Alcoholism is categorized as both a psychiatric and medical disease by the Center for Disease Control, but remains widely misunderstood by those not personally affected. Roger Grant, more popularly known as Pimp, suffers from both sides of the disease, and has lost his family and his old life along the way.
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Nicky raises cocks for fighting in Mingo County, West Virginia at his family’s trailer and usually bets between fifty and a hundred dollars on each fight. This is his main income source, but he stays clear of fighting in the big derbies in Kentucky because the bets are made in the thousands not just in a few bucks. “There is a real sportsmanship to this. It is a real sport,” Nicky explains. | Gabriel Scarlett
Hudson Sitzman of Ferdinand, 14 months, middle, pointed to a 3-week-old turkey while his dad Wes and grandmother Debbie Kerstiens of Ferdinand watched him interact with the animals in the brooders house at Kerstiens Farm in Ferdinand on Tuesday. | Erica Lafser
Dawson Newbold,16, of Housespring makes a call while taking a break from sandbagging on December 30, 2015 in Fenton, Missouri. The Meramec river is expected to crest at 43 ft late Wednesday. | Michael Noble Jr.
Ray “Raisin” Jones of Bowling Green helped his third cousin, Carleigh Frost of Bowling Green, 7, left, put her hat back on after it fell while she was feeding the ducks at Basil Griffin Park on Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. Jones used to go to the same park with his own son, who is now 23. | Erica Lafser
Rachel Cranor, 17, of Bowling Green, lies on the floor after walking the runway at the fashion show during the third annual Southern Kentucky Bridal Expo at the WKU Knicely Conference Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Sunday, Jan. 31. “I didn’t pass out, I’m just tired” said Cranor. | Emily Kask
WKU president Gary Ransdell prepares to announce his resignation at the Regents Board meeting at the College & Career Center on WKU’s Elizabethtown campus on January 29, 2016. Ransdell’s retirement from his presidency will be effective June 30, 2017. | Emily Kask
At six in the morning, when Judy’s Castle opens it’s doors, faithful tenants make their way inside for a warm breakfast and good conversation. Rita Porter has dined with her father, Fred Oliver since her mother’s passing in 2014. At the diner, Porter befriended Jerry Blankenship who sits in the booth behind Porter and Oliver. “We come here every day” said Porter. | Alyse Young
Family, friends, students, and staff gathered in the Chandler Memorial Chapel on Western Kentucky’s Campus on Monday, January 25, 2016 to mourn the loss of their friend and loved one Tammy Jeffries, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communications. | Lex Selig
WKU Photojournalism professors James Kenney and Jeanie Adams-Smith spend their Super Bowl Sunday pondering edits for the second round of the Hearst photo competition.
Congratulations to Nick Wagner and Brittany Greeson for being selected to represent WKU photojournalism in the second round of the Heast Photojournalism competition. Wagner’s story depicts the personal sacrifice a legal immigrant must endure to try to earn money for his family. Wagner traveled between Bowling Green and Mexico to cover both sides of the immigration process. Greeson’s story is a comprehensive and unnerving look at the community of Flint, Mich. as they deal with the current water crisis. We wish both of them our collective luck in the competition.
In the aftermath of attacks in Paris and San Bernadino, there lay a new weight on the shoulders of young Muslims living in the United States. The search for acceptance and fight for religious freedom became a daily challenge for Muslim students on campus under the pressure of stereotypes and cultural misconception. SEE THE STORY
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Vito Tisdale, formerly “Big V” of the two-time Grammy nominated hip-hop group Nappy Roots, navigates life after fame. Vito works to be a stable father figure to his daughter, Meadow, but often struggles to find a balance between family and music. Be sure to visit the web site here.
By Kreable Young and Katie McLean
Terry lost all voluntary muscle control and Diana lost any comfort of a normal marriage, but love and hope are far from lost. Diana knew what she was agreeing to when she married Terry Howard, one of the youngest to ever be diagnosed with Lou- Gehrig’s disease. A disease that has no known cure and a survival rate of three to five years after diagnosis is the prospect Terry has been living with for almost 30 years. The Howard’s have found unique ways to overcome loss of communication and have adjusted aspects of their life together to cherish every unexpected day they continue to share together.
Within two weeks Alisha Waters had received 186 texts from her estranged husband D.J. Mathis. He used psychological abuse, and threats of harm in his texts and calls. On April 22, 2013 Alisha Waters was denied a Domestic Violence Order six days after receiving an Emergency Protective Order. Kenton Family Court Judge Lisa Bushelman’s court order read “no allegation of domestic violence.” On Aug. 6, 2013 DJ Mathis followed Waters to her work and changed Alisha’s life forever.
by Megan Tan
When the program director of Parker Bennett Community Center Sabrina Johnson pairs up with Miss Black Western of 2013 Porshia Austin to host their first beauty pageant, their intensions of giving a group of young girls the opportunity to perform for the first time becomes more challenging than they expect.
by Ian Maule
William Poteet has a gift to be able to do college level math at the age of ten. While many people see this as lucky, William must walk a delicate balance between achieving his academic potential and fitting in socially with his peers.
In the hilly countryside of Fordsville, Ky., 60-year-old Faron Cox spends his days in the same double wide trailer where he spent his childhood. Following the loss of his father in 2006, Cox inherited the home in addition to the expanse of land he now looks after.
At an age when most are retiring, Cox faces the daily challenges and struggles of raising his two youngest sons, Faron “Bear” Cox, 8 and Skylor “Tiber” Cox, 4.
Reality hits often for Faron as he finds himself worrying about the demands of childcare and his diminishing health. He relies on his disability check and pain medication for his back to get through the fiscal and physical challenges of each day.
A tense and complicated relationship with the children’s mother leaves Faron as a single father. Now, he questions the time he has left to watch his children grow.