Introducing Caroline Makauskas & Linda Blackford

We want you, our readers, to know who it is that’s bringing you the news you’re reading here at the Lexington Herald-Leader. You’ve likely seen the names that accompany a story, but that’s still a bit impersonal.

Over the next several weeks, we’ll introduce you to the reporters, editors, producers and other staffers who work here at the Herald-Leader — the folks who work hard to bring you the news you’ve come to rely on and trust over the years.

To continue this ongoing series, here are two new folks we’re happy to introduce.

Caroline Makauskas

Hi there, I’m Caroline Makauskas! I’m on the sports staff at the Lexington Herald-Leader, where my primary responsibility is coverage of all things Kentucky women’s basketball. You’ll also be able to find me running around Central Kentucky assisting Jared Peck on the high school sports beat. If you see me out, don’t be afraid to say hello!

Prior to starting at the Herald-Leader, I had only stepped foot in Kentucky once before. Traveling around the commonwealth to find and share the stories of Kentucky athletes has been a wonderful way to get to know -- and fall in love with -- my new home. I’m a born-and-bred Illinoisan raised in the great city of Wheaton and a proud graduate of the University of Texas, where I studied both Journalism and Radio/TV/Film. So, if you’re looking to talk shop about movies, sports or movies about sports, I’m the one to call.

College basketball is just around the corner! I couldn’t be more excited. I hope you’ll follow along, whether it be here on the website or in print, on Twitter or even over on TikTok. Have any thoughts or ideas? Just want to share your favorite movie? Email me at cmakauskas@herald-leader.com.

Read some of Caroline’s recent work:

• Memorial Coliseum gutted. Take a look inside UK’s $82 million fixer upper as work progresses

• ‘Like my own little family.’ Marching band poll winners are ‘The Pride of the Mountains’

• ‘Joy in the journey.’ The science behind KY’s only unbeaten college basketball team

• ‘I’m at a loss for words.’ Cody’s Wish adds another chapter to story on Derby Day

Linda Blackford

Hi, I’m Linda Blackford, a columnist and the opinion editor for the Lexington Herald-Leader. I’m one of the old hands here – I came to Lexington in 1997 to cover the Kentucky Education Reform Act. I moved on to higher education, investigations, well, really I’ve done something of everything around here – obituaries, features, the World Equestrian Games, politics, even some restaurant reviews.

I’m originally from Charlottesville, Va., and went to UVa and the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. But now I’ve lived here longer than anywhere else and am raising three native Kentuckians.

I’ve always had fun at my job, but this last gig, which I started in 2019, is the best. I get to travel around Kentucky and write long, reported columns about what’s really going on in this beautiful state. I write opinion columns that I hope “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.” And most of all, I have the very great privilege of telling your stories.

Do you have one you think I should know about? Let me know at lblackford@herald-leader.com.

Read some of Linda’s latest work (and if you follow us on TikTok, you’ve likely seen Linda over there as well):

• ‘Build with us.’ W. Ky. leaders start to imagine next steps after tornado disaster

• ‘We’re still in trouble.’ One tiny town’s touchstone disappears under Ky. floodwaters

• ‘A sacred space.’ Who really ‘owns’ Pine Mountain and who ‘belongs’ there?

• A soldier, his Nazi dog, the Battle of the Bulge. A Kentucky WW II veteran looks back

Thank you for being a reader, and hopefully a subscriber as well, although if you’re not the latter we do encourage you to remedy that. We’ll see you back here next week with more smiling faces to introduce.

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This story was originally published November 3, 2023 at 9:03 AM.