Long Reads
For undocumented immigrant, traffic stop could be much more
Story, photos and video by Nick Wagner I t was a typical Friday morning on April 7 for Diana Lopez, just another day driving her son, Donovan, to school in Nashville traffic. Lopez conversed with…
Love you forever: a mother survives after daughter’s suicide
By Srijita Chattopadhyay I t was a typical winter evening at the Hack household. Melanie Hack had just picked up her oldest daughter Reagan Harley Carter, 12, from a school basketball game. It was nearly…
A place of new beginnings
Jacob rides a 20-year-old Quarter Horse mare, Amber, for his lessons at New Beginnings. A volunteer assists Jacob as he unhooks the cross ties from Amber’s halter to put on a bridle, which is used to…
Brothers, from Saudi Arabia to WKU
By Anna Lawson W hen Fares Al Huraibi was driving to the airport in Saudi Arabia in May of 2013 he felt like he was missing a piece of himself. He had been…
Human trafficking: awareness fuels increased reports in Kentucky
By Nicole Ziege When Vicki Patterson was 3 years old, she said her mother bought her a brand new pair of pink underwear. These new “panties,” as Patterson called them, were meant for her to…
Hope for Hemp: Cave City family sees future in new crop
Story and photos by Hannah McCarthy Just 2 miles outside of downtown Cave City, Kentucky, the landscape quickly turns from old brick and mortar to farmhouses and dirt roads. Down one such dirt road, a…
Mind Over Medicine
Story and photos by Hannah McCarthy F irst, she checks the post-it notes on the bedside table, the headboard and the walls around her to remind her of the day’s tasks. Next, it is time…
Welcome to Eclipseville
Vehicles on U.S. Highway 68, which runs through Christian County and much of western Kentucky, drive past a new sign that advertises the upcoming total solar eclipse. Signs like these have popped up across Hopkinsville…
Wiley, like Calvin
Story and photos by Joseph Barkoff Flying with wasps, part 1 One last trick, showing off the skills that partially enabled his world travels. Climbing up, up, up, pushing the little-two-seat pearl sky blue 1947…
A Home for Judy
Story and photos by Allison J. Call I n the middle of a cold Kentucky winter while most were trying to stay warm, Judy Cardwell stole a bag of ice from a Kroger in Bowling…
Between two schools: High school life on a college campus
Students enter Florence Schneider Hall which houses the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science on Western Kentucky University’s campus. Since it was established in 2007, the Gatton Academy has consistently been rated one of…
Flawed system for Kentucky’s mentally ill
Wellness Connection, a center for volunteer support efforts for people with mental illness, located in downtown Bowling Green. By James Line An unusually large snowfall had blanketed the small Kentucky town of Scottsville. On the…
Remembering Hopkinsville’s Peter Postell Building
The entrance to Sixth Street with the empty lot, where the Peter Postell building once stood, on the right. Story and Photos by Jodi Camp Flames reached 40 to 50 feet in the air as…
Bird Dog: A Local Legend in Hopkinsville
Jim Moss Electric where Bird Dog stores his lawn mower during the off season. It is run by Chip Moss, a long time friend of Bird Dog. Story and Photos by Jodi Camp Walking down…
Stuck Between Two Worlds
Noah Hancock chats with other ASL students at the member retreat for the American Sign Language Organization at Western Kentucky University. (About this story: Author Austin Rutland conducted some interviews for this story in American…
Unbridled: A story of Kentucky’s forgotten recreational horses
Free-roaming horses eat long grass planted by coal companies with obligations to reclaim strip mined land in Breathitt County, Kentucky. These horses have been abandoned by their owners in the coal reclamation lands of Eastern…
The Deli
Story and Photos By: Bryson Keltner Nestled on winding Highway 68 between Edmonton and Sulphur Well, there is a landmark. It does not bear a monument, nor does it have historical significance. It is a…
A Joyful Noise
Story and photos by Bryson Keltner In the outskirts of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, her house is surrounded by farmland. Her carport is painted red. A cement Tennessee Volunteer dog sits by the front door–it weighs more…
Bosnia to Bowling Green: Finding a Place to Call Home
Gina Dzelil looks through an old suitcase kept by her mother, full of old letters from friends, school supplies and a folder full of clippings of every Michael Jackson photo Dzelil ever found during high…
Time Stands Still in Tompkinsville: Community Votes to Remain Dry
Downtown Tompkinsville. Photo by John Reecer. By John Reecer It’s a typical Sunday afternoon and, just like any other day in Tompkinsville, Kentucky, there aren’t too many cars on the roads. With a small population…
A Transplanted Purpose
Amelia Wilson showcases one of the shirts she designed and sold in order to increase awareness about organ donation. Photo by John Reecer. By John Reecer One by one, each student nervously walked up to…
PTSD Affects Veterans Long After Combat
by Casey McCarthy When Jeff Reece first came home to Metcalfe County, Kentucky, after 11 months in Iraq, he thought everything would be the same. A year after returning, Reece fell asleep holding his son, Chase, an…
A Place of Healing
By Allison Call Reuben Schwartz’s office is nothing like I expected. A small, seven-foot-by-eight-foot room right off the front office, it is furnished with only an aged, wooden desk and matching chair, a wheeled stool…
Faith in Science
By Justin Turner The small sanctuary of Franklin Presbyterian Church comes alive with music and chatter in the time between Sunday school and the start of the service. Two young girls twirl their dresses as…
Satanism, schizophrenia, and seclusion: Scottsville murder suspect has tumultuous past
By James Line At 2:30 a.m. on March 9, 2016, the emergency dispatch center in the sleepy town of Scottsville, Kentucky, received a 911 call from a local nursing home. When police arrived at Scottsville…
A changing city: examining Bowling Green’s growing refugee population
By Helen Gibson It’s Tuesday, Nov. 9, the day that America elected Donald Trump its 45th president, and the Bowling Green office of the International Center of Kentucky is busy. The two story, red brick…
Refugees form supportive community at Lee Pointe Condos
By Adam Sims Mike Baker, maintenance man of Lee Pointe Condos, walks across the parking lot. One resident hands him a doorknob from her door, saying it’s broken, and Baker promises to fix it as…
WKU student connects with Chinese heritage
By Alexandra Sandefur On almost any given Sunday afternoon during Angie Willemsen’s childhood, one could find her and her family at China One, a buffet-style Chinese restaurant in their hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. Angie’s…
Koch Foundation causes controversy by donating to universities
By Leah Johnson Back in 2009, Western Kentucky University started the BB&T Center for the Study of Capitalism on campus with a $1 million grant from the BB&T Charitable Foundation. Dr. Brain Strow, an economics…
Bowling Green fire department accused of lacking diversity and acceptance
By Brittiny Moore Jeff Queen stood silent as his fellow firemen debated their course of action concerning the unconscious man lying on the floor of his home. Another man who the firefighters suspected was the…