English Bulldog Puppies for Sale in Lexington, KY

A popular Southern restaurant chain that opened in the Lexington market a decade ago before exiting two years ago is coming back.

Newk’s Eatery, which had locations on Richmond Road and near Fayette Mall, plans to bring three to five locations to the Lexington/Central Kentucky market, with 15 altogether in Kentucky, including several in the Louisville market.

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Newk’s CEO Frank Paci said in an interview that the company is “looking to recruit great partners” and is scouting locations.

“Historically, we know there’s an appetite for the Newk’s brand in Lexington,” he said.

“We’re excited about it. We feel we’ve got a great product,” Paci said. He pointed to items such as the Salmon Caesar Salad and Shrimp Caesar Salad as examples. “We have upscale proteins that you don’t see anywhere else. ... Our position is we want to have the best food quality in the fast-casual segment of the business.”

Newk’s was founded in Oxford, Miss., as a sandwich shop and spread throughout the South, offering sandwiches, salads, pizzas and soups, as well as grab and go items and even whole cakes.

Major Newk’s competitors include McAlister’s, Panera and Jason’s Deli, all of which currently have locations in Lexington.

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“I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t compete,” said Paci, who previously was with McAlister’s. Both McAlister’s and Newk’s were started by the same Mississippi family, he said. They sold McAlister’s then launched Newk’s in 2004; it’s now in 13 states with more than 100 locations.

Paci said that the restaurant’s menu has been streamlined from its previous Lexington incarnation but still focuses on fresh-made items.

“We feel like Lexington would be a good market for us,” Paci said.

The previous Richmond Road location “actually worked. It just didn’t recover after COVID,” he said. “We’d open another store there today if we could.”

“Typically a good real estate location for us is one with a good daytime population,” Paci said. “Lunchtime is our big time. Ideally, there’s a retail draw around there, which helps, and having households there for weekends and dinner. We tend to do a little bit more dinner than some of the other fast casuals because we have pizza on the menu.”

He said Newk’s hopes to find a franchise partner in the next year and open the first one by 2026. He said they hope to have all the locations in the area built out within five years.

Some locations could have a drive-thru, but Paci said that Newk’s relies more on carryout and catering.

Newk’s was one of the first new restaurants built in front of the Southland Christian Church location on Richmond Road, opening in 2014. A second location opened at Fayette Mall the same year but closed in 2017, part of a wave of Lexington restaurant closures in the wake of the 2016 opening of The Summit at Fritz Farm.

By the end of 2022, the Richmond Road Newk’s had closed as well. It’s now El Jefe Mexican Grill.

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The headline tells you most of what you need to know: “KY juvenile justice guards laughed as they pranked mentally ill boy with a flushing toilet.”

In the story published earlier Monday, Herald-Leader reporter John Cheves writes another chapter in what feels like an endless and shocking litany of abuse, degradation and torture of children in our juvenile justice system. It has been so shocking, in fact, the U.S. Department of Justice announced in May that it’s investigating widespread abuse and neglect.

The Warren Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Bowling Green appears to be a particular hellhole of depravity. Reviewing records obtained through the Kentucky Open Records Act, Cheves has uncovered a contraband smuggling scheme that led to felony charges against three employees, and another case where guards pepper-sprayed an asthmatic teen.

So, in an environment of such rank sadism, perhaps we should not be surprised by what Cheves found next. It involved a boy suffering multiple psychiatric disorders, developmental delays and anger control issues who was locked in an isolation cell for 24 hours in late April.

“In the control room of the Warren Regional Juvenile Detention Center, in Bowling Green, laughing guards were using a computer to remotely flush the boy’s toilet over and over for 26 minutes as they watched his emotional outbursts on security video, according to a report issued in June by internal investigators with the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet.”

The culture was so bad that a lieutenant knew the behavior should stop, but said she “didn’t think they respected her authority enough to stop on her orders.”

So instead of interceding, she wrote an anonymous tip that was later followed up.

In some ways, the system worked: the incident was investigated and the lieutenant and officers were fired.

But let’s hit rewind: A lieutenant who recognized her subordinates’ poor behavior had to offer an anonymous tip to superiors because she didn’t feel the guards respected her enough for them to stop.

But how does such a culture get created and thrive in the first place?

And why is it continuing to spiral out of control?

Gov. Andy Beshear says his administration is on top of cleaning up the system, but he’s been saying that for one term already, and clearly the problems have continued, as evidenced by Cheves’ reporting.

When Cheves asked to speak to the newest juvenile justice commissioner. Randy White, the Beshear administration continually said no, preferring to communicate through emailed statements instead. So, Cheves tracked White down to a hearing in Frankfort, where to his credit, he spoke frankly about the problems.

We have frequently criticized the Beshear administration for its lack of transparency. Thankfully, some of its employees understand that the experts they employ should be allowed to speak to the public, even in an impromptu interview.

But for a governor who has already had one term to address these problems, it’s unconscionable that stories like these continued to seep into the public view.

These teens are entrusted in the state’s care. The juvenile justice system is the final stop for some of our most troubled, most vulnerable youth.

Clearly, not enough is being done to protect them.

What we see now is a system that appears content to just throw them away.

We don’t believe Gov. Beshear and his administration think that should happen. But Kentuckians deserve better.

These detained teens deserve better.

All of us demand evidence Beshear is changing the agency’s culture so that no one thinks it’s acceptable to mistreat a child.

And nobody finds it funny.

This story was originally published October 7, 2024, 1:03 PM.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - A new business in Lexington’s East End just celebrated its grand opening.

It has a unique twist; it’s a multi-faceted business concept that helps the community through food.

The East End shared kitchen is located on Seventh Street and Maple Street.

It’s a multi-use space venue for a variety of food-related business. Inside, they will have food business education to help small business entrepreneurs get off on a good start instead of taking a big risk with opening up a restaurant.

“A lot of people like to think, ‘Well, I can cook, so I can fix me a plate, and somebody’s going to come in and buy it,’ which is fine, but there’s a lot of cost with supplies a lot of food so the market goes up and down so prices change,” East End Shared Kitchen CEO Taji Wadkins.

It will also be a place where the neighborhood can come together and share their cooking skills.

Wadkins wants to share his five years of experience in restaurant ownership with the community.

“We’re able to pass down that information to the new people that are coming up who want to be a successful restaurant owner,” Wadkins said. “So we just feel like the east end shared kitchen provides them with that platform.”

Co-owner Thomas Hughley is bringing his twenty years in the restaurant business to this kitchen table.

“So we just kind of know a lot of family recipes and a lot of cooking that we just kind of bring out and share with different people,” Hughley said.

Chef Hughley says the East End Shared Kitchen will be open to nonprofits to cook for the homeless and others in need.

Wadkins says the kitchen will allow a space for healthy food options as well.

“It’s bigger than just food. This is a place where you can get educated on the type of food that you are cooking, the type of food that you are ingesting,” said Wadkins.

People have already requested to use the East End Shared Kitchen. Times to use or rent the place can be found by emailing sharedkitchen@gmail.com.

Copyright 2024 WKYT. All rights reserved.

CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein visited Mark Pope and the Kentucky men’s basketball team on Tuesday.

Rothstein made the trip to Lexington after visiting Louisville in the morning and spoke about both schools and the trajectories the programs are on year one with new head coaches Pope and Pat Kelsey.

“Kentucky looks like an NCAA Tournament team in 2025,” Rothstein said in a video posted on social media. “The makeup of the perimeter will be fascinating to watch from now until opening night on November fourth.”

ROTHSTEIN REACTION: KENTUCKY. pic.twitter.com/P97ka39Z0p

— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) October 1, 2024

Rothstein also emphasized the depth of the roster, predicting five starters — Lamont Butler, Koby Brea, Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams — but also highlighting numerous other stars who “look like potential starters” such as Kerr Kriisa and Otega Oweh.

The insider also shared that Pope himself had said it was Carr that Pope himself said was Kentucky’s most efficient player, saying the former Wake Forest star is sure to be a major focal point on the roster and compared him to Alabama star Grant Nelson.

The hype surrounding the Wildcats from Rothstein invoked both excitement and relief from the Wildcat faithful, many of whom surely had doubts regarding how well a roster almost entirely composed of transfers could gel. Rothstein himself had previously picked the Cats to finish ninth in the conference.

Speaking about the Cardinals of Louisville that he visited earlier in the day, Rothstein was also complimentary of the work Kelsey had done in his first year as head coach after being hired out of the College of Charleston.

“The energy and the intensity in Pat Kelsey’s practice on Tuesday was second to none,” he said in a video on social media. “The Cards also have a deceptively good back court. Louisville will be one of the most improved teams in college basketball during the 24-25 season. If the Cards stay healthy, they look like a potential bubble team to monitor in the middle of the ACC.”

Rothstein was notably not willing to call Louisville a NCAA Tournament team in the same way he was with the Cats, but this could hardly be surprising considering the task given to Kelsey, inheriting an 8-24 program from former Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne.

He highlighted a potential starting five of Chucky Hepburn, Koren Johnson, Terrence Edwards, J’Vonne Hadley and Kasean Pryor, calling the roster “hard to figure out.”

All in all, excitement is high in both Lexington and Louisville as many fans hope for a resurrection of the top-level Kentucky-Louisville rivalry games like the one seen in the 2012 NCAA Tournament Final Four.

Kentucky men’s basketball will begin its 2024-25 season on Friday, October 11, with the annual Big Blue Madness preseason event. The event is slated to begin at 7 p.m. ET and will air live on the SEC Network.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Imagine a week without driving. That`s what an initiative is encouraging Lexingtonians to do.

The “Week Without Driving” challenge aims to help people understand the daily obstacles non-drivers face.

On Wednesday, almost everyone relies heavily on their car to get around. The nationwide initiative is challenging drivers to put away their keys and find other ways to go about their daily lives and for the first time, the city of Lexington is participating.

Non-drivers make up nearly a third of Americans, from people with disabilities to seniors to those who simply can’t afford a car.

The challenge was created to give those who have the luxury of driving an opportunity to understand what it’s like for those who don’t, with the end goal of creating a more accessible community for all. Some ways to participate include walking, biking, using public transportation, or even carpooling with others.

Alice Hilton, who runs the event for the city of Lexington, said it’s a chance to talk about the gaps in our transportation system and how challenging that is in a car-centric city like Lexington.

“I think it’s just a great way to feel more connected to other people who care about the same things that you care about. I think that it builds a strong community of people who are advocating for a better Lexington and one that will benefit everyone who lives here, you know, regardless of whether you’re a car driver,” Hilton said. “I think we all benefit from reduced congestion and reduced air pollution and just better mental and physical health from using our bodies more.”

Many of those people may not understand what it’s truly like to walk, roll, take public transportation, or ask for a ride. Last year, more than 142 organizations across 41 states and Washington, D.C., joined the challenge. Hilton is encouraging everyone to participate, even if it’s just for a few days.

“Week Without Driving is a national initiative. It was started by a woman named Anna Zivarts with Disability Rights Washington and it was picked up by America Walks a year ago to make it a national campaign. And this is the first year that we’re doing it here in Lexington and so this year, it’s really more of a digital campaign just asking people, to reflect on what it’s like to be able to drive in Lexington and what it would be like to not be able to drive, because there are lots of people in our community who, for whatever reason, aren’t able to drive and still have to get around, like still have to get from place to place,” Hilton said.

Whether you’re an individual, an organization, or an elected official, anyone can participate and attempt to go a week without driving. The initiative will continue until Sunday. If you would like to participate in the challenge, click here.

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