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Friday, Dec. 12, 2008

PROFILES of all candidates for 2008's most intriguing newsmaker

Was it the kid? The Dame? The Irishman? The sheik? The frog?

It's been quite a year in Kentucky, chockablock with interesting news and newsmakers.

We present below the Herald-Leader's nominations for Most Intriguing Kentucky Newsmaker of 2008.

Now it's your turn.

Vote at left for the most intriguing. You can take a look at the vote results to date by clicking the button below the list.

Voting ends at noon Dec. 16.

We're not looking for the most important newsmaker, or the most popular.

As you will see, the winner need not even be a human. Vote for the one you found to be the most interesting or fascinating.

And the nominees are:

Frances Barton and Sheriff Dick Garrett

Barton's mobile home became immobile on U.S. 68 in Nicholas County, blocking traffic. Sheriff Dick Garrett had it pushed off the road, which destroyed it. Their unfortunate association became national news, and a billionaire stepped in to save the day. | Slide show

Adam Bender

Adam lost a leg to cancer when he was 1, but that didn't stop him from playing baseball, or from becoming an inspirational Internet sensation, at age 8. | VIDEO

Elaine Breeden

Breeden, a graduate of Lexington's Trinity Christian Academy, earned a silver medal for her role in the women's 4-by-100 medley relay at the Beijing Olympics.

Bur oak

A 300-year-old tree on Harrodsburg Road across from Military Pike was threatened by development and a road. Humans rallied, and it now appears the tree will be allowed to stand its ground.

Randall Cobb & Mike Hartline

University of Kentucky quarterbacks Randall Cobb and Mike Hartline had different strengths and weaknesses. Hartline was the starter at the beginning of the season and won more games, but Cobb was a fan favorite

Marco Allen Chapman

Chapman killed two children by slitting their throats after raping and stabbing their mother. He requested the death penalty, and got what he asked for.

Curlin

Curlin's winnings hit a record $10 million. Most of the Horse of the Year is owned by wine magnate Jess Jackson, the rest by William Gallion and Shirley Cunningham, disbarred lawyers accused of bilking diet-drug clients out of millions. Curlin's next assignment: the stud barn.

The Dame

This well-loved downtown music club was closed ahead of the wrecking ball clearing a block for the CentrePointe development. She was resurrected a few blocks away, on the other side of Main.

Henry “James Brown” Earl

Earl's 1,300 arrests for alcohol intoxication made the homeless Lexington man an Internet celebrity. At the end of ‘08, he was in rehab.

Eight Belles

She ran her heart out but broke down after beating all but one other contender in the Kentucky Derby. Her legacy: more attention to racehorse safety.

Tyson Gay

Everyone expected the Lafayette High School grad to dominate in the 2008 Summer Olympics. He left Beijing with no medals, but his “I don't have any excuses” showed a lot of class.

Billy Clyde Gillispie

Gillispie came in last season as the coach who was going to return the University of Kentucky basketball Cats to national prominence. It hasn't happened yet.

Jim Gray

Everyone knew Gray was a successful businessman, but the vice mayor's political prowess didn't really show until he jumped into the CentrePointe issue.

Otis “Bullman” Hensley Jr.

Hensley ran for governor twice, but no dice. He spent three days in the Harlan County jail for what he said was a friendly joke: offering to trade “a good fattening hog” for sisters ages 11 and 13.

Jojo the frog

When he arrived in Lexington as a tadpole in 1985, no one expected Jojo to see the 1990s. But he lasted well into the new millennium before croaking at 23.

Nancy Jo Kemper

After 18 years as executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches Kemper stepped aside. She spoke out on health care reform, gun control, church-state separation, religion in public education, the death penalty, justice for the poor and gambling expansion.

Charlie Kratzer

Kratzer spent $10 on Magic Markers and Sharpies to bring Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes, Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw and Rocky and Bullwinkle to the walls of his south Lexington home. The Herald-Leader told his story, and a zillion people clicked it on the Internet.

Leonard Lawson

Lawson started out as a highway construction worker and became the state's top road builder. In 2008, a federal grand jury alleged that at least part of his success was due to rigged bids.

DeAndre Liggins

The Wildcat freshman did the unthinkable, telling the coach that no, he wouldn't get back in the game. But he was back in the next night, and did well. What was up with that?

Crit Luallen

Kentucky has never sent a woman to the U.S. Senate, but state auditor Luallen, who passed on challenging Mitch McConnell in 2008, says she is taking a look at Jim Bunning's seat in 2010. In the meanwhile, she's auditing everyone in sight.

Pearse Lyons

Lyons, the Irishman whose animal nutrition company, Alltech, is chipping in $10 million for the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games, is trying to drag Kentucky's economy into the 21st century.

Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum

The Dubai ruler has been a force in the Kentucky horse business since the 1980s. He stepped up the pace in 2008 by buying Bourbon County's Stonerside Stables, while a company headed by an associate bought the Fasig-Tipton auction house.

Melbourne Mills Jr.

Mills, whose name became a household word because he was the first Central Kentucky lawyer to advertise, was acquitted on charges he pilfered millions from clients in a diet-drug lawsuit settlement. His defense: too drunk to know what was going on.

Dudley Webb

Webb, who leveled a block in downtown Lexington for his CentrePointe development, is either one of the city's most forward-thinking leaders or its worst philistine.