Main Street work now planned for daytime

Plans have changed in regard to next week's work on Main Street in Marion. Originally, contractors were going to work at night. Now, the Transportation Cabinet says a milling crew will be working on Main Street during daytime hours starting Wednesday and running through Friday.

"This daytime milling project to prepare for night paving the following week will require a high level of public cooperation due to on-street parking in the downtown area," Kentucky Department of Highways said in a news release issued today. "The milling portion of the work is expected to take about three days to complete."

Following completion of the milling work, the contractor tentatively plans to start night paving along Main Street Monday, Sept. 10.

The work zone is from Tabor's Towing and Repair to the city sewer plant.

Area death

Frieda Jo Heady, 70, of Marion died Thursday at Shemwell Nursing Home in Providence. Services are Monday at Sullivan Baptist Church.

Triathlon postponed until Monday

Due to the threat of inclement weather, organizers of the Youth Triathlon scheduled for Saturday morning have opted to move the event to Monday, Labor Day. The starting times and other details remain the same. The event will begin at 8 a.m., at Marion Country Club.

Circuit Clerk closing for holiday, furlough

Crittenden County Circuit Court will be closed several days over the coming week due to the holiday and state-mandated furloughs. The office at the courthouse will be closed the same as most others tomorrow and Monday in observance of the Labor Day holiday. The circuit clerk will also be closed Tuesday and Sept. 8 for furlough days.

Area Death

Bert Arthur Papineau, Sr., 82, of Marion died at his home Wednesday. Services are at 2 p.m., Saturday at Gilbert Funeral Home in Marion.

Welcome Marion Dairy Queen !

Welcome Marion Dairy Queen as The Press Online's newest web partner.

Dairy Queen is locally owned by Barry Nasseri. The store will be rolling out a new brand soon, merging two iconic brands and shaking up the smoothie market when Orange Julius joins DQ in a few days.

Paving of Main Street starts next week

Paving on Main Street should begin next week, after Labor Day. Original plans were to start late this week, but because of weather forecasts and the Labor Day holiday, crews will not start until next week.

It will take a little more than a week to mill and resurface the street between Gum Street on the south side and the sewer plant north of town. 

Work will be done at night. On-street parking will not be allowed at night while work is going on. The paving project has been greatly anticipated by local residents who have endured a bumpy Main Street all summer following a water main replacement project. 

Crews from Rogers Group paving company made repairs to Main Street after dark last Thursday in preparation for the complete resurfacing project. 

Isaac gets leg up on turkey sales

Crittenden County Chamber of Commerce has postponed its turkey leg fundraiser planned for Saturday. Due to the weather forecast – thanks to Hurricane Isaac now headed this way from the Gulf of Mexico – the Chamber decided to hold off until Sept. 15 on the turkey leg meal project, which will raise money to help fund the Oct. 13 Pumpkin Festival.

Fear not: It was just a siren test

The loud siren in Marion about 4:15 p.m., was simply a test of the new early-warning system.

There is no emergency.

Fear not: It was just a siren test

The loud siren in Marion about 4:15 p.m., was simply a test of the new early-warning system.

There is no emergency.

Paving starts tomorrow on Ky. 838 and Ky. 135

A contractor for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet plans to restrict traffic for asphalt paving along Ky. 838 and Ky. 135 in Crittenden County starting Tuesday.

Paving along Ky. 838 runs from the Crittenden-Livingston County Line to Tom Johnson Road. A length of just over one mile.

Paving along Ky. 135 runs from 1.6 miles east of Ky. 723 near the 8 mile marker and extends eastward to mile point 11.975, a distance of 3.98 miles. This is from near Arflack Road/McDaniels Road running eastward to near the one-lane bridge at Hurricane Creek.

Work will start on Ky. 838, then move to Ky. 135. Work on these two sections should be completed by the end of the week, weather permitting.

Detour on U.S. 60 in Suwanne this morning

A tractor-trailer crash hast U.S. 62 blocked at Suwanee in Lyon County, three miles east of Barkley Dam. The tanker truck ran off the roadway and rolled on its side earlier this morning. Recovery efforts to right the truck and remove it are expected to last until about noon. Traffic that normally travels U.S. 62 between Kuttawa and Lake City should detour via Interstate 24.

Area death

Elvis Kinnis 72, of Marion died Friday Crittenden Hospital. Services are tomorrow at Gilbert Funeral Home.

Main Street work underway Thursday night

Milling was being done at Main and Bellville just before 9 p.m.

A state contractor began work to prep Main Street for resurfacing Thursday night. Milling began, closing off part of the street after dark.

Milling and other base repairs are expected to be complete tonight.

Resurfacing will start next week and last for about a week.

Main Street resurfacing begins Thursday

Traffic will be restricted in downtown Marion Thursday night as work begins on resurfacing Main Street.

Rogers Group, a contractor for the Kentucky Department of Highways, will begin base repairs after dark Thursday between Tabor’s Towing and Repair and the sewer plant north of town. Work will take one night to complete the initial phase of the resurfacing process.

Work will consist of milling and patching of bad places on the street. After about a week to settle, resurfacing will begin. The project should be done by Sept. 7 at a cost of $550,000. On-street parking will not be available during milling or paving.

Motorists should be alert for one lane traffic with alternating flow controlled by flaggers. Appropriate caution is required where equipment, flaggers, and construction personnel are on the roadway in close proximity to traffic flow. This work is being scheduled at night to minimize traffic disruptions, said Keith Todd, spokesman for the Kentucky Department of Highways.  Approximately 9,000 vehicles travel this section of U.S. 60 in downtown Marion in a average day.

This segment of US 60 is part of a group paving project that started last fall that included a section of KY 1077. The paving was put on hold to allow the City of Marion to complete installation of new water lines through the downtown area.

Rogers Group, Inc., is the prime contractor on this $555,000 highway improvement project.  The estimated completion date for asphalt paving is Sept. 7.

No community garden giveaway on Friday

Due to excessive rain in Marion overnight Thursday, there will be no distribution of Community Garden vegetables at the Farmers Market on Friday. Wet ground will make it too difficult to pick the garden Friday morning.

Distribution will return next week.

Clerk's office close one hour on Monday

Crittenden County Circuit Clerk's office will be closed for one hour on Monday from 10 a.m., until 11 a.m., for teleconference with state officials concerning a new accounting program.

Also, the clerk's office will not have driver's license testing Aug. 31 due to statewide license examiner training.

U.S. 60 bridge at Cairo closed Aug. 20-22

The Illinois Department of Transportation is alerting motorists traveling in the Cairo area that the U.S. 60/62 bridge over the Mississippi River will be closed for three days this month. 

The closure is scheduled to begin on Monday, August 20 and will extend through Wednesday, August 22.  The closure will be effective during the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Also, the bridge will be restricted to one lane during daylight hours from Thursday, August 23 to Friday, August 31.

Crews will be performing required safety inspection of the structure.

More than 1,000 motorists cited at bridge

Efforts to keep vehicles from violating the 3-ton load limit on the U.S. 60 Tennessee River Bridge between Paducah and Ledbetter continue to show an amazing number of drivers disregarding the weight restriction. Officers have written more than 1,000 citations while stationed at the bridge since the end of February.

One injured in accident on US 641

At least one person was taken to the hospital Monday night after a single-vehicle accident on U.S. 641 just south of Marion City Limits.

Crittenden County Rescue Squad extricated the victim from the vehicle, which had rolled over in a lawn on the west side of the highway. The accident happened about 9 p.m. The victim was taken by ambulance to Crittenden Hospital.

Area death

James Trice "Jim" Tinsley, 68 of Marion, formerly of Cottage Grove, Tenn., died Thursday at Western Baptist Hospital. Services are Monday August at Myers Funeral Home.

Sister Rose Theresa Johnson passes

Sister Rose Theresa Johnson, 81, an Ursuline Sister of Mount Saint Joseph, died today at Mount Saint Joseph. From 1989-95, Sister Rose Theresa served as parish minister for St. William Parish in Marion and St. Mark Parish in Eddyville. Funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m., Monday at Mount Saint Joseph. Glenn Funeral Home and Crematory of Owensboro, is in charge of arrangements.

Election filing deadline is Tuesday

The deadline to file candidacy for November’s non-partisan elections is 4 p.m., Tuesday.

Applications are available at the Crittenden County Clerk’s office.

All six non-partisan Marion City Council seats will be up for election in November and three school board seats, those currently held by Bill Asbridge, Pam Collins and Chris Cook.

Sturgis votes moist Tuesday

In addition to Princeton passing the sale of alcohol, one precinct in Sturgis went wet on Tuesday, too.

A referendum to allow restaurants to sell alcoholic beverages passed in one of three Sturgis precincts that voted yesterday on the measure. Sturgis already had one "moist" precinct, now it has two. 

Kenergy unveils plans for new office building

Kenergy, the local rural electric cooperative, has announced plans for building a new state-of-the-art regional office building south of Marion on U.S. 641 where the former Driver's Service Center was located.

The office will replace the current regional maintenance building on South Main Street in Marion.

For more details and a first look at an artist's rendering of the new office building, see this week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press due out on newsstands after 3 p.m., today.

Princeton votes Yes to alcohol sales

Princeton voters have approved alcohol sales there. 

According to preliminary reports, 2,141 voters cast ballots on Tuesday, with those approving of alcohol sales in restaurants and package stores carrying the polls with 1,167 "Yes" votes. Numbers are unofficial at this time.

Hearing aids found at fairgrounds

The Crittenden County Lions Club has found a pair of hearing aids and a silver case at the fairgrounds. The hearing aids were found after Saturday night's demolition derby. To claim the hearing devices, go to Marion Police Department.

Area Death

Frances Kay Kimbrell, 69, of Marion died Saturday at Shawnee Rose Nursing Home in Eldorado, Ill. Graveside services are at 10 a.m., Friday at Deer Creek Cemetery in Marion.

County judge lifts emergency burn ban

The emergency burn ban, which has been enforced for about two months due to drought conditions, has been lifted.

Crittenden County Judge-Executive Perry Newcom said Monday morning that sufficient rainfall had been realized throughout the county to lift the burn ban. He said anyone burning should continue to exercise extreme caution due to the volatile conditions.

It is safest to burn after 6 p.m., and before 6 a.m.

Area death

Ann Thomas, 62, of Marion died Sunday at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. Services are Wednesday at Gilbert Funeral Home in Marion.

Be aware of buses on highway Tuesday

Students will be heading back to school Tuesday morning. Motorists can expect greater traffic on the roadways in the morning, plus the return of the school bus with its numerous stops.

School starts at around 8 a.m., so traffic near each of the campuses will be heavy Tuesday, and probably the rest of the week.

Bomb threat at Cash Express

Law enforcement and other emergency crews are on site of a bomb threat at Cash Express in Marion.

Police closed Darben Plaza where the business and others are located.

No immediate indication of how long it might take to determine whether the threat was real.

Fair continues with main attractions next 2 nights

TONIGHT
Hog weigh-in, 8 a.m.
Check-out 4-H exhibits at Extension office, 9 - 10:30 a.m.
Beef weigh-in and show, 9:30 a.m.
Fairgrounds open, 6 p.m.
Concert featuring Ridin’ Shotgun, 6:30 p.m.
Tractor and Truck pulls Fairgrounds, 7 p.m.


SATURDAY
Fairgrounds open, 6 p.m.
Concert featuring Ridin’ Shotgun, 6:30 p.m.
Demolition Derby Fairgrounds, 7 p.m.

ADMISSION PRICES
$10 16-up, $7 ages 6-15, 5-under free

Area deaths

Trystan Shane Robinson, 6-month-old son of Shane and Heather Robinson, of Hampton died Tuesday at Kosair’s Children’s Hospital in Louisville. Funeral services are Saturday at Boyd Funeral Directors.

Jeffrey Ray Ivy, 51, of Burna died Sunday at his home. Services are Friday at Boyd Funeral Directors in Salem.

Hutchinson appears in Crittenden District Court

Hutchinson is directed to back to jail by Sheriff Wayne Agent after
arraignment this morning in Crittenden District Court.

The woman accused of killing 89-year-old Jim Roberts at his Marion home on July 16 was arraigned in Crittenden District Court this morning. 


Cindy Lou Hutchinson, 50, of Marion entered a not guilty plea and a preliminary hearing was scheduled by Judge Daniel Heady for Wednesday, Sept. 5. Hutchinson was appointed a public defender. 


Police reports filed in support of the murder charge against Hutchinson allege that Roberts, an elderly widower, struggled to save his life as she beat, stabbed and then strangled him to death at his East Depot Street home.


In addition to murder, Kentucky State Police have charged Hutchinson with  first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary, tampering with physical evidence and receiving stolen property (less than $10,000) in connection with Roberts’ death.


She remains lodged in Crittenden County Detention Center under a $1 million bond.


See this week's Crittenden Press printed edition for more details about this case.

Family Night Tonight at County Fair