Kentucky State Guide

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States, although it is sometimes included, geographically, in the Midwest. Originally a part of the state of Virginia, in 1792 it became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is the 37th largest state in terms of land area, and ranks 26th in population.

Kentucky's largest cities and most of the fast growing counties are concentrated in what is referred to as the Golden Triangle, which is almost entirely in the Bluegrass region, with the exception of Hardin, Meade and LaRue counties which are in the Pennyroyal region.

Kentucky is known as the "Bluegrass State," a nickname based on the fact that bluegrass is present in many of the lawns and pastures throughout the state. Kentucky is well known for thoroughbred horses, horse racing, local bourbon whisky distilleries, bluegrass music, coal and college basketball.

Kentucky State Guide - Origin of State Name

According to The Kentucky Encyclopedia, the origin of Kentucky's name has never been definitively identified. Some possibilities include:

* a Wyandot name meaning "land of tomorrow"
* an Iroquoian name meaning "place of meadows"
* an Algonquian term for a river bottom
* a Shawnee term for the head of a river

Some theories have been debunked. Kentucky's name does not come from the combination of "cane" and "turkey," nor does it come from a Native American phrase for "dark and bloody ground."

The name Kentucky referred originally to the Kentucky River and from that came the name of the region.

Kentucky State Guide - Geography

Kentucky borders states of both the Midwest and the Southeast. West Virginia and Virginia lie to the east; Tennessee to the south; Missouri to the west; and Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north. The Commonwealth's northern border is formed by the Ohio River, and the western border is formed by the Mississippi River.

Kentucky is the only U.S. state to have non-contiguous parts exist as an enclave of other states. Far western Kentucky includes a small part of land, Kentucky Bend, on the Mississippi River bordered by Missouri and accessible via Tennessee, created by the New Madrid Earthquake. Also there is a section of Kentucky across the Ohio connected to Indiana near Evansville.

Kentucky can be divided into five primary regions: the Cumberland Plateau in the east, the north-central Bluegrass region, the south-central and western Pennyroyal Plateau, the Western Coal Fields and the far-west Jackson Purchase. The Bluegrass region is commonly divided into two regions, the Inner Bluegrass—the encircling 90 miles (145 km) around Lexington—and the Outer Bluegrass, the region that contains most of the Northern portion of the state, above the Knobs. Much of the outer Bluegrass is in the Eden Shale Hills area, made up of short, steep, and very narrow hills.

Kentucky has 120 counties, third in the U.S. behind Texas' 254 and Georgia's 159.

Kentucky is a land with diverse environments and abundant resources. These features are some of the most prized treasures of Kentucky residents. Kentucky is well known for its varied geology, including expansive cave and karst systems. It has valuable coalfields, critical wetlands and lush forests.

Kentucky State Guide - Climate

Most of Kentucky is in the transition area between a humid subtropical climate and a humid continental climate, although the higher elevations clearly fall in the latter. Monthly average temperatures in Kentucky range from a high of 87.6 °Fahrenheit (30.9 °C) to a low of 23.1 °Fahrenheit (-4.9 °C) and averages 46 inches (116.84 cm) of precipitation a year. Kentucky experiences all four seasons, usually with striking variations in the severity of summer and winter from year to year. In fact, it is not unusual to see marked changes in temperature and weather conditions within the same day, leading many locals to observe, "If you don't like the weather in Kentucky, stick around. It'll change. "

Major weather events that have affected Kentucky include:

* The Ohio River flood of 1937
* The Super Outbreak of tornadoes in 1974
* The North American blizzard of 2003 (mostly ice in Kentucky)

Kentucky State Guide - Lakes and Rivers

Kentucky’s 90,000 miles of stream system provides one of the most expansive and complex stream systems in the nation. Its major rivers include the Kentucky River, Tennessee River, the Cumberland River, the Green River, and the Licking River. It is also home to Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, and Lake Cumberland, all man-made lakes which rank in the top 20 in size area of U.S. lakes. In fact, Kentucky has more navigable miles of water than any other state in the union, other than Alaska.

Kentucky State Guide - History

Although inhabited by Native Americans in prehistoric times, when explorers and settlers began entering Kentucky in the mid-1700s, there were no major Native American settlements in the region. Instead, the country was used as hunting grounds by Shawnees from the north and Cherokees from the south. Much of what is now Kentucky was purchased from Native Americans in the treaties of Fort Stanwix (1768) and Sycamore Shoals (1775). Thereafter, Kentucky grew rapidly as the first settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains were founded, with settlers (primarily from Virginia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) entering the region via the Cumberland Gap and the Ohio River. The most famous of these early explorers and settlers was Daniel Boone, traditionally considered one of the founders of the state. Shawnees north of the Ohio River, however, were unhappy about the settlement of Kentucky, and allied themselves with the British in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Kentucky was a battleground during the war; the Battle of Blue Licks, one of the last major battles of the Revolution, was fought in Kentucky.

After the American Revolution, the counties of Virginia beyond the Appalachian Mountains became known as Kentucky County. Eventually, the residents of Kentucky County petitioned for a separation from Virginia. Ten constitutional conventions were held in the Constitution Square Courthouse in Danville between 1784 and 1792. In 1790, Kentucky's delegates accepted Virginia's terms of separation, and a state constitution was drafted at the final convention in April 1792. On June 1, 1792, Kentucky became the fifteenth state to be admitted to the union and Isaac Shelby, a military veteran from Virginia, was elected the first Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

While remaining loyal to the Union, Kentucky was a border state during the American Civil War. The state did not secede, and was officially neutral until a new legislature took office on August 5, 1861 with strong Union sympathies. The majority of the Commonwealth's citizens also had strong Union sympathies. On September 4, 1861, Confederate General Leonidas Polk broke Kentucky's neutrality by invading Columbus, Kentucky. As a result of the Confederate invasion, Union General Ulysses S. Grant entered Paducah, Kentucky. On September 7, 1861, the Kentucky State Legislature, angered by the Confederate invasion, ordered the Union flag to be raised over the state capitol in Frankfort, declaring its allegiance with the Union. In November of 1861, during the Russellville Convention, Southern sympathizers attempted to establish an alternative state government with the goal of secession but failed to displace the legitimate government in Frankfort. The "Confederate capitol" was located in Bowling Green and was represented by the central star on the "Stars and Bars"; Kentucky's ongoing neutrality prompted some Confederate officers to remove the central star from their battle flags (see the battle flag of General Braxton Bragg). On August 13, 1862, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith's Army of East Tennessee invaded Kentucky and on August 28, 1862, Confederate General Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi entered Kentucky beginning the Kentucky Campaign. Bragg's retreat following the Battle of Perryville left the state under the control of the Union Army for the remainder of the war. The Confederate Memorial Day is observed by some in Kentucky on Jefferson Davis' birthday, June 3.

On January 30, 1900, Governor William Goebel was mortally wounded by an assailant while in the process of contesting the election of 1899, initially assumed to be won by William S. Taylor. For several months, J. C. W. Beckham, Goebel's running mate, and Taylor fought over who was the real governor until the U.S. Supreme Court decided in May that Beckham was the rightful governor. Taylor fled to Indiana and was later indicted as a co-conspirator in Goebel's assassination. Goebel remains the only governor of a U.S. state to have been assassinated while in office.

Kentucky State Guide - Law and Government

The Kentucky Constitution provides for three branches of government: legislative, judicial, and executive.

Legislative

Kentucky's legislative branch consists of a bicameral body known as the Kentucky General Assembly. The Senate is considered the upper house. It has 38 members, and is led by the President of the Senate, currently Republican David L. Williams. The House of Representatives has 100 members, and is led by the Speaker of the House, currently Democrat Jody Richards.

Executive

The executive branch is headed by the governor and lieutenant governor. Under the current Kentucky Constitution, the lieutenant governor assumes the duties of the governor only if the governor is incapacitated. (Prior to 1992, the lieutenant governor assumed power any time the governor was out of the state.) The governor and lieutenant governor usually run on a single ticket (also per a 1992 constitutional amendment), and are elected to four-year terms. Currently, the governor and lieutenant governor are Republicans Ernie Fletcher and Steve Pence, respectively.

Judicial

The judicial branch of Kentucky is made up of trial courts, called District and Circuit Courts; an intermediate appellate court, called the Kentucky Court of Appeals; and a court of last resort, the Kentucky Supreme Court. Unlike federal judges, who are usually appointed, justices serving on Kentucky state courts are chosen by the state's populace in non-partisan elections.

The state's chief prosecutor, law enforcement officer, and law officer is the attorney general. The attorney general is elected to a four-year term and may serve two consecutive terms under the current Kentucky Constitution. Currently, the Kentucky attorney general is Democrat Greg Stumbo.

Federal representation

Kentucky's two Senators are Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Jim Bunning both Republicans. The state is divided into six Congressional Districts, represented by Republicans Ed Whitfield (1st), Ron Lewis (2nd), Geoff Davis (4th), and Hal Rogers (5th), and Democrats John Yarmuth (3rd) and Ben Chandler (6th).

Judicially, Kentucky is split into two Federal court districts: the Kentucky Eastern District and the Kentucky Western District. Appeals are heard in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Political leanings

Where politics are concerned, Kentucky historically has been very hard fought and leaned slightly toward the Democratic Party, although it was never included among the "Solid South." In 2006, 57.05% of the state's voters were officially registered as Democrats, 36.55% registered Republican, and 6.39% registered with some other political party.

Kentucky has voted Republican in five of the last seven presidential elections but has supported the Democratic candidates of the South. The Commonwealth supported Democrats Jimmy Carter in 1976, and Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, but Republican George W. Bush in 2000 and 2004. Bush won the state's 8 electoral votes overwhelmingly in 2004 by a margin of 20 percentage points and 59.6% of the vote.

The most solidly Democratic counties are in the mountainous eastern unionized coal mining region, especially Pike, Floyd, Knott, Menifee, Letcher, Perry and Breathitt, and the cities of Lexington and Louisville. The Jackson Purchase area in the far west was historically a Democratic stronghold but has moved Republican recently. Paducah author Irvin S. Cobb once wrote of the purchase area: "There was no doubt about our district. Whatever might betide, she was safe and sound - a Democratic Rock of Ages." The area was once referred to as the Gibraltar of Democracy.

Law

Kentucky's body of laws, known as the Kentucky Revised Statutes (KRS), were enacted in 1942 to better organize and clarify the whole of Kentucky law. The statutes are enforced by local police, sheriffs, and sheriff's deputies. Unless they have completed a police academy elsewhere, these officers are required to complete training at the Kentucky Department of Criminal Justice Training Center on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University. Additionally, in 1948, the Kentucky General Assembly established the Kentucky State Police force, making it the 38th state to create a force whose jurisdiction extends throughout the given state.

Kentucky is one of 38 states in the United States that sanctions the death penalty for certain crimes. Criminals convicted after March 31, 1998 are always executed by lethal injection; those convicted before this date may opt for the electric chair. Only two people have been executed in Kentucky since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstituted the practice in 1976. The most notable execution in Kentucky, however, was that of Rainey Bethea on August 14, 1936. Bethea was publicly hanged in Owensboro for the of rape and murder of Lischia Edwards. Irregularities with the execution led to this becoming the last public execution in the United States.

Kentucky has recently been on the front lines of the debate over displaying the Ten Commandments on public property. In the 2005 case of McCreary County v. ACLU of Kentucky, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that a display of the Ten Commandments in the Whitley City courthouse of McCreary County was unconstitutional. Later that year, Judge Richard Fred Suhrheinrich, writing for the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of ACLU of Kentucky v. Mercer County, wrote that a display including the Mayflower Compact, the Declaration of Independence, the Ten Commandments, the Magna Carta, The Star-Spangled Banner, and the national motto could be erected in the Mercer County courthouse.

Kentucky State Guide - Demographics

As of 2005, Kentucky has an estimated population of 4,173,405, which is an increase of 31,570, or 0.8%, from the prior year and an increase of 131,120, or 3.2%, since the year 2000. This includes a natural increase since the last census of 77,156 people (that is 287,222 births minus 210,066 deaths) and an increase due to net migration of 59,604 people into the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 27,435 people, and migration within the country produced a net increase of 32,169 people. As of 2004, Kentucky's population included about 95,000 foreign-born (2.3%).

Kentucky State Guide - Race and Ancestry

The five largest ancestries in the commonwealth are: American (20.9%), German (12.7%), Irish (10.5%), English (9.7%), African American (7.3%).

Blacks, who made up one-fourth of Kentucky's population prior to the American Civil War, declined in number as many moved to the industrial North in the Great Migration. Today they are mostly concentrated in the southwest (notably Christian County and the city of Paducah), the Bluegrass, and the cities of Louisville and Lexington. "American ancestry" is the largest reported ancestry group throughout most of the commonwealth in the Census and most of these people are of British or Scotch-Irish descent.

Kentucky State Guide - Economy

The total gross state product for 2005 was US$140.4 billion, 27th in the nation. Its per-capita personal income was US$28,513, 43rd in the nation. Kentucky's agricultural outputs are horses, cattle, tobacco, dairy products, hogs, soybeans, and corn. Its industrial outputs are transportation equipment, chemical products, electric equipment, machinery, food processing, tobacco products, coal, and tourism. The Eastern Kentucky Coal Fields are recognized as being among the most productive in the nation.

Kentucky ranks 4th among U.S. states in the number of automobiles and trucks assembled. The Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Expedition, Ford Explorer, all Ford F-series trucks, and the Toyota Camry are all assembled in Kentucky.

Historically, a major problem with Kentucky's economy has been the fact that outside the Ohio River towns and Lexington, most rural counties never developed a widespread and localized industrial economy; meaning that up until World War II most families still depended on subsistence farming for survival. Despite being the 14th smallest state in terms of land area, Kentucky still ranks 5th in the total number of farms, with more farms per square mile than any other U.S. state. This is also the reason that most rural counties have only one sizable town and still have median household incomes that are often half the U.S. national average.

State taxes

There are 5 income tax brackets, ranging from 2% to 6% of personal income. The sales tax rate in Kentucky is 6%. Kentucky has a broadly based classified property tax system. All classes of property, unless exempted by the Constitution, are taxed by the state, although at widely varying rates. Many of these classes are exempted from taxation by local government. Of the classes that are subject to local taxation, three have special rates set by the General Assembly, one by the Kentucky Supreme Court and the remaining classes are subject to the full local rate, which includes the tax rate set by the local taxing bodies plus all voted levies. Real property is assessed on 100% of the fair market value and property taxes are due by December 31. Once the primary source of state and local government revenue, property taxes now account for only about 6% of the Kentucky's annual General Fund revenues.

Until January 1, 2006, Kentucky imposed a tax on intangible personal property held by a taxpayer on January 1 of each year. The Kentucky intangible tax was repealed under House Bill 272. Intangible property consisted of any property or investment which represents evidence of value or the right to value. Some types of intangible property included: bonds, notes, retail repurchase agreements, accounts receivable, trusts, enforceable contracts sale of real estate (land contracts), money in hand, money in safe deposit boxes, annuities, interests in estates, loans to stockholders, and commercial paper.

Kentucky State Guide - Education

Public universities

* Eastern Kentucky University
* Kentucky State University
* Morehead State University
* Murray State University
* Northern Kentucky University
* University of Kentucky
* University of Louisville
* Western Kentucky University

Private colleges and universities

* Alice Lloyd College
* Asbury College
* Asbury Theological Seminary
* Bellarmine University
* Berea College
* Brescia University
* Campbellsville University
* Centre College
* Clear Creek Baptist Bible College
* Daymar College
* Frontier School of Midwifery and Family Nursing
* Georgetown College
* Kentucky Christian University
* Kentucky Mountain Bible College
* Kentucky Wesleyan College
* Lexington Theological Seminary
* Lindsey Wilson College
* Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
* Louisville Technical Institute
* Mid-Continent University
* Midway College
* National College of Business and Technology
* Pikeville College
* Saint Catharine College
* Simmons College of Kentucky
* Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
* Spalding University
* Spencerian College
* Sullivan University
* Thomas More College
* Transylvania University
* Union College
* University of the Cumberlands

Kentucky State Guide - Culture

Defining the culture of Kentucky is difficult because the contrast between the metropolitan areas of Louisville and Lexington and rest of the state, which is largely rural, is so stark. The biggest day in horse racing, the Kentucky Derby, is preceded by the two-week Kentucky Derby Festival in Louisville. Louisville also plays host to the Kentucky State Fair, the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival, and Southern gospel's annual highlight, the National Quartet Convention. Owensboro, Kentucky's third largest city, gives credence to its nickname of "Barbecue Capital of the World" by hosting the annual International Barbecue Festival, and Bowling Green, Kentucky's fifth largest city and home to the only assembly plant in the world that manufactures the Chevrolet Corvette, opened the National Corvette Museum in 1994.

Old Louisville, the largest historic preservation district in the United States featuring Victorian architecture and the third largest overall, hosts the St. James Court Art Show, the largest outdoor art show in the United States. The neighborhood was also home to the Southern Exposition (1883-1887), which featured the first public display of Thomas Edison's light bulb, and was the setting of Alice Hegan Rice's novel, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch.

The more rural communities are not without traditions of their own, however. Bardstown, Kentucky celebrates its heritage as a major bourbon-producing region with the Kentucky Bourbon Festival. (Legend holds that Baptist minister Elijah Craig invented bourbon in Georgetown, Kentucky, but some dispute this claim.) Glasgow, Kentucky mimics Glasgow, Scotland by hosting its own version of the Highland Games, and Sturgis, Kentucky hosts "Little Sturgis", a mini version of Sturgis, South Dakota's annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. The residents of tiny Benton, Kentucky even pay tribute to their favorite tuber by hosting Tater Day.

Kentucky State Guide - Music

From Rock and Roll Hall of Famers The Everly Brothers to Flatwoods native Billy Ray Cyrus to Mildred and Patty Hill (the Louisville sisters credited with composing the tune to the ditty Happy Birthday to You,) the breadth of music in Kentucky is indeed wide, but its depth lies in its signature sound – Bluegrass music. Bill Monroe, "The Father of Bluegrass", was born in the small Ohio County town of Rosine, while Ricky Skaggs, Keith Whitley, David "Stringbean" Akeman, Sonny and Bobby Osborne, and Sam Bush (who has been compared to Monroe) all hail from Kentucky. The International Bluegrass Music Museum is located in Owensboro, Kentucky, while the annual Festival of the Bluegrass is held in Lexington.

Kentucky State Guide - Sports

Kentucky is home to no major league sports team but several minor league teams. However, the northern part of the state lies across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, which is home to a National Football League team, the Bengals, and a Major League Baseball team, the Reds. It is not uncommon for fans to park in the city of Newport, Kentucky, and use the Newport Southbank Pedestrian Bridge, locally known as the "Purple People Bridge" , to walk to these games in Cincinnati. Many restaurants and stores in Newport rely on business from these fans. Also, Georgetown College in Georgetown is the location for the Bengals' summer training camp.

As in many states, especially those without major league professional sport teams, college athletics are very important. This is especially true of the state's two Division I-A programs, the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals.

Kentucky State Guide - Eat

While Kentucky's pastimes are distinctly those of the South, the state's cuisine is considered to be a synergistic blend of Midwestern cuisine and Southern US cuisine. One original Kentucky dish is called the Hot Brown. It is a layered dish normally in this order: bread, tomatoes, ham, bacon, and topped with melted cheese. It was developed at the Brown Hotel in Louisville.

Article Source: Wikipedia