Grinch roaming Sturgis Road

The Grinch is lurking around Marion today!

Be on the lookout. The Grinch is collecting toys and other Christmas items to distribute to children. Don't be surprised if he hops in your vehicle or makes an appearance when you lease expect it. 

He will be at Ideal on Sturgis Rd., in Marion with Santa Claus this afternoon from 4-6 p.m.

Automobiles registered near end of 2023

Crittenden County Clerk reminds drivers that if you own a car on Jan. 1, you will owe 2024 property taxes on the vehicle, even if it has not yet been titled in your name.

For instance, if you purchase a new automobile on Dec. 26, but don’t title it until mid-January, you will be responsible for next year’s taxes. Likewise, if you sell a car on Jan. 2, you will owe 2024 taxes on it.

Residents should plan appropriately for registering a vehicle as the new year approaches.

“Our office will be closed Dec. 29 to Jan. 10 due to a statewide shutdown and revamp of Kentucky’s motor vehicle registration system,” said Crittenden County Clerk Daryl Tabor.

Consider the gift of history

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Give the gift of local history this Christmas.

The Crittenden County Historical Society has discounted copies of Satan's Ferryman available, just in time for Christmas. Crittenden County History volumes I and II are also available. Since the museum is closed for the season, copies of the book are available at the welcome center in Marion Commons.

A unique piece of Crittenden County history also can be found at the Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum. For a limited time, free admission to the museum is offered with a $30 purchase in the gift shop.

The Clement museum has jewelry, games for kids and other rare geological finds.

County's New Office Complex Dedicated Thursday

A building dedication and open house is being planned for the Crittenden County Office Complex in Industrial Park North. The event will be at 5:30 p.m., on Thursday, Dec. 7 and will include a formal blessing of the building with addresses from local leaders and state dignitaries. 

An open house will follow with refreshments.

All local county offices have moved to the new location as Marion prepares to replace its downtown courthouse. A new justice center will be rebuilt downtown. It will be home only to circuit, district and family court.

Reward offered for suspect's arrest

Mitchell Peek

Crittenden County authorities are seeking the public’s help in locating Mitchell Peek, 36, of Marion who is wanted on an indictment warrant from Crittenden County and two warrants out of Lyon County. 

Peek eluded apprehension Friday night following a police chase through two counties that was initiated before 10 p.m., by Sheriff Evan Head on US 60 just east of Moore Hill. Peek was operating a motorcycle and had a female passenger. 

The sheriff attempted to make a traffic stop when Peek was observed allegedly operating the motorcycle in a reckless fashion. The bike sped away and turned onto KY 1668, then westbound onto KY 135. The chase, which never exceeded 55 mph on a foggy night, went through Tolu and into Carrsville in Livingston County before Peek crashed. He fled on foot, but the female was taken into custody.

Peek is believed to be at large in Crittenden, Lyon or Livingston counties. 

Peek is wanted in Crittenden County in connection to a case involving Brian Fitzgerald, who is now in custody and facing a federal indictment. During the Fitzgerald investigation, authorities say evidence was ascertained indicating that Peek was in possession of a handgun (as a convicted felon) and possession of drug paraphernalia. The Crittenden County Grand Jury handed down an indictment against Peek last month in those accusations.

In Lyon County, he’s wanted for various alleged crimes, including fleeing or evading police, possession of methamphetamine, probation violation, tampering with physical evidence and wanton endangerment. 

Peek is described as a white male, 6-foot tall and weighting 210 pounds.

Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to call 270-965-3500. 

The female passenger on the motorcycle, Christina Robison, 30, of Marion was cited for possession of methamphetamine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. She refused treatment follow the crash.

A reward for information leading to his capture is being offered Crittenden County TipLine.

Step Back into Time Saturday at Fohs

Step back in time with the Community Arts Foundation from 10 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Dec. 2 at Fohs Hall for a Christmas classic.

The literary treasure, “The Night Before Christmas,” will be read and additional activities will include Christmas traditions, decorations and trimmings for a vintage holiday.

Admission is free.

Get You Christmas On!

UPCOMING HOLIDAY EVENTS 

•Akridge Farm Supply will be grand marshal of Fredonia Christmas Parade at 6 p.m., Friday, Dec. 1.

•Community Arts Foundation is hosting “The Night Before Christmas” reading along with other activities from 10 a.m., to noon, Saturday, Dec. 2 at Fohs Hall. More details on page 4.

 •“A Country Christmas” parade will be at 5 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 2 in Marion. Chris Cook is grand marshal.

•Supper with Santa will be held at the Lions Club Agriculture Building at the fairgrounds following Marion Christmas parade. 

•Christmas Jubilee at Fohs Hall featuring Cutter and Cash and the Kentucky Grass performing holiday and bluegrass music will start at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 2. Doors open at 5:45. Admission is free and will include holiday nostalgia, vintage decorations, toys and games that will foster Christmas memories.

Holiday Gift Idea for the Whole Year

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Buntin auctioning Crider goods Saturday

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Furniture, farm equipment, tools and outdoors items will be included in an action Saturday, Dec. 2 conducted by Buntin Auction Service.

Auctioneer Curt Buntin will sell these indoor and outdoor items at the Mike and Lisa Crider residence at 803 Just-a-Mere Road 

in Crittenden County.

Furniture includes a dining room suite, church pew, book case, wooden gun cabinet, bar stools and other miscellaneous pieces.

A variety of shop tools and outdoor equipment, hunting and fishing supplies are also included in the sale.

 

Supper with Santa Saturday after parade

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If seeing Santa in the parade isn't enough, take the kids to Supper with Santa, hosted by the Crittenden County Lions Club.

Right after Marion's Christmas parade Saturday night, meet at the Lions Club building at the former Town & Country Riding Club for chili, hot dogs and cookies.

Children eat free. Adults who wish to eat can make a donation that will be used for a children's gift for Christmas.

Photos with Santa also will be available.

Fords Ferry Road closed temporarily Tuesday

Fords Ferry Road inside the City Limits of Marion will be closed Tuesday, Dec. 5 to allow maintenance crews an opportunity to complete a repair job. 

Between Curve-In and to just beyond Marion Church of God, the road will be shut down to through traffic. The closured will be from 8:30 a.m., to 12:30pm.

In a formal announcement about the road closure, the City of Marion pointed out that work zone can be bypassed by taking Whippoorwill Drive through Greenwood Heights subdivision.

 

New surgeon joins Crittenden Hospital

Dr. Eric Kivisto and his wife Liz, an RN, will begin seeing patients in Marion on Monday, Dec. 4 at Crittenden Community Hospital.  Kivisto has 30 years experience as a general surgeon.

Kivisto most recently worked for Southern Illinois Healthcare, where he served as an acute care general surgeon. Prior to that he was a general surgeon for multiple facilities in the Northern Region for OSF Healthcare, a not-for-profit Catholic health care organization that operates a medical group in Illinois and Michigan.

Crittenden Community Hospital CEO Shawn Bright said Kivisto is a native to small-town living, and, together with his wife, will see patients throughout the entirety of their healthcare needs from the clinic through necessary medical procedures. Hear from Dr. Kivisto and his wife Liz

Demolition of Smithland Bridge tomorrow

Explosive demolition of the old Smithland Bridge is scheduled for 9 a.m., Thursday.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says that a demolition contractor should have all explosives placed on the truss by noon today. 

The public can view the demolition from Livingston County Fairgrounds.

Formally known as the Lucy Jefferson Lewis Memorial Bridge, the span that cross the Cumberland River was built 92 years ago and named for the sister of President of Thomas Jefferson, who had settled nearby in the early 1800s. The bridge is 1,817 feet long with a 500-foot main truss. When it first opened in 1931, a toll was paid at a rate of 25 cents for cars, trucks were 50 cents and livestock on the hoof was 5 cents a head.

A new bridge has been built beside of the old one and it has been open to traffic for several months.

Here is a timeline for the blast and associated demolition activities:

Thursday
7:15 a.m. - Final coordinating meeting for Go-No Go Decision considering weather, etc.
7:45 a.m. - Coast Guard boat and other security vessels on station
8 a.m. - Cumberland River closed to all boat traffic for up to 36 hours
8:05 a.m. - Public viewing areas open at Livingston County Fairgrounds and at 770 Tiline Road (KY 70)
8:30 a.m. - New U.S 60 Cumberland River Bridge closes to all highway traffic
8:40 a.m. - 1500 ft. Blast Clear Zone security sweep
9 a.m. - Siren to precede 10 second countdown to blast that will take down main truss and two approach spans on each side
9:15 a.m. - Contractor and KYTC personnel start sweep deck of new bridge to remove blast debris
9:30 a.m. - Barge and crane move into position to remove old bridge truss from the river with ground-based crew starting additional demolition of approach spans
11 a.m. (Approximately) - New U.S. 60 Cumberland River Bridge reopens to highway traffic with traffic restricted to one lane alternating flow controlled by an automated signal through Friday
5 p.m. - Crane halts steel removal for the day

Friday
Cumberland River remains closed to all boat traffic until approximately 8 p.m.
Crane continues to remove steel from river at daylight
Coast Guard team runs sonar scan of river bed before restoring river traffic
The contractor has established a 1500 clear zone around the blast site.  The public is asked to stay out of the clear zone to avoid delaying the detonation.

The U.S. Coast Guard has authorized the contractor to halt commercial tow boat and pleasure boat traffic for up to 36 hours on the Cumberland River to allow a barge-mounted crane to remove pieces of the steel truss from the river.   Livingston County Emergency Management, Crittenden County Rescue Squad, Marshall County Emergency Management, and McCracken County Emergency Management will assist with security.

A Kentucky Environmental Cabinet DMRE unit will assist with seismic monitoring of the blast.

Fredonia solar project hosts public meetings

RWE Clean Energy, the company building two solar farms near Fredonia, has scheduled two public meetings next month for its second project. Details of what has been named Pleasant Valley Solar project will be available at the meetings. 

The first public meeting will be from 5 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 12 at the Lyon County Convention Center at Lee Jones Park. 

The second will be held in Fredonia from 5 to 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 13 at Fredonia Cumberland Presbyterian Activities Building. 

Both meetings will have the same information with an open, come-and-go format. Pleasant Valley Solar will be an up to 125 megawatt solar generation facility and will connect to a Big Rivers Electric Corporation 161 kV transmission line that crosses the project. It is proposed to be located on 1,027 acres on the border of Lyon and Caldwell counties east of the Western Kentucky Correctional Facility. 

This will be adjacent to RWE Clean Energy’s Ashwood Solar project, which is currently under construction south of Fredonia off US 641. 

If unable to attend, you may contact REW’s Paul Griffin at paul.griffin@rwe.com or (872) 257-4451.

Job Corps center has job openings

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The Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center is hiring! Minimum wage is $16.20, plus sign-on bonus for most positions.

Pay for Residential Advisor positions for nights and overnights is $16.45 per hour plus a $2,000 sign-on bonus.

The Job Corps Center offers a benefits package and opportunities for advancement. 

River View Coal hiring in Henderson County

River View Coal is accepting applications for its Henderson County Mine.

Applications may be uploaded at Brightfuture.arlp.com.

For more information, call (270) 389-6733.

Perry's parents never pushed him toward UK

Travis Perry slips on a UK camp while with mother and father,
Jamie and Ryan Perry look on. Ryan and Jamie are graduates
of Crittenden County High School and the University of Kentucky.

Ryan Perry and his wife are both University of Kentucky graduates and have been Kentucky fans their whole lives. However, they made sure they took the middle ground when their son, Lyon County senior Travis Perry, was being recruited.

“I have a whole closet full of Kentucky clothes that I could not wear the last couple of years. I could not go into events wearing clothes of another team when my son was being recruited by the school where we were,” Perry said. 

Travis Perry, the state’s all-time leading boys scorer, picked Kentucky over Cincinnati, Ole Miss, Western Kentucky, Alabama and others in a move that surprised a lot of UK fans and national recruiting analysts.

“It was his decision but it was hard at times,” Ryan Perry, the head coach at Lyon County, said. “Deep down you would love to see your kid play at any school but especially the school you pull for as much as my family does for Kentucky. It was his decision and it was a hard decision because he had such good relations with a lot of other coaches.

“My wife and I wanted to make sure it was Travis’ decision. He had to make sure it was the right place for him but he has a good track record of making good decisions.”

Coach Perry said his son is a “very loyal” person who chose Kentucky because he wants to help the program win.

“He is addicted to winning. That’s all he wants to do. As long as he can impact winning, he is happy,” Ryan Perry said. “Lyon County used to be a little over a .500 program. Now we have been to the last two state tournaments. He played for Indiana Elite (in summer basketball) and went 106-7 in three years. He expects to win and will do what it takes to win.

“He wanted to put that Kentucky jersey on every morning and help the team win. Fans love him because he plays so hard and that’s what he will do at Kentucky.”

Kentucky coach John Calipari was so welcoming to the Perry family after offering the Lyon senior a scholarship and Ryan Perry said that “resonated with us early” and meant a lot to the family. 

Calipari didn’t tell Travis Perry he would have to work to earn playing time. 

“It’s no secret Kentucky has really good guards every year. That’s what they do at Kentucky,” Ryan Perry said. “You have to try and earn minutes from lottery picks every year. We appreciated coach Cal and the way he was honest the whole time.

“The more Travis heard he should take the easier path and get playing time quicker by not going to Kentucky, the more he felt challenged and he loves a challenge.”

Kentucky freshman Reed Sheppard of North Laurel heard the same thing last year before he signed with Kentucky. He’s been an instant contributor at Kentucky with his 3-point shooting, passing and defense.

“I told Travis that Reed would be an impact player and could definitely play for Kentucky. He’s a guy you cannot keep off the floor. He shoots at a high level and is just a guy that makes everybody around him better,” Ryan Perry said. “If you are trying to win you have got to have guys like that on your team.

“He is having a great freshman year just like I thought he would. He’s a great kid from a great family. They have been supportive of Travis and we have been supportive of Reed. It helped Travis watching games and seeing what Reed was doing. It kind of validated that if you play the right way and make others better it is hard to keep you off the floor.”

Travis Perry is similar to Sheppard in that he is not an emotional player. He doesn’t get overly excited or overly down on the court. He took the same approach to his college choice.

“He doesn’t get very excited about a lot of things but we saw a sense of relief when he picked Kentucky and could tell Travis was very relaxed about the decision he made,” the Lyon coach said. “It was like the

Texans perform Sunday, Dec. 3 in Marion

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The Texans will present a Christmas concert Sunday, Dec. 3 in Marion.

Marion Church of God on Old Fords Ferry Rd., will host the group, which will present "The Reason for the Season," at 6 p.m.

Great music for the entire family will be shared, with a love offering accepted to help missions around the world.

UPDATED: Fatal crash on US 60 West

Includes updates at 6:44pm, confirming fatality 

Road will be closed until about 8:30 p.m.

It appears that a Kentucky State Police accident reconstruction crew is now on the scene of a double fatality automobile accident on US 60 West in Crittenden County. The highway will remained closed until approximately 8:30 pm, according to state highway department officials. 

The crash occurred around 3pm and involved three vehicles. 

At least one young victim was flown to Vanderbilt Hospital with injuries. Another passenger was not seriously injured. 

The head-on crash happened just east of the KY 297 intersection near the bottom of Moore Hill.

Victims identified 

Victims of the fatal accident included Jesika Duncan, 21, of Marion and Harold G. Glendening, 59, of Tiline. Both were drivers. Another driver, Charles H. Blankinship, 28, of Tiline was not seriously injured.

Duncan's two-year-old son, Knox, was taken to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville where he is recovering from injuries. A 7-year-old passenger in one vehicle was transported to Livingston County Hospital and then life-flighted to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville. Another 3-year-old passenger in one of the vehicles was not injured.

Johnson's has holiday savings

Holiday savings continue at Johnson's Furniture & Appliances.

Stop by and check out the savings or visit JohnsonsFurn.com.

Chamber hosts Small Business Bingo

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This holiday season the Crittenden County Chamber of Commerce is hosting a game of Small Business Bingo to get shoppers in the spirit and in local stores.

Discounts are offered at 23 local businesses, ranging from Buy 1, Get 1 Free to reduced rates on merchandise.

Get the Bingo card out of the Nov. 21 Early Bird and visit businesses to make a Bingo either vertically, horizontally or diagonally. The free square can be used in any location to make Bingo.

Turn cards in no later than Dec. 20 at The Crittenden Press for a chance to win a big Chamber of Commerce prize basket. Receipts or stamps provided by each business must be attached to 

completed Bingo cards.

Have fun and shop local.

Wreck on U.S. 60 near Moore Hill

Traffic is backed up in both directions on U.S. 60 West in the vicinity of Moore Hill following an accident around 4:15 p.m., today.

Law enforcement and EMS officials are on the scene of the accident involving a vehicle and farm tractor. Motorists should find alternate routes and avoid the area until the scene is cleared.