2026 Best of Lex: Community & Media

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Community

Our local celebrities, non-profits and media outlets contribute to Lexington’s unique culture in a variety of ways. On the following pages, we celebrate the media outlets, hosts, nonprofits and neighborhoods that make our community what it is.

Best Blogger/Influencer

  1. Bradley Marlow (@bradleymarlow_)
  2. Landon Marsh (@landonkmarsh)
  3. Erica Bivens (@erica.bivens)

Honorable Mentions:

  • Lexington Latest (@lexingtonlatest)
  • Mitchell Christian Designs (@mitchell_christian_designs)

Best Business District

  1. Chevy Chase
  2. Summit at Fritz Farm
  3. Distillery District

Best Lexingtonian

  1. Chef Ouita Michel (James Beard Award-nominated restaurateur; owner Holly Hill & Co.)
  2. Wylie Caudill (Lexington artist)
  3. Fred Mills (longtime manager of the Kentucky Theatre)
  4. Steve Zahn (actor/director)

Ode to Community Stewards Kevin & Cameron Heathcoat

By Winn Stephens, friend and frequent guest at Bourbon n' Toulouse and Chevy Chase Inn

Lexington business owner Kevin Heathcoat once shared with me the best advice his mentor, Joe Vuskovich, ever gave him: “Don’t have customers; have friends.” I believe Joe imparted this wisdom to Kevin shortly after metaphorically kicking him out of the nest, by firing him from the Indianapolis-based Cajun restaurant Yats. 

Fortunately for all of us, that act of tough love ultimately led Kevin to Lexington, where he co-founded the fast casual restaurant Bourbon n' Toulouse in 2004, and stepped in to become a co-owner of Chevy Chase Inn, the city’s oldest watering hole, just over a decade later. 

In the years that have followed, Kevin and his wife Cameron have worked hard to make Bourbon n’ Toulouse an absolute institution among Lexington’s culinary scene, and to ensure that Chevy Chase Inn remains deeply woven into Lexington’s cultural fabric.

Regulars at either business will indeed tell you they are treated as friends; however, Cameron, Kevin and their two awesome kids, Stella and Herrington, have extended their friendship far beyond the walls of their establishments. Through regular partnerships with an ever-growing list of non-profit organizations — including FoodChain, Operation: Secret Santa, Dining Out for Life (benefitting AVOL Kentucky), Empty Bowls (benefiting Moveable Feast), and many others — the family has welcomed the hungry, the sick and the marginalized into their network of friends. Whether through hosting community-oriented events, donating food or proceeds, or simply making thoughtful or funny social media posts, they are regularly finding ways to lift up and give back to the community.

Lexington is a vibrant, beautiful city with an exceptional quality of life. But what makes this a truly special place are the people who dedicate themselves to improving our little corner of the world, who treat everyone as friends, and, yes, those who make funny Instagram reels. 

Best Local Podcast

  1. KSR, Kentucky Sports Radio
  2. Off the Cuff with Adam Banks
  3. Kentucky TasteBuds

Honorable Mentions:

  • The Lexington Podcast
  • Develop Lex

Best Local Radio Host

  1. Adam Banks (Off the Cuff with Adam Banks)
  2. Mandy Williamson (Mandy and Friends, Hits 106.3)
  3. Shayna Sawyer (What Shayna Say, The Beat 107.9)
  4. Dead Air Dennis (Dennis Dillon, Lexington's Classic Rock 92.1)

Best Local TV Host

  1. Leigh Jordan and Tamara Schneider (Live from Chevy Chase)
  2. Victor Puente (WKYT Morning News Anchor/Reporter)
  3. Lee Cruse and Hayley Harmon, ("The Lee and Hayley Show")
  4. Amber Philpott (WKYT News Anchor)

Best Local TV Station

  1. FOX 56 News (WDKY)
  2. LEX18 (WLEX-TV)
  3. WKYT News

Honorable Mentions:

  • KET (Kentucky Educational TV)
  • ABC 36 WTVQ

Best Meteorologist

  1. Bill Meck, Lex 18
  2. Chris Bailey, WKYT
  3. Jim Caldwell, formerly with WKYT

Ode to Constantine Samuel Rafinesque

Smiley Pete Staff Salute

Transylvania University is known for having what some might call a quirky and eccentric history — and at the center of that history is naturalist and professor Constantine Samuel Rafinesque.

An autodidact and polyglot who excelled at a number of scientific fields and spoke multiple languages, Rafinesque was born in Constantinople in 1783, eventually making his way to Lexington where he joined the faculty of Transylvania University as a botany professor in 1819. During his lifetime, Rafinesque was an outcast in the American scientific community, famously tricked by John James Audubon into publishing descriptions of fantastical, made-up creatures following an incident where Rafinesque damaged Audubon’s violin while trying to strike a bat that flew into his room.

Known to be both brilliant and erratic, Rafinesque’s tenure at Transylvania was one of his most productive periods, but it was also fraught with conflicts and quarrels with fellow faculty. During his time at the college, he published scientific names for thousands of plants and hundreds of animals, including Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat. He also became interested in prehistoric native sites, discovering nearly 150 in Kentucky alone. Legend has it that Rafinesque was often late for or absent from his classes, and in 1926 he was fired by the university president Horace Holley, on whom he famously placed a curse as he was leaving.

Rafinesque’s curse is legendary on campus. As lore would have it, it’s been said to be the cause of Holley’s death (just one year after the dismissal), as well as a fire that destroyed the original administration building, and cholera and influenza outbreaks on campus.

Rafinesque died in 1840 in Philadelphia. Eighty-four years later, what were thought to be his remains were relocated to a tomb beneath the steps of Old Morrison, the University’s administration building. The tomb bears the inscription “Honor to whom honor is overdue.” Though recent research indicates that the body in the tomb is likely not Rafinesque, his spirit surely remains and takes pleasure in the posthumous honors.

Best Neighborhood

  1. Chevy Chase
  2. Southland
  3. Downtown Lexington

Best Nonprofit

  1. Lexington Humane Society
  2. God's Pantry
  3. The Nest

Honorable Mentions:

  • Sayre Christian Village
  • GreenHouse 17

Best Radio Station

  1. 98.1 The Bull
  2. 92.1 Classic Rock
  3. 104.5 The Cat

Honorable Mentions:

  • 106.3 Hits
  • 88.1 FM WRFL

Best Sportscaster

  1. Matt Jones (Kentucky Sports Radio)
  2. Tom Leach (WLAP)
  3. Lee K. Howard (WKYT) 

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