The Bluegrass and Beyond

After I finished reading the Herald-Leader and went to church, I had some time on this cold and rainy Sunday. So I went in search of more good reading. Here’s what I found:

As if airline passengers and employees didn’t have enough to worry about, the long-discussed merger of Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines could be getting closer. The Financial Times is reporting that a deal could come as early as Monday. The merger could have a big impact on Kentucky as the airlines try to merge operations to cut costs. Some aviation consultants think Delta’s Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky hub may take a hit. Fasten your seatbelts; it could be a bumpy ride.

Casino promoters may have come up with a losing hand in this legislative session, but they’re sure to return, especially with a state budget like this one. Christopher Caldwell has an interesting piece In the New York Times Magazine about the economics of state-sponsored gambling.

In The Courier-Journal, Erik Reece, the UK writing professor and anti-strip mining author, draws his own analysis from the industry publication Kentucky Coal Facts.

The Bowling Green Daily News follows up on that city’s worst storm, which caused a half-billion dollars worth of damage 10 years ago this week.

In the Truth is Stranger than Fiction Department, this report comes from Pikeville, which will host its annual Hillbilly Days festival Thursday through Sunday. The Appalachian News-Express reports that federal officials have recalled 26,000 sets of plastic “Hillbilly Teeth.”

Tom,
I enjoy your blog very much. I feel like I am strolling through a virtual Forum listening to engaged citizens debate the future of their city.

After reading through the many interesting comments on your site, I had a few thoughts that I wanted to share.

We can spend a great deal of time debating what happened in the past, or what didn’t happen in the past, or what should have happened in the past. And perhaps that is a debate that should happen, and could be useful, down the road. But now, all that is likely to result is the sort of finger-pointing unlikely to move us forward.

I expect that within a week a number of parties to this debate will have a chance to sit down and discuss the possibilities for compromise. Preserve Lexington has committed to a good faith conversation with Mr. Webb. And I believe that Mr. Webb will approach these discussions with the same good faith.

So, for the next week, it might be best to focus on what we have in common, rather than what separates us. We all respect and applaud the considerable accomplishments of Mr. Webb and of the Webb Companies, we all want what is best for our city, we all welcome a significant development on this block. I think that we can even agree in principle that significant new development can co-exist with, and more important, can complement existing historic architecture. To illustrate this, Preserve Lexington has compiled a considerable portfolio of major developments across the U.S. that successfully marry the historic with the new.

Let us all take a deep breath.

Let us reflect upon these commonalities.

Let us see if conversation can lead to compromise.

Sincerely,

Hayward Wilkirson
President of the Board of Directors
Preserve Lexington

Lexington usually slows to a crawl during the week Fayette County Public Schools close for spring break. Half the town, it seems, heads for warmer climes.

But things should be plenty hot around here, thanks to developer Dudley Webb’s controversial proposal to build CentrePointe. It would be a 35-story hotel, condo and retail tower in the center of the city, a block bounded by West Main, South Upper, West Vine and South Limestone streets.

The warmup started Saturday, when more than 400 people rallied to argue for changes in CentrePointe’s design. Things will get even hotter Wednesday at 2 p.m. in the Urban County Council chambers, when Webb’s team make its case before the Courthouse Design Review Board. The board must approve any changes to the buildings that are near the old courthouse square. Eventually, the Urban County Council and state officials also must approve the project, because Webb is seeking $70 million in tax breaks.

Follow the news each day in the Herald-Leader and on kentucky.com. And return to this blog often for additional reporting, analysis, commentary — plus the chance to have your say about CentrePointe and discuss it with others.

I’m sure there will be other things we’ll want to discuss as well before Friday, when we head out to Keeneland for opening day. At least those of us who are still in town.