Man arrested on warrant Friday afternoon

A wanted man was arrested near Industrial Drive and US 641 Friday afternoon.

Sheriff Evan Head said Christopher McKay, 36, of Marion fled on foot after the sheriff had a brief encounter with McKay as traffic was lining up just before school was dismissed and Crittenden County Elementary School.

Marion police and Constable Greg Rushing assisted the sheriff in apprehending McKay, who was unarmed, but found hiding in a Ford Explorer behind the Crittenden County Fire Department.

McKay was lodged in Crittenden County Detention Center.

Storm siren test at noon today, weekly

Beginning today, Crittenden County E-911 will test its storm sirens every Friday at noon.

E-911 Coordinator Kellye Rudolph said while there have been some sirens working improperly in recent weeks, all county sirens are working properly now. In order to ensure their proper function, they will be tested weekly.

Sirens will be tested at noon today unless it is storming.

Allied Contracting offers commercial, residential work

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Allied Contracting Group offers a wide range of commercial and residential building services.

Owned by Crittenden Countians serving Crittenden and surrounding counties, Allied Contracting offers free inspections and estimates and works with all 

insurance companies and private-paying individuals.

Contact Allied Contracting for your job – from roofing and remodeling to pole barns and additions.

Livingston Hospital hosting Easter egg hunt Saturday

Livingston Hospital will hold its annual Easter egg hunt at 10 a.m., on the hospital grounds.

Kids of all ages are invited to attend.

Second field fire in two days

Firefighters from Mattoon Fire Department have requested the assistance of Crittenden County Volunteer Fire Department at the scene of a field fire.

This is the second day in a row a field fire has required manpower from county fire departments.

A field fire was reported around noon today about 4 miles from U.S. 60 East on Nunn Switch Road.

Army Blackhawks down in Trigg County

Perhaps nine crew members are feared dead following a crash of two Blackhawk helicopters in Trigg County last night.

A report from the governor's office said that Kentucky State Police and other agencies responded to multiple scenes at about 10 p.m Wednesday where the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) helicopters went down. 

The crew members were flying HH60 Blackhawk helicopters during a routine training mission when the incident occurred.  

"We can confirm two aircraft from the 101st were involved in an accident last night resulting in serveral casualties. Right now the focus is on the soldiers and their families who were involved," the command said in a Tweet.

Library plans for 70th anniversary

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The Crittenden County Public Library has several events planned throughout the end of April to celebrate its 70th anniversary.

The library, which began in Marion in 1953, will have an open house April 13 with other events to follow the remainder of the month.

If you haven't been in the library in a while, stop by and see all it has to offer!

Firemen on scene of field fire

Firefighters from several departments are on the scene of a field fire on KY 120.

The fire was first alerted to the Shady Grove Volunteer Fire Department about 4:15 p.m. Since then Crittenden County Volunteer Department has been asked to assist. 

Keeping It Rural moving to antique mall

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Keeping It Rural in Ky, a Kentucky gift shop, is moving from its rural Crittenden County location.

Beginning in April, Keeping It Rural owned by Stella Guess, will be located inside the Sturgis Antique Mall.
Guess said the new location will allow shoppers more accessibility to the unique Kentucky gifts sold in her store.

Everything sold at Keeping It Rural is hand-crafted by Kentuckians, from soaps and lotions to intricately carved wooden bowls and handmade pillows and throws. 

Stop by and see the wide range of merchandise.

Today marks Vietnam Veterans

Judge-Executive Perry Newcom signed a proclamation this week marking March 29 as Vietnam Veterans Day in Crittenden County. Pictured with the judge are (from left) veterans Rick Nelson, Randy Manley and Ron Harbour. The Vietnam War, which resulted in more than 58,000 deaths, including 1,103 Kentuckians, was the longest war in U.S. history at the time. There are more than 125,000 Kentucky veterans of the war.

Event to recruit caring volunteers

Pennyrile District Long-Term Care Ombudsman program is looking for volunteers to visit area nursing homes. 

The group covers Caldwell, Christian, Hopkins, Livingston, Lyon, Muhlenberg, Todd and Trigg counties and serves 37 facilities and 2,761 residents in nursing homes, private homes, living centers, assisted living homes and personal care facilities. 

“We are looking for friendly visitor volunteers. You can make a difference by spending as little as  one hour a week visiting residents in long-term care facilities,” said coordinator Cindy Tabor. 

Training will be 9 a.m., to noon April 5 at the Pennyrile Allied Community Service office in Hopkinsville. Contact Tabor at 270-886-9484 or cindy.tabor@ky.gov to RSVP.

Buntin spring consignment sale is Saturday

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Make plans for Buntin Auction Service's spring consignment sale Saturday.

Auctioneer Curt Buntin has accepted a wide variety of items for the consignment sale scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.

See photos on Buntin Auction Service's Facebook page or AuctionZip.

Contact Curt Buntin for more information.

Accident on U.S. 60 West

An accident in front of Martin Tire on U.S. 60 West about a half mile from Marion is affecting traffic flow.

Law enforcement are on the scene of a one-vehicle accident. 

No initial injuries are reported; however, the vehicle hit a guard rail and has the road blocked. 

Both lanes of traffic are closed until the vehicle can be removed from the scene.

Railey's Auction event is Saturday

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Railey's Auction Service is having a sale Saturday at its auction barn on Long Branch Road.

Among of the items to be sold include some rare currency.

Outdoor equipment includes a boat, side by side, pontoon boat and porch swing.

A host of miscellaneous furniture, metal signs, vintage dolls and more will be up for bid.

Garbage pickup changes this week

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Important changes are happening this week with residential trash pickup.

This public notice spells out exactly how customers should transition collection containers from GFL to Impact Waste.

Water Main Break in Tribune Area

Flash flooding has caused a water line break in the Tribune area, which is affecting Crittenden-Livingston Water District customers in the eastern part of Crittenden County.

Repair crews are on site working to solve the problem, but at this time there is no estimate on how long it will take.

Crittenden received 3.1 inches of rainfall on Friday and into early Saturday morning. 

Also, the following roads in Livingston County are affected by water:

• KY 135/Carrsville Rd has Water Over Road signs posted at 3mm to 4mm north of Hampton between KY 838 and Frank May Road
• KY 135/Carrsville Rd has Water Over Road signs posted at the 5mm to 6mm near the KY 108/Maxfield Rd Intersection
• KY 133/Lola Rd has Water Over Road signs posted 6 to 7mm near Lick Skillet Road North of Salem
• KY 723/Pickneyville Rd has Water Over Road signs posted 4mm to 5mm
• KY 1433/Cedar Grove Rd has Water Over Road signs posted the 5mm between Lemon Landing Rd and Cobb Rd

Sirens just tests of county system

Sirens sounding in Marion and elsewhere in Crittenden County this afternoon are just tests. 

Marion Dispatch reports that work is being done on the countywide system, prompting several sirens to sound around 1:10 p.m., today.

Illinois-Missouri Bridge closed near Cairo

Illinois Department of Transportation has issued an alert for motorists traveling in the Cairo area. Due to structural problems, the US 60/62 bridge over the Mississippi River will be closed to all traffic until further notice.

The bridge connects Illinois and Missouri near the Kentucky border.

Critical safety issues were discovered during the routine inspection that started March 13. The bridge will remain closed until a plan can be developed and implemented.

Detour for this closure adds about 4.5 miles to a trip from Wickliffe, Ky., and Charleston, Mo.  The detour is via U.S. 51 and Interstate 57.

GFL remains commercial waste provider

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If you are a commercial customer of GFL, you are not affected by Crittenden County's recent franchise agreement with an alternate company.

Only residential customers are required to switch to Impact Waste for their home trash collection.

GFL will continue to service dumpsters of commercial customers.

Water aplenty prompts looser restrictions

The City of Marion has eased much of its water restrictions for the time being as plentiful rain has kept the town’s raw water sources full to the brim. 

As anticipated and reported about in this week’s newspaper, Mayor D’Anna Browning has now issued a decree loosening a Conservation Order issued last spring soon after Lake George was purposely breached to avoid a levee failure. Drought conditions last summer exacerbated the city’s water crisis and Stage 3, the most extreme conservation level, was ordered. Stage 3 prohibits the washing of cars, porches, sidewalks, etc., or irrigating non-food producing plants with municipal water. 

The mayor has dropped the Conservation Order to Level 1, which calls for the following:

•Increase public awareness and provide educational materials about best practices of water use.

•Encourage the entire community to conserve water wherever possible.

The mayor’s announcement said in part, “Since conditions have improved such that the raw water supply to the city has proven to be consistent and in such a quantity to provide for the current normal needs of the city’s customers” the Conservation Order is lowered from Level 3 to Level 1. The mayor also pointed out that any change in conditions will prompt further review, and could provoke retightening of the order.

The accompanying video shows what Old City Lake looks like today with water running over its spillway. Lake George, although still leaking to some degree, is also holding an abundance of water.

"My goal is to let Marion know that we do have a surplus of raw water at this time. We are moving in the right direction and we can resume normal daily activities," the mayor said. "But, let's keep conservation in mind and know that we may need to impose the stricter phases at a later date."

See this week’s full edition of The Crittenden Press for more details, and we will be following up on this matter in next week’s newspaper.

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