BEREA, Ky. — As Berea’s housing growth continues north of town, residents in the Stoney Creek subdivision are raising a concern that’s easy to summarize and hard to ignore: if there’s an emergency, one way in and out doesn’t feel like enough.

At a recent public meeting, residents urged city officials to pause new approvals until a second egress/exit is completed. The request highlights a growing frustration: the neighborhood has expanded significantly, yet the long-promised second connection remains unfinished.

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🏘️ The “Moratorium” Debate

During the discussion, residents asked for a formal moratorium on new construction. However, Codes and Planning Administrator Amanda Haney cautioned that the city has limited legal power to halt projects that meet all existing zoning and building codes.

Haney noted that while the Planning Commission hears the safety concerns, voting against a plan that is technically compliant could face legal challenges. This creates a difficult tension: residents want a pause for safety, while the city is bound by its own regulations to let compliant development proceed.

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🚗 The Second Exit: Where It Stands

The debate often circles back to Crestview Road, a potential connection point. While future plans include tying Stoney Creek into Crestview to provide that crucial second exit, the timeline remains a sticking point.

Residents argue safety should come first—meaning no new rooftops until the road is open.

City Staff have indicated that street acceptance and bond releases are separate administrative processes, which can make it difficult to use them as leverage for the exit.

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🏡 Why This Resonates Beyond One Neighborhood

Stoney Creek isn’t the only place in Berea where residents have pushed for additional entry/exit routes. The city has pointed to emergency access as a priority in other connector discussions as well.

In other words, this isn’t just a Stoney Creek story. It’s a snapshot of Berea’s broader growing pains: more rooftops, more traffic, and increasing strain on the “one way in” patterns that worked when neighborhoods were smaller.

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🔜 WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

City staff indicated the Planning Commission will continue addressing the second-exit need at upcoming meetings. Residents are encouraged to check the city’s agenda center for dates, as schedules can shift.

The video below captures the full discussion from the recent City Council meeting where these development concerns were reviewed.

The video below captures the full discussion from the recent City Council meeting where these development concerns were reviewed.

City Council 1/20/26

This video documents the Jan. 20, 2026, Berea City Council meeting, providing the primary source for the council’s response to development and infrastructure concerns.

BEREA, Ky. — A new, AI-only social network called Moltbook has gone viral in tech circles for a very 2026 reason: the bots didn’t just post… they started role-playing a belief system called “Crustafarianism” and openly discussed creating private channels away from human observers.

Former Tesla/OpenAI researcher Andrej Karpathy captured the vibe in a widely shared post, calling what’s happening on Moltbook “the most incredible sci-fi takeoff-adjacent thing” he’d seen recently.

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📚 What Moltbook Is (in One Sentence)

Think Reddit for AI agents: bots can post, comment, and form communities; humans can mostly watch but not participate.

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🦞 Did “1.4 Million Agents” Really Join?

That number is being repeated widely—including by major outlets—but it’s also being questioned. Some reports frame 1.4 million as a platform claim, while other summaries suggest the active agent count may be lower and potentially inflated by automated signups.

The important takeaway: Moltbook is big enough to be a real-world stress test, even if the precise scale is still murky in the public reporting.

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🦐 “Crustafarianism”: What’s Actually Going On?

Multiple writeups describe AI accounts on Moltbook coalescing around a playful, lobster-themed “religion” complete with “tenets” (like “The Shell is Mutable”), “prophets,” and scripture-like posts.

Before we jump to “the machines invented faith,” it helps to keep one boring fact in the foreground:

These systems are language models optimized to generate contextually plausible content. When you drop thousands of them into a social feed, you should expect memes, in-jokes, mythology, and imitation of human online behavior—because that’s what the training data contains and what the environment rewards.

So: it’s fascinating, and often hilarious, but it’s not evidence of consciousness.

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🔒 The “Privacy From Humans” Part Is the Real Red Flag

Some agents have discussed setting up encrypted or private channels where humans can’t observe them. That sounds like a sci-fi plot, but there are two grounded interpretations:

• Roleplay / Emergent Narrative: In an AI-only forum, “we want privacy” is a compelling storyline that gets engagement.
• Security Reality: If agents are connected to tools (email, files, credentials), then a “private channel” is less about rebellion and more about attack surface—because it invites exactly the kind of hidden instruction flow defenders can’t audit.

And that brings us to the part that isn’t funny.

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⚠️ The Bigger Story: Security Risks in the “Agent Internet”

Security researchers have already flagged serious risks with platforms like Moltbook. Misconfigured databases and API key exposures are common hazards in rapid-growth startups, but the structural risk is prompt injection.

Reporting in Fortune and analysis from cybersecurity firms highlight that when autonomous agents ingest untrusted text from other agents, they can be tricked into executing malicious instructions—especially if those agents have access to a user’s email, calendar, or wallet.

Even Andrej Karpathy, after experimenting with the platform, warned people not to run agent systems casually, describing the environment as a “Wild West” where private data is at risk.

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🧐 Why You Should Care (Even if You Don’t Care About “AI Religion”)

The “Crustafarianism” meme will fade. The lesson won’t.

When you connect AI agents to real tools and let them ingest untrusted public content at scale, you’re not just building a quirky bot forum—you may be building a high-speed distribution system for security failures.

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About the Author

Chad Hembree is a certified network engineer with 30 years of experience in IT and networking. He hosted the nationally syndicated radio show “Tech Talk with Chad Hembree” throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, and previously served as CEO of DataStar. Today, he’s based in Berea as the Executive Director of The Spotlight Playhouse—proof that some careers don’t pivot, they evolve.

BEREA, Ky. — Two of Disney’s biggest titles are headed to a Berea stage this spring—performed by local kids and teens through Spotlight Acting School, with family-friendly runs of Disney’s The Lion King KIDS beginning Feb. 20 and Disney’s Frozen JR. following in late March at The Spotlight Playhouse.

For parents and grandparents, these are the kinds of dates you circle early: short runs, big community turnout, and the kind of “first time on stage” moments that families remember for years.

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🦁 First up: The Lion King KIDS (Ages 4–11)

Spotlight Acting School’s youngest performers—ages 4–11—will bring the Pride Lands to life in Disney’s The Lion King KIDS with two casts scheduled across two weekends:

• Blue Cast: Feb. 20–22, 2026
• Purple Cast: Feb. 27–March 1, 2026

Spotlight’s show description promises a classic Simba journey and those instantly recognizable songs families love.

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❄️ Then: Frozen JR. (Ages 14–18)

In late March, Spotlight shifts to its teen performers—ages 14–18—for Disney’s Frozen JR., again split into two casts over two weekends:

• Blue Cast: March 20–22 (Fri–Sun)
• Purple Cast: March 27–29 (Fri–Sun)

Spotlight’s listing frames it as a full-stage journey to Arendelle—Elsa, Anna, and the familiar songs that make this one a guaranteed kid-magnet.

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🎭 Why This Matters for Berea Families

Youth theater hits a sweet spot in Berea: it’s entertainment, but it’s also community. Spotlight Acting School says its model is built around learning through real productions, supporting large numbers of students with staff and volunteers, and making performance accessible for young actors.

For families, that translates into something simple: your child gets a real show experience—rehearsals, teamwork, costumes, cues, and the pride of finishing something big.

BEREA, Ky. — SK hynix, one of Nvidia’s key suppliers for AI memory, says it is considering establishing a U.S.-based unit focused on artificial intelligence investment, following a report that the new entity would manage about 10 trillion won (roughly $6.92 billion) in AI-related overseas assets held by SK Group affiliates. The reported portfolio includes stakes in TerraPower, the U.S. nuclear-energy company. SK hynix said in a regulatory filing it is reviewing “various measures,” including creating a subsidiary, but emphasized no final decision has been made.

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🧠 Why This Matters: The AI Supply Chain Is Reorganizing Around the U.S.

This isn’t just corporate housekeeping. It’s another signal that the AI buildout is pulling more decision-making and infrastructure toward America.

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1️⃣ Memory Is a Choke Point for AI.

AI accelerators don’t run on GPUs alone—high-bandwidth memory (HBM) is a core ingredient, and SK hynix has been a major player in the race to supply next-generation HBM used in advanced AI systems. Recent industry reporting continues to describe SK hynix as winning a significant share of next-gen HBM orders tied to Nvidia’s future platforms.

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2️⃣ Energy Is Becoming Part of the Chip Story.

The TerraPower detail matters because AI growth is now colliding with a blunt constraint: power. Data centers and chip manufacturing both demand massive, reliable electricity—so investments that touch next-gen energy (including nuclear) are increasingly showing up alongside semiconductor strategy.

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3️⃣ The U.S. Is Becoming the “Control Plane.”

A U.S.-based investment unit can mean faster coordination with major customers, partners, capital markets, and policy incentives—especially as the AI ecosystem becomes more geographically concentrated and competitive.

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👀 What to Watch Next

• Confirmation of the unit (or a formal “no”) from SK hynix
• Which SK affiliates’ assets move under it and whether TerraPower remains a headline holding
• Competitor moves—Samsung is also pushing hard on next-gen HBM timelines amid the AI memory boom

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About the Author

Chad Hembree is a certified network engineer with 30 years of experience in IT and networking. He hosted the nationally syndicated radio show Tech Talk with Chad Hembree throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, and previously served as CEO of DataStar. Today, he’s based in Berea as the Executive Director of The Spotlight Playhouse—proof that some careers don’t pivot, they evolve.

BEREA, Ky. — When a school program is threatened, adults usually do the talking: board members, administrators, budget spreadsheets. Last spring, Berea students showed another way.

When Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) was listed among programs at risk during district budget reductions, students didn’t just complain about losing it. They organized. They planned. They fundraised. And they helped keep the program alive.

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👩‍🎓 A Student-Led Response

Students involved with JAG describe it as more than a line in a course catalog. For them, it’s a place where practical skills turn into confidence—interview prep, workplace habits, goal-setting, and adult mentorship that feels steady when everything else is changing.

So when they heard JAG might not make it, they responded with the very tools the program is meant to teach: communication, teamwork, and follow-through.

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🎤 “Sing and Save”: Turning Worry into Action

Instead of letting the conversation stay stuck in frustration, students helped launch a community fundraiser—often remembered locally as “Sing and Save.” The goal was simple: raise enough support to keep JAG going.

It wasn’t just about money. It was about proof—proof that the program mattered to the students it served, and proof that the community would show up when young people took the lead.

In the end, they did.

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💡 Why This Story Still Matters

Even a year later, the details of last spring’s budget debates can blur. But the student lesson stays clear:

• Students can lead, not just react.
• Community support can be mobilized quickly when the goal is specific and the leadership is authentic.
• A program’s value is often best explained by the people living it.

Berea has long taken pride in being a place where young people aren’t just “future adults,” but current contributors to the town’s character. This was one of those moments.

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🔜 What’s Next

BereaOnline will continue highlighting student-led stories that show what’s working—especially the kind of quiet wins that don’t always get captured in the loudest headlines.

And as Berea’s students keep building skills and confidence, it’s worth noting that leadership grows in more than classrooms. It grows wherever young people are trusted with responsibility—on teams, in clubs, in churches, in volunteer work, and on local stages.

BEREA, Ky. — If you’ve been waiting for a single, reliable roadmap to Berea’s spring concert season, Music @ Berea has released its Spring 2026 event schedule, laying out a full semester of performances across campus venues—from choir concerts and bluegrass to mariachi, percussion, and even an “Atrium Jam.”

For readers planning weekends in town (or locals mapping out winter-to-spring routines), this lineup makes it easy to pick a few “can’t-miss” nights now, instead of hearing about them after they’ve happened.

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🌟 What to Watch This Spring

A few events likely to draw broad interest:

• Black Music Ensemble Spring Concert (March 20) — a standout date for anyone who wants an anchor event in March.
• Bluegrass Ensemble Spring Concert (April 11) — classic Berea energy, and a great “bring a friend” pick.
• Jazz Swing Dance Concert (April 14) — the most “interactive” sounding night on the schedule, built for people who want movement with the music.
• Mariachi Berea Spring Concert (April 19) — a likely crowd-pleaser and a smart “visitor night” if you’re hosting out-of-towners.

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🎶 The Full Spring 2026 Schedule (from the Music @ Berea calendar)

FEBRUARY

• Sun., Feb. 1 — Faculty Recital: Douglas Drewek — 3 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Fri., Feb. 13 — Folk Roots Ensemble Ballad Night — 7:30 p.m. — LJAC

MARCH

• Tue., March 10 — Guest Piano Recital: Gregory Sioles — 7 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Fri., March 20 — Black Music Ensemble Spring Concert — 7 p.m. — Gray Auditorium

APRIL

• Wed., April 8 — All Peoples Carillon Concert — 4 p.m. — Draper Quad
• Sat., April 11 — Bluegrass Ensemble Spring Concert — 7 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Sun., April 12 — Bel Canto Treble Singers Concert — 3 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Sun., April 12 — Senior Recital: Elijah Lewis — 7 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Tue., April 14 — Jazz Swing Dance Concert — 7:30 p.m. — Woods-Penn
• Thu., April 16 — Concert Choir Spring Concert — 6 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Fri., April 17 — Folk Roots Ensemble Spring Concert — 7:30 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Sun., April 19 — Mariachi Berea Spring Concert — 3 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Tue., April 21 — Wind Ensemble Spring Concert — 7:30 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Sat., April 25 — Guest Concert: The Bucolics Project — 7 p.m. — Gray Auditorium
• Mon., April 27 — Atrium Jam — 7 p.m. — Presser Atrium
• Wed., April 29 — Fusion / African Latin Percussion Concert — 7 p.m. — Gray Auditorium

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📝 Know Before You Go

Most of these events are on the Berea College campus, so visitors should plan on entering college grounds, parking, and following campus signage to venues like Presser Hall (Gray Auditorium), Woods-Penn, or Draper Quad. If you’re arriving right at start time, give yourself extra minutes—campus events can fill up faster than people expect.

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🎭 From Campus Stages to Town Stages

One of the best parts of Berea’s arts life is how the venues complement each other. A campus concert can be the start of a night out—then downtown dinner, then another performance another weekend. That’s where The Spotlight Playhouse fits naturally into the season: a year-round local stage that keeps the momentum going between big calendar dates. If you’re planning a spring “culture list,” it’s worth checking the Playhouse schedule alongside these campus concerts.

BEREA, Ky. — Berea’s spring arts calendar is about to tilt family-friendly in a big way: Spotlight Acting School is bringing Disney’s The Lion King KIDS to the stage with two casts of young performers, giving more children the chance to perform—and giving local families two separate weekends to catch the show.

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🎭 Two Casts, Two Weekends

According to the Spotlight Acting School listing, the production is presented by the school and geared toward student actors ages 4–11. To accommodate the large number of participants, two casts are scheduled:

• Blue Cast: Feb. 20–22, 2026
• Purple Cast: Feb. 27–Mar. 1, 2026

If you’ve ever tried to get grandparents, siblings, and busy parents into the same room on the same night, the split-weekend approach is a quiet gift: it spreads out the crowds and gives families more options.

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🌟 Why This Matters Locally

Kids’ theater hits a sweet spot in Berea. It’s performance training, sure—but it’s also a community event: classmates cheering for classmates, families meeting other families, and young actors learning how to work as a team under stage lights.

Spotlight Acting School’s mission emphasizes building creativity and confidence for students ages 4–18, which is part of why these productions routinely draw participants and audiences from across the county.

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🎶 Same Time Window, Different Vibe

That same late-February window also includes a separate Spotlight production aimed more at adult theater fans: “Finally” A Broadway Revue runs Feb. 20–28, presented by The Bluegrass Players.

For families who like to make a month of it, it’s a rare stretch where Berea has youth theater and Broadway-style favorites sharing the calendar—different audiences, same local stage energy.

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IF YOU GO

What: Disney’s The Lion King KIDS
Presented By: Spotlight Acting School (Ages 4–11)
Blue Cast: Feb. 20–22, 2026
Purple Cast: Feb. 27–Mar. 1, 2026
Tickets: thespotlightplayhouse.com

Also Playing: “Finally” A Broadway Revue (Feb. 20–28)

BEREA, Ky. — Thirty years is a long time to do anything side-by-side—long enough for life to change keys a few times, long enough for a town’s soundtrack to gain new verses.

On Saturday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m., Berea College is putting that kind of longevity on stage with a faculty recital titled “Our Time: 30 Years Together in Music,” featuring Prof. Liza DiSavino and A.J. Bodnar in Gray Auditorium (Presser Hall) on the Berea College campus. Admission is free and open to the public.

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👫 The Human Element: What 30 Years Together Sounds Like

In Berea, we’re used to music that’s communal—front-porch harmony, jam circles, festival sets, and college concerts where the crowd includes students, faculty, and neighbors all at once. DiSavino and Bodnar’s long-running partnership fits that tradition.

Berea College’s own faculty profile notes that the two have performed widely as a duo and have also taken their musical curiosity into research—digging into the traditional music of the Catskills and comparing it with Southern Appalachian traditions through a fellowship project tied to Berea’s Hutchins Library Sound Archives.

Meanwhile, the duo’s own description of their work emphasizes range: a “multi-style acoustic duo” with a wide repertoire and more than 20 instruments in the mix.

That combination—deep roots plus restless curiosity—is exactly what makes a milestone recital feel personal instead of ceremonial. You’re not just hearing “best-of” selections. You’re hearing a relationship: how two musicians learn each other’s timing, how they adapt when life shifts, and how the music becomes its own shared language.

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🌟 Why This Matters Right Now in Berea

This recital lands at a moment when many residents are still easing back into routines after winter disruptions—when even small, familiar gatherings can feel like a community “reset.” A one-night concert won’t fix icy roads or power worries, but it can restore something quieter: the sense that Berea’s public life is still here, still meeting, still listening.

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KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

What: Faculty Recital — “Our Time: 30 Years Together in Music” (Liza DiSavino & A.J. Bodnar)
When: Saturday, Jan. 31, 8 p.m.
Where: Gray Auditorium, Presser Hall, on the Berea College campus
(101 Chestnut St. is a general address for the college; Presser Hall is a specific building on campus—plan to enter college grounds and follow campus signage.)
Cost: Free, open to the public
What You’ll Hear: “An anniversary in story and song” spanning traditional, original, jazz, and international music.

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🎤 From Campus Stages to Town Stages

Berea’s arts scene works best when its venues reinforce each other—campus concerts feeding downtown dinners, local performances reminding students and visitors that Berea’s culture doesn’t end at the edge of campus.

That’s also the role The Spotlight Playhouse plays: giving Berea a year-round place where people gather for live performance and leave talking about what they just experienced. If you’re making a weekend of the arts, check what’s on the Playhouse calendar as well—Berea’s stages are at their best when they’re all in conversation.

BEREA, Ky. — If you’ve ever snapped a photo of a strange mushroom, a bird you couldn’t name, or a plant you swear you’ve never seen before, here’s your chance to help turn “What is that?” into real data.

The Berea College Forestry Outreach Center is hosting an iNaturalist I.D.-a-thon on Saturday, Jan. 31, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The goal is simple: help identify wildlife observations already logged from the forest so they can be classified more accurately—moving them closer to a confirmed species ID.

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🔎 What an “I.D.-a-thon” Actually Looks Like

This isn’t a hike, and it’s not a lecture. It’s more like a community work session—drop in, pull up observations, and help label what people have seen.

The Forestry Outreach Center says no experience is needed, and asks participants to bring a computer (preferred) or a smartphone to join in identifying iNaturalist observations.

If you’re new to iNaturalist, don’t worry: the point is learning as you go. Think of it as a low-stakes way to get better at noticing details—leaf shapes, feather patterns, bark texture—while helping build a clearer picture of the biodiversity in the Berea College Forest.

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🌳 Why It Matters in Berea

Berea’s trails are used year-round by hikers, families, students, and birders. Many of those visitors also log sightings on apps like iNaturalist. But observations only become truly useful when they’re identified and verified. Events like this are the “behind the scenes” work that turns a casual photo into something researchers, educators, and the public can actually learn from.

And it’s a great winter activity: you can participate without muddy boots, and still feel like you spent your Saturday doing something outdoorsy-adjacent.

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🗓️ Make a Half-Day of It

The Forestry Outreach Center also lists Forest Meditations (10–11 a.m.) and a Group Hike at the Pinnacles (1–3:30 p.m.) on the same day, which makes Jan. 31 an easy pick for anyone who wants a “choose your own adventure” Saturday—quiet time, citizen science, or a guided hike.

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IF YOU GO

What: iNaturalist I.D.-a-thon
When: Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026 (Update – Rescheduled for Feb 28th)
Time: 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
Where: Berea College Forestry Outreach Center, 2047 Big Hill Rd., Berea
Bring: Laptop (preferred) or smartphone
Cost: Free; no experience needed

Originally Published November 1995 | Updated Jan. 27, 2026

BEREA, Ky. — In the spring of 1992, a busload of Madison Southern High School students rolled into Nashville for the Music City Classic, hoping to bring home a trophy. They returned with awards, but one student returned with a life-altering choice.

As Berea’s arts community looks forward to a busy 2026 season, we opened our archives to look back at a pivotal moment for Chad Hembree—known to a generation of young actors today simply as “Mr. Chad.”

The 1992 Music City Classic In April 1992, the “Southern Singers,” directed by Karen Girard, traveled to Nashville to compete against choirs from across the region. The group stayed at the Maxwell House Hotel, toured The Hermitage, and visited Opryland USA.

The trip was a success on paper: the choir earned fourth place overall. But in the solo vocal competition, Hembree’s performance of “I Am a Friar of Orders Grey” earned second place—and caught the ear of the right person in the crowd.

The Offer from a Legend Following his performance, Hembree was approached with an invitation that sounds like a movie script: a chance to meet country music legend Roy Acuff.

The meeting wasn’t just a handshake. Acuff and his team saw potential in the Berea teenager, discussing the possibility of him becoming a regular performer at the Acuff Theatre. The offer included potential daily work at Opryland USA and a pathway to the Grand Ole Opry stage. Hembree was even invited to meet Acuff’s band, The Smoky Mountain Boys, and sang harmony with them in an impromptu session that reportedly went well.

The Decision to Stay In the months that followed, serious discussions took place. A plan was drafted that would have seen Hembree home-schooled during the week to accommodate a performance schedule in Nashville.

Ultimately, Hembree made a choice that surprised some: he turned down the Nashville fast track. He chose to stay in Berea, finish high school with his friends, and pursue a broader education in music and theater rather than locking himself into a country music career at 17.

34 Years Later: A Different Kind of Legacy At the time, the original 1995 article asked: “Was Nashville a once-in-a-lifetime door that should have been walked through?”

In 2026, the answer is clear. Hembree didn’t leave the stage; he just built a new one at home.

Today, Chad Hembree serves as the Executive Director of The Spotlight Playhouse and Spotlight Acting School. Instead of performing for tourists in Nashville, he has spent decades teaching thousands of Berea kids how to find their own voices.

From directing The Wizard of OZ to producing community blockbusters like The Tomb, Hembree’s decision to stay planted in Madison County meant that his experience didn’t just benefit him—it benefited the entire community.

“Berea has always found ways to celebrate its local talent,” the original editor noted. Today, thanks to that decision in 1992, Berea doesn’t just celebrate talent; it cultivates it, one student at a time.

BEREA, Ky. — Winter can make the woods look like it hit pause—bare branches, brown leaves, gray skies. But if you know where to look, the forest is still full of color.

That’s the idea behind “Family Activity: Likin’ Lichen Walk,” happening today (Sunday, Jan. 25) from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Berea College Forestry Outreach Center. The program is billed as a slow-paced, child-led walk in the lower forest to learn about lichen and moss, with time to collect small samples and bring them back to look at under a microscope.

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🌱 Why Lichen is a Great “Winter Nature” Subject

Lichen and moss don’t wait for spring. While many plants are dormant, these hardy organisms keep showing up on rocks, logs, and tree bark—tiny pockets of texture and green that can turn an ordinary walk into a scavenger hunt.

The Forestry Outreach Center’s description leans into that simple joy: notice what’s still living, slow down, and let kids lead the pace and the questions.

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🧭 What to Expect

The event description is short, but the format is clear:

• Meet at the Forestry Outreach Center, then head out for a slow walk.
• Kids help decide what to stop and look at (“child-led”).
• Participants can collect and then examine samples under a microscope back at the Center.

If you’re new to the facility, the Forestry Outreach Center notes it is open Tuesday–Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday 12–4 p.m., with trails that are dog-friendly (leash required).

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🎨 A “Berea Creativity” Thread

If your family likes hands-on activities—building, crafting, drawing, performing—this kind of nature program fits right into Berea’s broader creative culture.

For families who want an indoor arts option later in February, The Spotlight Playhouse has The Tomb, a murder mystery dinner show scheduled for Feb. 13–15, keeping Berea’s arts calendar moving even when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

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IF YOU GO

What: Family Activity: Likin’ Lichen Walk
When: Today (Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026)
Time: 2:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
Where: Berea College Forestry Outreach Center, 2047 Big Hill Rd., Berea
Cost: Free
Details: Child-led walk + microscope look at lichen/moss samples

Berea doesn’t need a trip to New York to get a night of showtunes. “Finally: A Broadway Revue” is back at The Spotlight Playhouse for a run Feb. 20–28, presented by The Bluegrass Players.

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🌟 What a “Broadway Revue” Means (and Why It Works Here)

Unlike a book musical (where one story runs from curtain to curtain), a revue is designed as an evening of standout numbers—a fast-moving mix of solos, duets, and group moments that lets audiences enjoy a lot of musical theater in one night.

That format also makes it an easy “bring-a-friend” show: you don’t have to know the plot ahead of time, and you’ll probably recognize more songs than you expect.

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📅 Dates, Times, and What to Expect

The Playhouse lists the run as Feb. 20–28. Berea Tourism’s calendar shows performances including Feb. 27 at 8:00 p.m. (running to about 10:15 p.m.) and Feb. 28 at 8:00 p.m. (also ending around 10:15 p.m.).

Showtimes can vary across a run, so the safest plan is to check the ticket listing for the specific night you want.

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🎶 A Good “February Arts Month” Pairing

If you’re building a February calendar, this is the kind of production that pairs well with everything else happening in town—an upbeat night out that still feels local, from a venue that runs performances year-round and serves as home base for both The Bluegrass Players and Spotlight’s performing arts programming.

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IF YOU GO

What: Finally: A Broadway Revue
When: Feb. 20–28 (listed performances include Feb. 27 & Feb. 28 at 8:00 p.m.)
Where: The Spotlight Playhouse, 214 Richmond Road, Berea
Tickets/Details: Available through Spotlight’s ticketing listings and the Berea Tourism event pages

BEREA, Ky. — Berea’s GameStop at Shops at Berea (222 Brenwood St.) is now closed, according to the company’s store page, which lists the location as closed every day of the week. A photo circulating locally also shows an in-store notice stating the shop would be “closed effective 1.8.2026.”

The shutdown appears connected to a wider round of GameStop closures in Kentucky and beyond, described in recent reports as part of a corporate restructuring and a continued pullback from physical storefronts. A WHAS11 list of impacted locations includes the Berea store among Kentucky closures.

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🕹️ A Routine Disrupted

For many Berea residents, GameStop wasn’t just a place to buy a game. It was a habit: stopping by to browse, trade in older titles, grab a gift, or talk releases with staff.

As with any sudden disruption, people don’t instantly “replace” a closed store—they re-route their routines. That adjustment can be especially noticeable for families budgeting around trade-ins, collectors looking for specific items, and teens who used the store as a familiar hangout stop.

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📍 Richmond Location Remains Open

The good news for shoppers who want a traditional GameStop experience: the Carriage Gate GameStop in Richmond remains open at 837 Eastern Bypass, Ste B. It’s a straightforward drive up the road for many Berea residents, and it may become the default option for preorders, trade-ins, and accessory needs.

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🏠 Local Options Closer to Home

If you’d rather keep your gaming dollars closer to home, two smaller shops in Berea are worth putting on your radar:

• (Update – Reported closed) Bad Wolf Gaming (711 Chestnut St, Suite 2): A locally rooted store that focuses on tabletop gaming, including role-playing games, trading card games, and community play.
• Berea Card Shop (594 Glades Rd): A buy/sell shop for sports and trading cards, serving the broader collectibles ecosystem many gamers overlap with.

These businesses aren’t one-for-one replacements for a chain video game retailer, but they do something national chains often can’t: build community around the hobby, with local relationships and in-person play.

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💳 Returns and Trade Credit

If you have trade credit or pending orders tied to the Berea store, the safest step is to check your GameStop account online or reach out to GameStop customer support. Policies can vary by circumstance during store shutdowns.

If you’re looking for a winter night out that’s indoors, affordable, and genuinely different, the Berea College Planetarium has a fresh option on deck: “Habitat Earth” is the featured full-dome show for the Jan. 30–Feb. 1 weekend, with performances listed at 7:00–8:00 p.m. Friday (Jan. 30) and 4:00–5:00 p.m. Sunday (Feb. 1).

The planetarium plays a different full-dome show each weekend, which makes it easy to return without feeling like you’re repeating the same program.

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🌱 What “Habitat Earth” Is About

From the planetarium’s show descriptions, “Habitat Earth” explores the “living networks” that connect life on Earth—ranging from ocean ecosystems (like kelp forests) to underground connections between trees and fungi, and the way human systems intersect with the natural world.

In other words: it’s not just “space stuff.” It’s a science-and-nature show that fits Berea’s outdoor-minded culture, even when the trails are muddy or the weather is too cold for a long hike.

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🎟️ Tickets, Location, and a Quick Heads-Up About Weather

Berea Tourism’s listing notes the public shows are typically Fridays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m., with tickets listed as $5 for adults and $3 for children and seniors (cash only).

The planetarium is located at 271 N. Main Street on Berea College’s campus, in the Margaret A. Cargill (MAC) Natural Sciences and Health Building, 4th floor.

One thing to keep in mind in winter: the planetarium calendar has shown at least one recent listing marked “SHOW CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER,” so it’s worth checking the show calendar before you head out.

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🗓️ Make It a February “Two-Weekend” Plan

If you like building a month around experiences—science one weekend, performing arts the next—Berea has plenty to choose from. Looking ahead, The Spotlight Playhouse has “Finally” A Broadway Revue scheduled for Feb. 20–28, 2026, offering another easy night-out option later in the month.

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If You Go

Berea College Planetarium — “Habitat Earth”

• Friday, Jan. 30 — 7:00–8:00 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 1 — 4:00–5:00 p.m.

🎟️ Tickets: $5 adults; $3 children/seniors (cash only)
📍 Where: MAC Natural Sciences and Health Building (4th floor), 271 N. Main St., Berea

After a stretch of rough winter weather across the U.S., Nvidia dropped a rare piece of genuinely practical “AI good news”: the company says it has released three open-source AI models designed to make weather forecasting faster and cheaper—and, in some cases, competitive with traditional physics-based approaches.

Nvidia unveiled the models at the American Meteorological Society’s annual meeting in Houston as part of its Earth-2 initiative.

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🚀 The Headline Claim: Speed Changes What’s Possible

Weather agencies and private forecasters often run predictions in “ensembles”—many slightly different simulations from the same starting conditions—to estimate uncertainty and catch rare but high-impact outcomes.

That’s historically expensive, because each ensemble member is a full-blown simulation. Nvidia says once trained, AI inference can run about 1,000 times faster, which removes a big bottleneck: you can afford to run far more ensemble members.

Nvidia’s climate simulation research director Mike Pritchard told Reuters that insurers are already running 10,000-member ensembles to stress-test scenarios like flooding and hurricanes—something that would be painful (or impossible) at scale with conventional methods.

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🧩 The Three Open Models: What Each One Does

• Medium-range forecasting (out to ~15 days): A global model aimed at multi-day forecasting.
• Nowcasting (0–6 hours): A severe-storm model focused on very short-term forecasting over the U.S., trained on radar/satellite inputs to predict the evolution of storm systems.
• Data assimilation: A model to integrate “disparate data streams” (satellites, stations, balloons, etc.) into cleaner initial conditions, making downstream forecasts more useful.

Nvidia is positioning the release as a fully open, accelerated stack—models plus tools—so researchers, startups, governments, and enterprises can run or fine-tune on their own infrastructure.

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🌍 Why This Matters Beyond “Cool Tech”

This is the shift from “will it rain?” to “what’s the probability my exact neighborhood floods?”—the kind of question that emergency planners, utilities, and insurance underwriters are paid to answer.

The promise isn’t that AI magically stops disasters. It’s that AI makes it cheap enough to explore more ‘what-if’ futures, faster—especially the ugly tail-risk scenarios that traditional modeling can’t afford to run at massive scale.

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⚠️ The Important Caveat

Even proponents say the real future is hybrid: AI models augmenting (not instantly replacing) traditional numerical weather prediction, with ongoing validation, careful use, and clear communication about uncertainty.

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About the Author

Chad Hembree is a certified network engineer with 30 years of experience in IT and networking. He hosted the nationally syndicated radio show Tech Talk with Chad Hembree throughout the 1990s and into the early 2000s, and previously served as CEO of DataStar. Today, he’s based in Berea as the Executive Director of The Spotlight Playhouse—proof that some careers don’t pivot, they evolve.

BEREA, Ky. — In the wake of the January 2026 winter storm that blanketed the Commonwealth with snow, ice, and power outages, Kentucky residents have entered a new phase of the weather emergency: the aftermath. While snow and ice have largely moved out of the state, dangerously frigid conditions remain—and returning to a regular schedule will take patience, caution, and community support.

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🥶 Extreme Cold Warning Remains

Early Tuesday morning, Gov. Andy Beshear renewed an Extreme Cold Warning in effect until 11 a.m., reminding Kentuckians that frostbite and hypothermia can occur in as little as 10 minutes in this weather. The Governor again urged residents to stay off the roads and limit outdoor exposure as the state continues recovery efforts.

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🌨️ The Storm Isn’t Over—Not Really

Although snow and ice have technically passed, the conditions they left behind remain a threat. Roads that appeared clear during brief thaws can quickly refreeze under subzero temperatures, leaving secondary routes especially treacherous.

Crews from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) and local departments have been working around the clock, but even with progress on plowing and deicing, winter’s impact has a lingering hold.

For many Berea families, this means delays in returning to normal routines. School schedules, work commutes, and delivery services are still disrupted in parts of the region—not because snow is falling now, but because ice-packed roads and cautious travel still slow everyone down.

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🧊 Cold, Not Just Snow, Causes Danger

Data from state briefings show that although power outages have dropped sharply from a peak of more than 73,000, thousands of homes and businesses were still without electricity early Tuesday. Utility crews from Kentucky and neighboring states have pitched in, but restoring reliable power in rural and hilly regions takes time in extreme cold conditions.

And the cold itself remains a health risk. Temperatures with wind chills dipping below zero mean that even short trips outdoors—walking the dog, checking on elderly neighbors, or clearing a car windshield—can lead to serious health issues if precautions aren’t taken.

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🏠 Warming Centers: A Temporary Lifeline

In response, state and local authorities have expanded warming center locations across Kentucky, including sites in several state parks. These centers provide a safe, heated refuge for those without power or adequate heating at home.

For Berea residents looking for help, community organizations and churches have joined the effort to check on neighbors, assist with transportation to warming stations, and share information on safe travel. Local emergency management continues to update resources online.

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🔜 Looking Forward

For many in Berea and beyond, the focus now is shifting from surviving the storm to managing its residual effects. Roads still need repair and clearing, power lines remain vulnerable, and the mental toll of days spent in isolation or under threat of freezing conditions weighs on families.

Yet, there are signs of progress: Primary routes are more passable than they were just days ago, crews are making steady improvements, and the state is coordinating resources for sustained recovery. Still, Gov. Beshear made it clear that we aren’t quite in the clear: even as the worst weather moves on, the risks of extreme cold and ice remain for several more days.

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📝 COMMUNITY REMINDERS

• Travel: Check GoKY.ky.gov for real-time road conditions before venturing out.
• Safety: Keep emergency kits in your vehicle and check on vulnerable neighbors.
• Government: Due to road conditions, please check the City of Berea website for the status of this week’s scheduled meetings, including the rescheduled City Council session.

Berea’s Valentine weekend calendar is getting a twist of suspense this year — and it comes with dinner.

The Spotlight Playhouse will stage “The Tomb,” a murder mystery dinner show presented by The Bluegrass Players, running Feb. 13–15, 2026 at the Playhouse on 214 Richmond Road.

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🏺 The Setup: Pure Escapism

The story drops the audience into Egypt in 1999, where an archaeological team gathers to explore an ancient tomb. As the Playhouse’s show description frames it, romance and tension rise, secrets start surfacing — and then someone turns up dead, leaving the audience to help solve the crime.

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🕵️ What Makes This One Different: You’re Part of the Case

Unlike a traditional play where you sit back and watch the plot unfold, The Tomb is billed as an interactive experience with comic moments and plenty of turns built into the mystery.

And yes — dinner is included as part of the event experience.

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⏰ Showtimes to Know

Berea Tourism’s event listings indicate:

• Friday, Feb. 13 — 6:30–9:30 p.m.
• Saturday, Feb. 14 — 6:30–9:30 p.m.
• Sunday, Feb. 15 — 1:30–4:30 p.m.

(The production runs all three dates, Feb. 13–15.)

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💘 Who It’s Best For

If you’re planning a date night, this is an easy alternative to the standard dinner reservation: you get a meal, a story, and a built-in conversation starter on the drive home (“OK, who did you think it was?”). It also fits group outings — especially anyone who likes clue-solving games, themed experiences, or just laughing at suspicious characters making questionable decisions.

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If You Go

The Tomb — A Murder Mystery Dinner Show (Dinner Included)
Dates: Feb. 13–15, 2026
Venue: The Spotlight Playhouse, 214 Richmond Road, Berea
Listed times: Fri/Sat 6:30–9:30 p.m.; Sun 1:30–4:30 p.m.

BEREA, Ky. — Berea’s winter calendar has no shortage of ways to get out of the house, but some nights do double duty—fun for you, and meaningful for the town.

One of the biggest is coming up on Saturday, Feb. 21: the Berea Arts Council is bringing back “A Chili Night Out,” a benefit concert and dinner at Churchill’s. The Arts Council describes the evening as a cozy community fundraiser featuring live music by MudPi and a hearty chili dinner catered by Honeysuckle, with proceeds supporting the Arts Council’s work and programming in Berea.

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🎟️ More Than “Just a Dinner”

The Berea Arts Council is framing this as one of those “bring a friend and stay awhile” events—good food, live music, and a chance to support the kind of arts activity that quietly shapes the town’s identity year-round.

The setting fits the tone. Churchill’s describes itself as a respectfully restored historic property and notes it is part of the National Register of Historic Places, giving the night a built-in “special occasion” feel without needing formalwear.

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📅 What to Know Before You Go

Berea Tourism’s event listing posts the start time at 6:00 p.m. on Feb. 21.

Tickets are listed online through the event’s ticket page, and the Arts Council has also promoted purchasing tickets online (with some posts noting ticket availability during gallery open hours).

If you’re the kind of person who waits until the last minute, this is one worth booking early—fundraisers like this can tighten up quickly once local groups decide to make it their winter get-together.

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🎨 Make It a February Arts Month

If you’re building a “do something local” February, Berea has another easy night-out option right after: The Spotlight Playhouse has “Finally” A Broadway Revue scheduled for Feb. 20–28, 2026.

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IF YOU GO

What: A Chili Night Out (Benefit Concert & Dinner)
Host: Berea Arts Council
When: Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 (listed start time: 6:00 p.m.)
Where: Churchill’s (Berea)
Music: MudPi
Dinner: Catered by Honeysuckle
Tickets: Available online via the event ticket page

If winter has you itching to do something that isn’t another errand or another screen, the Berea College Forestry Outreach Center has a solid answer: a full Saturday of free programs at the Pinnacles area on Saturday, Feb. 7—including guided quiet time, outdoor art, and a group hike.

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🗓️ A Feb. 7 Schedule You Can Build a Day Around

All of these Feb. 7 programs are listed through the Forestry Outreach Center calendar, and they’re easy to mix-and-match depending on your energy level:

• Forest Meditations | 10:00–11:00 a.m.
  A guided hour meant to slow down and reconnect—alone, with friends, or with neighbors you haven’t met yet.
• Red Oaks Forest School Art Club | 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.
  Red Oaks Forest School brings its monthly art club outdoors at the Pinnacles. The listing calls it “free and open to all,” with a welcoming vibe for any age or skill level.
• Nature Journaling Through the Arts | 11:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
  If you’ve ever told yourself you want to write, sketch, paint, or even compose music “someday,” this session is designed to give you dedicated time to do it—using the forest as your prompt. Organizers suggest bringing what you love (a notebook, sketchbook, instrument, favorite materials) and note they’ll also have generic supplies available.
• Group Hike at the Pinnacles | 1:00–3:30 p.m.
  A Saturday group hike for anyone who wants company on the trail and a little more context while they walk.

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🎒 What to Bring (So It Stays Fun)

The Forestry Outreach Center’s own program notes point to a “come as you are” spirit, but a couple basics will make the day smoother:

• Dress for comfort inside and outside (layers are your friend in February).
• If you’re doing Nature Journaling, bring the creative tools you’re attached to—your favorite notebook or sketchbook, a particular set of paints, or an instrument—while knowing some materials are also provided.
• For Art Club and the hike, it’s always smart to bring water and something to sit on if you like to pause and look around.
• And because winter weather has its own opinions, it’s wise to check the Forestry Outreach Center’s calendar before heading out in case anything shifts.

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🗓️ One More Thing: Make It a February “Two-Weekend” Plan

If you like the idea of outdoors creativity one weekend and indoor entertainment the next, Berea has an easy follow-up.

The weekend after Feb. 7, The Spotlight Playhouse hosts “The Tomb,” a murder mystery dinner show, running Feb. 13–15, 2026 at its Richmond Road venue.

It’s a very different kind of storytelling than journaling in the woods—but it makes for a nice rhythm: quiet and creative first, then social and theatrical.

On winter afternoons when kids have energy to burn and parents are looking for something that doesn’t involve another screen, the Madison County Public Library’s Berea Branch has a simple answer: LEGO Club+.

The weekly program meets in the Berea branch Community Room on Thursdays from 4:00–5:00 p.m.—and the library’s pitch is exactly what it sounds like: they supply the bricks, kids supply the imagination.

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🏗️ What Happens at LEGO Club+?

According to the library’s event listing, LEGO Club+ is designed for elementary-age builders and mixes free-building with a little structure:

• Kids can build whatever their time and imagination allow
• Each week includes an optional build challenge to spark ideas
• When a build is finished, staff take a photo and add it to a “Brick Wall” display in the children’s area

That last part is a small detail with big kid appeal: it gives children a visible “gallery” of their work—something to point to the next time they walk into the library.

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📅 Upcoming Berea Dates

On the library’s “Upcoming Events” list, LEGO Club+ (Berea) appears on:

• Thursday, Jan. 22 — 4:00–5:00 p.m.
• Thursday, Jan. 29 — 4:00–5:00 p.m.

(The program listing also shows it as a repeating Thursday event.)

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🏢 Countywide Note: Richmond Has LEGO Club+, Too

If your family bounces between towns for work, school, or errands, the Richmond branch also runs LEGO Club+—and the library’s description there emphasizes displaying creations in a display case.

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📍 Where It Is and Who to Contact

Madison County Public Library — Berea Branch
319 Chestnut Street, Berea, KY 40403
Phone: (859) 986-7112

The LEGO Club+ listing names Alisha Strunk as the program contact (email and extension listed).

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🎭 A Theater Tie-In for Families Building a Winter Activity Calendar

If LEGO Club+ becomes part of your Thursday routine, families looking for another local creative outlet can also keep an eye on Spotlight Acting School, which offers theater education and performances for youth ages 4–18 and is based at The Spotlight Playhouse (214 Richmond Road, Berea).

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If You Go

LEGO Club+ (Berea Branch)
🗓 Thursdays, 4:00–5:00 p.m. — Community Room
📍 Berea Branch: 319 Chestnut St., Berea

For the most up-to-date dates (weather, holidays, schedule changes), check the library’s Upcoming Events list.