Ramel Bradley finishes up album, releases single

March 31, 2008

Former UK basketball player Ramel Bradley is releasing his first single, titled “Smooth Operator,” from his upcoming album today.
Bradley’s album, “Do You Know,” is set for release April 15.
Meghan Blackburn, the publicist for Bradley’s album, said she is working on debuting the single on Lexington-area radio stations today.
The former guard sampled the single for various media members at St. Claire Studios in Lexington on Monday, where he and local musician Jonathan Webb answered questions regarding the album. Webb appears on two songs on the album and also helped produce it.
Bradley described “Smooth Operator” as one of the more upbeat songs on the album, and he said it uses an urban sound familiar in today’s hip-hop and rap genres.
More samples of other songs featured on Bradley’s album are on his MySpace page (www.myspace.com/rsbeezy3).

Compiled by Travis Waldron | Staff

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Photographer: Assignment more like kickin’ it with Ramel than work

March 31, 2008

It was one of those assignments that you see and instantly call dibs.

Beat writer Travis Waldron told me he would be hanging out with UK basketball star Ramel Bradley while he polished off his single before releasing it and I knew this was an assignment I wanted. I spent all of my days in high school recording music and I still love music studios. The whole process is very similar to writing a story in that you take time fixing all the little details until it’s as far as you can take it.

I ‘m also a Ramel fan. He plays with a lot of heart and I admire that about him. Also, if you have ever seen his news conferences then you know how well he handles himself. So the chance to combine music, Ramel and photography was an obvious choice.

The challenging part of assignments like this one is to find a shot that is different from what everyone else is going to have. Everyone you see in the photo above besides Ramel is with the media. I shot this frame only to show the setting. Former Kernel photo adviser Dave LaBelle always told me not to just get caught up in the subject, but to take a step back and look at the media madness your subject draws. I think that’s good advice.

The only problem with some of the photos you pull from one of these shoots is that they’re basically completely staged for the media. I doubt Ramel would have been in this situation if it weren’t for the half a dozen media outlets who were covering this one song recording. But that’s part of what our audience wants to see with this story, Ramel off the court. I just try to keep in mind what my goals are. To show the audience a true representation of a scenario they can’t get to themselves.

Please check out the mixed media piece to get the full experience.

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Hillary makes rounds through Kentucky

March 30, 2008

By Juliann Vachon

LOUISVILLE — Sen. Hillary Clinton’s campaign stopped in Louisville on Saturday afternoon for a rally with energetic supporters who believe, like she does, that the Kentucky Democratic primary matters this year.
“I can’t do any of this without your help,” Clinton said in front of a crowd of about 2,500 at duPont Manual High School’s gym. “You know, Kentucky counts.”
Clinton made a call to young voters, encouraging them to get engaged not only the election, but also the country’s future.
“It’s so important we get young people involved,” she said.
Manual students made signs that hung throughout the gym and read “We found our new star” and “Students for Hillary.”
Many view Clinton’s opponent, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, as the young person’s candidate. But younger voters, including UK students, lined the front row of the crowd on the floor and sat behind Clinton on stage waiting to hear her views on ending the war in Iraq, lowering the country’s debt and providing universal health care.
The New York senator’s promise to “make college affordable again” drew a big applause from the crowd.
She promised to provide more need-based aid, increase Pell Grants and forgive student loans for people who enter public service jobs such as teaching or public health positions.
Clinton also touted plans to let students borrow money from the federal government at low interest rates like she did when she was in college.
When she asked people in the crowd to raise their hands if they paid more than 20 percent interest on their student loans, one man yelled that he paid 24 percent.
A UK student at the front of the crowd said Clinton picked up on his response as well.
“She heard me yell 18 percent and repeated it to the crowd. UK representing!” said Anthony Tanner, a vocal music performance junior. “I just hope it hits home to all students that her loan forgiveness and financing programs are the best.”
Former President Bill Clinton, who won Kentucky in his 1992 and ‘96 presidential victories, was in the state campaigning for his wife Tuesday. The couple’s campaign stops are out of the ordinary for Kentucky, whose late primary date typically attracts little attention from potential party nominees.
Obama leads Clinton in pledged party delegate votes, which will determine who goes on to face Sen. John McCain in the presidential election. But Clinton said she is not done yet.
“I do not discourage easily, in case you haven’t noticed,” she said.
Clinton talked for about 40 minutes without notes and took jabs at President George W. Bush’s administration, calling it a “government of the few, by the few and for the few.”
“If you give me the honor of being your president, we will put America back on the right track,” she said.
Clinton never mentioned her opponent’s name during the speech but did allude to her campaign’s previous claims that Obama’s message lack substance.
“This election isn’t about the speeches we give, it’s about the solutions we offer,” Clinton said.
Her health care plan would allow those not covered or unhappy with their plans to opt into one of the plans offered to members of Congress while keeping everyone’s premium rates low and based on household incomes, she said.
She promised to get rid of tax breaks for companies that export jobs out of the country and provide benefits for those that keep jobs in America.
Clinton also focused on energy policy, calling for more “green-collar jobs,” such as weatherizing homes, retrofitting buildings, installing solar panels and working on alternative fuel solutions such as clean coal and biofuels.
The federal government also needs to take back control of building and maintaining its infrastructure, Clinton said, instead of outsourcing the jobs to private companies.
“We’ve got to ask ourselves, ‘what do we need to do to make sure our security is in American hands,’ ” she said.
UK student Jess Kropczynski, who attended the Obama rally at the Lexington Center in August, said Clinton has Obama beat in terms of her specific policy proposals.
“Obama was just full of empty phrases,” said Kropczynski, a doctoral sociology student. “Hillary actually came out here and had a plan.”

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Mobile-home owners told to leave to make way for student apartments

March 17, 2008

Story by Blair Thomas | Staff

The dishes rattled in the kitchen cabinets, and a picture hanging above the couch fell from the wall.

“It’s the bulldozers,” said Francis Barrera as she hurried out of her mobile home last Wednesday. “They don’t even care that I’m still living here.”

Outside, a bulldozer steered down the paved road and joined two others already sitting at the entrance to Ingleside Mobile Home Park.

“They’ll start tearing all of this down soon,” Barrera yelled over the noise of the machine. “All of these trailers will be demolished soon. But people are still here - I’m still living here.”

Francis Barrera stands in front of piles of furniture and personal belongings scattered throughout Ingleside Mobile Home Park. Barrera and other residents received word in January that they would have to move from their mobile homes off Red Mile Road because the property had been sold to make way for student apartments. Photo by Elliott Hess | Staff

Barrera is one of the remaining Ingleside residents facing displacement from her mobile home as development plans move forward for a new apartment complex aimed at students.

Lexington developer Neal Evans bought the 6.8-acre lot off Red Mile Road for $3.3 million in January to build the complex. In a Nov. 1 meeting, the Lexington Planning Commission unanimously voted to rezone 1201 Devonshire Ave., where the park is located, from single-family residential to a high-density apartment zone.

A court temporarily halted demolition at the mobile home park until Evans obtains a demolition permit. Evans did not have a permit when he started tearing down homes, said Dewey Crowe, director of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government’s Division of Building Inspection.

Kim Chavarria, far left, and her niece Hayley talk to a neighbor passing by in his car while Kim’s daughter Leah and niece Megan, far right, share a drink. Photo by Elliott Hess | Staff

Evans is scheduled to go before a Fayette Circuit Court judge Friday to petition for the permit, according to a court order issued March 11 by Judge James Ishmael.

The demolition delay came in response to complaints from Ingleside residents to the Division of Building Inspection.

Bulldozers started tearing down several mobile homes Feb. 25 while people were still living in their homes, according to a lawsuit being drafted by residents. Residents plan to file the suit against Evans and Devonshire Apartments LLC for failing to maintain a “safe, sanitary and habitable condition” in the mobile home park while residents are relocating, according to the draft.

Broken chairs, couch cushions and toilets piled next to picture frames lay in heaps throughout the area. Sagging mobile homes with broken windows and missing siding stood vacant among the piles of trash.

Residents were informed in August that they might have to move but were told they’d be “very well taken care of,” Barrera said.

Francis Barrera walks away from a bulldozer parked outside of her mobile home. She yelled at the driver as the machine drove by because she is angry that demolition started while she is still living at Ingleside. Photos by Elliott Hess | Staff

But once Evans announced the terms for relocating after he bought the property in January, many residents were not happy.

They faced a choice: leave their homes for demolition and receive $1,000 compensation, or relocate their homes and receive nothing. Those choosing to receive compensation must sign a notarized affidavit distributed by Evans stating they are abandoning their homes.

“(Evans) told us back in August that this wouldn’t be something we had to worry about,” said Barrera, who has lived in her mobile home at Ingleside for three years. “But he hasn’t held up his end of the deal - $1,000 isn’t fair, $1,000 doesn’t help me move, it doesn’t help me find a new place to live.”

Resistant to move

The development plan calls for 168 apartments with a total of 504 bedrooms and 457 parking spaces to occupy the property the mobile homes currently sit on. Construction is scheduled to begin in April.

Jason Henson, who has lived at Ingleside since 2001, said students who will eventually move into this area would not have any idea of who was pushed out to make space.

“I don’t think they care who was here before them - I don’t think we ever bother to think about that,” Henson said. “But I know I will now because I’m not just trailer trash. I work hard for everything I have, and I shouldn’t be expected to just give up the first place that I’ve bought of my own.”

Mary Chavarria’s daughter Kim watches her children and nieces play in the street outside of her mother’s mobile home in Ingleside. Safety is a concern because of broken windows, sagging trailers and looting, Mary Chavarria said. Photo by Elliott Hess | Staff

Evans declined to comment on Ingleside. Scott Baesler, a developer involved in the demolition of the park, could not be reached for comment.

If residents do not sign the affidavit and choose to move their trailer, they will not receive any compensation or moving assistance.

About 10 families still live at the mobile home park; 18 families lived there when the property was purchased from former owner Mahmoud Shalash. The remaining residents own their trailers and do not think their homes are in good enough condition to be moved.

“That’s the catch,” Henson said. “(Evans) will give us money if we abandon our trailer but nothing if we want to take it with us. If we want to move our home, assuming we could move it without destroying it, we’re on our own.”

Henson said he estimates his trailer is worth about $3,000, and he expects Evans to pay that much plus a “couple of months’ rent at the apartment or house I find.”

Barrera wanted to take her trailer but could not afford to pay for it to be moved. She said Evans has not returned her calls since he gave her the affidavit almost two weeks ago. She has not signed the affidavit or accepted the $1,000.

“It’s mine, and I’ve worked hard for the things I’ve got - I shouldn’t be forced to give them up,” Barrera said.

Legally, Evans, as the owner of the property, can force the tenants who rent the land for their mobile home to move, said Jon Fleming, a property and real estate lawyer for Legal Aid of the Bluegrass.

“When a mobile home is purchased, the owner is given a title, much like is given with a car,” Fleming said. “Different than owning a home, if the trailer is not able to be moved either because it is run down or the wheels have been removed, the property owner has the right to remove it or destroy it if the owner of the mobile home doesn’t remove it upon request.”

The residents can try for better financial compensation by pursuing the full tax value of their property if they have documents proving that they’ve paid taxes on their mobile homes, Fleming said.

“In this situation, with their financial statuses being low and them running out of options, this is one of the last things they can do,” Fleming said.

Concerned about safety

The mobile home park opened in the 1940s but has been the subject of code violations since 2000 when the city condemned 32 of 87 mobile homes in Ingleside, according to records from Lexington’s Division of Code Enforcement. In 2005, raw sewage was found throughout the property. That same year, the state fire marshal found electrical hazards, including electrical boxes without covers.

Early last year, 20 homes were condemned as a result of code inspectors citing unfixed past violations.

Since the demolition began, residents also say security is a major concern.

As part of the court order, residents still living at Ingleside must be provided proper security until the court hearing. Crowe said he was assured last week by the property manager that a privacy fence would be placed around the property and that security personnel would patrol to keep out vandals.

Barrera, who has found a house to rent in downtown Lexington on Jefferson Street, said she is more concerned about safety since the demolition began because people steal siding and other valuables from the mobile home park at night. She is staying in her mobile home while she moves her belongings to her new house because she fears her trailer will be looted.

“People are coming and stealing the siding off of these trailers that people don’t live in anymore to make some money,” Barrera said. “People I don’t know in cars I don’t know are always up here, and they steal stuff and they destroy trailers and strip them. I don’t want to leave mine for them to get.

“I’m scared and I’m stressed, and I don’t know what to do but to cry.”

Approaching eviction

Adult Services/Tenant Services does not have money to relocate the families, but the office provided about eight Ingleside residents with contact information for church groups and non-profit organizations that can offer some financial help, said Shirlyne Mosley, a social services coordinator for the department. Not many came to her office looking for help, she said.

“We’re here to serve, but if they don’t come, we can’t serve,” Mosley said.

The Ingleside families who did seek assistance from city government were given the list of phone numbers for organizations that could help and information for free legal services.

Open Door Church near Ingleside on Addison Avenue is accepting donations to help Ingleside residents. To donate, call (859) 225-3700.

Ingleside residents were given an eviction notice in January that stated they would have to be off the property by March 15 and had until March 20 if they planned to move their trailers. The residents still remaining received a second eviction notice late last week, but many said they will not move until they receive better compensation.

The second eviction hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on March 26 in Fayette District Court. At the hearing, the residents will go before a judge and have a chance to argue against their eviction.

“I’m going to be here when the bulldozers show up,” Henson said. “They can’t make me leave. I’m going to stay and make them come up with the right amount of money, an amount that will pay for me to leave this trailer and to find somewhere new. And I’m not the only one who plans to do this.”

Even though Barrera has found a new place to live, life is not easy.

She works as a waitress at Ryan’s Restaurant on Red Mile Road and has recently taken on a second restaurant job to help pay her bills.

“I’m paying bills here and bills at my new house and trying to afford to move,” Barrera said.

She gets some financial help from her boyfriend but does not ask for much because “he’s got his own bills and I don’t want to be a burden on him.”

“We fight all the time about money, it’s the only time we’ve ever fought,” she said. “I hate it that this situation is putting a strain on us. I hate it more that as a recovering alcoholic of 22 years, this situation makes me want to drink.”
E-mail bthomas@kykernel.com

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UK wastes no time hammering Evansville; still undefeated

March 6, 2008

Story by Matthew George | Staff

Not even 20 minutes into yesterday’s baseball game, the Cats had just about everything going their way.

Senior center fielder Collin Cowgill cracked a groundball in the first inning to Evansville third baseman Andy Smith, who gloved the ball and tagged out sophomore left fielder Keenan Wiley.

The play brought UK head coach John Cohen from his roost in the dugout. After an argument and a conference amongst Cohen and the umpiring crew, the umpires ruled that Smith had tagged Wiley with his glove, but held the baseball in his outstretched hand. Wiley was safe at third.

Though the play came in the first inning, it was indicative of how yesterday’s game would go for the Purple Aces. No. 9 UK (10-0) cashed in on five runs before Evansville pitcher Sean McCarthy could escape the inning, scored six more runs in the second and cruised to a 15-1 win at Cliff Hagan Stadium.

Sophomore pitcher Clint Tilford fires a pitch during the fourth?inning of UK’s 15-1 drubbing of Evansville at Cliff Hagan Stadium yesterday. Photo by Brad Luttrell | Staff

“Sometimes it takes a play like that for the game to kind of unfold,” Cowgill said. “That was a crucial out for them, to get the first out of the inning and still have a double play.”

“It’s tough to bounce back from that, especially early,” he said, “because now you have the bases loaded and you have the pitcher in a tough situation.”

The Purple Aces kept putting themselves in tough situations, committing three errors, beaming four UK hitters and throwing a wild pitch. But struggles like those are nothing new for the Purple Aces, who fell to 0-8 on the season.

Evansville has already committed 25 errors on the season, more than double UK’s total thus far.

UK showed little mercy. The offense continued to perform as it has all season. The Cats pounded out 15 total hits on their way to 15 runs, the team’s second-highest total this season.

Evansville managed a run against sophomore pitcher James Paxton in the third, but six relievers combined to shut out the Purple Aces the rest of the way.

It was the Cats’ defense that impressed Cohen the most, he said, adding that this was the best he had seen his team field it all year. The fielding effort was led by junior third baseman Spencer Korus, who made three consecutive diving plays in the fourth and fifth innings and added two RBIs at the offensive end.

“Spencer Korus looked like Brooks Robinson today,” Cohen said. “He just had a big-time day defensively and got a huge double down the right field line.”

Korus, who battled back into the lineup after a knee injury, was surprised by the action he saw at third.

“Pretty much all three of the balls were exactly the same,” Korus said. “I was sitting there after I caught the first one thinking there is no way they are going to hit another one there because they just hit two in a row in the same spot, but sure enough (they did).”

The two teams met last season at a time when both were considered on the bubble for an NCAA Regional bid. Evansville erased a three-run deficit against the Cats and won 5-4 on a walk-off single.

UK ultimately failed to make a regional.

“It was big last year,” said senior right fielder Sawyer Carroll, who finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs. “Maybe we would have got in if we had won that game, but we didn’t. But we can’t look back.”

But the Cats fed off the disappointment from that loss, Cohen said.

Using the contest as motivation, UK tallied another 10-plus run total, a feat they have accomplished in each of their 10 games this season.

E-mail mgeorge@kykernel.com.

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