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The candidates
The nominees were:
Mira Ball
The home building executive had worked quietly for years on various charities. Her unexpected election as the first woman to chair the University of Kentucky board of trustees wasn’t so much shattering a ceiling as exercising the art of compromise.
Anthany Beatty
The kid from the projects grew up to be a cop, then made it all the way to chief of police. Beatty stepped down from the job in ’07, but he isn’t going far. Just over to UK.
Steve Beshear
The white-haired comeback kid. Kentucky’s new governor shows that if at first you don’t succeed, sometimes it’s best to lie low for a couple of decades, then try again.
Larry Birkhead
The Louisville native was caught up in one of the year’s most tawdry stories when tests proved he is the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby.
Rich Brooks
He was, you might recall, the University of Kentucky football coach whom fans couldn’t wait to be shed of. Then he started winning games and taking the team bowling.
Laura Bell Bundy
Local girl makes good. Laura Bell Bundy was the child star of movies such as Jumanji. Now the Lexington Catholic grad has kicked her adult career into high gear as the star of Legally Blonde: The Musical, one of the biggest hits on Broadway.
David and Mary Conley
The coal miner and the devoted mom from Pike County didn’t win The Amazing Race, either in ’06 or ’07. But they won a lot of fans, a new house and a chance to expose their children to the world beyond the mountains.
Tara Conner
Beware the big city. The Russell Springs beauty hit a peak in ’06 when she was crowned Miss USA, then slammed to the bottom in ’07 when too much drugs and alcohol and New York landed her in rehab.
Miley Cyrus
Blonde or brunette? You can call her Hannah Montana, or you can call her Billy Ray’s little girl. Either way, the youngster with all the Flatwoods connections is red hot.
Kim Edwards
The University of Kentucky English professor’s book, The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, spent a bazillion weeks on The New York Times best sellers’ list. We can’t wait for her next effort.
Ernie Fletcher
The physician, fighter pilot and lay minister was the Kentucky Republican Party’s savior four years ago, its shot through the heart in ’07. How could so much go so wrong so fast?
Tyson Gay
Life in the very fast lane: The Lafayette High School grad became the reigning world champion in the 100- and 200-yard dashes, as well as the 4-by-100 relay.
Billy Clyde Gillispie
The University of Kentucky’s new roundball coach breezed in, bought a big house and returned the Cats to national prominence. Wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
Ken Ham
T. rex in Paradise? The Aussie transplant and Answers in Genesis founder delighted fundamentalists and confounded evolutionists by opening a $27 million Creation Museum in Northern Kentucky.
Debbie Hersman
She was calm, professional and reassuring in the immediate aftermath of 2006’s crash of Comair Flight 5191. But the National Transportation Safety Board member didn’t just go on to the next tragedy and forget us. Throughout 2007, she pushed for changes that could ward off future crashes.
James Holsinger
The University of Kentucky public health professor has an impressive résumé. But his nomination to be U.S. Surgeon General got lost in a debate over whether he was a truth-telling medical man or a religious homophobe.
John Henry
The only quadruped on our list. The racehorse’s death at 32 brought more than 500 mourners to a service at the Kentucky Horse Park. Would you draw that many?
Carol Lynne Maner
It sounded like movie script: A woman tells of her sex-and-drugs relationships with Beaumont Junior High School teachers nearly 30 years ago, seeks justice. Police took enough interest to charge two teachers, and a jury awarded Maner $3.7 million in her suit against the Fayette County Board of Education.
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How the mighty fell. The fen-phen three traded expensive suits for prison garb after being indicted — and unexpectedly jailed — for one of the largest alleged lawyer thefts in Kentucky legal history.
Patrick Patterson
Nobody knew a thing about the kid, but everyone knew Kentucky had to have him. We don’t have any exact numbers to report, but when he was being recruited last spring, the two words most often spoken in the Commonwealth are believed to have been "Patrick Patterson." Now he’s a Wildcat.
Shane Ragland
The convicted murderer of UK football player Trent DiGiuro got a new trial, then confessed to murdering DiGiuro, walked out of jail, and now says he didn’t do it. What do you believe?
Brooke Ryan
She became an Internet sensation for complaining when asked to cover up while breast-feeding her child at a Lexington Applebees restaurant. But she skipped the protest that spread to 60 Applebees in 30 states. Could she be the accidental activist?
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There is no better place than Kentucky to coach basketball, right? But Tubby, sensing his star here was sinking, grabbed a Minnesota life raft. Mickie retired, then resurfaced three month’s later as a well-paid assistant in Texas. For their double departure, they get a joint nomination.
Jon Weece
The Southland Christian Church pastor moved those attending a Comair 5191 memorial service without saying a word. He also got nationwide attention for asking parishioners to write letters of support to Britney Spears.
Andre Woodson
The quarterback helped carry the Wildcats to a No. 8 ranking before the slide began. Now the senior who broke so many records is hoping for just one more victory while wearing blue.
Compiled by staff writer Andy Mead, amead@herald-leader.com.