Joe Imel, Author at Bowling Green Daily News

He’s from D.C., and I don’t mean Washington

Joe Imel — Sat, 18 Jan 2025 07:00:31 +0000

An invitation and an email made me think about someone that was my go to guy for photos time after time back in my days on the streets lugging cameras around looking for stories.

First, a recent invitation from Mark Reynolds to speak to 55 members of the Russellville Rotary Club found me standing in front of the room full of fellow Rotarians at the Governor Breathitt House watching my usual 10 minute slide-show of some of my favorite moments I’ve captured over the years. In the show was a black and white photo story I did more than 20 years ago of a day in the life of the War Memorial Boys & Girls Club.

Second was an email announcing the 13th annual Warren Central High School Athletic Hall of Fame recognition and ceremony scheduled for Jan. 26-27 at WCHS. The 2024 class will be recognized Jan. 27 between the girl/boy basketball doubleheader against Greenwood, and the induction ceremony will take place Jan. 28 in the school’s auditorium. This year’s class includes: Curtis Turley (Boys’ Basketball Coach, 1980-85), Matt Maresca (Boys’ Basketball, 2000-04), Bobby Cook (Boys’ Basketball Coach, 1988-96), Suzanne Britt (Warren County HS – Track and Field, 1963-67), the 1981-82 Warren Central Boys’ Basketball Team and Stan England (Warren County HS – Golf, 1960-64).

The common thread between the two is Stan England, one of, if not the most persistent and good-hearted guys I have ever met. I spent most of my time with him when he was director at the Boys & Girls Club shooting photos and telling stories. He was never shy about asking for coverage of the club and anything he was involved in. Let me tell you, he was and still is involved in a lot.

Most recently he darkened my doorway on several occasions drumming up coverage of the 2024 Junior Championships and putting tournament that took place in July at Paul Walker Golf Course. Not only did he talk me into a preview story and coverage, he wore me down until I agreed to come out and take the group photo. That’s the beauty of Stan, he knows everyone and he knows how to appeal to your sense of duty to community.

He has deep roots in the community and love for golf and helping our children. His full bio and accomplishments are too long to print. Newsprint is expensive these days so I gleaned a few details from previous articles.
Stan England was a standout for the Warren County golf team as the 1950s turned to the 1960s. England captained the team for his sophomore, junior and senior seasons (1961-63) as the team pushed for uncharted territory for the school. His 1962 team, led by fellow Warren Central Athletics Hall of Fame Coach Don Acton, became the first team in program history to qualify for the state tournament as England led the charge for the Dragons.

After graduating from Warren County High School, England has been an active member of the Bowling Green community serving as an advocate for junior golf in Bowling Green, Warren County, the Kentucky Golf Association and the Professional Golf Association. He also served in the United States Army Reserve, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, local diversity boards, youth basketball and other community service organizations. Stan England, past director of the Boys and Girls Club of Bowling Green.

Stan England retired from his job in the Administrative Offices of the Courts and never slowed down. England has been instrumental in helping children from disadvantaged circumstances realize their full potential and excel in society. “I first got involved with the Boys and Girls Club when I was a young boy and I have been affiliated with the club for over 50 years now”, England said.

“He’s a constant reminder that there’s more going on around you than what’s going on in your little world. All you have to do is look at Stan and you realize this is a big world out there and there’s a lot of people and some of them need some help,” said the late Jim Bohannon.

“I’ve never known Stan to be any other way other than to be active in some type of service organization, working with kids,” said former Todd County Superintendent, David Eakles.

In Stan’s own words he is proud of his roots, the community and making a difference.

“I grew up in the Delafield community. When I speak with groups or talk with someone I tell them I’m from D.C., that’s the Delafield community. And I attended high school here and finished high school in Michigan and came back, and have a few degrees from Western, and just proud to be one who grew up in this community and hopefully I made a difference,” England was quoted as saying.

Thanks, Stan, our community is a better place thanks to you and those like you.

Joe Imel is the Regional Publisher of the Daily News and 9 other Carpenter Media Group newspapers in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. He can be reached at (270) 783-3273 or via email at joe.imel@bgdailynews.com.

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Winter storm to delay delivery of the Daily News

Joe Imel — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 05:05:08 +0000

The winter weather in the region will delay delivery of the Daily News weekend edition.

The weekend edition will be delivered Monday by the USPS and single copies will be available in our office at 813 College St.
Hazardous driving conditions continue to be an issue, and authorities have urged motorists to stay off the roads.

In the meantime, please read the Daily News online at www.bgdailynews.com. A digital replica (E-Edition) of the printed paper can also be found on the website under the navigation menu in the far upper left of the site.

We apologize to our subscribers for the inconvenience.

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Scratching that snow photo itch

Joe Imel — Sat, 11 Jan 2025 01:04:45 +0000

I am writing this column in hopes the weather prognosticators were right. By the time this goes to print, we will either be calf-deep in snow or thanking the infamous Bowling Green bubble that seems to give us a different weather pattern than our neighbors in all four directions.

My money is on my favorite meteorologist Landon Hampton, the founder of the weather blog WXorNotBG (Weather or Not Bowling Green). He delivers the weather for WABBLES (Warren, Allen, Barren, Butler, Logan, Edmonson and Simpson counties) in a calm, cool and collected delivery laced with the right amount of humor. There are no flashing polygons or drama on the screen. In my opinion, he is the most accurate and timely weatherman in the region, if not the state.

So, when he says we could get 3 to 5 inches of snow in WABBLES and 4 to 6 inches near the state line, I send Tracy to the store to secure snow provisions of milk and bread. Just kidding, it’s bourbon and beef jerky in our house.

Another sure indicator, and likely the most accurate, that we are getting severe weather or meaningful snowfall, is Gary Fields’, superintendent of the Bowling Green Independent School District, tweets. Fields is legendary for keeping his powder dry and not pulling the trigger until he steps outside at 5:30 a.m. on a school day to make the call. Students, teachers and parents sit nervously refreshing their X (Twitter) feed all night and into the early morning hours waiting for him to call off school. The screams of joy can be heard all over the city proper when he hits send.

I would be a fool after these two trusted prognosticators have given me every indication of a major snow event not to have my cameras ready, batteries charged, police scanner at hand and the 4 Runner locked into 4-wheel drive.

I haven’t been too jazzed up about shooting snow features until I drove to my office at the Winchester Sun Wednesday. The further East I drove, the more snow and ice rose up to greet me. As the sun peeked over the Louie B. Nunn Cumberland Parkway, All I could think about was making beautiful images of the Kentucky countryside. The closer I drove towards Lexington the better the pictures became as horses and black fences were silhouetted by the new-fallen snow.

Snow transforms even the most mundane scenes into magical landscapes, while the ice and frost create intricate natural sculptures. The interplay of light and shadow on a snowy canvas can produce images that resonate deeply with readers. The resilience captured in the faces of folks braving the cold, the quiet solitude of a snow-blanketed farm, or the dynamic chaos of a winter storm—these are moments that transcend time and inspire my awe.

Hours later, as I packed up to head West towards the bubble, huge wet flakes began to fall on the Clark County Courthouse. It was too much. All I could think about again was making snow photos. I don’t mean just pretty photos of the white stuff, I mean people sledding, being pulled on an inner tube behind a John Deere tractor or adults riding a toilet seat down Hospital Hill. Yep, I have photographed it all.

I hope we get the snow they are calling for and that I can make a photo like I did Jan. 18, 1993, of then Western Kentucky University students, Shannon Finney and Patty Sorrentino, pushing each other down College St. in a laundry basket. I am happy to trade frozen fingers and fogged lenses for a good snow feature.

Gary and Landon, I hope you didn’t let me down. I am counting on your weather wisdom to scratch my snow photo itch.

Joe Imel is the Publisher of the Daily News and 9 other Carpenter Media Group newspapers in Kentucky, Ohio and Tennessee. He can be reached at (270) 783-3273 or via email at joe.imel@bgdailynews.com.

Joe Imel

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Hey, are you Santa Claus?

Joe Imel — Wed, 08 Jan 2025 22:08:59 +0000

Joe Imel

Running a newspaper in today’s world isn’t for the faint of heart. Running ten of them? Well, that’s a different beast altogether. Over the past 6 months, I’ve had the privilege—and the challenge—of overseeing a network of small-town newspapers across Kentucky, Ohio, and Tennessee. Each community is unique, with its own stories, traditions, and challenges, but they all share one thing in common: a deep need for reliable, local journalism.

I often have to remind myself of that when I’m elbow deep in profit and loss statements, if the USPS didn’t deliver my papers on time, or if a reporter calls to tell me he’s been in an accident speeding to a fire scene. Ten newspapers, 10 towns, 60 employees and 2.8 million papers to deliver a year can weigh you.

I’ve written before that when the stress starts getting to me, I retreat to one of two places, behind the scope of a rifle shooting in rimfire benchrest competitions or behind the lens of my trusty Nikon cameras shooting stories for the Daily News.

This past Christmas morning, just like the more than 25 other Christmas mornings before it, I found myself in that familiar place, behind the camera focusing on visual storytelling. I was standing alongside Bowling Green Fire Department firefighters, their families, Marine Corps League volunteers and Toys for Tots folks documenting their annual toy delivery in the Housing Authority of Bowling Green.

The event is very predictable for the most part. Firefighters, Marines and Santa carrying bags loaded with toys and wheeling new bicycles to homes of unsuspecting children. The only thing that is unpredictable is the reaction of the children. Some are subdued and some come completely apart.

This year was no different. The first home found a half-dozen siblings pressed up against the frosted window watching Santa, portrayed by Don Butler, approach with toys. They threw open the door, still in their pajamas even though the air was crisp and cold. From youngest to oldest, they circled Santa like the Indians did General Custer. Santa handed over the booty and they giggled and screamed.

It made for heart-warming photos as their mom made each child line up to hug and thank Santa. Even the adults joined in the thanksgiving. This event was just the therapy I needed to push my troubled thoughts of running 10 small businesses to the back of my mind.

The good moments and photos kept coming as we moved from house to house. The same scene played out over and over a dozen times before I decided to move ahead of the group and position myself for a bike delivery 50 years off the road.

By now, news of Santa and the firefighters had spread through Astronaut Village. Children and adults were standing on their front porches in anticipation. I stood by a youngster and his mom as he anxiously watched a firefighter wheel a brand new BMX bike towards a waiting group.

In the quiet calm before he realized the bike was for him, he looked up at me and softly whispered, “Hey, are you Santa Claus?” I was completely caught off guard and stammered, “I might look like him, but not today buddy, Santa is over there, dressed in red.”

He thanked me and then bolted towards bike-toting firefighters Cameron Wallace and Nick Tutor where he danced and skipped around them until jumping on his new steed while his mother cried. Through her tears she said, “Thank you so much, the kids wouldn’t have had Christmas if it weren’t for you.”

I moved on to the next house where I posted up by the window as a firefighter knocked on the door. I saw a child lift the blinds, see me and yelled to his parents, “Santa’s outside!”

I called it quits after that. I had captured plenty of good moments and besides I was licking my wounds a little. Being called Santa twice in the span to 30 minutes was a first. Then I realized this is the first year I photographed the event sporting my white beard.

The Santa story got a lot of laughs with my family and friends on Christmas Day and it reminded me why I love getting out behind the lens and documenting life. It recharged my batteries that day and made me realize that my day in and day out problems running newspapers aren’t so bad after all.

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SLIDE SHOW: Firefighters, Marines and volunteers deliver toys to children on Christmas Day

Joe Imel — Wed, 25 Dec 2024 19:19:37 +0000

Dozens of Bowling Green Fire Department firefighters, Marine Corps League members and volunteers with the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program delivered thousands of toys to hundreds of children living in the Housing Authority of Bowling Green on Christmas morning, Dec. 25, 2024. Tom Harris, with the Marine Corps League Detachment 1095 in Bowling Green, said more than 300 families were delivered toys and dozens of bicycles were given out. One mother of four children exclaimed, “God bless you, my kids wouldn’t have had Christmas if it weren’t for you!” Children ran towards firefighters as they wheeled bikes their way.

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SLIDE SHOW: Hilltoppers drubbed 52-12 by Jax State in CUSA title game

Joe Imel — Sat, 07 Dec 2024 03:08:50 +0000

The Hilltoppers fell 52-12 to the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in the CUSA football championship Friday, Dec. 6, 2024 in Jacksonville, Al.

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SLIDE SHOW: Community Thanksgiving

Joe Imel — Fri, 29 Nov 2024 03:41:38 +0000

Teresa’s Restaurant hosted their 10th annual Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024 by feeding nearly 1,000 people. About 40 volunteers took part in the effort. State Street United Methodist Church and First Christian Church, together, delivered about 700 Thanksgiving Day meals to shut-ins. About 30 people stopped by State Street United Methodist Church to pick up a meal. Broadway United Methodist Church hosted “A Thanksgiving Feast for All” at the church on Melrose St. The event was listed as for everyone in the community.

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SLIDE SHOW: Hilltoppers hang on to beat the Bisons

Joe Imel — Mon, 18 Nov 2024 01:31:35 +0000

WKU hung on to defeat Lipscomb 66-61 Sunday afternoon at Diddle Arena. In a back-and-forth defensive affair that saw ten lead changes, the Hilltopper defense held the Bison to 30 second half points, earning their second win of the season.

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A new era for the Bowling Green Daily News: A digital transformation

Joe Imel — Sat, 16 Nov 2024 01:53:45 +0000

For nearly 25 years, the Bowling Green Daily News has relied on a familiar digital foundation—a trusty, if aging, content management system (CMS) that served as the backbone of our online presence. Through countless stories, photos and videos documenting the triumph, heartbreak, and community resilience of Southcentral Kentucky, the website became a digital mainstay for residents in our region. But as the years have gone by, the limitations of the aging platform began to show: sluggish load times, clunky navigation, and a design that no longer reflected the engaging and vibrant spirit of the community we serve. It was time for a change.

The decision to modernize www.bgdailynews.com came about 6 months ago when we decided paper’s online presence needed more than a facelift; it needed a reinvention. We’ve always been a reflection of our community. But our website was no longer keeping pace with the energy and innovation we see every day in Bowling Green. It was time to step into the future. The decision was made to migrate to a new CMS with a modern, better mobile-first design. The new platform promises not only faster performance but also better tools for our journalists and a more engaging experience for our subscribers, readers and advertising clients.

Our old system was like a house we’d outgrown. It had served us well, but the foundation couldn’t support what we wanted to build next. Over the last month, our team worked tirelessly to make the switch. Our team still has decades of archived stories, photos and newspaper pages…nearly 900,000 that we are working to export in the coming month into the new site.

Part of that transition team is Larry Simpson, our IT manager, who has been with the paper long enough to remember making photo engravings and setting hot type for the press. Simpson is the probably the greatest story of a newspaper person adapting to technology over a more than a 60 year period. He has seen and done it all, from paste up with wax to diskettes, Zip drives, CAT5 cables and finally to the cloud.

We customized and created new design templates. Every decision was made with readers in mind—how could the site make it easier to find stories, engage with content, and stay connected to the community?

On launch day, actually Thursday at 9 p.m., I sat hitting the refresh button on my web browser like I was trying to get a good boarding pass number on a Southwest Airlines flight. The new design is a revelation: bold headlines, vibrant photo display, and an intuitive interface that allows readers to scroll seamlessly from breaking news to in-depth features. A revamped community calendar, email newsletter, e-Edition placement mobile friendly flex design and navigation make for a much better reader experience.

For our team at the Bowling Green Daily News, the new site is more than just a technological upgrade—it is a recommitment to our mission of serving the community. The launch has set the stage for even more innovations to come in the future for our digital storytelling companion to our print edition.

This isn’t just a new website, it’s a promise to our readers that we’ll continue evolving, just like Bowling Green itself. We’re here to tell your stories, better and faster than ever before with the same accurate, ethical standards that have driven us in the past. After 25 years on our old website, the Bowling Green Daily News has found a new way to tell your story—and we are just getting started.

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