Press server down starting Friday night

The Crittenden Press' main Web site will be offline for several hours starting at 9 p.m., Friday, April 3, 2010 for server maintenance. This will affect email messages sent to any Crittenden Press staff member. Our service provider tells us this could take 12 to 48 hours.

This blog site will be unaffected by the maintenance issue.

Bellville Street closed Wednesday

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to close East Belleville Street at the Marion City Limits Wednesday in order to replace a cross drain on the 800 block. The planned closure is near Myer’s Funeral Home and the intersection of Clay Street.

To prepare for this planned closure on Wednesday, the Crittenden County Highway Maintenance Crew will be doing some shoulder work at the location on Tuesday. This prep work will require lane restrictions at the site during the day Tuesday.

During the Wednesday closure passenger vehicles may self-detour via side streets. Trucks should detour via appropriate state highways. The closure is expected to be in place from approximately 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., on Wednesday. The work is scheduled on a weather permitting basis. In case of rain, it will automatically move to the next working day until complete.

Meet the Authors today

Crittenden Public Library is hosting a big Meet the Authors event
today from 10 a.m., to 1 p.m. Nine book authors with local ties will
be there for discussions and book signings. Admission is free.

Area Death: Ramage & Fryar

Helen Brasher Ramage, 87, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., formerly of Dycusburg, died Monday, March 22, 2010 in Middle Tennessee Medical Center in Murfreesboro. She was the wife of J.B. Ramage, who died just four weeks ago on Feb. 22. The funeral is Friday at Lakeland Funeral Home Chapel in Eddyville.

Mary Lee Fryar, 85, of Marion, died Wednesday, March 24, at Crittenden Health Systems.

Funeral services are Friday at Boyd Funeral Directors in Salem.

Area Death: LaRue

Jamie K. LaRue, 38, of Dycusburg died at 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, 2010. Visitation is today and the funeral is Sunday at Dunn Funeral Home in Eddyville.

Jay Riley, 63, of Marion died Friday. Visitation is Sunday evening and the funeral is Monday at Gilbert Funeral Home.

Volunteer fireman seriously injured

A volunteer fireman from Livingston County was seriously injured in an accident Friday while responding to a field fire on Hampton Road near Burna.

Paul Birk, 35, of Burna was responding to the fire about 12:30 p.m., Friday when the accident occurred. He was operating his personal pickup, a 1995 Chevrolet 1500, with emergency lights and siren active. While negotiating an east bound curve on U.S. 60, Birk attempted to pass a slowing vehicle he was overtaking. The fireman did not immediately observe the approach of a west bound vehicle, and attempted to cross back into the east bound lane.

Birk ran off the right shoulder of the highway, missing both vehicles and over corrected. His pickup continued across the roadway and ran off the west bound shoulder. Continuing down an embankment, the pickup struck a tree, rotated and crossed a deep ravine, according to state police.

The truck then struck a second tree before coming to rest.

Birk was trapped inside the vehicle and subsequently extricated by Smithland and Burna Volunteer Fire Departments. He was flown to St. Mary's Hospital in Evansville in serious condition.

Crittenden County volunteer firemen responded to help fight the field fire.

Maroin man arrested in Virginia

A Marion man, who formerly was pastor of a Fairfax County, Va., church in the 1990s has been arrested by Fairfax police for allegedly molesting two boys in the mid-1990s, Fairfax police said Thursday.

Tommy Shelton, 64, was the pastor of Community Church of God at 2500 Gallows Rd. in the Dunn Loring area, from 1995 to 2000, police said.

In 2008, two men approached Fairfax police and reported that they had been sexually assaulted by Shelton. One man said he had been molested when he was 12 to 14 years old, and the other man said he was 8 to 9 years old when he was molested, police said.

There is no statute of limitations on such crimes in Virginia, reports the Washington Post.

According to the Post, police obtained warrants in February charging Shelton with two counts of aggravated sexual battery, two counts of indecent liberties with a minor, and sodomy. Shelton now lives on Ky. 91 North in the Hebron area of Crittenden County. He has been affiliated with various churches and religious organizations in this area for many years. Local authorities had no knowledge of these allegations.

Shelton surrendered this week to Fairfax police, and was being held in the Fairfax jail Thursday in lieu of $80,000 bond.

The Seventh Day Adventist Church's magazine Adventist Today has written extensively about the suspect in a 2007 article. Read it here.

Piney Fork Road Closed Wednesday

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to close Ky. 506 (Piney Fork Road) in Crittenden County on Wednesday, March 17.

The closure is to allow a crew to replace a failed cross drain near the intersection with Weldon Road.

The roadway will be closed to all traffic at approximately 8 a.m., and is expected to remain closed until approximately 3 p.m.

There will be no marked detour. Motorists who regularly travel Piney Fork Road should be aware of this planned closure and make advance alternate travel plans.

This project is scheduled on a weather permitting basis. In case of ran it will automatically move to the next working day.

Fish Trap Road work delayed

Due to the threat of rain today, the closure of Fish Trap Road at Ky. 654 in Crittenden County has been delayed until Wednesday. In case of rain tomorrow, the project will be delayed on a day-to-day basis until weather conditions allow it to be completed. Closure is required for work on the road. Click here to see previous post outlining the work to be done and hours of closure.

Rescue squad at wreck

UPDATE: Crittenden County Rescue Squad, Marion police, EMS and others responded to a single-vehicle accident on East Depot Street at about 3:120 p.m., Sunday.

A pickup truck overturned, trapping the driver inside. The rescue squad cut the top of the truck to free the driver, whose name was not immediately released. He was the only person in the truck. The man was taken by ambulance to Crittenden Hospital.

Photo taken by Marla Hunt-Manning with a cell phone and sent to The Press Online via email.

Area deaths: Ivy & Travis

Corbitt E. “Ted” Travis, 71 of Marion died Saturday, March 6 at his residence. Visitation is Monday and the funeral is Tuesday at Myers Funeral Home.

Defas R. Ivy, 69 of Marion died Friday, March 5 at Crittenden Hospital. The funeral is Monday at Myers Funeral Home.

Henderson stops Rocket girls

Henderson County stopped the Lady Rockets 64-37 in the semifinal round
of the Second Region Tournament Friday at Dixon.

Fish Trap Road closed Tuesday

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to close Fish Trap Road at the intersection with Ky. 654 South in Crittenden County on Tuesday, March 9. The closure will include a lane restriction on Ky. 654 at mile point 3.3 south of the Mattoon community.

The closure and lane restriction is to allow replacement of a drain pipe under Fish Trap Road at the Ky. 654 intersection. The closure is expected to start about 7:45 a.m. Work should be complete by about 3 p.m. The work site is on Ky. 654 between U.S. 60 and Wilson Farm Road about a mile south of U.S. 60 and the Mattoon community.

Motorists who regularly travel Fish Trap Road and Ky. 654 near the 3 mile marker in Crittenden County should be aware of this work and plan accordingly. Motorists traveling Ky. 654 on Tuesday should be alert for equipment, flaggers and maintenance personnel on the roadway in close proximity to traffic flow.

This work is scheduled on a weather permitting basis.

Lady Rockets win Regional game in OT

The Lady Rockets defeated Christian County in overtime Tuesday night in the first round of the Second Region tournament at Webster County.

Crittenden won 57-54 and will play at 7:30 p.m., Friday against Henderson County in the regional semifinal.

Click here to see regional brackets

Hit and Run solved

The Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department was called to investigate what was initially reported as a hit and run by a horse and buggy in a highway work zone this morning.

A Kentucky Transportation Cabinet highway maintenance crew had set up a work zone to do some shoulder work and patching of mail box turnouts along Ky. 654 (Weston Road) in northern Crittenden County. The highway runs through the heart of Crittenden County’s Amish community just west of the Mattoon community.

As a flagger held up traffic a couple of miles west of U.S. 60 East, a horse pulling an Amish buggy was apparently spooked by flashing lights on a state pickup truck. As the buggy driver attempted to keep the horse under control the buggy backed into the state truck causing minor damage to the door.

The spooked horse with the buggy behind took off down the highway at a run prompting the highway crew to initially report the incident as a hit and run. Since all Amish buggies look pretty much alike and are abundant on back roads in the area, it left Crittenden County Sheriff Wayne Agent without much way to identify the specific buggy involved in the incident.

Fortunately, the buggy driver was able to return to the site after calming the horse and Agent was able to fill out an accident report.

Crittenden County Highway Maintenance Supervisor Heath Martin described the damage to the door of the state truck as “pretty much cosmetic.” Martin indicated the incident was pretty minor when compared to what highway crews normally encounter in work zones as they go about their daily assignments. He says the main thing is that no one got hurt.

Statewide weather drill

There will be a statewide severe weather drill at 9:07 a.m., this morning. Television and radio stations will be participating along with area emergency response agencies.