New Relay for Life meeting dates set

Crittenden County Relay For Life of Crittenden County is gearing up for the last four months of fundraising before the event and the support of the entire community is needed, says Stephanie Elder, community representative for the American Cancer Society's Paducah office.

The local Relay for Life has set a new meeting date for team captain and committee meetings. The new date will be the second Monday of the month. The first meeting of the New Year will be 5:30 p.m., Jan. 12, 2009. The team captains meeting will be at 6 pm. Anyone wanting to form a team or join the committee for this year’s event is encouraged to attend. Fundraising tips, team captain responsibilities, and other helpful ideas will be given. 

“This is going to be a difficult year with the sluggish economy, but cancer doesn’t stop for the economy and there are more and more people needing assistance from the American Cancer Society including some right here in Marion. I am confident that the strong community of Crittenden County will pull together to reach this year’s goal and assist the American Cancer Society in getting one step closer to finding a cure,” said Elder.

 
This year’s Relay for Life of Crittenden County is scheduled for May 8, 2009, from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m., at Marion-Crittenden County Park. 

Anyone in the Crittenden County area can form a Relay for Life team. A team is made up of eight to 15 company, organization or church members, or family and friends. If you would like more information on how to start a team, contact Sue Padget at 704-1558 or Frank Blackburn at 704-1419. Sponsorship packets are also available. Any company or organization wishing to be a 2009 event sponsor should contact Blackburn.

For more information about Relay for Life, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-23425 or visit www.cancer.org.

Livingston gets emergency road aid

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is providing assistance to Livingston County for the emergency replacement of a bridge on Duley Road. Secretary Joe Prather authorized emergency road funds totaling $37,000 for the project this week.

"By awarding emergency funds to Livingston County we are fulfilling the cabinet's mandate to improve transportation for citizens across the commonwealth," Prather said. "This emergency funding reflects our commitment to all rural Kentuckians who depend on county roads for daily transportation."

Livingston County Judge-Executive Chris Lasher says the bridge over Bayou Creek has had recurring erosion problems during heavy rain.

"Every time we have a major rainfall, the water causes more damage at the site. As a result, the banks around the bridge have eroded to a point where they are now threatening the bridge and approaches," Lasher said. "The erosion has also filled in the creek causing additional problems. We're planning to build wing walls and do some other work to help protect the bridge. By stopping the erosion problem now we'll be able to keep this bridge in service and keep the roadway open for years to come."

Lasher noted that there are more than a dozen homes along Duley Road and connecting side roads that depend on the bridge for an important transportation link. Duley Road runs from KY. 763/Maxfield Road to near KY. 135 in the Hampton Community of Livingston County. The bridge, constructed in the 1980s, carries Duley Road across Bayou Creek about 0.25 miles west of Ky. 763. Lasher said without the erosion control effort the bridge would likely have to be closed fairly soon.

A check for $37,000 to cover construction costs of the bridge repairs will be issued to the Livingston County Fiscal Court. Lasher said he expects the court to open bids on the repairs Jan. 13, 2009, with work to start as soon as weather allows.

Two trooper cadets from Sturgis

Two Union County residents will be among 55 trooper cadets from throughout the commonwealth scheduled to begin 23 weeks of training at Jan. 4 at the Kentucky State Police Academy in Frankfort. Cadet Class 87 will begin with a variety of physical fitness testing followed by orientation, introduction of academy staff, issuing of uniforms, instruction materials and equipment and assignment of dorm rooms.

Geographically, the cadets represent 40 communities throughout Kentucky. Four are from London. Three are from Bowling Green, Campbellsville and Hazard. Lewisburg, Lexington, Louisville, Shelbyville and Sturgis are each represented by two cadets.

The following Kentucky communities are each represented by one cadet: Cadiz, Clarkson, Crayner, East Bernstadt, Elizabethtown, Falls of Rough, Florence, Frankfort, Hardinsburg, Hardyville, Hyden, Jackson, Leitchfield, Manchester, Mayfield, McKee, Milton, Mt. Sterling, Murray, Nicholasville, Phyllis, Pikeville, Printer, Raywick, Richmond, Rockholds, Salyersville, Topmost, Versailles, Vicco and Williamstown.

New Year holiday closings

New Year’s Day is a federal, state, city and county holidays, with all government offices closed in observance of the holiday. More specific closings for the holiday are:

• The Ben E. Clement Mineral Museum will remain closed through Sunday for the Christmas and New Year holidays. It will reopen Monday. 
  
• The Senior Citizens Center in Marion will remain closed through to Sunday for the holidays. It will reopen Monday.
  
• The Crittenden Press will be closed Thursday for the New Year holiday. The Early Bird advertising deadlines will be moved up to 5 p.m., Wednesday. Please note, there will be no Crittenden Press published this week.
  
• Crittenden County Public Library will be closed Thursday in observance of the New Year holiday.
  
• The following courthouse offices will be closing at noon Wednesday and will remain closed the rest of the week, reopening Monday: Crittenden County Judge-Executive, Crittenden County Sheriff, Crittenden County Clerk, Crittenden Circuit Clerk and Crittenden County PVA. 
  
• Marion City Hall will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of the New Year holiday.
  
• Crittenden County’s U.K. Extension Service will remain closed through Sunday. The office will reopen Monday.

Marion City Council sworn in

Marion's new two-year council was sworn in this week. Pictured above being sworn in Tuesday by County Attorney Rebecca Johnson are (from left) Janet Crider-Pierce, Mike Byford, Dwight Sherer and Darrin Tabor.

Marion's new city council was sworn in this week, with separate ceremonies perhaps signaling an ongoing divide over construction of a new firehouse.

On Monday, councilmen Don Arflack and Jim Brown, each re-elected to another two-year term, were sworn in by City Clerk Pam Enoch. Then, on Tuesday, the remaining four members – incumbents Janet Pierce, Dwight Sherer and Darrin Tabor and newcomer Mike Byford – were sworn in by County Attorney Rebecca Johnson. 

Brown and Arflack, in November, voted against moving ahead with a study to build a new fire station on the vacant corner of North Main and West Bellville streets, and have subsequently continued to voice their opposition to the plan. Both claim the site is dangerous because of heavy traffic at the intersection and that building on an alternate property at the corner of East Bellville and North College would be safer and more cost-effective.

State law requires all newly-elected officials be sworn in before Jan. 1, 2009. Arflack said that as of Monday neither he nor Brown had heard anything of plans for installation of the new council, so the two opted to schedule their own ceremony for that day. On Tuesday, The Crittenden Press was contacted by City Administrator Mark Bryant about the ceremony installing the other four council members for 2009 and 2010.

Arflack, explaining his reasoning for going ahead with installing, said he wanted to ensure he and Brown accommodated the law's timeline. Meantime, Bryant said there were no plans to exclude any council member from Tuesday's official ceremony and indicated he was unaware of early installation of the two until it had already occurred. Pierce, Byford, Sherer and Tabor were all contacted after Arflack and Brown's installation for Tuesday's ceremony.

No Crittenden Press this week

There will be no issue of The Crittenden Press printed this week. Instead all pertinent news and obituaries will be posted here, on our breaking news Web site and blog.

The next edition of The Press on Jan. 8 will feature our top 10 stories from 2008, as well as the news and updates from the past two weeks. 

Marion woman arrested in Paducah

A Marion woman's bad day got worse when authorities at McCracken County Jail found drugs on her person as she was being booked into jail Tuesday on traffic-related charges. 

Michelle Smith, 33, was charged with possession of drugs and paraphernalia after deputies located marijuana and drug materials hidden in her bra. In addition to the traffic and drug charges, she was also charged with promoting contraband. 

The full story can be found on WKYX 94.3 FM's Web site.

Area deaths

Leon Hodges, 78, of Marion died Monday, Dec. 29 at Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. Gilbert Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Fire destroys home on Ky. 120

Fire destroyed the Warren Sheer home on Ky. 120 near Shady Grove early Tuesday morning.

Firefighters were dispatched the blaze at about 3 a.m. Members of the Shady Grove Fire Department and the Crittenden County Fire Department were summoned to the fire.

Sheer and his wife got out of the home safely, according to reports from the fire department.

The cause of the blaze has not been determined. The doublewide mobile home sets near the intersection of Ky. 139 and at the corner of Gum Creek Road.

Backboard Club meeting is Jan. 6

The CCHS backboard Club will meet Tuesday, Jan. 6 at 5 p.m, at Rocket Arena before the home game. All parents are encouraged to attend this planning meeting.

Flood warning issued for West Kentucky

The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for counties in far western Kentucky that border the Ohio River, the Associated Press has reported.

The warning affects Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton and Hickman counties. Spotters in Crittenden County also say the Ohio River is on the rise on this county's border.

The weather service in Paducah says a combination of heavy rainfall last week combined with melting snow is causing a rise on the lower Ohio River.

The weather service says the river is forecast to rise above flood stage of 40 feet by early Thursday morning and continue to rise to near 41.5 feet by Saturday morning at Paducah.

One injured in downtown accident

One person was injured and taken to the hospital following an accident in downtown Marion Monday just before 1 p.m.

A white SUV apparently was crossing West Bellville Street from Court Street behind the courthouse when it was hit broadside by a Cadillac driven by Marvin Singleton of Salem. Singleton was traveling westbound on Bellville Street.

A female passenger in the SUV was injured. Two other women were also in the car. The driver of the white Pontiac SUV was Sharon Caudill of Henderson. Her passengers were Pam Caudill and Susan Clayton. Clayton was the passenger injured, but her injuries did not appear to be severe.

Watch Night Services

Maranatha General Baptist Church on Cedar Grove Road near Salem will be having its Watch Night Service at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 31. The Hamptons will be featured.

Mother Nature strikes again in 2008

Mother Nature got in one last lick before the close of a year plagued by damaging weather events in Crittenden County. Saturday's flooding and high winds following some unseasonably warm weather kept emergency workers busy with a number of weather-related problems.

A line of severe thunderstorms swept across western Kentucky and Crittenden County after nightfall, dropping torrential rains following wind gusts reported as high as 60 mph. In Marion, three residents were taken to Crittenden Hospital after their car became submerged in floodwaters.

Jimmy Rose, Kimberly Shantz and Steven Spurlin were taken to the hospital after the car in which they were riding ended up in a ditch off Bridwell Loop in Marion. Rose, the driver of the car, lived nearby, said Marion Police Chief Ray O'Neal.

"It looked like they just hit the water and didn't see where the road was," the police chief said.

All three were taken to the hospital, but none appeared to be seriously injured, O'Neal said.

Floodwaters were running off a hill and across the road into a ditch. The passenger side of the car was partially submerged in the water before it was pulled out by a wrecker.

Elsewhere, downed power lines and trees were reported across the county. Ky 135 was blocked for a time by a downed tree, according to emergency radio dispatches. Dispatcher Robbie Tabor said she was too busy to recount all the calls she had received during the storm.

Crittenden Volunteer firefighters also responded to a trailer fire during the storm. The home, which belongs to Bernie Bradford and is located off U.S. 60 West in Levias, was not destroyed and was still livable, said Billy Arflack, one of the firefighters who responded. No one was injured or home at the time of the fire.

Smoke damage appeared to be the extent of Saturday's fire's results, he said. Arflack said firefighters had recently been called to a fire at the same residence.

Crittenden County Sheriff's Deputy Don Perry reported the fire while on patrol.

Authorities investigating wedding crasher heist

Livingston County authorities are looking for a woman and possible accomplices who are believed to have pulled off a heist during a wedding at Salem Baptist Church on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 20.

Livingston Sheriff's Deputy Bobby Davidson is investigating the case and has theorized that a man with three children may have been in on the theft. The man sat down in the church during the wedding with the youngsters, then left abruptly with all of them before the service ended after his cell phone rang.

What the wedding party or guests didn't know was that a relative of the couple being married had confronted a woman in the basement of the church during the service whom she did not know either. The woman fled on foot.

Deputy Davidson says he thinks the man and children were lookouts while the ceremony was taking place. No one interviewed at the service and at the reception following the wedding knew the man or the three children.

"They said his cell phone rang and he didn't even answer it. He just got up right then and left," the deputy said.

Taken from a room in the basement where the bride and other members of the wedding party had dressed was about $2,500 worth of items. A camera with pictures taken prior to the wedding, at the bridal shower and family events was stolen along with two other cameras, three cell phones, two Ipods, a Nintendo DS and an unknown amount of cash. 

Authorities have a description of the suspects. The woman was approximately 30 years old, white with light brown hair. The man was approximately 30 years old, 5-foot-6, thin, white and had short dark hair. The children included a boy approximately 8-10 years old with brown hair and an eyebrow piercing. One girl was approximately three years old and the other female was about four or five years old. Both girls had blonde hair. 

Anyone with information about the alleged theft is asked to contact the Livingston County Sheriff's Department at 1-800-599-2122.

Area deaths

John Cox, 85, of Fredonia died at 3:15 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 25 at Hilltop Nursing Home in Kuttawa. He was a retired farmer, member of Central Baptist Church in Marion and U.S. Army veteran of World War II. Morgan Funeal Home in Princeton is in charge of arrangements.

J.E. Cannon, 68, of Marion died Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008 at his residence. Myers Funeral Home in Marion is in charge of arrangements.

Four injured in wreck on Ky. 70

Update 2: Four teenagers were injured in a single-vehicle accident just before 10 p.m., Christmas night.

The white Ford Escort they were in hit a concrete bridge guard rail on Ky. 70 in the spar mine flat between Mexico and Frances.

Two males and two females were in the vehicle. Three had to be extricated from the car.

Injured were the driver Robert Cudnik, 16; Cody Gipson, 16; Alexandria Jimenez, 15; and Abby Mills, 13. Three were flown to Vanderbilt Medical Center and a fourth was taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Evansville.

Crittenden County Rescue Squad, EMS and other rescue personnel were on the scene for nearly two hours and the road was closed to traffic. 

Merry Christmas to Everyone

To all of our online readers, The Crittenden Press Family says Merry Christmas and the may the peace and love of Jesus Christ be with you this holiday season !

Christmas edition will be on streets today

The Crittenden Press printed edition will be on the streets by noon today. It will be dated December 25 and will be the final newspaper of the year. There will be no printed edition of The Press next week. 

The Press Online will continue to post as newsworthy events occur.

The Christmas edition of The Press will include news about some burglars caught near Fredonia who had allegedly stole items from James Penn Construction and others.

The Press also takes a look at the lice issue at Crittenden Elementary School, some statewide wildlife stewardship awards for Russell and Michele Edwards of Tradewater Outfitters and conservationist Larry Starr, and The Press visited with Brad Hart as he prepares to end his football career at the University of Kentucky in next week's Liberty Bowl.

Know the Rules: Basketball Game Ball

The Crittenden Press Online will be posting some basketball rules questions this season so readers can test their knowledge of the game. Questions and rules interpretations are being provided by local collegiate and high school basketball official Del Brantley.

NCAA play: Visiting team notices that the ball they are warming up with is different from the game ball to be used during the game. The coach requests that his/her team be allowed to warm-up using the type of ball to be used in the game. What's the ruling?

Answer: The official shall inform the home team's game management that the visiting team be allowed to warm-up with the same type of ball that will be used during the game.