Breathitt County Judge Executive Harvey Jason Richardson declared a state of emergency in Breathitt County due to Monday's heavy rains and flash flooding, and has made the county's Emergency Management office available to help assist those who have suffered damage. Richardson said after an emergency meeting of the Breathitt County Fiscal Court on Tuesday morning that some 3,000 persons in the county were affected by flood damage to bridges and culverts, breaks and slips on county roads, downed trees and flooded roads. He also has written to Gov. Steve Beshear, asking for state assistance to help repair the damages.

There are any number of bleak data points in the home sales numbers out today from the National Association of Realtors. Home prices are still falling, inventory is still high and sales are still low.

But for purposes of this post, I'm going to focus on a single number: 31 percent.

This is no ordinary high school. The academy on Western Kentucky University’s campus might resemble a typical small school - students are constantly entering and exiting the tall white building, toting backpacks or chatting with friends. But the Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science is an above-average school for exceptional students, and now it’s been named the fifth best high school in the nation.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Russell granted a federal prosecutor’s motion Tuesday to declare a terrorism case against two Iraqi refugees as “complex,” which means that the trial against the two men will not have to be heard within the time frame of the Speedy Trial Act. Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, are in custody facing terrorism charges after a federal grand jury in Bowling Green returned a 23-count indictment against the men May 26. They were arrested May 25. Both entered the country legally as refugees.

The head of the Danville-Boyle County chapter of the NAACP says the group will investigate minority hiring practices in the Mercer County school district. In a letter sent last week to Mercer County Elementary School Principal Jennifer Meadows, the school board and interim superintendent Dennis Davis, Danville-Boyle County NAACP President Norman Bartleson said parents and residents had contacted him with concerns about the lack of diversity among the district’s faculty.

How many 50-year-old fathers take their 13-year-old sons with them on a cross country trip in an experimental electric hybrid bicycle? At least one. Pierce Hoover and his son, Nash, are making the trip from the East Coast to Oregon, showing off their homemade electrically assisted bicycle. They spent the weekend in Danville.

It may not come as a shock that young men are frequent, loyal customers of fast-food restaurants. Somebody's buying those super-sized meals and double cheeseburgers, and the restaurants know who.

But what may come as a surprise is that these guys are willing to dish to a social media survey company about how many packets of Taco Bell hot sauce they have stashed away, and how often they go to McDonald's just for the fries.

The Bank of Canada introduced brand new polymer bills, yesterday. As the Toronto Sun puts it, the move is designed to use high-tech materials to "thwart counterfeiters." The notes, which have two see-through windows, are also cheaper to make and last about 2 1/2 times longer than paper money.

Here's a short video from the Bank of Canada showing off the money:

President Obama's self-described evolution on same-sex marriage is not happening fast enough for some gay and lesbian activists. His belief that marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that the legalization of gay marriage should be left up to the states, puts him in an awkward position this week as he heads to New York for a re-election fundraiser with the gay and lesbian community.

Since he posted this message on his Twitter page Monday afternoon ...

"Friends don't let jackasses drink and drive"

... Chicago Sun-Times film critic Robert Ebert has been the center of some controversy.