Derek Operle
WKMS News DirectorA native of western Kentucky, Operle earned his bachelor's degree in integrated strategic communications from the University of Kentucky in 2014. Operle spent five years working for Paxton Media/The Paducah Sun as a reporter and editor. In addition to his work in the news industry, Operle is a passionate movie lover and concertgoer.
-
The Kentucky Lock Addition Project – a more than $1.5 billion federal construction effort led by government contractors and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) workers – aims to solve a logjam on Tennessee River by doubling the length of the lock that flows resources and products to 20 states. -
U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón has announced her signature project titled " You Are Here," which hopes to engage people with poetry and nature.
-
A tornado leveled the town of Mayfield, Ky., and killed dozens of people one year ago. Since then, residents have banded together to recover and are working to make this holiday season brighter.
-
Black communities in Kentucky and Tennessee have celebrated the eighth of August for more than 150 years. It's a day for barbecue, loved ones and marking freedom from slavery.
-
A litter of endangered red wolves was recently born in captivity. There are about 250 red wolves in the U.S. and these four were an unexpected surprise because the male was thought too old to breed.
-
In Paducah, Ky., AQS QuiltWeek is back after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Tens of thousands of people are flocking there and couldn't be happier to celebrate this often overlooked artform.
-
The ferocity of Friday night's deadly tornadoes in western Kentucky is evident to anyone who sees the aftermath. The National Weather Service is trying to determine just how strong they were.
-
Scott Simon talks with WKMS reporter Derek Operle about damage and casualties from last night's severe storms, which tore through the South and Midwest.
