Amish refuse to pay fines

Three Graves County Amish men fined for not displaying a slow-moving vehicle emblem on their horse-drawn buggies have two more months to pay, but say they still do not plan to do so, the Paducah Sun is reporting today.

“I was prepared to go to jail,” Jacob Gingerich told the Sun after court Thursday morning. “I would take jail time before I would pay my fine because I think that would be admitting guilt.”

The men say their Old Order Swartzentruber Amish sect does not believe in the emblems because the fluorescent triangle signs are too worldly. Instead they use lanterns and reflective tape.

Gingerich, Emanuel Yoder and Levi Zook each owe $20 fines and $128.50 in court costs from their February convictions. The fines were due Thursday, but Graves District Judge Deborah Crooks said the Kentucky Court of Appeals has not ruled on the men’s appeal.

“Until they do, I’m not going to impose the obligation,” she said.

She set a new deadline of 10 a.m. Nov. 14 for the men to pay. That is the same day nine Amish men, including Yoder, are set to go on trial for subsequent counts of the same charge. William Sharp, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in Louisville, is defending the nine. Public defender Robin Irwin continues to appeal the February convictions.

Obituary: Update

Retired school teacher Mildred Irene Decker, 78, of Marion died at 4 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 at her residence. Myers Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

About Town: On the Street Interviews

Memories of 9-11

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On the street interviews from Marion, Ky.

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Traffic Advisory

Traffic is restricted to one lane on U.S. 60 in Crittenden County. A KYTC crew is using a track hoe to repair a gully near the 17 mile marker. This is just east of the Mattoon community near the U.S. 60 intersection with Ky. 365.

Appropriate caution is advised. The work is expected to take a couple of days.

Xtreme tracker starting production

Cinterion Wireless Modules of Issaquah, Wash., the market leading supplier of GSM wireless modules worldwide, and Xtreme Tracker, LLC®, of Marion, Ky., a leader in fleet management, are announcing today the commercial launch of XT1™, a cutting-edge fleet management solution powered by Cinterion’s market leading wireless modules. 

The sophisticated XT1™ system helped pre-launch adopters improve fleet and equipment productivity and increase profits in the first months of use.

The XT1™ and subsequent models will be manufactured in Marion inside the former Tyco Building. Tyler Manufacturing and Par 4 Plastics, two other Marion companies, will be providing some of the components and assembly of the Xtreme Tracker device.

To read more about the partnership between Cinterion Wireless Modules and Xtreme Tracker, and the start of production on this innovative new system, go to BusinessWire.Com.

CATS Scores

Here are school district CATS scores for the 2007-2008 school year, which were released today. These numbers represent district wide trends. The scores are first with trends from 2007 in parenthesis.

Western Kentucky

1. Ballard County 85.7 (+3.0)
   
2. Caldwell County 85.5 (+1.9)
   
3. Calloway County 86.5 (+ 1.4)
   
4. Carlisle County 87.4 (+ 4.4)
   
5. Crittenden County 82.6 (-0.3)
   
6. Fulton County 76.0 (+5.5)
   
7. Fulton Independent 77.1 (+0.5)
   
8. Graves County 92.7 (-1.7)
   
9. Hickman County 88.1 (+3.4)
   
10. Livingston County 77.6 (-0.5)
    
11. Lyon County 83.7 (-2.2)
    
12. Marshall County 87.4 (-0.6)
    
13. Mayfield Independent 81.4 (-0.6)
    
14. McCracken County 90.1 (-2.0)
    
15. Murray Independent 92.4 (+1.1)
    
16. Paducah Independent 80.3 (+1.0)
    

Remembering 9-11

Crittenden Press Online Podcast

Interview with Brian Wilkes of Marion, who witnessed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center while working for Verizon in New Jersey on Sept. 11, 2001.

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Pressure washing

Get your home or business cleaned by professional pressure washers at Bingham Pressure Washing in Marion. Call 704-9442. 

Mule rider dies

A woman riding a mule in Land Between the Lakes died at about 1 p.m., Tuesday when she fell from the animal and hit her head on a gravel trail south of Wrangler’s Campground on Trail No. 7.

Rhonda Hogan, 54, of Elizabethtown had camped with her husband and had gone out for an afternoon ride with him, the Paducah Sun reported this morning. Something unknown spooked her mule, which bucked and ran down Wrangler Horse Trail No. 7, throwing her, Trigg County Coroner John Mark Vinson told the Paducah newspaper.

Hogan hit her head on creek gravel lining the trail.

Vinson pronounced Hogan dead at the scene, near Forest Service roads 174 and 353.

Several Crittenden and Livingston county residents regularly use the LBL trails for riding their mules and horses or riding in animal-drawn wagons.

Junior Pro Football video

Local photographer, videographer and computer guru Reese Baker of Fredonia has posted a nice video clip of the Junior Pro Rocket football team playing at Caldwell County last weekend. 

You can access the video by clicking here to be re-routed to You Tube.

This week's issue

This week's issue of The Crittenden Press will include several items of interest, including a schedule for next week's Heritage Days Festival in Marion. The feature event next week will be a three-act street play about the outlaws of pioneer Crittenden County. The Press will have details on the play, its cast, and more about what residents and visitors can expect from Heritage Days.

Additionally, The Press will take a look at the medical examiner's final report regarding the death of 12-year-old Jake Hodge in June. The state medical examiner found that the cause of the teen's death was from natural causes. The family speaks about the love shown to them over the past three months.

The Rocket football team got some bad news this week on star running back Rodney Robertson, who broke his hand during a game Friday. He will be out for six weeks.

Stay tuned for details to these and other local news stories in this week's full-color edition of The Crittenden Press, available at newsstands late Wednesday afternoon.

US 641 accident

The driver of this 1989 Ford Ranger pickup truck was taken to Crittenden Hospital, but did not appear to have life-threatening injuries.

The wreck happened about 4:15 p.m., Friday as commuters were heading home from work, stalling traffic for more than an hour near Crayne.

The driver, James Jones, 44, of Marion was cited for DUI and having no insurance.

Deputy Sheriff Don Perry is the foreground taking a photograph of the accident scene. The wreck happened in a yard just north of Crayne, across from the West Kentucky Bowhunters lodge.

Fugitives caught in Georgia

Escapees Jesse James Sebastian, 43, and James Ernest Whisman, 26, who escaped from the West Kentucky Correctional Complex last month, have been caught in Georgia.

The two men allegedly stole a vehicle from Trice Hughes auto dealership in Princeton three days ago and had made it to Georgia before being apprehended.

Pressure wash for fall

Are you thinking about having your home or office pressure washed this fall?

If so, it's time to schedule the job. Bingham Pressure Washing in Marion, Ky., serves Crittenden, Caldwell, Lyon, Livingston, Webster, Union and McCracken counties. 

Whether it's residential or commercial, Bingham Pressuring Washing offers reasonable rates and fast, quality service. Call today, (270) 704-9442.

Fredonia suspects in school

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — As authorities continue to search for two fugitives from a western Kentucky work farm, a principal says he has surveillance video of them inside his school.
Kentucky State Police said James Whisman and Jesse Sebastian slipped away from the Western Kentucky Correctional Complex in Fredonia on Aug. 18.

WPSD-TV in Paducah reports that Principal Glen Ringstaff reviewed surveillance video from the Caldwell County School Campus in Princeton and found the men had twice broken into the school building.

When Ringstaff documented two intruders late at night, he called the Kentucky Department of Corrections and officers identified them as Whisman and Sebastian.
School Superintendent Carrell Boyd said video showed the men inside the building on Wednesday and again on Sunday. Food was missing from the cafeteria both times.

Nicaragua mission

Kory and Katie Cunningham of Hardin Baptist Church provided us with a link to a video showing scenes from their summer mission trip to Nicaragua. Katie is the daughter of Alan and Doris Stout of Marion and a former member of Marion United Methodist Church.

View the video here.

Press one day late

Just a reminder for readers of The Crittenden Press printed edition. This week's issue will be a day late due to the holiday Monday.

The Press will be available at newsstands Thursday at 2 p.m. Mail subscribers will receive their newspaper Friday.

Also, this week's newsstand price goes up to 94 cents. With tax, that's one dollar.

Obituaries: Update

Amy Hill Tabor, 27, of Marion died 11:30 p.m., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008 at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. Myers Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Iva Isabelle Belt Boone Terry, 90, of Marion, died Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008 at Crittenden Health and Rehabilitation Center. Myers Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Obituaries Update

Elsie Campbell, 74, of Morganfield - Whitsell Funeral Home in Morganfield

Dorothy Lynn Wade, 77, of Paducah - Milner & Orr Funeral Home in Paducah

Edwin D. Munsch, 71, of Paducah - Boyd Funeral Home in Salem

Lora Mae Franklin, 92, of Marion - Gilbert Funeral Home in Marion

Injured Iraq war vet hurt in ATV crash

A 23-year-old Dycusburg man who continues to recover from severe wounds suffered in the Iraq War, was hurt this weekend in an ATV crash near his home.

According to state police, Chase Matthews was thrown from his four-wheeler Saturday evening while traveling along Ky. 295 in Dycusburg. He was reportedly thrown from the ATV when it overturned after striking an earthen embankment.

Matthews, who was not wearing a helmet, was taken by ambulance to Crittenden Hospital for treatment of injuries.

Matthews, as a National Guard soldier with the Marion detachment, was severely injured in 2007 by a roadside bomb. In the attack, he lost parts of both legs and sustained other serious injuries.