Food stamp replacement period extended

Kentuckians who lost perishable groceries purchased with food stamp benefits after the recent winter storm have extra time to apply for replacement benefits.

Recipients from across the state whose food was spoiled because of power outages have until Feb. 17 to apply for replacement benefits at their local Department for Community Based Services (DCBS) family support offices, part of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

DCBS Commissioner Patricia R. Wilson said that the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service, which oversees and funds the food stamp program, agreed to Kentucky's prompt request to extend the application period.

"With several hundreds of families still without power, and many only recently having power restored, we wanted to be sure every food stamp recipient who lost groceries and needs replacement benefits has the chance to apply," she said.

The original deadline for filing a replacement benefits application was 10 days after the date of the incident.

Replacements are provided in the amount of the loss to the household, up to the household's full monthly allotment.

Recipients must sign a statement that they lost food during a power outage and are requesting replacement funds. They also need some form of verification, such as a statement from a neighbor, verifying that they lost electricity. Elderly and clients with disabilities may contact their food stamp workers by phone to have an affidavit sent to them to sign and return.

Requests will be processed as they are received.

In another effort to assist recipients, DCBS immediately released all of the February food stamp benefits to recipients on Feb. 2, rather than staggering the release dates as usual.
The funds were loaded onto recipients' electronic benefits cards for use at any retailer that accepts food stamp benefits.

"We're working hard to help families who were disrupted by the storm recover and restock their pantries," she said.

Here are instructions for clients of county offices that have been closed because of power outages.
 Crittenden and Livingston county clients: Staff can accept paper applications in the offices' lobbies. Or call the Muhlenberg County DCBS office at (270) 338-2330.

Lyon County clients: Call the Muhlenberg County DCBS office at (270) 338-2330.

Recipients can also visit any nearby family support office.

Customers can find the address of their local DCBS family support offices online at .
More information about food stamp eligibility is online at chfs.ky.gov/dcbs/dfs/foodstampsebt.htm.

Average KU customer to pay 11 more cents

Kentucky Utilities Co., customers will have to scrape up an extra dime and penny when paying their next bill.

On Thursday, the PSC accepted a settlement in a rate increase request by KU and Louisville Gas and Electric Co. (LG&E), both subsidiaries of E.ON-US, that leaves electric rates for customers of essentially the same while increasing natural gas base rates for customers of LG&E.

A typical KU residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours per month will see an 11-cent increase in the monthly bill. A kilowatt-hour is the amount of electricity used by a 100-watt light bulb in 10 hours.

The approved rate increase began today.

See map of Kenergy's work orders today

Kenergy has released a detailed map showing where its crews are working to restore power in Crittenden County today.

Click here, to see a PDF version of the detailed work map.

Wild Game Feast rescheduled

Due to this year's devastating ice storm, the Camo, Chili and Wild Game Feast advertised in both The Early Bird and The Crittenden Press has been postponed.

Originally scheduled for Saturday, the event has been moved to March 20 at at Grace Fellowship Church in Morganfield. Tickets already purchased can be used, or call 952-5053 for reimbursement.

Press looking for your storm stories

As the county slowly begins to recover from last week's ice storm, countless stories of survival, generosity and craftiness in the face of adversity have begun to circulate. The Crittenden Press wants to share and preserve those stories from quite possibly the worst disaster in county history.

But, we need you. 

We are asking our readers, residents and friends with ties to Crittenden County to send us stories and photos – like the one above from Natalie Parish in the southern part of the county – from the 2009 ice storm. Whether you rode out the storm at home using creative means to stay warm and fed, volunteered to help strangers or crammed into a shelter or home with others to make do, we want to know.

Your stories and photos can be sent to pressnews@the-press.com. Though we prefer e-mail, not everyone has those capabilities, so feel free to stop by our office or call. No story is too big, no too small.

Family Life Shelter needs volunteer workers

Marion Baptist Church Family Life Center is the county's new primary shelter. It has blankets, food and water. 

Volunteers are also needed at the shelter. Call 965-5232 if you can help. 

Shelter shifts are from

8 a.m., to 4 p.m.

4 p.m. to Midnight

Midnight to 8:00 a.m. (this shift has the greatest need)

NOTE: Marion Baptist Church will have Sunday morning service this weekend starting at 11 a.m. It will not have Sunday School nor Sunday Evening Service.

Kenergy offices open & live operators for calls

All Kenergy offices are now open for business. They will remain open during the weekend maintaining normal business hours. In addition, beginning today at 5 p.m. until 10 p.m., Kenergy will switch from its automated phone answering system to live operators. Kenergy will follow this plan until further notice.

Kenergy is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric distribution cooperative, serving customers in all or portions of 14 western Kentucky counties. The corporate headquarters is in Henderson with service centers being located in Owensboro, Hanson, Hartford, Hawesville, and Marion.

Power outage updates from mayor

Marion Mayor Mickey Alexander says he has been informed that Kentucky Utilities has fewer than 1,000 customers without power in the immediate area. He said a KU official has told him Friday morning that virtually all power should be restored by Wednesday, Feb. 11 in the City of Marion.

Kenergy, the other power company serving Crittenden County, has also made great strides. It reported about 1,100 customers without power early this morning.

Kentucky Utilities has delivered a shipment of 100 and 200 amp service boxes to H&H Supply in Marion for its customers that need to replace their breaker boxes.

The map above is difficult to read at low resolution, but the red lines indicate KU lines that are not in service at this time. Blue lines indicate those where restoration is complete.

Storm Briefs from Crittenden County

1. A high wind advisory is in effect for today and tomorrow in Crittenden County. Emergency personnel are warning residents to stay clear of power lines and trees at this time. Dangling limbs can be very susceptible to falling during high winds. Winds are expected to be 25-35 mph. This could be a very dangerous situation.
2. Crittenden County Schools will be out Monday, but all teachers and staff must report Monday for a full day.
3. Crittenden-Livingston Water District has lifted its boil water advisory for the final segments of the county. Water District Superintendent Donnie Beavers said he has received some calls about discoloration of water. Cloudy or milky water is a result of air in the lines. He said it is of no concern and the water is safe for drinking.
4. Members of the Marion Public Works Department have been assisting in wellness checks around the community.
5. Crittenden County's roads and highways are 99 percent passable, according to Judge-Executive Fred Brown. About 75 percent are completely clear of debris. The rest are passable on one lane.
6. A mobile home fire Thursday night destroyed a trailer on Carr Street in Marion. Fire officials say the blaze may have started due to a power surge. They urge residents to turn off main power breakers in their homes until the electric companies have restoration completed in that area.
7. Anyone on food stamps who has lost their perishable foods may go to their area food stamp office for new stamps to replace food lost due to the storm.
8. The Marion Baptist Church Family Life Center will become the county's primary warming shelter starting today. Officials are clearing out Crittenden Elementary School in order to prepare it for classes next week. It had been the primary shelter.
9. All high school athletic events will start as scheduled beginning Monday of next week.
10. Emergency Operations briefings are now down to just one per day, starting at 8 a.m., at the EOC (city hall). Pictured above is a recent EOC briefing.

President declares Major Disaster

ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Barack Obama on Thursday issued a major disaster declaration for Kentucky in the wake of a deadly ice storm, ordering federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts.

Gov. Steve Beshear sought the major disaster status earlier this week. The storm has been blamed for 27 Kentucky deaths.

Beshear said such a declaration would open the state to immediate federal financial assistance in the wake of the devastating ice storm, which cut power to more than three-fourths of a million homes and businesses, a state record.

The declaration allows state and local governments to be reimbursed for up to 75 percent of storm-related costs from the federal government. Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Nancy Ward said her agency is reviewing whether the severity of the storm and the cost of repairing damages warrant 100 percent reimbursement.

Beshear said statewide damage is more than $50 million and he expects that number to rise.

Kenergy Update Thursday Night

Here are the latest updates from the power company Kenergy as of Thursday, Feb. 5 at 7:45 p.m.

About 200 Crittenden County customers had their power restored today; however, about 1,100 remain the dark.

Kenergy currently has 20,000 members remaining without power.
Breakdown by county

Caldwell 900
Crittenden 1100
Daviess 4500
Hancock 900
Henderson 1100
Hopkins 3,100
Livingston 18
Lyon 1600
Mclean 1600
Muhlenburg 7
Ohio 900
Union 1500
Webster 1500

Scouts help sickened couple while bringing food

The Associated Press

MARION, Ky. -- A group of Boy Scouts handing out food and water to needy residents in storm-plagued western Kentucky came to the aid of an elderly couple suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Scouts from Troop 30 in Marion were going door-to-door Wednesday in rural Crittenden County when they arrived at a house with a generator sitting near the front door.

Zach Sizemore, a 15-year-old sophomore at Crittenden County High School, said the scouts noticed a woman at the house was lethargic and not making sense.

Sizemore said his first-aid training came in handy when the woman complained about a twitch in her face.

"She said she thought she was having a stroke," said Sizemore.

The couple were taken by ambulance to a hospital. Medical officials determined they had been exposed to carbon monoxide, according to a statement provided by the Emergency Operation Center in Benton, a communications hub for emergency workers.

The dangerous gas has been blamed for several deaths in Kentucky since ice storms cut power to hundreds of thousands of residents. The prime culprit has been the misuse of fuel-powered generators.

The statement did not identify the couple. The author of the statement, Keith Todd, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department, said the couple lived in a rural area and did not have phone service.

Sizemore's father, scout leader Dennis Sizemore, said the couple appeared to be in their 80s.
"If we wouldn't have got there, it could have been worse," Dennis Sizemore said.

The scouts also helped moved the couple's generator away from their house.

Zach Sizemore, who has been scouting for nine years, said he has felt compelled to get out and assist needy neighbors since the storm hit.

"The community has to unite, and I feel if you're able to work, you should," he said.

Dennis Sizemore said the scouts in Crittenden County were not giving out the FEMA-provided meals that contained peanut butter. State officials on Thursday asked residents who received those meals to discard the peanut butter packet due to salmonella concerns.

Historian Underdown writes about storm

Crittenden County's official historian Brenda Underdown, who is a regular columnist for The Crittenden Press printed edition, has written about the recent ice storm on her blog.

Read Forgotten Passages Blog online, click here.

Kenergy Power Update

The power cooperative Kenergy just reported its updated list of outages from around the region. Progress in Crittenden County was a bit slower today with about 100 customers being reconnected. 

We have received NO information from Kentucky Utilities.

As of 3:45 p.m., on Thursday, Feb. 5, Kenergy had 22,000 customers remaining without power.

Breakdown by counties:

Caldwell 989
Crittenden 1,200
Daviess 4,900
Hancock 939
Henderson 1,100
Hopkins 3,200
Livingston 18
Lyon 1,600
McLean 1,600
Muhlenburg 7
Ohio 1,450
Union 1,500
Webster 2,000

Local Scouts on WPSD TV tonight

Crittenden County's Boy Scouts will be part of a feature segment on the local relief effort. The Scouts have been going door to door helping people in need. 

The segment will air during the 6 p.m., Channel 6 News broadcast.

Kenergy says work is under way

Kenergy spokesperson Lisa Vincent just announced that the power company is receiving many phone calls and complaints regarding the fact that people are not seeing Kenergy trucks in their areas. 

"We have contractors and rural electric cooperatives from neighboring states working for us. You may not necessarily see a Kenergy vehicle but these crews are working on behalf of Kenergy."

More than 450 crewmen from various states are in the Kenergy service area working on lines.

Kentucky disaster status upgraded

PRESIDENT DECLARES MAJOR DISASTER FOR KENTUCKY

WASHINGTON – The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today announced that federal disaster aid has been made available for Kentucky to supplement commonwealth and local recovery efforts in the area struck by a severe winter storm and flooding beginning on January 26, 2009, and continuing.

Acting FEMA Administrator Nancy Ward said federal funding is available to commonwealth and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis in Allen, Anderson, Ballard, Barren, Bath, Bourbon, Boyd, Boyle, Breathitt, Breckinridge, Bracken, Bullitt, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway, Campbell, Carlisle, Carroll, Carter, Christian, Clark, Clay, Crittenden, Daviess, Edmonson, Elliott, Estill, Fayette, Fleming, Floyd, Franklin, Fulton, Garrard, Grant, Graves, Grayson, Green, Greenup, Hardin, Harrison, Hart, Henderson, Hickman, Hopkins, Jackson, Jefferson, Jessamine, Johnson, Larue, Lawrence, Lee, Lewis, Lincoln, Livingston, Logan, Lyon, Madison, Magoffin, Marion, Marshall, Martin, Mason, McCracken, McLean, Meade, Menifee, Mercer, Metcalfe, Montgomery, Morgan, Muhlenberg, Nelson, Nicholas, Ohio, Oldham, Owen, Owsley, Perry, Powell, Pendleton, Robertson, Rockcastle, Rowan, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Todd, Trigg, Union, Warren, Washington, Webster, and Woodford counties for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance.

Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures for all counties within the commonwealth.

Kim R. Kadesch has been named the federal coordinating officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. Kadesch said additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

FEMA coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to, and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

KYEM provides storm meals

Frankfort, KY. - Kentucky Division of Emergency Management (KYEM) Director Gen. John Heltzel announced the state will provide 288,000 additional heater meals for ice storm victims. Gen. Heltzel says Kentucky acquired the meals after being notified of a recall of peanut butter packets contained in emergency meals provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

"We want to ensure our residents still struggling to recover from the ice storm have access to meals and there is no disruption of service," said Heltzel. "This is simply being done as a precaution; we have had no reports of anyone becoming ill from meals already distributed."

People who have already received meals containing peanut butter packets are asked to throw away the packets.

The meals acquired by the KYEM will be delivered to distribution points and shelters across Kentucky by Thursday afternoon.

Residents with questions can call 502-607-1600 for more information.

Storm Briefs from Crittenden County

1. Crittenden County Courthouse will reopen on a regular schedules starting Monday, Feb. 9.
2. County debris cleanup: Although there is no guarantee, county officials hold out hope that FEMA or other state agencies will help clean up in the aftermath of the storm. County Judge-Executive Fred Brown says residents can pile up limbs, logs, etc., at least 10 feet from the right-of-way. If a contract is approved by state or federal agencies, the debris will be picked up later. If not, individual residents will be responsible for removal of their own debris. Brown cautions residents to avoid putting debris close to roads or highways that might inhibit large vehicles such as school buses. If debris cleanup is approved at the state or federal level, it could be weeks before debris is removed. For quicker cleanup, remove debris yourself and take it to the county debris dump off Bridwell Loop (the old landfill). There is no charge for debris dumping.
3. Mayor Mickey Alexander says residents may pile debris 10 feet from right-of-ways on city streets and the city will eventually come by and pick up the limbs or logs.
4. The Marion Baptist Church Basement will not be open for youth grades 6-12 Friday, Feb. 6 from 7-11 p.m., due to resources being focused on the public shelter at its Family Life Center. The next Friday night for the Basement will be Friday, Feb. 20.
5. Officials are trying to make arrangements for people staying at the public shelter at Crittenden Elementary School. Those people will moved back to their homes if they have power at their residence. Otherwise, they will likely be moved to the Marion Baptist Church Family Center. No one will be moved without adequate arrangements.
6. School officials plan to start getting their schools back in order this weekend. There will be no school Monday, but there are hopes of starting classes on Tuesday or Wednesday. Officials will clean and conduct a safety sweep of CCES before it is reopened to children.
7. FEMA is providing no individual assistance for people who have had extraordinary expenses due to the storm. In other words, FEMA is not reimbursing anyone for anything such as generators or saws at this time. The only people who qualify for FEMA help are those who had home damage and do not have homeowners insurance.

Kenergy Update Thursday morning

As of Thursday, February 5, at 6 a.m., Kenergy has approximately
22,000 members remaining without power.

Kenergy spokesperson Lisa Vincent said the power company is close to getting the majority of the 3-phase lines back up, which must be done before all secondary lines can be reconnected.

Poles area also an issue. The company has had to reset about 2,000 poles.

Here is breakdown of current power outages by counties:

Breckinridge 2
Caldwell 980
Crittenden 1,300
Daviess 5,200
Hancock 1,032
Henderson 1,100
Hopkins 3,200
Livingston 18
Lyon 1,600
McLean 1,600
Muhlenburg 7
ohio 1,400
Union 1,200
WEbster 1,600

"We appreciate everyone's patience and understanding," Vincent said.