Hooch found at county jail

An inmate at the Crittenden County Detention Center is facing a felony charge of promoting contraband for allegedly making homemade hooch in his cell.

Court documents say that Gary Justin Tabor, 24, of Marion was allegedly making an alcoholic drink by fermenting fruit cocktail.

Tabor was in jail awaiting a court appearance on a church burglary charge.

See this week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press for more details.

Today's meetings

Crittenden Fiscal Court will meet in special session at 9 a.m., this morning at the courthouse.

Crittenden-Livingston Water District will meet in regular session tonight at 7 p.m., at its headquarters in Salem.

Contractors cleaning debris from along state roads

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet debris removal contractors plan to be working in areas of Crittenden and Livingston counties, according to Keith Todd, a spokesperson for the Cabinet. The will be working along the following listed highways and areas:

Crittenden County: A contractor plans to work along Ky. 70 and Ky. 295 in the Dycusburg area.

Livingston County: Crews plan to work generally in the Grand Rivers, Lake City and Iuka areas along Ky. 917, Ky. 453 and Ky. 866.

Crews are likely to be working in other counties as well, but with the constant addition of crews and constant work flow, there are no specific locations for all crews at this time. These planned work areas are tentative and subject to change due to the amount of debris encountered and may also be altered by weather conditions.

Motorists are reminded to use extra caution as debris removal crews will have lane closures and work zones set up on highways across the region between sunrise and sunset seven days a week.

City not cleaning up prunings; inmates chip in

Twenty-three inmates from Crittenden County Detention Center will join crews tomorrow as the county road department begins removing limbs along rural roads. With the help of the inmates and industrial-size chippers like those employed by the City of Marion this week, according to Shea Holliman, Class D coordinator for the jail, road crews should begin making a dent in the winter storm debris scattered along 360 miles of county right-of-way.

Meantime, Marion City Administrator Mark Bryant said some residents and contractors have been taking undue advantage of the city's ongoing debris removal by placing prunings in piles along curbsides. Bryant said the city is offering free removal of only storm debris from city properties, not cuttings made by residents or contractors to ensure the health of trees. 

"We're not picking up pruned trees," he said Friday. "We're supposed to be removing only what fell."

The city administrator said the city has neither the manpower nor reimbursement assurance from FEMA to begin picking up prunings in addition to limbs torn from trees due to the weight of ice from last month's winter storm.

For trimmings pruned from trees or bushes by residents or contractors to reshape damaged foliage, Bryant is asking that such waste be taken to the city or county brush dump on Mill Street and Bridwell Loop, respectively. Dumping is free and can be made around the clock.

Log truck takes out television

UPDATE: Here is an update to an earlier story posted about the log truck taking down power lines near Mott City (see previous post).

It appears that part of lines damaged in the incident belonged to Mediacom cable television. All cable TV in Marion was out Friday afternoon. 

Mayor Mickey Alexander said the company has told him that cable will off, at least, the rest of the afternoon.

Photo submitted by a motorist.

Gov. Beshear making national TV appearances

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear will be making the national news circuit this weekend, appearing on ABC's "20/20" and live on CNN's coverage of the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C.

The governor, a Dawson Springs native, can be seen on ABC tonight when "20/20" follows up on last Friday's airing of "Children of the Mountains," an ABC documentary hosted by fellow Kentucky native Diane Sawyer. The program airs at 9 p.m.

CNN's coverage of the NGA meeting and a visit with Beshear can be seen at 7:30 p.m., Saturday.

Also, starting this week, Beshear will present video commentaries posted new each Friday on the Kentucky governor's Web site. This week, the first-term Democrat speaks out on Kentucky's budget issues.

KET seeking scenic photos; prize offered

KET’s new special, "Our Kentucky," roams the state from east to west, displaying Kentucky’s scenic beauty in vivid high-definition. KET invites viewers to participate in showcasing the beauty of the Commonwealth by sending in their best Kentucky photos.

Viewers may submit photos of Kentucky scenery or landmarks to the KET Flickr group, through March 15. (Entrants will need a Flickr account to submit photos.) The winner will receive an Apple iPod touch. The winning photo will be featured in Visions, KET’s monthly member magazine
.
Entrants are limited to three photo entries. Only photos featuring Kentucky will be accepted. More information and contest details are available at www.ket.org/ourkentucky.

"Our Kentucky" airs 7 p.m., Feb. 28 on KET1 and KET HD and 6 p.m., March 1 on KET1 as part of TeleFund 2009, KET’s major annual on-air fundraising event.

Livingston County's Lighthouse Landing and Paducah will be featured on the airing of "Our Kentucky" among dozens of other places in Kentucky.

JV game off, Varsity still on

Crittenden County's girls' basketball JV game at Caldwell County has been cancelled. The varsity girls are still playing at 7:30 p.m., at Princeton.

Live wires cause fire on U.S. 641

A log truck's high load of cut timber caught some low hanging utility wires on U.S. 641 near the intersection of Lilly Dale Road just before noon today, pulling down the wires and starting a grass fire.

Utility workers were on the scene.

No one was injured, according to a motorist who reported the accident.

Great photo of President Obama's inaugural

Here is a great panoramic photograph of the inaugural in Washington, D.C., last month.

It's worth opening and looking at. You can zoom in and get a very high-resolution look at this link: Obama Inaugural Photograph.

Special thanks to Matthew T. Patton

Now that the ice has melted, the limbs piled up, we're growing use to our treetops' bur cut and the wind has died down, we at The Crittenden Press Online would like to salute one of the individuals who went above and beyond the call of duty – and goodness knows there were many – during this disaster.

Matthew T. Patton is a Crittenden County native who lives in Pennsylvania. He has maintained a great deal of contact with his homeland. Patton writes a regular column in The Press printed edition called Southern Crittenden News and he also publishes a blog about his hometown of Dycusburg. It can be viewed at http://dycusburg.blogspot.com/. His uncanny ability to stay digitally in touch with western Kentucky was especially useful during the storm-forced power outage.

During the initial phases of the disaster, Patton was our remote correspondent. He kept The Press Online, especially the daily blog, loaded with fresh, accurate information regarding the storm and the community's response. He gathered news and photographs on his own, collected data from various online sources, made phone calls to Crittenden County and answered several from us after we were able to call out and provide him with updated information. 

While we in Marion were without Internet service and electricity, Patton kept the news flowing online. The information he provided in those earliest hours of the storm, was among the most detailed and indeed the only information flowing from Crittenden County. It was an invaluable service at a critical time.

So, here's to you Mr. Patton !

A big ole Crittenden County Saaaaalute !

Southern Baptists offer free chain saw work

The disaster relief teams from the Southern Baptist Convention will be taking work requests for free chain saw work and debris removal for Crittenden County.

Request will be received Feb. 23-28 at Emmanuel Baptist Church located at 108 Hillcrest Dr., in Marion. Emmanuel is in Greenwood Heights behind Bobby Stinnett Auto Sales off U.S. 60 East. Requests will be taken from 9 a.m., to 4 p.m., each day.

Senior adults, people with disabilities and requests with trees on homes or blocking drives will receive priority, but anyone is welcome to make a request for work. If you have any questions call 988-2204.

SBA warns of scam aimed at small businesses

The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a scam alert today to small businesses, warning them not to respond to letters falsely claiming to have been sent by the SBA asking for bank account information in order to qualify them for federal tax rebates.

The fraudulent letters were sent out with what appears to be an SBA letterhead to small businesses across the country, advising recipients that they may be eligible for a tax rebate under the Economic Stimulus Act, and that SBA is assessing their eligibility for such a rebate. The letter asks the small business to provide the name of its bank and account number.

These letters have not been sent by or authorized by the SBA, and all small businesses are strongly advised not to respond to them.

The scheme is similar in many ways to e-mail scams often referred to as “phishing” that seek personal data and financial account information that enables another party to access and individual’s bank accounts or to engage in identity theft.

The SBA is working with the SBA Office of Inspector General to investigate this matter. The Office of Inspector General asks that anyone who receives such a letter report it to the OIG Fraud Line at 1 (800) 767-0385, or e-mail at OIGHotline@sba.gov.

School officials visit Mexico for community input

The school district's next Crittenden County Community Conversation, or C4 Session, is scheduled for 12:30 p.m., next Wednesday at Mexico Baptist Church. This is the third C4 Session conducted by Superintendent Dr. Rachel Yarbrough and the first to visit southern Crittenden County. 

Lunch will be provided for all who attend. This session is a way for community members to learn more about Crittenden County Schools. Board members, the superintendent and other district school leaders will be available for questions and answers. Administrators and board members will also use this meeting to seek input from the community as to how they can best meet the needs of students.

Previous C4 Sessions were held in Marion and Tolu.

Purchase Parkway will be closed this morning

The Purchase Parkway will be closed today between Draffenville and Benton in Marshall County to facilitate the installation of a new power transmission line as part of ongoing ice storm repairs by Jackson Purchase Energy.

The parkway will be closed between Benton and Draffenville starting at 10:00 a.m. Thursday. The parkway is expected to remain closed to all traffic for approximately one hour to allow the utility work.

Traffic will be detoured along U.S. 641 between Draffenville and Benton.

Cable customers still be ready for digital TV

Television viewers not ready for the conversion to digital broadcast got a break this week after the federal government pushed back the date for the mandatory switch by stations from analog.

After months of prepping television owners for a nationwide switch from analog broadcast signals to digital, the fed delayed the change until June 12. The original switchover was slated for yesterday, but due in part to the exhausted funds set aside to help Americans purchase converter boxes for analog-only TVs, the move was postponed.

Those still using conventional antennas, or "rabbit ears," to receive signals will still need the converter boxes in order to watch TV beginning June 12. However, cable or satellite subscribers in Crittenden County should already be prepared for digital broadcasts, according to a cable TV spokesperson.

Randy Hollis, a government liaison for Mediacom, said Monday that the cable television company has been set for some time for digital broadcast to begin Feb. 17. The delay should have no effect on its current customers, as subscribers were already equipped for the changeover or have made their receivers digital-ready by renting the necessary equipment from Mediacom.

"As long as you're hooked up to us, you're okay," Hollis said Monday.

The only exception, he pointed out, would be sets for which digital receiver technology has not already been purchased or additional televisions added to a home without the necessary Mediacom equipment. Subscribers within the City of Marion were not required to add any additional technology through Mediacom, though most rural customers in Crittenden County did need to pay an additional monthly fee to rent the necessary equipment for digital reception.

Hollis said several broadcast stations may begin airing in digital before June 12. Mediacom or satellite customers should have no problems, but those still using rabbit ears will no longer be able to receive programming from those stations.

Kimball property closes

Three buyers, including the timber management company Forestland Group of Chapel Hill, N.C., completed closings recently on more than 11,000 acres of property formerly owned by Kimball International. Two other buyers were involved in the deal, too. Details will be published in this week's printed edition of The Crittenden Press.

Also, the City of Marion has axed its plans to build a new firehouse in light of costs associated with cleanup from the recent winter storm and other issues.

Read more about these and find other local news stories in this week's Crittenden Press, on sale at newsstands Wednesday afternoon.

Kenergy Update - Monday

KENERGY NEWS RELEASE - FEBRUARY 16, 2009

“The power restoration effort is almost over for Kenergy. After initially
assessing the storm damage, we predicted that some customers could remain without power for 3-4 weeks. The majority will be on within three,” says Sandy Novick, Kenergy President and CEO.

“There is still a lot of work to be done. Cleanup after a major storm like this will go on for months. There are approximately 500 poles remaining to be replaced, over 2,500 broken poles and more than 1,800 transformers to be disposed of,” adds Novick.

Currently there are less than 900 Kenergy outages. Many of which are oil wells, campgrounds, barns, and garages. It is important for Kenergy members to notify the cooperative once you have repairs to your weather head and/or meter base complete. Also, if you have any further questions regarding the status of your service, please call 1-800-844-4832 or (270) 926-4141.

Kenergy once again would like to thank their membership for their patience and understanding during this difficult time. The community support has been overwhelming and it is greatly appreciated.

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.

U.S. 60 closed in Livingston today for 2 hours

Jackson Purchase Energy plans to close U.S. 60 in Livingston County today from approximately noon until about 2:00 p.m.

U.S. 60 will be closed near the 17 mile marker at Dyer Hill Mine Road between Burna and Smithland to allow Jackson Purchase Energy to string new line through an area heavily damaged by the ice storm. 

This closure is near the Dyer Hill Curve and the entrance to Three Rivers Rock Quarry.

Motorists should be aware of this two-hour closure and make advanced alternate travel plans.

Kenergy back to normal hours

Kenergy has resumed normal business hours starting today and will no longer be utilizing its automated outage reporting system.

When members call the Kenergy offices now, they will be routed through switchboard operators to the appropriate personnel, according to Lisa Vincent, communication manager.

The power company, which serves most of Crittenden County, has reported that only a couple dozen homes are still without power in this county.