Culture

The mayor of Owensboro says he is proposing a skateboard ban due to vandalism.  Mayor Ron Payne says skateboards and bikes caused about $4,000 worth of damage last week at Riverfront Crossing Plaza, which opened downtown just six months ago.  Payne says he will propose an ordinance that would outlaw skateboards in the downtown area and stop bicyclists from jumping in the air to do tricks.  He says he will also propose more security downtown and that video cameras be mounted in strategic locations.

The Distinguished Alumni Award is Murray State University’s highest accolade for graduates. Fifty years ago, the university issued the first of these awards to Gene Graham. In that same year, Graham was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and was a Harvard Nieman Fellow. Gary Pitts looked into the life and work of Murray State’s first Distinguished Alumnus.

Kentucky is in full bloom this spring, and the Commonwealth wants to make it easy to find the most colorful spots.  The state Departments of Travel and Parks are sponsoring the Unbridled Spring program again, with a website that includes reports from parks across Kentucky.  The reports are updated weekly, and the agencies say they provide a guide to locations where blooms are most beautiful.  The website is an off-shoot of Kentucky Tourism's site: http://www.kytourismapps.com/seasons .

Murray State University men’s head basketball coach Steve Prohm is the first winner of CollegeInsider.com’s Joe B. Hall Award.  The award is named for the former head coach of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, who led the team from 1972 until 1985.  The award is presented to the top first year coach in Division I College Basketball.  Prohm led the Racers to a 31 and 2 record, as well as the third round of the NCAA tournament in his first season.