Tornado damages Somerset Commonwealth Journal building Early Saturday morning, I heard that part of the Somerset Commonwealth Journal building had been damaged by the tornado that tore through Pulaski County late Friday night or early Saturday morning. I reached out to Somerset's regional editor Steve Cornelius who confirmed the report. "Yes it is true. At first we thought the metal came from somewhere else, but after more metal fell off on Saturday, we confirmed it was ours. We have no evidence of damage inside, but we are in the process of trying to get someone up there (or a drone) to inspect to see if we are exposed to the elements. "Our building is only three stories, but the ceilings are so high it is more like a 6-story building and the ladder going from level 2 to the roof is scary." (fb)

3 from WKU, 1 from UK are Hearst National Qualifiers Winners to be determined May 31 - June 6 May 16, 2025 Hearst The William Randolph Hearst Foundation has announced the 29 journalism students representing 16 universities from across the country who will compete in the 65th annual National Championships, held in San Francisco, May 31 – June 6, 2025. These finalists’ monthly competition entry submissions were selected as the best from the 1,260 entries received in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program this year and qualified them for the Championships. During the Championships, the finalists will fulfill spot assignments selected by our media professional judges, vying for scholarship awards of $1,500 to $10,000 in each category. We congratulate the 2025 National Championship Finalists! Writing Finalists Sophia Abolfathi, University of Florida Marshall Baker, Arizona State University Nicole Blevins, Indiana University Lauren Brensel, University of Florida Madison Holcomb, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Jami Martin-Trainor, University of Iowa Rylie Oswald, University of Kansas Ashton Slaughter, Oklahoma State University Photo Finalists Emilee Arnold, Western Kentucky University Chad Cushing, University of Kansas Abbey Cutrer, University of Kentucky Ellie Kollme, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Cara Penquite, University of Missouri Audio Finalists Julia Boboc, University of Oregon Pierce Gentry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Blake Mace, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Layli Nazarova, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Henry Taylor, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Television Finalists Denzen Cortez, Arizona State University Samantha Hoffman, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nathan Lee, University of Missouri Ricky Podgorski, University of Maryland Karina Prieto, Michigan State University Multimedia Finalists Faith Cabalum, Michigan State University Max Feliu, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Brett Phelps, Western Kentucky University Madeline Powell, Western Kentucky University Hannah Zinn, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Podcast Finalist Sarah Ellis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Presently, 105 colleges and universities with accredited undergraduate journalism schools are eligible to participate in the Hearst Journalism Awards Program. Funded and administered for 65 years by the William Randolph Hearst Foundation, the Journalism Program awards up to $700,000 in scholarships, grants and stipends annually. (fb)