funded public beach. The lawsuit that Gilbert R. Mason Sr. filed for his son made Biloxi’s public schools the first in the state to integrate. An official at the University of Southern Mississippi’s School of Ocean Science and Engineering says Mason’s name was among more than 160 submitted. The ship is expected to begin studies in the Gulf of Mexico in 2023. It will be operated by a consortium led by USM and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. Universities in every Gulf state, as well as Georgia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Mexico, also are part of the group.

Missouri

Clayton: An alarming string of deaths inside St. Louis County’s jail led to a slew of changes, and county leaders believe the changes are paying off. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports it’s been nearly six months since 31-year-old Daniel Stout died from peritonitis, the last of four 2019 deaths at the St. Louis County Justice Center. County leaders cite personnel moves, disciplinary actions, and reforms designed to improve professionalism, accountability and collaboration. Other changes sought to identify and address acute health problems more quickly. Alcohol poisoning killed 51-year-old Larry Reavis in January. A month later, 29-year-old John M. Shy died from internal bleeding after screaming in pain for hours. Twenty-year-old Lamar Catchings died of a treatable form of leukemia in March after no one sought to diagnose his condition.

Montana

Libby: Gayla Benefield is dying from lung disease caused by inhaling asbestos fibers, just as her dad, mom and husband did and four of her five children are. But when she first raised concerns that the W. R. Grace and Co. vermiculite mine responsible for much of this northwestern Montana town’s livelihood was killing its residents, her concern was met with anger and denial. Benefield uncovered a 1969 memo that showed 92% of long-term mine workers suffered pulmonary diseases. The company hadn’t told its workers. After the news got out in November 1999, and Libby was declared a Superfund site, Benefield told the Daily Inter Lake she was probably the least-liked person in town. Two decades later, Benefield says some people have thanked her quietly.

Nebraska

Lincoln: A new course at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will focus on the world’s religions and ask students to use their newfound knowledge to propose a common worship space on campus. The Lincoln Journal Star reports the course called “When the World’s Religions Came to Lincoln” will start in spring 2020. Max Mueller, an assistant professor of classics and religious studies, says only 4% of Nebraska residents identify as non-Christians, but more immigrants and refugees in Lincoln have created greater religious diversity. Mueller says despite that increase, other religious communities don’t have a space on or near campus to worship, leaving them to pray together in libraries or even hallways. As students learn about religions, they will research and propose a space to university stakeholders that could serve various religions.

Nevada

Las Vegas: Cigarette and cigar smokers can be common in the state, where no law prohibits a gambler from lighting up. But some longtime card dealers, bar employees, health advisers and researchers say secondhand smoke can be dangerous. Teresa Price tells the Las Vegas Sun she was a table-games dealer for 35 years and is now on medical leave. She says she thinks secondhand smoke made her sick. Much of Nevada went smoke-free in 2006, after voters approved the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act. But exceptions were made for bars, strip club, brothels and casinos. Some officials say smoking and gambling go together, and longtime state and local lawmaker Tick Segerblom calls smoking part of the Las Vegas culture. He says Nevada lets people do things they can’t do in other states.

New Hampshire

Concord: Mayors in the state’s two cities that take in the most refugees say they continue to support such resettlements. Under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump, state and local governments both must consent to receive refugees. Republican Gov. Chris Sununu gave the state-level consent Friday, and communities have until Dec. 20 to opt in. Concord and Manchester have taken the bulk of the state’s refugees. Concord Mayor Jim Bouley told the Concord Monitor he expects to get approval from the City Council on Dec. 9. Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig says she supports accepting refugees, but her office is seeking clarity on whether she needs sign-off from the full City Council. Between July 2010 and July 2018, Concord took in 1,292 refugees. Manchester took in 1,242.

New Jersey

Jersey City: The billionaire owner of a golf club for millionaires has his sights set on expanding his course onto a waterfront portion of Liberty State Park used mostly by children to learn about the ecology of New York Harbor. The renewed push by Paul Fireman, owner of Liberty National Golf Club, to build three holes on undeveloped Caven Point comes at a time when state lawmakers may ban such projects from New Jersey’s most visited park. The Legislature is considering a bill that would prohibit large developments at the park after 40 years of attempts by developers to build everything from a hotel to an amusement park on land coveted for its panoramic views of Manhattan. But a lobbyist for the golf course who has ties to Gov. Phil Murphy asked lawmakers at a recent Senate committee hearing to consider amending the bill to take out language protecting Caven Point.

New Mexico

Albuquerque: A beloved snowman made of tumbleweeds is returning to the city. The snowman goes up along Interstate 40 the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, called Tumbleweed Tuesday. The Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority says the tradition goes back to 1995. The agency builds the snowman with tumbleweeds collected from arroyos in the metro area and with recycled material. Field engineer Nolan Bennett says the tumbleweeds used are bigger than the usual tumbleweeds most people have on their property. The snowman typically dons a scarf and blue cap. Last year’s snowman was 8 feet tall and 12 feet wide.

New York

New Rochelle: The Freemasons will purchase a former college for $32million after placing the winning bid approved in a bankruptcy auction. The bid by the Trustees of the Masonic Hall and Asylum Fund for the 15.6-acre College of New Rochelle campus was approved last week. The 115-year-old school declared bankruptcy in September. The college’s interim chief restructuring officer, Mark Podgainy, says he’s confident the Masons will use the campus in a manner that preserves the college’s legacy and “offers value to the local community.” The Mason trustees operate a senior health care campus and campground in Oneida among other New York properties. The fraternal organization of Freemasons started in Europe and spread to the American colonies. George Washington and 13 other presidents were Masons.

North Carolina

Raleigh: Significant changes to the state’s justice system for young offenders and sex-related offenses began over the weekend. No longer will 16- and 17-year-olds be automatically tried in adult court for most nonviolent or less serious felonies as the “Raise the Age” initiative takes effect. North Carolina’s designation as the only state where women can’t revoke sexual consent is getting eliminated. A new law also essentially cancels a 2008 court decision that said sexual assault laws don’t apply to people incapacitated because they decided to take drugs or drink alcohol. The age limit in which child sexual abuse victims can sue for civil damages also is going up from 21 to 28. These are among about 30 state laws passed or amended this year that are being enforced with the new month.

North Dakota

Bismarck: Sanford Health has implemented visitor restrictions in the neonatal intensive care unit at its Bismarck hospital because of influenza and respiratory illnesses. The health care provider says only immediate family members of a baby in the unit are allowed to visit. And they must have no symptoms of respiratory illness. Immediate family members include parents and guardians, grandparents and siblings over 12 years old.

Ohio

Celina: Immigrants from the Marshall Islands who’ve settled over the years in this rural area are sharing their culture and history with their neighbors. The Marshallese Culture Club plans to meet once a week in Celina, where an estimated 1,500 people from the chain of south Pacific Ocean islands now live. The leader of the club tells The Daily Standard in Celina that those taking part will learn the language, customs and traditions of the Marshallese. Carmichael Capelle says he wants to teach the history of the Marshall Islands to the longtime residents of western Ohio and to the Marshallese community in Mercer County, including the children who don’t know their history or language. He says that someday he’d like to have a Marshallese class taught in area schools.

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City: When students at Positive Tomorrows were asked what they’d want at their dream school, answers included a tree house, a library, an alarm for intruders and an area for gymnastics. Positive Tomorrows is the state’s only school exclusively serving children and families experiencing homelessness, and because of high demand and inadequate space, nearly 100 children a year are turned away. But after several years of fundraising and construction, the organization has moved into a new $15 million school building. Eventually, the school will expand to serve 210 children, more than doubling current capacity, says Susan Agel, president and principal. This week marks the first time students are attending class inside the 42,000-square-foot facility, which ultimately included many of the kids’ design ideas, says Gary Armbruster, principal architect and partner at MA+ Architecture.

Oregon

Klamath Falls: Authorities at Crater Lake National Park say someone driving off road damaged plants and other resources, and they’re asking for the public’s help in finding who is responsible. The Herald and News reports park rangers believe the incident happened late Nov. 23 or early Nov. 24. According to a park Facebook post, driving off roadways and damaging resources is a federal crime punishable by up to $5,000 and/or six months’ imprisonment for each offense. The park says there is a short window during summer months in which plants in the park get sunlight to grow. The rest of the year they can be buried in deep snow. The park says the staff spends time each year fixing areas damaged by visitors not staying on roads or trails.

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg: The Pennsylvania Game Commission says it is investigating a video circulated on social media showing two males apparently beating an injured deer. In a Facebook post Sunday, the commission called the conduct portrayed in the video “reprehensible and potentially a violation of the law.” The two appear to kick the animal in the face repeatedly and rip off one of its antlers. Game wardens are investigating and ask anyone with information to call the Operation Game Thief hotline or the northwest region dispatch office. The commission told KDKA-TV that although the two individuals are reportedly from Brookville in Jefferson County, that doesn’t mean the incident occurred there. Brookville police told WJAC-TV the events occurred outside their jurisdiction, and “proper authorities were notified.”

Rhode Island

Providence: The Rhode Island State House Christmas tree will be artificial this year. The governor’s office said in a statement that the 18-foot California baby redwood replica will be more manageable than a real tree. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo says it’s challenging to keep a real tree alive and thriving through the holiday season. There have been several mishaps with State House trees. In 2005 the tree turned brown and shed all its needles. In 2016 the tree was replaced for being too small, and in 2017 the tree died 10 days before Christmas. Former Gov. Lincoln Chafee caused an uproar in 2011 when he called the tree a “holiday tree.” The new tree will be lit during a ceremony Wednesday.

South Carolina

Columbia: Winter weather preparedness week is kicking off in the Palmetto State, with officials asking residents to check supplies now. The state Emergency Management Division says even though winters are usually mild in South Carolina, the state can get big snows or ice storms. The agency says residents need to check fuel supplies to make it through long power outages and make sure their pipes are insulated so they don’t freeze. Other winter survival tips include making sure chimneys are clean of debris and carbon monoxide detectors are working. Winter weather preparedness week started Sunday and runs through Saturday.

South Dakota

Rapid City: The city canceled its Festival of Lights Parade because of poor road conditions and high winds. The decision came after festival staff and the Rapid City Police Department discussed road and weather conditions Saturday morning. The parade was planned for Saturday evening, and much of the parade route had not been plowed yet. KELO-TV reports parade organizers will instead hold a “static parade” next Sunday at the Rushmore Mall. The television station reports that means when the mall closes at 6 p.m., the overhead lights will be shut off so people can drive a loop around the mall to see the floats lined up outside the edge of the parking lot.

Tennessee

Nashville: The state has the fifth-largest number of rural students in the country, but it’s the seventh-lowest in terms of funding for instruction, according to a recent report on the country’s rural schools by the nonpartisan Rural School and Community Trust. In Tennessee, almost 300,000 students attend a rural school – or 1 in 3 kids. The report points out that Tennessee is showing promise despite its level of funding. It highlights areas of strength, but also problem areas, for states in teaching students with rural backgrounds. For example, the report says that “22 states have decreased their state contributions for every local dollar invested in rural schools. Tennessee has seen the greatest drop ($1.68, down from $2.11 per local dollar).” This comes as more Tennessee school districts are classified as rural, the report says. And the state’s rural students are more likely to face extreme poverty than their rural counterparts in other states.

Texas

El Paso: Father Harold Joseph Rahm, a Jesuit priest who graces a mural in the Segundo Barrio neighborhood for his positive influence, died Saturday, according to the El Paso Catholic Diocese. He was 100 years old. Rahm came to El Paso in 1952 and was an assistant pastor at Sacred Heart Church for 12 years. At the time, the area was riddled with gangs, and Rahm took it upon himself to talk to them and try to make an impact in their lives. He was known for cruising the streets of the Segundo Barrio on his bicycle, stopping to talk to people in the neighborhood and to reach out to gang members. He was sometimes called “the bicycle priest.” In May 2015, he came all the way from his home in Brazil to El Paso at the age of 96 to be honored with the 2015 Segundo Barrio Person of the Year Award.

Utah

Salt Lake City: Parents say a substitute teacher berated their fifth grader after he said he was thankful that he’s finally going to be adopted by his two dads. The boy’s classmates say the teacher said that “that’s nothing to be thankful for” and lectured the 30 kids in the class about her views on homosexuality. She said that “two men living together is a sin,” and “homosexuality is wrong.” Parent Louis van Amstel tells the Salt Lake Tribune he’s grateful for three girls who asked the teacher to stop and eventually walked out of the room to get the principal. The substitute was escorted from the building. A spokesman for Alpine School District south of Salt Lake City says that “appropriate action has been taken.”

Vermont

Dummerston: A nonprofit has proposed a nature preserve that would protect more than 1,100 acres. The Brattleboro Reformer reports the Green Mountain Conservancy has proposed a nature preserve that would run through Dummerston, Brookline and Newfane, making it the first parcel owned by the nonprofit. The conservancy plans for the trails on the new preserve to connect to trails at the Putney Mountain Unit of Conte National Wildlife Refuge and the Black Mountain. The proposed preserve started as the Deer Run Farm, a 300-acre parcel and farmhouse, in 1985. The nonprofit received $350,000 from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to purchase the land, as well as assistance from the Vermont Land Trust. The organization plans to host an information meeting about the Deer Run Nature Preserve on Dec. 4.

Virginia

Charlottesville: The University of Virginia and William & Mary are the latest schools to announce plans to become carbon neutral. The schools announced their goals Monday in a statement that said they hope to produce zero net greenhouse gas emissions. UVA and William & Mary said they will share information and collaborate. William & Mary said it’s exploring an agreement that could bring as much as 60% of its electricity from solar farms. Another challenge is the use of natural gas for heating and steam production. William & Mary said it will hire a consultant to provide advice. The goals go further than power consumption. UVA hopes to expand plant-based meal offerings and switch to sustainably raised meats. UVA is in Charlottesville. William & Mary is in Williamsburg.

Washington

Mount Vernon: Wildlife rehabilitation facilities are seeing an increase in owls being hit by vehicles north of Seattle. The Skagit Valley Herald reports Sarvey in Arlington and Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on San Juan Island see an increase each fall. Wolf Hollow Education Coordinator Shona Aitken says 14 of 17 owls treated at the center this fall were hit along Highway 20 and Memorial Highway, as well as in the Big Lake, Bow, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley areas. While there’s always an uptick in injured owls this time of year, she said seeing 17 since Sept. 15 is unusually high. Some of the owls have died, some were released into the wild, and some are still undergoing treatment. At Sarvey, six owls hit by vehicles in Skagit County have been received since Oct. 1. Aitken says drivers can help by being aware that owls typically hunt between dawn and dusk and aren’t just found in forested areas.

West Virginia

Charleston: Hunting and fishing licenses for next year have gone on sale in the state. The Division of Natural Resources says in a news release that the sale started Sunday, earlier than normal, to allow for holiday gift purchases and early renewals. Gov. Jim Justice says anyone buying a sportsman or junior sportsman license before Jan. 1 will automatically be entered to win a free lifetime license or a vacation to a West Virginia state park. Winners will be announced in mid-January.

Wisconsin

Madison: The Wisconsin Elections Commission wants the Legislature to get involved with a dispute that could result in 234,000 people being made unable to vote. The commission voted 5-1 Monday to ask that the Republican-controlled Legislature provide guidance for when voters who may have moved should be deactivated from voter rolls. The conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty filed a lawsuit last month alleging that the commission is not removing the potential movers as quickly as it should. The lawsuit alleges they must be deactivated after 30 days after receiving notice from the state. The commission currently plans not to remove anyone until after the April 2021 election because of problems that occurred in 2017 with people deactivated even though they had not moved.

Wyoming

Casper: The state collected more than $1 billion in sales and use taxes in fiscal year 2019. According to an annual tax revenue report compiled by the state’s Economic Analysis Division, that was nearly 12% more than the state collected the previous fiscal year. The report credits oil exploration and more active drilling rigs in eastern Wyoming for some of the growth. The Casper Star-Tribune reports that construction stemming from the energy sector delivered high returns for the state. Still, the 2019 fiscal year didn’t set any tax records. Chief economist Wenlin Liu says the amount of total sales and use taxes for fiscal year 2019 was about 5% lower than that of fiscal year 2015, before the economic downturn in the state.

From USA TODAY Network and wire reports

Tennessee black writers share essays on racism and next steps

The editors of the USA TODAY Network Tennessee

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee.

In 2017, Tennessee State University student Leona Dunn wrote a guest column for the USA TODAY Network Tennessee titled "Can you not understand why black people are angry?"

Her column took on a new life as people started reading and sharing it again last weekend during the statewide protests against police brutality.

Three years later, the answer to Dunn's question appears to be "no" or at least "not yet." Brutal killings of African Americans still happen in 2020. Think George Floyd in Minneapolis, Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County, Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Louisville.

There is something deeply wrong when people's humanity and lives are so unjustly stripped away.

Perhaps the question now should be: "Why aren't we listening — truly listening — to black people?"

That is why the USA TODAY Network Tennessee is dedicating this special presentation to guest columns about racism with reflections from black writers.

The essays sometimes veer into the deeply personal sting of bigotry. Others focus on policy and solutions. Every writer brings a unique approach.

I invite you to get to know them and to help continue this important conversation about how we finally fulfill America's promise of equality and justice for all.

David Plazas is the director of opinion and engagement for the USA TODAY Network newsrooms in Tennessee. wrote this note behalf of network editorial board members Regional Editor Michael A. Anastasi, The Tennessean Executive Editor Maria De Varenne, The Commercial Appeal Executive Editor Mark Russell, Knoxville News Sentinel Executive Editor Joel Christopher, Middle Tennessee Editor Chris Smith and Plazas. He hosts the Tennessee Voices videocast. Call him at (615) 259-8063, email him at dplazas@tennessean.com or tweet to him at @davidplazas.

Hear more Tennessee Voices:Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.

Click on the link to each column or scroll down and read them by chapter.

Devin DeLaughter:Engaged vs Enraged: how we move forward from racial injustices will define our society

Rick Ewing:Racism and bigotry today shouldn't surprise you, but you need to listen and act justly

Terri Lee Freeman:After George Floyd's death, outrage is not enough

Jay Gilmore:My white friends are asking me how I feel about the riots. It’s a complex conundrum we find ourselves in

James Hildreth:Nashville: Fight back against hatred and COVID-19

LeBron Hill:Stop telling black people they are overthinking racism

Drake Hills:The traumatic effect of lifelong exclusion for black Americans in society

Amy Hopson:Why decades of racial slurs and discrimination take a toll on Black Americans

Dwight Lewis:John Seigenthaler's never-before-published reflection on the 'color line' in America today

Metro Council Minority Caucus:Five ways Nashville can move forward to become a city of peace

Lynn Norment:Racist police killings: The other virus consuming America

Mealand Ragland:Each time another black person is killed by police, all I can say is: 'Again?'

Theotis Robinson Jr.:I can’t breathe. America, can you hear me?

DeWayne Stallworth:Running while Black: Why we are not all in this together

Tonyaa Weathersbee:Should black violence spawn more outrage than police killings? One feeds the other

Fallon Wilson:We riot because you choose not to hear: A digital equity lesson for Nashville

In 2011, Tanya McDowell found herself handcuffed and awaiting arraignment in a Connecticut courthouse. Her charges were first-degree larceny and conspiracy, to which she plead guilty. Ms. McDowell, who was homeless at the time, was sentenced to five years in prison for enrolling her son in a school district in which he did not reside.

That’s right, this homeless mother of a five-year-old got five years for “stealing an education, valued at $15,000.” Before you jump to her defense, you should know that she was also charged with possession of illegal drugs and intent to sell to an undercover officer.

Does that make you less outraged?

It shouldn’t. It’s been 152 years since the passage of the Equal Protection Act, but the sad reality is that few people in the black community feel anything close to equality or protected. Instead, we feel isolated and ignored, ignited by injustice and angry in the form of riots and righteous protest.

In his seminal book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. laid out a step-by-step plan to bridge the racial divide that persists in our country.

Two key components of his plan were empathy and education – which brings us back to Ms. McDowell and her son.

Hear more Tennessee Voices:Get the weekly opinion newsletter for insightful and thought provoking columns.

Eight years after she was imprisoned for “stealing" an education for her child, young black men are being terrorized and killed by police officers who demonstrate little empathy or cultural education — even while being filmed.

By enacting the Equal Protection Act, the United States forever established that "all lives matter." The problem is, many black people still live with the social philosophy that we must be twice as good to receive our just due.

And worse, too few white Americans are willing to prioritize real progress over self-interest.

Living this way takes a toll

Even though she will never win parent-of-the-year, Tanya McDowell had an abiding belief that a quality education would position her son for a better life, and that his presence in a mostly-white school would influence his classmates towards greater empathy and understanding.

But instead, the opposite happened. Imprisoned by poverty, her son found no favor, and his mother found no forgiveness.

Black lives must matter.

I’m a 40-year-old black man and I’m afraid because of the microaggressions I personally experience every single day. I’m afraid because I see myself in Mike Brown, Amadou Diallo, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd.

I’m afraid because I feel the need to justify my humanity to many of my white brothers and sisters. I’m afraid because I can’t think of a solution. And, because I’m afraid, today my fear manifests as rage.

If America continues to show such gross incompetence in protecting black lives, it will force each of us to choose, metaphorically, between the ballot or the bullet.

The ballot represents real change – the collective courage to confront ignorance, reject racism and embrace the truth that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

The bullet, on the other hand, represents extreme nationalism and destructive division.

The bullet approach is primal and swift, but never satisfying. Engaged community or enraging chaos?

Like Dr. King, I pray we all choose the former.

Devin DeLaughter, Ed.D., is the Head Of School at New Hope Academy.

My wife came to me the other day, eyes still streaming in tears. It didn’t take long to figure out that her sadness came from the recent news events where our country suffered another racial wound. But apart from her progressive political anger was a deep fear for the life and safety of myself and other members of my family.

My wife is white and I’m African-American. She watched the video of Christian Cooper, a birder enjoying Central Park being threatened to be pursued by law enforcement for the simple slight of asking a white woman to leash her dog under city laws.

I have much in common with Mr. Cooper. We’re both middle-aged African-American men, educated in elite schools (him: Harvard, myself: Yale, Trinity and Vanderbilt). We enjoy white collar careers. We have hobbies that aren’t associated with black folk.

And like him, I’ve also been profiled in a negative way due to race, many times.

Racism overrides status in America

This should not surprise you. It’s been a fact of life for African-Americans for generations, and sadly, racism often overrides wealth, class and life standing. A Yale classmate was once frisked by police looking for a suspect, despite the only commonality between the two was being a black male (size, height, facial hair were all wrong).

And he was dressed in an expensive suit and leather briefcase waiting for the morning train in a wealthy neighborhood with many others. His father was a famous business executive and the apology came swift once it made the national news. But the incident still stung. Yes, it can happen to that guy. So Christian Cooper’s altercation was not a surprise.

Many people who aren’t black shrug incidents like this off. Maybe it didn’t happen the way it was presented. Maybe it was someone just trying to make a scene. Maybe ... well, there’s always a maybe.

But our families have “talks” with our teenage kids for a reason and they aren’t the same talks you give your kids. We have to make sure that their encounters with law enforcement or strangers don’t end badly or tragically.

My uncle gave me one of my 'talks'

I was fortunate that one of my “talks” at age 16 was given by my uncle who was a Memphis cop. He understood how police think. Those rules he gave me saved me less than a year later when I was staked out by Nashville Metro Police for two hours thinking I was a thief.

When four cops surround you suddenly, the fear lodged in your throat is for your life. And I went back to “the rules."

When I watched the death of George Floyd under the knee of a cop in Minneapolis, my mind went back to the night I was suspected of a crime, until a fifth cop showed up and realized they had the wrong guy.

I was lucky. But I shouldn’t have had to be lucky. I’ve used those rules my uncle gave me ever since.

Do not be passive about bigotry

We African-Americans are frightened. We are angry. But we are also weary. After decades of progress, we still face things you do not. Our ask of you is to view these events as a daily call to action. Being passive about ending bigotry does nothing but perpetuate it.

This transcends whatever political shield you carry. Acknowledgement of the pain and suffering of others does not make you weaker. We need each and every one of you to be active in the fight, especially with the next generation. Because if you do not, there will be many more Christian Coopers and even worse, more George Floyds.

Nashville is in pain today. Tornadoes and COVID-19 damaged us, but the aftermath of the “I Will Breathe” protest is a self-inflicted wound on our city. In recent years during strife, we hold a rally or march, city leaders and ordinary people speak, we listen to each other, and then we go home.

That did not happen this time and it stained the good intentions of Nashvillians who attended willing to listen to others.

The city that learned from protests 60 years ago can still lead the conversation for positive change. But it won’t happen if we don’t take the risk of reaching past our outrage.

Rick Ewing is a native Nashvillian and healthcare technology executive. He adapted this op-ed from a version of his essay that first appeared on Jennifer Puryear’s “Bacon on the Bookshelf”blog.

I have always looked at the glass as half full as opposed to half empty. But, even so, I consider myself more of a pragmatist than an optimist.

As an African American woman, I’ve experienced how ugly the world can be. I’ve experienced both blatant and more insidious racism. I’ve been called a nigger. I’ve been assumed to be the assistant to my white CFO when, in fact, I was the CEO. I’ve watched white men who held my same position, with less academic and practical experience, be given double the salary. This reality is not just mine. Many African American women and men can speak to the micro- and macro-aggressions they experience daily. But this week has been another particularly bad week for African Americans and a week when all Americans should hang their heads in shame.

Just as we were moving toward hopeful justice for Ahmaud Arbery, killed by three white vigilantes, we literally watched the murder of George Floyd by an overzealous police officerwho placed his knee on a handcuffed Mr. Floyd’s neck. To do what, further restrain him or kill him? We are haunted by George Floyd’s words on the video, as we have heard them before from Eric Garner, also murdered at the hand of the police. “I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe.” Onlookers urged the police to ease up and reiterated that Mr. Floyd could not breathe, but to no avail.

Criminals should be punished, but surely the alleged crime of forgery did not merit a death sentence. Nor did the crime of selling single cigarettes, or being a passenger in a car even with a permit to carry a firearm (the Second Amendment applies to us too, right?), or being a boy playing with a toy gun in a park, or walking in your neighborhood with a bag of Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea in your pocket. All crimes apparently punishable by death if you are a black man in America.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, along comes Amy Cooper who blatantly, and quite dramatically, lied to the police that her life was being threatened by Christian Cooper, an African American man birdwatching in Central Park. She was the one breaking the law. Thankfully, her lie backfired. But for far too many African American men, their murder has been precipitated by a false accusation from a white woman. In 1955, Emmett Till’s 14-year old brutalized body was pulled from the Tallahatchie River after a white woman in Money, Mississippi, accused him of whistling at her in a neighborhood store. She lied.

These are the very real issues black men face daily. When will this madness end? When will we be afforded true justice? When will we stop being seen as threats to whiteness? Or is it hate, not fear, that motivates white people to endanger our lives? I am no more a threat to your whiteness than you are to my blackness!

When will America get a grip and extend the constitutional freedoms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness to us? If you consider yourself an accomplice in the fight for justice and against discrimination, we need you now more than ever! We can no longer simply be outraged when these incidents occur. If you say nothing in the face of these constant wrongs, you become complicit in oppression.

I have the honor of working in a place that stands as a monument to the many African Americans and other allies who died for our rights and freedoms. We cannot allow their sacrifice, or the sacrifice of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd and so many others to be in vain. We must call this behavior what it is: criminal.

Terri Lee Freeman is president of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

This is heavy.

I can feel the chains of inequity on my shoulders as I sit at the computer.

These past few days have felt like a lifetime. It’s been a lifetime of being made to feel less than human for our African American population.

Once again, it’s rearing its ugly face

As it comes to a fever pitch and people are choosing sides, I’m siding with my beliefs. There are those who are pissed off with protests and rioting. I’m pissed too, however; I firmly believe that people can’t tell others how to process pain they themselves have never experienced.

I’ve watched my wife carry three children. I’ve seen her go through the thought process of, “epidural or no epidural.” I will never know her burden. I can have a little empathy, but I’ll never understand. And therefore, I can never tell her she shouldn’t take an epidural.

I’ve lived in different cities and joined several churches. I’ve watched three different pastors lose children. One pastor lost a son to murder, another lost a son to suicide, and another to drugs.

These are three different families in three different cities. I don’t know what they’re going through, and I don’t know their pain. All I can do is listen. If I lose one of my two sons to the same fate, then I can join the conversation. Regardless, it’ll still be from a different vantage point.

The best thing to do is listen and learn

So how can an outsider speak on what a disenfranchised community “should and should not do?”

Some are bringing up the days of Martin Luther King, Jr. There are quotes and memes circulating social media. However, MLK was shot and killed for his beliefs. That’s an important fact.

If protests and riots are not the American way, if violence isn’t the answer, then why does our country recognize and celebrate national holidays that say otherwise?

I vividly remember the hated fervor Colin Kaepernick was met with when he tried to take a knee. Recently as this weekend, a Facebook friend of mine responded to a picture of Kaep kneeling and said, “they should go back to Africa if they can’t stand.” We’re no longer Facebook friends.

When is the right time to protest?

We tried to take a knee; we were told to stand. We tried to speak out; we were told to shut up and dribble. We started a hashtag that said Black Lives Matter. That was met with All Lives Matter. But the thing is, saying black lives matter doesn’t take away from white lives.

Saying I like bacon doesn’t mean I hate sausage. Saying I love apples has no bearing on how I feel about oranges. And if our fire department were dispatched to put out a fire on a residential street, they wouldn’t be met with resistance to spray down non-burning homes.

Responding to our non-violent cries with resistance is the definition of white privilege. So then, what other options are left to affect change? The problem isn’t our method, it is clearly our message. We’re asking to be viewed as equal within humanity.

We want equality.

What’s the answer? I believe it starts with admitting there is an issue.

Until then, silence is complicity.

Jay Gilmore is a University of Memphis assistant professor of journalism and strategic media.

Nashville, we are fighting against two enemies right now that are equally formidable. The first is hatred. The second is disease. We cannot afford to let either of these foes win.

I’d like to offer a battle plan of sorts, informed by two perspectives – that of a black man in America who spent my childhood with Jim Crow’s knee on my neck, and that of an infectious disease expert who has devoted my career to caring for people of every race and ethnicity.

On the subject of hate, I speak to all Nashvillians who are aghast at the specter of seething anger in our streets and the torching of our symbols of justice, events that threaten our sense of who we are as a city. For generations, Nashvillians have prided themselves on meeting our challenges with civility as we have sought common ground.

But, as we watch a new generation cry out for justice by the thousands, we must avoid the trap of sugar-coating Nashville’s legacy of peaceful protest – and chastising them for supposedly tarnishing that legacy. The Nashville sit-ins and marches of the 1960s, also led by young people, were not peaceful. They were violent and hateful. The protesters scrupulously practiced non-violent resistance because they risked being killed otherwise – and they almost were. They endured regular beatings and wrongful imprisonment.

Black protesters are fed up and so are their white allies

This is important to remember as the John Lewises and Diane Nashes of today take to our streets. They are angry over the senseless killing by police, not only of one black man named George Floyd, but of hundreds whose lives have been ended by hatred.

They represent all races and genders. The black protesters are fed up with being targeted by the criminal justice system due to the color of their skin. Their non-black allies are fed up with listening to their non-black elders pay lip service to racial equality.

We must appreciate that they have a right to outrage, and that they are making progress. Monday, we witnessed their cry for Tennessee National Guard members fronting them outside the Capitol to lay down their shields. The guard members complied, to resounding applause and thanks from these young leaders. It was the very best of Nashville, and we will have more such moments if we follow the example set by both sides.

But as we in Nashville and nationally grapple with the cultural crucible of our time, we also are grappling with the most pervasive health crisis of our time: COVID-19. It is still lurking in our midst and threatening to resurge, which could drive us all back into hiding and kill many in the process.

More:Tennessee Voices, Episode 19: James Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical College

Respect those on the frontlines of health care too

I applaud those who protest injustice, and who have come out in force to demand change. I have experienced too much racism in my lifetime and pray this will be the generation that finally pulls it out of our nation’s soil by the roots.

But I ask those of you on the front lines of the war against hate to remember and respect those on the frontlines of the war against disease. Think of the consequences of another surge to our brave healthcare workers. Think of your vulnerable family members and friends.

March forward wearing a mask. Decontaminate before going back into your homes or the homes of those you love. Keep your distance so as not to become a vector for deadly disease, creating a scenario in which public gatherings are again declared a public health hazard.

To paraphrase the lyrics of that old gospel song, you’ve come too far to be turned back now.

Dr. James Hildreth is the President/CEO of Meharry Medical College, located in Nashville and the largest historically black academic health sciences center in the US. An infectious disease expert, he is a leading national voice on COVID-19 and its outsized impact on people of color.

On Tuesday, after a long stretch of days witnessing protests, both in person and remotely, I finally took the time to think and reflect on police brutality and racial injustice.

I went to Instagram to see what everyone on my feed was thinking. And to my astonishment, I saw many of my white friends posting black squares in solidarity for #blackouttuesday. I sent along red hearts to every post, reveling in the humanity that I felt having the support from my white friends.

It sent me back to when I was a kid growing up in Tullahoma, Tennessee, a mostly white community.

I never spoke about racial injustices that happened to me and in the world around me because I never felt supported by the white community there. When I would speak about a police shooting of an unarmed black man or any other instance, I would be met most times with “racism doesn’t exist” or “you’re thinking too much in it.”

One story that sank my heart was when I was an 18-year-old working at Walmart as a customer associate — in other words, a glorified cart pusher.

When the carts weren’t scattered across the parking lot, I would walk around the lot and see if shoppers needed help with their bags.

One night, as I always did, I went around asking if I could help put bags in cars. I went to an older white women and asked her the question I’d asked many times before, “Can I help you with your bags, ma’am?” She responded, “I’ve been going to Walmart for 25 years and no one has ever asked me that.” Thinking it was a compliment, I said, “It’s all in a day’s work.” She seemed to smirk, then told me, “No, thank you.”

After she left Walmart, two workers came outside and asked me if I seen someone come up to any customer and asked to help them with their groceries. A lady had called the store and said someone tried to mug her.

I felt enraged because I knew whom they were referring to and quickly told them what happened.

The two workers went inside and later a white man, who I imagine was a manager, came to me and said, “The lady on the phone didn’t have a racist tone in her voice. You’re overthinking.”

What saddened me the most wasn’t the lady who accused me of trying to mug her but the white man in leadership who let that go.

It doesn’t matter what skin color you have, you can have a voice in fighting racism and injustices.

We’re all we’ve got.

LeBron Hill is an opinion columnist for the USA TODAY Network in Tennessee. Feel free to contact him at LHill@gannett.com or 615-829-2384.

My ninth grade English teacher once stopped me on a September day during lunch in front of the majority-white student body to tell my black, 14-year-old self I didn't belong at the school. And I believed it.

Amid concerns pertaining to my lack of progress in the class, I was alienated by this teacher and lost the sense of belonging on those Catholic school grounds, before I could even grasp it.

That was 2010 in San Diego, where I initially leaned on an innate basketball talent. I also leaned on my first name — Drake, as a Canadian rapper with the same name recently released his debut album.

I was able to wiggle into new social circles, dripping of affluence and racial tone deafness, lacking the black peer presence I was accustomed to, reigniting a lifelong trauma of walking through doors hardly touched by black hands.

For years, I've struggled to prove to myself, and to others, that I belong. As a black man in American society, the reality is the battle lasts a lifetime and includes inequity, bigotry, prejudice and poor allyship. In the midst of that unrighteous truth, I continue to fight for that sense of belonging.

Moving to Nashville in October 2019 wasn't my first time in the South. I remember sitting in my kindergarten class at Monte Sano Elementary in Augusta, Georgia, as my grandmother taught her first grade class next door. I had black and white friends.

A cross-country pit stop during the move to California in 2002, however, opened my eyes.

I was 6 years old and vividly remember a humid summer night at an Exxon Mobil gas station in the Dallas area, where my mom had walked me to the bathroom. We crossed paths with a white woman standing among two others outside of the women's bathroom. In a disorderly state, she said: “Now, you know you don't belong over here.”

I moved back to Georgia during the 11th grade. Just before I sat down at my desk before my English literature class, I overheard a white classmate telling his friend — who was white — about the rigorous challenge in keeping up with reading deadlines.

"I got the same problem bro," I said.

"So what, you're black," he replied. His friend chuckled. I sulked in that same alienated feeling I once had in the ninth grade.

But I know I belong at any school I choose to attend. I belong in any classroom I enter, media scrum I report in and press box I cover sports from.

I believe Ahmaud Arbery belonged on any street he chose to sprint on and that Breonna Taylor belonged in her own home — safe — and George Floyd belonged in any community he chose to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

To this day, 24 years later, it hurts that American society doesn't see it that way.

Drake Hills is the Nashville SC and Major League Soccer reporter for The Tennessean, contact Drake at DHills@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @LiveLifeDrake.

I was 5 years old the first time I heard the n-word. I had no idea what it meant, but I remember that everyone “ooh’ed” and “um’ed” as I sat confused.

Even with the reactions, I did not know that it was something that should offend me. This was just the beginning of the memories.

Another memory was in fourth grade when a friend was having a slumber party and advised that she could not invite me because I was black. Unlike my first experiences of racism, fourth-grade me knew this was messed up and that only certain people were affected.

Since born and raised in the South, our parents educated us on racism and discrimination. Since both my sister and I went to college and on to have decent careers, the adversity seemed to have the opposite of the intended impact. Please don’t worry if this doesn’t resonate. It only affects certain people.

I was 18 years old the first time I heard the n-word as an adult. Yes, in 2001 I was openly referred to as this and “colored” during a casual conversation. It was at my orientation. I will never forget that rage. It was frustrating because I thought adulthood would be different, but I was still affected.

Slavery did not end racism

I am 37 years old and I still experience similar situations on a regular basis. They are now just more subtle and/or passive aggressive. Are you surprised? Are you clutching your pearls or shaking your head in disbelief? Like I said, it only affects certain people.

Every single day there are more examples of the racism that Black Americans have been dealing with since slavery. The scariest part is the illusion of progress and equality.

Hip-hop is thriving. We see designers and influencers selling and promoting different parts of Black American culture. However, we die at a higher rate from a number of diseases and illnesses including COVID-19 and people are silent. We are dragged by vehicles, murdered in broad daylight, and our issues minimized. Yet ... crickets. How can you love a culture and hate the creator?

As you watch the news, see protests, and hear the messages from all people of color around the hate and injustice they experience, be open and be active. Support systematic change with your voice and your vote, but do not stop there.

Learn, listen and understand

Be a real partner. If you can speak on Lil Yachty, you can speak on the Little Rock Nine. Know the history. The hatred you see now is the same hatred behind slavery and Jim Crow. Same ol’ song, just remixed.

While I do not condone violence or the destroying of communities, I know and feel the rage and sadness which got us here. It’s being harassed and threatened. It’s being wrongfully accused and persecuted. It’s not having a safe space to live or just exist.

More importantly, it’s being disrespected, minimized, and treated as less than just because your beautiful melanin skin is a perceived threat to a small minority within the majority that has the platform to spin narratives and push agendas.

It is not okay to minimize, abuse, or oppress any human being. As we all now see, the consequences of doing so affects more than just certain people.

I am one of the certain people

Amy Hopson was born and raised in Tennessee. She is a data analyst who resides in Franklin, Tennessee.

There’s an old saying that the more things change, the more things stay the same, or in far too many instances get worse.

The late John Seigenthaler, who worked as a reporter and later served as a progressive editor, publisher and CEO of The Tennessean, wrote these words in 2006 as part of an introduction for a book of yet to be published essays that I was working on at the time.

This is the first time these words of his are being published.

“More than a century ago, W.E.B. DuBois predicted that ‘the problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line – the relations of the darker to the lighter races … in Asia, Africa, America and the islands of the sea.

“Sixty-five years later, ‘the color line’ remained America’s problem of the century. The National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, the so-called Kerner Commission, reported in 1968: ‘Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white … separate and unequal.’

“And were DuBois alive today, he would warn, with the same certitude that the problem of the twenty-first century will continue to be the color line. A new Kerner Commission would report today that ‘our nation is moving toward three societies – one black, one brown, one white … separate and unequal.’

“Both would acknowledge some progress in the decades that have ensued. But they would not dodge reality: the problem lives; too many who are African-American and too many others who are Hispanic still live in an America that is separate and unequal.

“Too few voices still chronicle the message that so long as issues of race and poverty and discrimination intersect, the problem of the twentieth century will persist – and the debilitating, destabilizing, decaying movement toward separate but unequal societies, will continue, further corrupting the culture of the country.’’

“There are voices still raised to remind our tone deaf society that DuBois’ alarm resonates: the problem of the color line drags on, ’’ added Seigenthaler, who died in 2014. “Voices still echo the Kerner Commission’s powerful, poignant warning.

“The movement toward a racially-ailenated underclass has gained momentum and complexity, as Hispanic immigrants have swelled the numbers of the nation’s poor and powerless.

“…A vital segment of the Kerner Commission findings, after it explored the cause and effect of the inner city violence that rocked the nation in the 1960s, was to point out that the news media did little to mirror the racial diversity of the nation – and provided little news coverage that truly reflected the racial divide. Newspaper editors and television news directors took the admonition to heart, and there followed, for a time, an affirmative action push, well-intentioned but, as it turned out, too short-lived and inadequate.

“It took a hurricane that ripped away the roof from an arena in New Orleans to expose the large and lingering dirty secret: The problem of the color line remained. The story the news media had missed over two decades was the depth of the problems of the underclass. We still were a separate and unequal society.’’

'We’ve got to get to the place where we all respect one another'

Unfortunately, the problem of the color line is still with us today – from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., to Detroit to Nashville to Dallas to Seattle and beyond – as thousands of protesters have been seen battling law enforcement officers since George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man died at the hands of Minneapolis police on Monday evening, May 25.

But it’s not just problems with law enforcement or our judicial system that’s causing disturbances to take place in America today as they did during the 1960s riots. There are issues with our educational system that we need to deal with now, issues with healthcare and housing.

Everything ties together. And, the powers to be have to be willing to change in order for America to truly become a nation that is not divided – one where all Americans matter.

As former U.S. Civil Rights Commission chairwoman Dr. Mary Frances Berry told me recently, “We’ve got to get rid of the racism and white supremacy that exists in America. We’ve got to get to the place where we all respect one another, and especially to the place where black people and other people of color are respected and looked at as human beings.’’

I am ready to help move America forward, and I hope you are, too. And, no, I don’t condone the violence that has taken place over the past two weeks.

Dwight Lewis served in a variety of roles at The Tennessean, including reporter and columnist, from 1971 to 2011.

The events of the past week have been heavy, emotional, and a reflection of the damage to our community that has been building for years and years.

They have also shown us that there are some people that are trying to change the subject. From the extremists to the well-meaning, it’s clear they’d rather talk about vandalism than the countless police murders.

We will not let the subject be changed, because changes must be born from the most recent killings of innocent, lawful African Americans.

We are demanding justice. There is no peace without justice.

We have laid out five areas that need immediate action to start us on a path towards becoming a city of peace. But if we ask for peace without implementing the following five actions, we will find our city in this place time and again.

Support of the Community Oversight Board and the accountability of MNPD. Ensure that a fair share of the federal funds for COVID-19 go directly into the black community. We know that this pandemic is disproportionally affecting the black community, and more has to be done. Designate funding for the purchase and full implementation of body cameras. Ensure that the recommendations from the Equal Business Opportunity legislation are implemented and more economic equity is seen in Metro contracts for black businesses. Hire a Chief Diversity Officer. The Minority Caucus has expressed the importance of hiring a Chief Diversity Officer in the past. To date, this position has not been filled.

Of all of the thousands of people who have protested around the country, we have hardly any instances of protesters hurting or killing anyone. Anyone that wants to change the subject to protesting and property damage, away from the murder of George Floyd, should know that we are not going to let them change the subject.

The point of all this is mending the relationship between the overall community and the African American community, speaking up and taking action against police violence, and shining a light on what it means to be an African American in America today. We are not going to let you change the subject.

No matter what happens, we will maintain a laser like focus on the solutions we’ve outlined above.

Please demand that the first group the mayor should meet with is your elected Minority Caucus.

The Metro Council Minority Caucus of Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County:

Councilmember At-Large Sharon Hurt, chair

Councilwoman Tanaka Vercher (District 28)

Councilwoman At-Large Zulfat Suara

Councilwoman Delishia Porterfield (District 29)

Councilwoman Joy Styles (District 32)

Councilwoman Sandra Sepulveda (District 30)

Councilwoman Jennifer Gamble (District 3)

Councilman Jonathan Hall (District 1)

Councilwoman Kyonzte Toombs, Ex-Officio (District 2)

Councilman Brandon Taylor (District 21)

Councilwoman Antoinette Lee (District 33)

As we grapple with the devastating COVID-19 pandemic, we also struggle with a series of racist killings and acts that are keeping black America on edge. Racism is not a new virus, but it is one that is virulent and for which there appears to be no cure.

The fact that America has exploded in violent protests because another black man or woman has been killed by law enforcement is not surprising. It was bound to happen. Just as the coronavirus was bound to erupt in the U.S. In both cases, nothing was done to mitigate the circumstances, so the worst case scenario played out.

I’m deeply disturbed by what happened in Minneapolis on Memorial Day, May 25. It was painful to watch as that white policeman, Derek Chauvin, knelt on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old unarmed black man. When Chauvin arrived on the scene, Floyd was already handcuffed and in a squad car. Chavin pulled Floyd out of the car, threw him to the pavement and knelt on his neck, as bystanders videotaped the senseless brutality.

Images of that killing, that execution, haunt me. I can’t get out of my head the smug look of self-righteousness of the perpetrator as he pressed his knee into the victim’s neck as Floyd pleaded, “I can’t breathe. Please …”

Horrified bystanders also pleaded with the officer, but he continued

Chauvin held his knee on the victim’s neck for nearly nine minutes, three after Floyd was non-responsive. Another policeman checked Floyd’s pulse. There was none. Yet, Chauvin kept his knee in place, even after paramedics arrived.

It harkened back to when black men and women were lynched and burned for no reason other than being black. It was the same racist virus at play. It is a disease that has infected America for way too long.

Chauvin and three other officers were immediately fired. Days later, Chauvin was charged with third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Wednesday that Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison would increase the charges to second-degree murder, and that the other three officers would also face charges.

Chauvin is not the first policeman to blatantly kill a black person. He is not even the first to kill in Minneapolis, a city that for decades has tolerated a police force that at times seems out of control. In 2010, a mentally ill black man, David C. Smith, died after two Minneapolis policemen held him prone for nearly four minutes. They were never disciplined.

Chauvin himself has more than 17 complaints of misconduct, and he has been named in a brutality lawsuit. Yet, he only has two letters of reprimand.

An infectious disease

It is indicative of a systemic problem when one police killing closely reflects another. This one does. In 2014, white police officer Daniel Pantaleo killed Eric Garner with a chokehold on Staten Island. Unarmed, Garner also cried out, “I can’t breathe.” Pantaleo was fired but never charged in Garner’s death.

That blatant absence of justice is remembered. That’s why tens of thousands of people — black, white and brown – have been protesting in more than 100 cities across the country. That’s why people are so frustrated. It’s that virus.

There also is anger because in March 2020, Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old black medical worker in Louisville, was killed in her bed when police with a no-knock warrant burst into her home after midnight and shot her eight times. Those three policemen are on “administrative reassignment” but not charged with her death.

Like Pantaleo in New York and the officers in Louisville, most police officers who commit blatant racist brutality are not arrested or charged. If there is a trial, they usually are not convicted.

Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke didn’t expect to land in prison when in 2014 he fired 16 shots into 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke claimed McDonald threatened him with a knife, but video footage showed the teen walking away from the officer when he was shot. Van Dyke was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery.

White police officer Roy D. Oliver II in Balch Springs, Texas, in 2017 shot and killed 15-year-old Jordan Edwards with a high-powered rifle as the black teen drove away from a house party. Oliver was convicted of murder and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

In 2014, Ferguson, Missouri, white police officer Darren Wilson fired 12 times and killed unarmed Michael Brown, a black 17-year-old, but jurors did not even indict him.

Also in 2014, immediately upon arriving at a recreational center in Cleveland, patrolman Timothy Loehmann shot and killed Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black child with a toy gun. He was fired but never charged with the killing.

In Tulsa in 2016, police officer Betty Jo Shelby was quickly charged with manslaughter after she shot and killed Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man. Jurors acquitted her.

And in 2015, Freddie Gray of Baltimore died of a spinal cord injury while in police custody. Six officers were charged in connection with Gray’s death, but none was convicted.

When will it stop?

People are fed up with outlaw police officers who feel it is their right to brutalize and kill black people just because they can. In most of these cases, there were protests against police brutality and killings across the country. Yet, the slaughter continues. That is why so many are marching and protesting now. People are fed up.

While the police can be menacing enough, there are the racist white men with no badges who feel they can grab their guns and kill black boys and men as well.

In Florida, 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, was shot and killed by George Zimmerman back in 2012 when Martin was walking back home at night. Zimmerman was charged with murder but acquitted at trial.

And just recently, unarmed Ahmaud Arbery was killed in Georgia as he jogged. A former policeman and his son decided the 25-year-old black man was a robber. They chased him in a pickup truck and the son shot unarmed Arbery three times. The two vigilantes have been charged with murder, as has a third man who followed and videotaped the disturbing incident.

These and numerous other deaths of black people at the hands of brutal law enforcement officers, or their proxies, is why people are protesting across the country. Like me, they are fed up with black people being killed by those who are supposed to protect us.

The malignant racist attitudes, ineffective policies and inefficient training of police officers must be corrected.

As former President Barack Obama said: “This shouldn’t be ‘normal’ in 2020 America. It falls on all of us, regardless of our race or station, to work together to create a ‘new normal’ in which the legacy of bigotry and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions and our hearts.”

Let’s find a cure for this deadly virus before it destroys us all.

Lynn Norment is a Memphis journalist who previously was an editor and senior writer for Ebony magazine. She can be reached at normentmedia@gmail.com.

One lesson I’ve tried to teach my children, ages 10 and 14, is to never allow someone to make them feel guilty about what they’re feeling or to discount the feelings of others.

But what do you do when you don’t know how you feel? Or your feelings are so overwhelming that you don’t know how to process them?

It’s difficult to put into words how I’m feeling about the ongoing deaths of black people at the hand of law enforcement officers, or those that are extremely suspicious on their face and seemingly covered up or ignored.

Numb. Each time a new case emerges, all I can say is: “Again?”

Angry. Why does this keep happening? When will it stop?

Sad. A life filled with potential and promise is cut short. A family is mourning. A community is outraged and in many cases, no one is listening.

Confused. Just confused.

When videos of these deaths surface, I refuse to watch them. Death is a normal part of life, but to see someone taken in such personal manner is just too much for me. Darnella Frazier, the 17-year-old girl who filmed Floyd’s death, will carry that scene with her for the rest of her life. Can you imagine how traumatic that must be?

So this past Tuesday morning — days after Floyd’s death, weeks after Breonna Taylor was killed, months after Ahmaud Arbery and years after Sean Bell – I woke up and sat in my bed with a heavy heart and eyes filled with tears that wouldn’t stop.

I was numb, angry, sad and confused. And I didn’t know what to do with my feelings. After each instance occurs, I move toward healing. Until the next one. It’s like a new wound all over again and the more it’s irritated, the likelihood of it healing properly lessens.

The only thing I know to do is to pray that God sends the answer. That includes someone with the boldness to lead the charge to change our communities and change the world.

The lives of future engineers, entrepreneurs, nurses, congressmen, teachers, artists and preachers depends on it.

Mealand Ragland-Hudgins is editor of The Daily News Journal in Murfreesboro.

There is mourning in America. It is real and it is painful. Ignited by the horrific murder of George Floyd at the hands and knees of four Minneapolis cops, his “lynching” has become symbolic of countless other killings of black people throughout centuries in our country.

Tens of thousands of Americans of all races and backgrounds have responded in protest, demanding change in America, whose original sin was the enslavement of Africans stolen from their native lands.

Some protests have morphed into riots. But as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “A riot is the language of the unheard.” We cannot be dissuaded by white nationalists - posing as Antifa trying to hijack the protests - to ignore what led us here.

How many times have people cried out for changes in the cultures of police departments in inner-city communities? How many times have the crimes of men in blue perpetuated against African-American men and women gone unpunished? I am tired of hearing about “a few bad apples.”

How many more Philando Castiles, Sandra Blands, Eric Garners, Tamir Rices, Ahmaud Auberys and Breonna Taylors must we bury for America to hear our cries of anguish before we are heard? Black lives have never mattered in this land.

We all want peace. But peace cannot exist in the absence of justice. Frederick Douglass pronounced, “Power yields nothing without a struggle.”

Trump doesn't know how to lead

Donald Trump is the head of our government. But this pathetic, self-serving creature who sits behind the Resolute desk is incapable of leading our nation in this moment of crisis. Some say he refuses to lead, but that's not the problem. Trump doesn’t know how to lead.

Standing in the Rose Garden, Trump - the most lawless president since Richard Nixon - declared himself “your president of law and order” while demanding that local officials “dominate the streets” of our nation. He would bring “order” under the heel of the state. He also proclaimed that he was defending the Second Amendment, while trampling on the First.

marting from accusations that he was hiding in a basement bunker in the White House, Trump felt the need to prove that he was not hiding, that he was tough. Every weak man has a desire to prove that he is strong. So Trump's attorney general, William Barr, ordered police using pepper balls and smoke canisters to clear out a crowd of peaceful protesters in our nation’s Capital so the president could stroll across Lafayette Square for a photo-op in front of St. John’s Episcopal Church and hold aloft a book foreign to him — a Bible.

Making a mockery of the Bible

Using “the church of presidents” as a backdrop while clutching the Bible as a prop, Trump made a mockery of both. He neither asked for permission nor informed church leadership of his brazen political act. The White House later released footage of this outrage set to triumphant music. Surely white evangelicals can see through this stunt by a man who knows nothing of Jesus.

The next day, Trump took his act to the Saint John Paul II National Shrine. Washington Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory slammed the presidential visit in a statement shortly before the arrival of Trump and his wife, Melania. “I find it baffling and reprehensible that any Catholic facility would allow itself to be so egregiously misused and manipulated in a fashion that violates our religious principles, which call us to defend the rights of all people even those with whom we might disagree,” Gregory said in a statement.

Father James Martin responded on Twitter by saying, “This is revolting. The Bible is not a prop. A church is not a photo op. Religion is not a political tool. God is not your plaything.”

Contrast Trump’s words and behavior with those of Joe Biden, Trump’s apparent opponent come November: “The country is crying out for leadership … leadership that can recognize pain and deep grief of communities that have had a knee on their necks for a long time. … The moment has come for our nation to deal with systemic racism.”

People whose ancestors were undeterred and fearless in the face of Bull Connor and his dogs and fire hoses in Birmingham will not be curtailed by Trump’s bellicose threats. And people whose forebears bravely marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, risking death in the path of baton-wielding cops in Selma, will not be halted by a man who envisions himself their emperor.

A conversation is ensuing about racism in our country. Trump has disinvited himself from the discussion. Ours is, as Benjamin Franklin said, “a Republic, if (we) can keep it.”

Dr. Theotis Robinson Jr. is a freelance writer, former Knoxville City Council member and retired vice president of equity and diversity at the University of Tennessee. He may be reached at thewriteone7@comcast.net.

he world has forever changed. For the first time in over one hundred years, every person on this planet can relate to one another in a shared experience of struggle (i.e., global pandemic).

White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, rich, poor, educated, and uneducated alike all have to grapple with adapting to strategies and techniques which aid in combating a virus that has focused attention on human annihilation.

We would like to think the slogan "we are all in this together" represents a reality of social sincerity; however, it does not. One must remember that life as we know it changed rather quickly, but this existential shift did not influence change simultaneously within the human conscience.

For African Americans, this new social reality translates into targeted death, while also experiencing struggles associated with a global pandemic.

Ahmaud Arbery was killed because racism is a virus

It was difficult to watch the video that captured the killing of Ahmaud Arbery. I am an avid hunter, and the video shows clearly the hunting tactics employed by several white men.

The practice of group stalking is undoubtedly similar to methods associated with hunting rabbit, duck, and wild boar. The hunting objective for these animals is for one hunter to force the prey into a compromised position, while the other hunter goes in for the kill — this is what happened to Ahmaud Arbery.

As I understand it, white men are responsible for this calculated tragedy. This unfortunate situation could have been avoided, so we are left to grapple with why it happened. It happened because racism is a virus, and the killing of Ahmaud Arbery was simply a symptom of the disease.

Failure to morally reconstruct America after the end of the Civil War led to a systematic understanding of black people — they are not worthy of life in dominated white space.

In light of this racist assertion, some white Americans made themselves gods and began to delete black life in this country. While phrases such as "know your place" invariably meant racial parameters had been compromised, to maintain the security of white space, blacks were taught a lesson via targeted lynching and assassinations.

The killing of Ahmaud Arbery, due to the virus of racism, is an indication that black people in this country are part of a vulnerable population (running while black).

I fear I won't come home when I go for a run

As an educated black man who enjoys taking contemplative runs in my neighborhood, I must confess that I leave my home with the thought that I may not return (and this is before Arbery's killing). I think about my attire — would this shirt cause someone to think I am a burglar.

If I see a white woman walking or running alone, I attempt to avoid contact as much as possible. For several years now, I have been licensed to carry a firearm, which I rarely leave at home when taking a much-needed run (this is absurd).

Nevertheless, this is my reality as a black man attempting to embrace life in a dominated white space (this is the reality for every black person in America, rich or poor).

Unfortunately, this was also the reality for which Ahmaud Arbery came to understand American racism as a sickness unto death.

DeWayne R. Stallworth is professor of religious studies at American Baptist College.

So, let’s talk about outrage.

Some of my readers, as well as numerous keyboard warriors, have been questioning whether the activists who’ve been protesting Derek Chauvin’s slaying of George Floyd on camera are as outraged over the violence plaguing African-American communities.

They are.

We know this because in February, there was a Ride of Tears, as well as numerous other demonstrations of anguish and anger, over three black children in Memphis who were killedin drive-by-shootings.

But here’s what’s really outrageous.

What’s really outrageous is that those who are posing that question tend to be people who don't care about black people's pain if the institutions they trust are inflicting it.

Or that African Americans shouldn't react after seeing a white police officer plant his knee on the neck of a black man to snuff out a life that he didn’t believe was worth serving or protecting.

Or that black people, who are disproportionately poor, disproportionately sick and disproportionately grappling with historic injustices and daily indignities, must be perfect before protesting police who kill them.

Police who, unlike other murderers, tend to get away with it, along with a salary and pension that black people pay taxes to support.

Black youth internalize violence

Also outrageous is how some can't see how, when white police officers kill unarmed African Americans with impunity, it reinforces the idea that black lives are collateral, not consequential.

That their lives don’t matter.

And when black people, especially black youths, believe their lives don’t matter, they don’t think the black lives around them matter much either.

Which is why the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine issued a statement decrying Floyd's slaying at the hands of police - as well as the slaying of Ahmaud Arbery at the hands of vigilantes in Brunswick, Georgia, and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police executing a no-knock warrant in Louisville, Kentucky.

"Experiences of discrimination lead to internalized negative stereotypes that preclude the development of a positive identity and may lead to depression, anxiety and suicide," the statement reads.

"Violence perpetuated against people of color, especially Black men and transgender women, leads to mental health disorders and deaths..."

Dr. Altha Stewart, associate professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Health in Justice Involved Youth at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, agrees.

"The trauma of witnessing someone die at the hands of the police in your neighborhood, and having that replayed on your TV, or on your smartphone, or wherever you go all the time, it changes your brain," Stewart said.

She said when youths see police brutality and violence, it piles on to what's known as adverse childhood experiences.

"You've got kids who started school last year who have only known how police brutality leads to death," she said. "So for them, this is not new. But the [high-profile brutality] incidents that we know about may not reflect what they see all the time...

"There are tons of these stories out here. And these kids are definitely impacted by them."

So, here's where the outrage should lie.

It should lie with the fact that police officers like Chauvin, officers who are supposed to be examples of how to respect laws and life, are, by killing and brutalizing African Americans, fueling children's feelings of worthlessness.

It should lie with how so many people don't believe police who kill and brutalize African Americans are actually part of the problem that feeds black violence; that feed the devaluation of black lives.

So as activists fill the streets of Memphis, Nashville, and other cities to demand police reforms in the wake of Floyd's death, people would be wise to remember that their outrage isn't misplaced.

It's right where it should be.

Black people, and black youths especially, must be shown that their lives, and the lives of those around them, are too valuable to be lost to violence.

That can't happen if the police are piling onto that violence.

And getting away with it.

You can reach Tonyaa Weathersbee at 901-568-3281, tonyaa.weathersbee@commercialappeal.com or follow her on Twitter: @tonyaajw.

The iconic cultural theorist and writer Toni Morrison wrote, "What struck me most about those who rioted was how long they waited. The restraint they showed. Not the spontaneity, the restraint. They waited and waited for justice. And it didn't come. No one talks about that."

Her words speak to the pot of distrust that brews in Minnesota where another unarmed and non-violent Black father, George Floyd, was killed as if he were a stray mutt in the city's littered alley. A police officer placed his knee on the neck of an innocent Black son and crushed his ability to breathe. His whispers for release, air, and his Mother broke our collective heart and set a primordial racial discontent ablaze in our cities. And, so the people rioted.

These types of riots don't just appear overnight. They are not like the drunken rabble of white fans at college and professional sporting events, incited when their teams lose (or win) to decide they want to spend the night flipping cars. They are not like the militarized, white-led, anti-shelter-in-place protesters with AK47s who spit virulent defenses of their First Amendment rights directly into the faces of "peacekeeping" police officers who, like guards at Buckingham Palace, don't even blink.

The riots of Minneapolis-St. Paul are responses to centuries of Black bodies being discarded, still-open wounds that are daily salted by micro-aggressive uses of white privilege to ensure that people who look like me never forget that no matter how hard we work within "the system," the system will remind us that we don't belong. The system will remind us that our concerns for justice and equity don't matter.

The voice of the majority drowns out Black and Brown voices

The rioting doesn't start overnight. It begins with the continuous silencing of Black leaders who seek to make the system better for communities of color who have systematically been discriminated against. It begins with excluding voices of color from the conversation. I will share a present-day example of what seeds a riot.

Nashville, like other cities, is struggling to address the digital divide. I have spent the last eight weeks trying to align all conversations about digital inclusion, tech racial disparities and how to help make sure that all Nashville students have equitable access to digital learning.

Daily, I have alternated between phone calls and video conferences trying to persuade Nashville leaders to collaborate on a plan to address both Metro Nashville Public Schools needs and the larger racial issues that allow so many students and families to lack access to this new world of technology.

However, over the last eight weeks, I have grown more weary and angry with Nashville leaders' blatant disregard for Black and Brown lives, in a city that is led by non-people-of-color who want quick fixes that are cultivated by nepotism and wealth.

They value “urgency” to spend available dollars over strategic courage. The “voice of the majority” drowns out the voices of Black and Brown leaders.

The seeds of the riot are in not being seen as 'good enough'

Though I founded an organization to support Black technologists, Black in Tech Nashville, co-chaired Nashville's Smart City plan, hosted the first ever citywide conference on tech inclusion, and sit on the Federal Communication Commission’s Diversity in Tech Working Group, non-people-of-color who are not experts or colleagues of mine in digital equity work are invited onto the Mayor's COVID Funding Advisory committee to give recommendations on how to address racial tech inequities in Nashville.

This is troubling and seeds racial discontent. One can be driven to riot when, no matter how much you develop authoritative knowledge (I have a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago), how much you reach across racial boundaries (I have often been the only face of color and only voice for change in a room full of people who don’t understand principles of equity), how much you “code switch” or how much of an expert you are in this field of tech inclusion, you are still not good enough, let alone white enough, to be seen as a leader in this space. These are the seeds of a riot.

A device alone will not solve inequities

I am tired of worrying about our children: Black, Latinx, Nepalese, Kurdish, Sudanese, Vietnamese and Somali children lacking access to technology because we choose to focus solely on amassing devices while overlooking the need to co-create a plan that not only includes students’ access to devices, but strategically addresses the larger structural issues that allowed 80,000 MNPS students and families to lack consistent and quality internet and devices.

There is a pernicious train of thought in our city, especially among those who enjoy the benefits of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic privilege, to assume that a device alone will solve the vast inequalities that affect people of color. This is yet another example of how a city can seed a riot by valuing urgency over collaboration and planning.

Therefore, given the current racial unrest and understanding that the reasons for this unrest stretch far beyond recent events, we need a diverse group of leaders to create a plan that prioritizes leaders of color, design thinking experts, and industry-specific supply chain thinkers to plan how to effectively ensure all Nashvillians have equitable access to personal devices and quality internet.

A plan that focuses on execution and accountability. A plan that understands that if you create the pathway to deliver and connect devices and internet in 80,000 MNPS homes, you can use the same pathways to deliver food services to food-insecure homes.

You can use the same pathways to deliver COVID-19 contact tracing methods. A plan that will outline how multiple devices and quality internet can affect the entire family and help parents manage home-learning while retooling their skill sets to eventually apply for the tech-related jobs that are numerous in Nashville.

A plan that considers the current lived realities of racial and ethnic minorities in this city, where many are struggling disproportionately with COVID-19 infections and deaths. Ultimately, a plan that recognizes the humanity of this digital divide.

But, to do what I just described requires you not to be driven by urgency alone, but by a profound sense of courage to right the inequities of the past and present. You have to believe communities of color are valuable enough for such an intentional, measurable, and courageous response. And you have to include leaders of color in crafting the response.

Why we have given people of color no other choice but to protest

Some are watching Minneapolis-St. Paul in utter disbelief of how people can riot over a death. How could they burn businesses in their communities? How could they?

It starts with a handful of seeds.

A seed of continuously ignoring Black and Brown leaders asking to build an equitable Nashville.

A seed of white leaders taking ideas developed by people of color on how to address issues of equity and passing them off as their own.

A seed of creating a community oversight board only for them to have to fight the police to be transparent.

A seed of creating a Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, only to cancel the role the following year because of funding. A seed of claiming to have valuable Black and Brown leadership, but not have this reflected in Nashville C-Suites.

Ultimately, it’s decades of being denied the basic human right of being heard. Not just allowed to speak, but truly heard. We have been casting these seeds of discontent and disenfranchisement for a long time. It is no surprise that we have left people of color no other choice than to protest during a pandemic for our voices to be heard.

“A riot is the language of the unheard.” -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fallon Wilson is the CEO of Black in Tech Nashville. She’s on twitter @SistahWilson.