| Breathitt Online News Archives Page #6 |
| By Tommy Howard Breathitt County Circuit Clerk On Nov. 5, Kentucky voters can choose to formally adopt the state's Family Courts system as a permanent part of the Kentucky Constitution. Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert of the Kentucky Supreme Court has called Family Courts the greatest innovation in Kentucky law in a quarter century. For the first time ever, courts are giving children and families their undivided attention. Before Family Courts started in 1991 as a pilot project in Jefferson County, families and children dealing with the distress of divorce, child custody, adoption, termination of parental rights and domestic violence competed for court time with felony offenses, medical malpractice, and other criminal and civil law cases. One Family, One Judge, One Court Family Courts changed all of that by focusing on better outcomes for families and children. To provide continuity, one judge hears all of a family's issues and problems. The program also improves access to social service resources to help families recover from difficult situations. Today Family Courts serve more than a million Kentuckians in 26 counties and the program is considered a national model. But that means that 3 million Kentuckians still don't have access to the continuity provided by Family Court. On Nov. 5, Kentuckians will have the opportunity to vote on an amendment that is necessary to make Family Courts a permanent part of the Kentucky Constitution. Chief Justice Joseph E. Lambert has been a guiding force behind the process to adopt Family Courts as a formal amendment. As a result, 132 members of the Kentucky General Assembly voted earlier this year to pass Senate Bill 58, which placed this as the first of two amendments on the Nov. 5 election ballot. Many prominent and concerned organizations, including the Kentucky Association of Electric Cooperatives, the Kentucky Education Association, the Kentucky Farm Bureau, the Kentucky Burley Tobacco Growers Association, the Kentucky Association of Retired Teachers, and the Kentucky Circuit and District Judges associations, have endorsed the Family Courts amendment. If approved, Family Courts will continue to use the state's existing court system in a more efficient way. And as additional funds become available through the state budget, the program will expand to all of Kentucky's counties. If the amendment doesn't pass, this invaluable program will be disbanded throughout the state. Please take time to vote on the important Family Courts amendment on Nov. 5. Family Courts ¾ providing for the needs of Kentucky families and children. Pedestrian Hit By a Car is Killed 10-23-02 A Laurel County man is dead after being hit by a car. Authorities say 32 year old Bobby Joe Wyrick of London was killed in the accident. It happened along Kentucky 229 and 8 miles North of Barbourville. Police say Wyrick walked out into the path of a vehicle. Officials believe Wyrick was under the influence of drugs. Friends Mourn Girl Killed By Car 10-23-02 Friends and neighbors gathered tuesday night to remember a lexington girl who died after being hit by a car Sunday. Mourners held candles and said prayers for 12-year-old Jessica Renee Mastin. Police say the girl ran in front of a car on Bryan Avenue Sunday afternoon. She died later at the UK Children's Hospital. Friends say they'll remember Jessica for her smile. Friends are also trying to raise money to help Jessica's family pay for her funeral. During Tuesday night's vigil, another person was hit by a car. Lexington police tell 27 NEWSFIRST a woman was hit just before eight. Police say she hurt a leg, but the injuries are not considered serious. Court Says Man Cannot Be Charged in Fetus' Death 9-13-02 The Court of Appeals has rejected the legal notion that life begins at conception in determining whether a murder charge can be brought in the death of a fetus in a car wreck. The court also said there was no firm legal basis for determining life based on whether a fetus could live outside the womb. Instead, the court said Kentucky should retain the standard that a fetus must be born alive in order to qualify as a person in the criminal statutes. While the ruling weighed in on a question that persists in the continuing abortion debate and elsewhere, it was designated as "not to be published." That means it may not be cited as legal authority in other cases. The ruling effectively dismissed a homicide charge against Christopher Morris, who was charged in Pike County with killing of Veronica Thornsberry and her fetus in a vehicle accident in March 2001. Injured firefighter angry with arsonists ROGER ALFORD Associated Press Writer PRESTONSBURG, Ky. (10-10-02)- Krstofer Evans is angry that someone's Halloween prank put him in a wheelchair. A firefighter in one of the U.S. Forest Service's elite Hot Shot crews, Evans was trying to extinguish an arson fire in the Appalachian Mountains last Oct. 31 when the flames toppled a tree that fell on him. Dozens of forest fires, believed to have been set by Halloween pranksters, were burning across the highlands of eastern Kentucky. One minute, Evans, 31, of Quincy, Calif., was cutting a fire line in the rugged Red Bird area of the Daniel Boone National Forest. The next, the 6-6-inch firefighter was on the ground, unable to move. "My world has shrunk so much since then," Evans said. "There could be a million dollars sitting right over there, and I couldn't get it - just because some individual decided to start a fire for no reason." Evans returned to Kentucky this week to participate in a conference intended to help change the attitudes of Appalachian Kentucky residents about forest arson. Forest fires burned about 180,000 acres in Kentucky last year, destroying timber and sending up smoke so thick that it caused traffic accidents and sent a flood of patients to hospitals and doctors offices with breathing problems. Authorities estimate that 90 percent of those fires were started by arsonists. "We don't get lightning fires here," said Leah MacSwords, director of the Kentucky Division of Forestry. "Our fires are human-caused, whether accidentally or intentionally, and all too often they're intentional." Dennis Whitehead, a Forest Service law enforcement supervisor, said he asked each of the seven people arrested on arson charges in Kentucky last year why they set the fires. "They said we had nothing better to do," Whitehead said. "That's a pretty lame excuse." State and federal officials call the annual outbreak of wildfires an epidemic, and they're calling on residents of mountain communities to be vigilant and report arsonists. Marie Walker, spokeswoman for the Forest Service in Kentucky, said Evans is evidence that the fires also pose grave risks to personnel. "We can give them the proper safety gear. We can do everything we can to keep them safe, but what would really keep our firefighters safe is for the arsonists to stay out of the woods," Walker said. Evans said he would still be able to walk now if it wasn't for the arsonists. "We were going through a spot where the fire had burned through a couple of hours before," he said. "The fire had burned into the trunk of a black locust tree and caused it to fall. At that moment, memories stopped for 2 1/2 weeks. I woke up in the hospital." Since then, Evans said he has had time to ponder why residents of a region as beautiful as central Appalachia would go out each year and intentionally set fires. "It's so unbelievable, such a different way of thinking," he said. "It's hard for me to get my mind around the concept." |
| SCARY STORY CONTEST WINNERS for Week ending 10-4-02 The first place winner for this weeks single topping personal pan pizza is Alonzo Fugate with "Rats in the walls". Great Story. 2nd place and also a single topping personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut in Jackson, is "Haunted room in Breathitt" by Diane Fugate. We will email the winners with information on collecting your Pizza Coupon from Pizza Hut. Start sending those stories in for next weeks contest ON 10-06-2002 THE KENTUCKY STATE POLICE RECEIVED A CALL FROM KAREN ASHER WHO STATED HER HUSBAND ROY HAD BEEN SHOT IN HIS DRIVEWAY ON COON CREEK ROAD. UPON ARRIVAL AT THE SCENE ROY ASHER AGE 49 OF LESLIE COUNTY WAS FOUND IN HIS DRIVEWAY. HE WAS PROUNCED DEAD AT THE SCENE BY THE LESLIE COUNTY CORONER. AT THIS TIME THE CASE IS UNDER INVESTIGATION BY DETECTIVES KENNETH DUFF AND JOHNNY SIZEMORE. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CASE IS ASKED TO CALL THE STATE POLICE AT 1-800-222-5555 OR 606-435 -6069. ON 10-01-2002 THE KENTUCKY STATE POLICE RECEIVED A CALL ABOUT A HOUSE FIRE IN THE MACES CREEK AREA OF PERRY COUNTY. UPON ARRIVAL AT THE SCENE IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT 67 YEAR OLD THIEO BEGLEY WAS FOUND DECEASED INSIDE THE BURNING RESIDENCE. THE BODY WAS TAKEN TO THE STATE MEDICAL EXAMINERS OFFICE TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF DEATH. FOUL PLAY IS SUSPECTED AND AT THIS TIME DETECTIVE JOHN PRATT AS WELL AS OTHER OFFICERS FROM THE KENTUCKY STATE POLICE ARE INVESTIGATING THE CASE AS A MURDER. ANYONE WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THIS CASE CAN CONTACT POST 13 AT 1-800-222-5555 0R 606-435-6069 |
| FROM ONE CHECK TO ANOTHER 8-25-02 Staying on relief Federal payments keep coming By John Cheves HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER Over the last decade, Kentucky quietly added 60,000 people -- more than the cities of Georgetown, Nicholasville and Richmond combined -- to a federal relief program for those who are poor and too disabled to work. Although the state's population grew less than 10 percent from 1990 to 2000, the number of Kentuckians collecting Supplemental Security Income jumped more than 50 percent. Only Mississippi depends more on SSI. After the federal reforms of 1996 shrank welfare by half, SSI replaced it as the primary form of government relief in 34 of Kentucky's 120 counties. In particular, Appalachia now relies on SSI to keep cash registers ringing. Pike County, for example, lost $2.1 million in monthly welfare payments after 1996, but gained $507,000 in monthly SSI. Several groups are driv-ing the growth, including: • Sympathetic social workers who see clients about to exhaust their welfare benefits. • Lawyers and private companies that specialize in winning SSI claims, for a fee. • And, in one small but focused effort, a state contractor, who paid for each welfare recipient it moved onto the SSI rolls. Eastern Kentucky leaders say the $31 billion-a-year SSI program is vital to a region plagued by a higher-than-normal incidence of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. And rural counties must cope with older, sicker populations left behind as hardier residents move to the cities for jobs. Bill Cantrell of Jackson said he suffered brain damage in a boyhood accident he can't recall. Cantrell, 49, draws a monthly SSI check for $213, plus food stamps and Medicaid coverage, which Kentucky automatically awards in SSI cases. Cantrell said he can't work full time. "It's just too stressful. I have seizures whenever I get upset," he said as he smoked a cigarette on the stoop of his rent-subsidized apartment building. However, locals agree that disability payments go to those who won't work as well as those who can't. Mountain residents use their aches and anxieties to qualify for SSI checks with no plans ever to leave the program. Scant attention has been paid to this explosion in disability claims by officials in Frankfort or Washington, D.C. But national watchdogs have warned for years that the SSI program receives too little oversight and is at high risk for waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement. 1 Kentuckian in 25 Nationally, just one American in 50 collects SSI, which pays monthly benefits of up to $545 to poor people who have little job history and are too sick or injured to work. In Kentucky, one in 25 people collects SSI. In Breathitt and Clay counties, it's one in seven. In Wolfe County, one in six. And in Owsley County, one in five people draws an SSI check. "It's good to have SSI if you're truly disabled. But we've also got some people where a minimum-wage job doesn't pay them enough to get off disability," said Frank Noble, Breathitt County's deputy judge-executive. Families learn that disability is a way of life, "passed down from generation to generation," said state demographer Michael Price at the University of Louisville, who studies population trends. "You end up with a culture of disability, of dependence," Price warned. "People learn how to describe their symptoms in a way that guarantees they will get a government check." Most of Kentucky's SSI recipients are working-age adults. The growing majority complain of mental illness, which officials say is far harder to confirm than blindness or a broken back. Is the program being abused? Don't ask the Social Security Administration, which manages SSI. Social Security studies its data on SSI collection, and it has noticed a spike of disability claims in Kentucky, said agency spokesman Mark Hinkle. Officials simply don't know how to explain it, Hinkle said. "In terms of trends, it's hard to say for sure what's going on," he said. A watchdog panel appointed by Congress chided the agency earlier this year for its lack of curiosity about how taxpayer money is spent. SSI comes straight from the U.S. Treasury. "Many SSI claims are currently being paid based largely on allegations," the Social Security Advisory Board wrote in a March report. The board also warned that the agency "places a higher priority on processing and paying claims than on controlling expenditures by verifying financial eligibility and deterring fraud and abuse." Profit for lawyers One reason for the SSI boom is as easy to spot as billboards on a rural highway. "NEED SOCIAL SECURITY OR SSI? 1-800-232-HURT," offers a sign for disability lawyer Eric Conn of Floyd County. Lawyers who specialize in SSI claims get as much as $5,300, paid by the federal government, for each successful case. Many tell of handling hundreds of cases at a time, and winning benefits in as many as 70 percent of them. Mountain residents also are helped onto the disability rolls by how-to-apply manuals available in local bookstores. What Every Disability Claimant Should Know!, one such book, sells for $5.95 and urges applicants to appeal their cases until they win a check. Still others land in the disability system courtesy of the public sector. In Pike County, social workers such as Shirley Thompson examine the backgrounds of welfare clients for hints of disability as their lifetime welfare limit approaches. Are there back injuries that would prevent lifting heavy objects? Is mental illness, such as depression, a serious issue? Did a client suffer traumatizing abuse during a violent marriage? Thompson, a targeted-assessment specialist for the University of Kentucky, wasn't surprised to hear that Pike County's SSI enrollment jumped 15 percent after welfare reform in 1996, compared with a 3 percent rise statewide. Over the same period, 2,262 residents of Pike County left the welfare rolls. Welfare reform might look good on paper, she said, but Congress failed to account for families isolated in rural areas, with scant education, few skills and no opportunities. About 20 percent of people who lived on welfare before 1996 are unfit for jobs, she said. So when Thompson finds appropriate clients -- one recent woman was agoraphobic, afraid of going into public, she said -- she helps them apply for SSI. "She cannot leave her home, but she's reached her limit" on welfare, Thompson said. "So I'm working to sign her up on SSI. She has a legitimate disability." Few should qualify Few should qualify for SSI, according to the Social Security Administration. The checks are reserved for low-income elderly people or those severely disabled with little work history; if you have paid into Social Security through wages, you collect disability benefits from a separate program. "(SSI) is not designed to replace welfare," Social Security spokesman Bill DeBardelaben said. "It is designed to help the elderly and the disabled who cannot work and who need our services to survive. We have very specific criteria about who is eligible," DeBardelaben said. Nonetheless, one Kentucky expert sees a direct link between welfare's decline and SSI's growth. "You can definitely trace the rise of SSI to cuts in welfare and the lack of any good jobs to fall back on," said Eric Scorsone, an agriculture economist at UK. "SSI alone now makes up to 6 percent of the entire economy in some counties," Scorsone said, "and it's growing faster than wages." The Delta region of northern Mississippi seems to prove that disability checks are tied as much to local economics as to local health. The Delta, one of the poorest places in the nation, has SSI collection rates that rival Eastern Kentucky's. But the number of Delta residents who collect SSI started shrinking in the late 1990s and continues to drop. Mississippi officials credit hundreds of jobs created by new casinos around Tunica, and suburban development sprawling west from Memphis. Given a shot at good wages, some disabled people get healthier in a hurry, they said. Fraud cases Stories about healthy people defrauding the SSI system are exaggerated, said Russell Grimes, a Social Security fraud inspector in Kentucky. Before they win a check, SSI clients are examined by either their own doctors or one hired by the program. "Fraud happens everywhere," Grimes said. "But if you compare the number of people who get SSI overall with the number who get it through fraudulent means, it's less than 1 percent." Federal prosecutors have won SSI fraud convictions against seven people in Eastern Kentucky in the last two years, said Hinkle, the Social Security spokesman. Most were sentenced to probation. But others in the mountains say so many people get disability checks, they have to wonder about malingerers. "A lot of my clients, their parents get SSI, their aunts and uncles get SSI, they get SSI and their kids are on SSI, or they will be shortly," said Cheryl McCauley, a substance-abuse clinician at Kentucky River Community Care in Owsley County. "Those with jobs probably don't make much money for all of their scrambling," McCauley said. "They think, 'If I can get up in the morning to work, you can, too.'" Parents are particularly aggressive about claiming disability checks for their children. Thirteen percent of Kentucky's SSI recipients are children, up from 6 percent in 1990. "They seem to learn the psychological language. They teach each other," said Jim Kelly, a Social Security district manager whose territory includes Pike, Floyd, Martin, Johnson and Magoffin counties. "We see parents come in with their kids and say, 'He's retarded.' Or 'He's got attention deficit disorder,'" Kelly said. "Then we try to take the child off to one side -- alone -- to assess what their mental state really is." Appalachian educators report that parents demand their healthy children be placed in special-education classes to lend credibility to the children's forthcoming SSI applications. Sometimes, parents even coach their children to act slow-witted or disruptive to support claims of learning disabilities, educators said. You have to understand Eastern Kentucky," said Larry Woods, school superintendent in Breathitt County until he quit this summer for the same post in Butler County. "There are almost no jobs here," Woods said. "It's a different mind-set. People do whatever they can to bring in a little more money." The 'crazy check' Learning disabilities are just a fraction of the mental illnesses SSI pays for. SSI is widely, if not politely, referred to as "the crazy check" in Eastern Kentucky. With good reason: Two-thirds of Kentucky's SSI recipients cite mental instead of physical ailments. Even skeptics acknowledge some of these claims are legitimate. Studies indicate the poverty and chronic unemployment common in Appalachia are hazardous to mental health. Surveys of welfare recipients, for instance, show they are more likely than the general population to suffer from major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks and agoraphobia. Poor people aren't crazier by nature, but constant hardship wears away at the psyche, said psychologist Sheldon Danziger, director of the Social Work Research Development Center on Poverty, Risk and Mental Health at the University of Michigan. However, disability officials say mental-health claims are harder to verify, which complicates decisions about who deserves a check. "A lot of things are wrong with people these days that you can't see," said Kelly, the Social Security district manager in Eastern Kentucky. "If their leg is gone, that's obvious," Kelly said. "But you can't really look into somebody's mind." As a fifth-grader, Clifton Evans of Booneville cited a mental ailment common in Eastern Kentucky: bad nerves. Today, unemployed with three children, Evans collects the maximum $545 in SSI each month. "I'm just really nervous all the time. I can't ever concentrate on anything," said Evans, 28, as he sat with a friend outside the Owsley County courthouse. The Social Security Administration doesn't recognize bad nerves as a legitimate medical condition. But the agency does recognize "anxiety disorders," which might be the same thing. It's not a quick and easy diagnosis: The definition runs more than 60 pages in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the agency's final word on the subject. Disability adjudicators, the state officials who decide whether an SSI applicant is truly impaired, must rely on observations by specialists in the field, said Social Security spokesman Mark Lassiter. That throws the ball to professionals Wil-liam Rigby is a circuit-riding psychologist who sees doz-ens of applicants at each stop. The screening process Rigby screens SSI applicants in Eastern Kentucky on behalf of the Social Security Administration. Many in line for interviews are stressed and unhappy, he said, but on closer examination, most are not mentally disabled. "Someone can be anxious and depressed," he added. "But if that problem can be solved with a job or a gift of $20,000, that's not really what we consider to be mental illness." Rigby doesn't know how many of the unhappy people he interviews win SSI checks. Social Security officials instruct Rigby to submit his observations -- what applicants say, how they look, how they act -- but he-isn't asked to judge whether they are legitimately disabled. That decision is made in Frankfort by disability adjudicators who never meet the applicants, or by others higher up in the Social Security system. These adjudicators must have four-year degrees, but they are not required to be health professionals. And while they can ask the department's 36 medical consultants for advice, their factual research into each case is limited to what they read in an applicant's file. Officials admit that applicants' honesty counts for a lot in this system. "We believe in a claimant unless we find a reason to believe otherwise," said Stephen Jones, commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Disability Determination Services. 'A wonderful help' In Owsley County, where nearly 22 percent of the population draws SSI, Ethel and Forest Allen are a two-check couple. She has collected SSI for two years because of arthritis in her lower back and emphysema. He has collected SSI since a malignant tumor and part of his right lung were removed six years ago. They are grateful for SSI. "Once you get it, it's a wonderful help to those who need it," said Ethel Allen, 57, as the couple finished shopping at Booneville's Dollar General store. However, she added, nobody should think SSI recipients are living in luxury. "It's not much money," she said. "It covers what we need, and that's about it. It doesn't cover too many wants." Paul Baker, a Barbourville lawyer who specializes in winning SSI for people, says critics of the program should keep in mind that many Kentuckians would go hungry without it. "There's some fraud in any government program," Baker said. "But I see these people coming into my office with their raggedy, dirty children. Would we really want to be the kind of country that says, 'To hell with 'em, let's throw them into the street to starve'?" However, defenders of the program ignore the danger of rising SSI dependence, according to one critic. Places that constantly struggle with poverty, illiteracy and unemployment -- like Owsley County, one of the poorest counties in the United States -- obviously can't support their populations, said University of Louisville economist Paul Coomes. Residents of these places should leave for urban areas where jobs exist, rather than stay home and switch from one government relief check to another, Coomes said. "For one thing, it's very expensive for the rest of us," he said. "That entire region (Appalachia) is heavily subsidized by the rest of the state, primarily by people in the cities who have their own needs that go unfulfilled because their tax money is going to the mountains." "(SSI) is the very definition of an entitlement," Coomes said. "Nobody questions for how long we should prop up these inefficient local econo-mies through government handouts. We just keep writing them checks." KY Army National Guard Units Return Home Kentucky, 8-9-02 More than 400 soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard will return to their hometowns this weekend, following successful European missions. The units were deployed in February in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. On Saturday, there will be a homecoming celebration at the Optimist Club Facility in London at one p.m. At 4 p.m., there will be another celebration at Town Square in Somerset. The number of Kentucky National Guards members still on duty for both operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Noble eagle currently stands at about 1,800, which is the largest federal activation of Kentucky Guard troops since World War II. Kentucky lands Homeland Security grants FRANKFORT, Ky. (Aug. 8, 2002) - The White House, the Statue of Liberty, the Lincoln Memorial and ...the Sauerheber Wildlife Refuge? When most people think of terrorism and homeland security, images of New York City and Washington, D.C., come to mind. The area around Owensboro and Henderson, Ky., where the refuge is located, doesn't seem a likely location for terrorists to strike. But homeland security does not deal solely with foiling terrorist plots. It involves community watches and public health, as well as preparedness for disasters of all sorts. Competitive grants awarded by the Corporation for National and Community Service are helping programs like AmeriCorps-often called the "domestic Peace Corps"-recruit and train volunteers to fill gaps in the nation's security system. So far, grants totaling $10.3 million have gone to nonprofit and public organizations in Kentucky and 25 other states and the District of Columbia. On July 18, Tom Ridge, the White House director of Homeland Security, announced that Kentucky will receive two grants-one for $123,800 to the Green River Area Development District (GRADD) grants for an AmeriCorps project and one for $114,330 to the Kentucky Association of Senior Service Corps. As the administrator of AmeriCorps projects in the state, the Kentucky Commission on Community Volunteerism and Service (KCCVS)-part of the Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children-will help oversee the Green River project, which will prepare AmeriCorps volunteers to educate people region-wide about health and safety issues. Dana Peveler of the GRADD staff isn't surprised that the grant was given to the rural area, which encompasses Daviess, Hancock, Henderson, McLean, Ohio, Union and Webster counties. "This region has been training AmeriCorps members in disaster relief and awareness since 1999," Peveler said. "We were really one of the first places in the nation to do this." Green River AmeriCorps member Steve Morgan, who is also a Red Cross volunteer, went to New York after Sept. 11 to help with disaster relief, and many members have provided aid to struggling areas around Kentucky. The newly trained members will help provide relief in all areas of security. "Homeland security, I think, means protecting ourselves in times of a crisis," said Eileen Cackowski, executive director of the KCCVS. Noting the area's proximity to the New Madrid fault and the frequency of tornadoes there, she said it's not hard to envision a large-scale disaster that would require support from outside sources. Nor are natural disasters the only potential threat. Peveler said that within the past six months there have been two anthrax scares just blocks from the AmeriCorps building. With the new grants, more people with have knowledge about how to react if this happens again. "This program deals with so much more than just terrorism," Peveler said. "We're taking an active role in making our community a more informed and safer place for everyone." GRADD now has 18 AmeriCorps members trained in disaster preparedness. The grant will support training for 10 more, who will be placed in rapid-response agencies to educate 1,000 other individuals in public safety, public health and disaster preparedness. The AmeriCorps members' training will fit their assignment. For example, a member placed in a local health department would be trained in areas such as bio-terrorism and disaster prepredness and would assist with immunizations, childcare coordination, data collection and monitoring. The Homeland Security grant marks an important expansion of AmeriCorps' presence in Kentucky. Under existing projects, AmeriCorps members in the state tutor and mentor children, coordinate after-school programs, build and repair homes, organize neighborhood watch groups, clean up parks and work with senior citizens to provide in-home assistance, food delivery service and companionship. Under the other Homeland Security grant, the Kentucky Association of Senior Service Corps will mobilize 200 volunteers to work on crime reduction, community watch and school safety in Logan, Simpson, Warren, Calloway and Graves counties. The volunteers, who are age 55 or older, will work with a variety of community organizations, including police departments, Red Cross chapters, health departments, school systems and the Salvation Army. The Cabinet for Families and Children has no direct role in this project. The goal of the Corporation for National and Community Service's grant program is to recruit 37,000 Senior Corps, AmeriCorps and other volunteers nationwide to assist in areas such as public health and safety and to create disaster response plans. Wildcats Release 2002-03 Schedule UK has released its 2002-03 men's basketball schedule, which includes road trips to North Carolina, Tulane and Louisville, and a visit from Michigan State. The Cats start with two exhibition games, and then a trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational during Thanksgiving week. Their home opener comes December 3 with High Point, alma mater of head coach Tubby Smith. The schedule includes at least 13 nationally televised game, with the total depending on how the Wildats fare in Maui. That tournament will be shown by ESPN. Complete Schedule Click Here Review finds `missing' Florida children in matter of hours South Florida Sun-Sentinel FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. 8-10-02- (KRT) - Florida's child welfare system has been unable to locate more than 500 children under its care, some of them missing for a decade or more. But a South Florida Sun-Sentinel search for 24 South Florida children on the missing list turned up nine - two in under three hours. Florida's Department of Children & Families has been a target of intense criticism and scrutiny since April, when the agency admitted it had lost 5-year-old Rilya Wilson of Miami, who is still missing. No caseworker had checked on her for 15 months. As of last month, DCF could not account for 532 additional children that the agency said had run away from foster homes or had been abducted by parents against court orders.The Sun-Sentinel, examined 24 cases involving Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade county children primarily under age 4 whose profiles were available through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Although the paper did not have access to more detailed DCF files, by using public records and interviewing relatives the Sun-Sentinel found more than one-third of the 24 children in four weeks. Two sisters missing since 1997 have been living in Wisconsin with their mother, whose phone number is listed in directory assistance. Candidates File for Various Positions Throughout County 8-13-02 Jackson, Ky. Well the filing deadline has come and gone. Several Local races will be hotly contested. The City Council Race has 13 candidates filing for the position to include 3 incumbents. The Mayoral race has 2 candidates this election, with Incumbent Mike Miller being challeneged by former Mayor Frank Noble. The Coroner race has 3 write-in candidates along with May Primary winner Gary Turner. In the Breathitt County School Board race, District #4, you have 3 challengers to Incumbent Darrell Raleigh, While District #3 Incumbent Kelly Noble will run unopposed. In the Jackson School Board race, only Incumbent Donna Snell Smith filed for one of the 3 spots available. Below is a complete list of those who have filed as of the deadline. Mayor Race: Mike Miller - Incumbent, Frank Noble City Council: Mildred Rogers - Incumbent, Wayne Morgan - Incumbent, Alfred Douglas Turner - Incumbent, Sharon Hendrickson, Appointed, Donald Fugate, David A Jones, Rose Wolfe, Jeremy "Jug" Noble, Patrick O'Neil, Laura Thomas, Jerry Little, JR Miller, Chuck Allen. 6 positions available. Coroner: Gary Turner - May Primary Winner, Bobby Thorpe Jr. - Write-in, Lacy Miller-write-in, George Spicer Jr.-write-in. NOTE: all others that wish to do write in candidacy may do so up to 10 days before the election. this applies to any race. Breathitt School Board District #4; Darrell Raleigh-Incumbent, Gareth Herald, Clarence Turner, Danny "Bear" Strong. Breathitt School Board District #3; Kelly Noble-Incumbent. Unopposed. Jackson City School Board; Donna Snell Smith- Incumbent. Unopposed, 3 positions available Welcome to the Breathitt County Online News. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email us at; news@breathittonline.com. If you are interested in an Ad or a dedicated Website with your own domain name, email us at; news@breathittonline.com. While you are here do not forget to check out the information center and our classified section. |
| State selects Law Firm in Conner Case 10-1-02 FRANKFORT, Ky.- Finance and Administration Cabinet Secretary T. Kevin Flanery today announced that the Lexington-based law firm of Stoll, Keenon & Park has agreed to represent the state's interests in its defense against the lawsuit filed by Tina Conner. Anita Britton, a partner with the firm, will serve as lead counsel. UK unveils logo commemorating 100th basketball season 10-10-02 LEXINGTON, Ky. - The University of Kentucky unveiled a logo Thursday to commemorate the upcoming 100th season of men's basketball. The logo features a bold "100" encircled by a ring with the phrase "Kentucky Basketball Unparalleled Tradition." It will be painted on the Rupp Arena floor as well as affixed to each chair on the teams' benches. It will also appear in a publication and a video chronicling the program's history. "This campaign will celebrate the excellence of the past 99 years of Kentucky basketball through a variety of marketing and promotional efforts," said athletics director Mitch Barnhart. Kentucky is college basketball's winningest program, with 1,817 victories, and has made a record 43 NCAA tournament appearances. "This is a tremendous milestone for a college basketball program that has symbolized excellence for many, many years," said Coach Tubby Smith. "As I tell our players every day, it's an honor and a privilege to wear this uniform with Kentucky across the chest." This season, Kentucky fans will have the opportunity to select a "Fantasy Five," their picks for the top five Wildcats of all time. Balloting will begin at Big Blue Madness this Friday night. The chosen five will be introduced during the Mississippi State game on Feb. 23. All former Kentucky lettermen will be invited to return to Lexington for that game New scholarships are a hit with child-care workers FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 23, 2002)—Deborah Beck and Arnetta Danridge made the same simple calculation. For an investment of 60 hours of their own time plus $200 in state money, they could improve the prospects of their child-care businesses and do a better job of meeting children’s developmental needs. Beck, a certified home-based child care provider in Morgantown, and Danridge, assistant director of Guiding Light Nursery and Preschool in Russellville, were among the first child-care workers in Kentucky to receive new training awards and earn a new child-care credential. Their reasoning helps explain why the scholarship program for child-care workers seeking non-college credentials in their field has taken off dramatically in its first year. The training awards, administered by the Cabinet for Families and Children and launched last spring, have helped cover training fees for 594 child-care workers to date. Beck, 45, has provided child care at her home for three years. Now she wants to open a licensed day-care center, and she feels that having a solid child-care credential will equip her to take that step. Danridge, 47, wanted to help Guiding Light qualify for increased child-care assistance paid by the state on behalf of income-eligible families. Child-care providers can qualify for the higher payments by earning strong quality ratings under Kentucky’s STARS rating system, which measures, among other things, the education and training of staff members. Increased business income, in the form of higher child-care subsidy payments, would enable Guiding Light to provide its staff members with health insurance and higher pay. Making jobs more rewarding will, in turn, lead to a “higher professional level of the development of children coming into the day care,” Danridge said. City Council debates a huge Hit !!! Jackson, Ky. 10-11-02 The Breathitt County Online Debates for the City Council race were a huge hit. Each and every candidate that participated did a wonderful job. Those present for the Live online debate were; Laura Thomas, Sharon Hendrickson, Alfred Turner, Rose Wolfe, Chuck Allen,Patrick O'Neal & Mildred Rogers. Jeremy "Jug" Noble submitted answers but could not attend. If you would like to read the Candidates answers in their entirety, Just CLICK HERE. These debates are brought to you in part by, Breathitt Online News, Jackson TV 9, The Jackson Times, The Breathitt County Library, & WEKG/WJSN. The next debate will be for the 91st District State Representative Race to be held October 18th, 2002 80 year old Wolfe Co. Woman contracts West Nile Virus as disease moves Closer to Breathitt. West Nile Virus Update: 50 Cases In Kentucky FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 11, 2002) – The Cabinet for Health Services reported today six more probable cases of West Nile virus in Kentucky. This brings to 50 the total of confirmed and probable cases in the state. The six new cases include one case of West Nile fever – a milder form of the disease. There have been 11 cases of West Nile fever reported by the state Public Health lab. All other cases involve the more severe form of the disease with meningitis or encephalitis. The latest cases include: - A 66-year-old Adair County man, released from hospital - A 64-year-old Barren County woman, fever case, not hospitalized - A 43-year-old Fayette County woman, released from hospital - A 40-year-old Graves County man, released from hospital - A 67-year-old Pulaski County man, hospitalized - A 80-year-old Wolfe County woman, hospitalized Here’s a listing of the 50 Kentucky cases by county: Jefferson: 23 cases (two deaths) Union: Two cases (one death) Barren: Three cases Fayette: Two cases Adair, Barren, Bell, Boyle, Campbell (one death), Daviess (one death), Edmonson, Franklin, Graves, Grayson, Green, Kenton, Marion, McCracken, McCreary, Nelson, Pulaski, Simpson, Washington and Wolfe: each one case Fifteen of the 50 cases have been confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lab. In addition, new bird positives indicated West Nile activity in three new counties: Clay, Perry and Floyd. The Department for Public Health continues to advise all Kentuckians to take precautions to avoid mosquitoes and to take particular care in removing all standing rainwater that accumulates because it provides a breeding area for mosquitoes. Letters: Conner knew of checks State fire marshal denies allegation By Valarie Honeycutt Spears 10-10-02 HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER State officials received a series of anonymous letters beginning in 1998 alleging that Tina Boyd Conner was being tipped off to inspections of her nursing home by the state fire marshal's office and was seeking special favors from Frankfort, according to state records released yesterday. Officials at the Cabinet for Health Services sent at least one of the letters to the Kentucky State Police for investigation, but the outcome of the investigation was not clear in records. Cabinet spokesman Gil Lawson said cabinet officials didn't have any other information about findings. For his part, State Fire Marshal David Manley has said that neither he nor anyone else on his staff tipped off Conner. The question of whether Conner received special treatment for her Western Kentucky nursing home is at the heart of federal and state investigations into Gov. Paul Patton's conduct. Patton has admitted to having a sexual affair with Conner, but has denied that he abused his power to both help and hurt her nursing home, as Conner alleges in a lawsuit. Under federal law, someone who tipped off a nursing home about a forthcoming inspection could face civil penalties of up to $2,000, Lawson said. A state employee could face dismissal, he said. There are no apparent criminal penalties, he said. Records released yesterday also show that a top cabinet official referred to possible "pressure" from the governor's office on Conner's behalf even before she says their affair began. Conner did not return phone messages yesterday seeking comment. Yesterday, Lawson said cabinet officials thought they had referred the anonymous allegations "to the appropriate agencies." The cabinet's regional office in Hopkinsville received a handwritten, unsigned note Sept. 14, 1998, about problems at Birchtree Healthcare in Clinton. The letter -- the first of at least four the regional office received -- warned that an employee had been threatened and Conner had failed to act. "The residents are in danger," it read. The letter went on to say that Conner had called Tim Veno, who was the cabinet's inspector general at the time, and "he said not to worry, he would take care of the state people, and she will go to Patton." It also said someone in the state fire marshal's office had tipped off Conner about inspections. Within days of receiving the letter, Veno, who oversaw nursing home inspections, sent a copy to Kentucky State Police Lt. Col. Douglas E. Asher. Asher, in turn, referred the letter to Capt. John Vance of the Kentucky State Police post at Mayfield for possible investigation. Yesterday it was unclear what happened after that. Asher, Veno and Vance could not be reached for comment yesterday. Veno also sent the anonymous letter to Charles A. Cotton, who was then Commissioner of Housing, Buildings and Construction. That agency oversees the state fire marshal's office. But yesterday, officials in that agency said they could not find the letter in their files. Deputy Commissioner Ken Meredith said yesterday that he and Commissioner Dennis Langford didn't take their posts until 2000, two years after the anonymous letters were written, and didn't know about the allegation against the state fire marshal until a few days ago. Meredith said he questioned Manley, who said Conner had not been tipped off by Manley or any of his employees. Another anonymous letter, in March 1999, also alleged that Conner received help. "After the state left Birchtree, Tina Conner was heard calling a man in Frankfort and told him he owe (sic) her a favor and for him to get her out of the mess with the state. "He told her he would and this is the last time he was going to do it," the letter read. The cabinet also released a copy of a phone log from the inspector general's Hopkinsville regional office, regarding Conner's 1996 request that additional nursing home beds be certified in an effort to receive reimbursement from Medicaid and Medicare. Notes written by a staff assistant in the Hopkinsville office April 16, 1996, indicated that Veno anticipated getting "pressure" from the governor's office on Conner's behalf. That was the same year Conner became Hickman County's patronage chief. The notes said Veno did not want to certify additional beds "if they are not ready, but he does not want pressure from the governor's office." Yesterday, Lawson said he did not have any additional information about that document. Documents released yesterday also show that on at least two occasions, Conner asked the Division of Licensure and Regulation for special consideration in scheduling inspections of her nursing home. In one case, she said she would be "absent." In the other, in 1996, her home's administrator said employees would be at an educational seminar. The state noted the request, and said an inspection wouldn't be scheduled for then. Nursing home inspections are required to be unannounced and irregularly scheduled, according to the Cabinet for Health Services. Steve Davis, general counsel for the cabinet, said yesterday that nursing home operators occasionally let inspectors know when they will be out of town. Former Army Nurse and Ex-Prison of War Dies 9-20-02 Earleen Allen Francis passed away at age 91 on September 15, 2002 Clinton, KY – A 91-year-old female WWII veteran and ex-prisoner of war of the Japanese in the Philippines, passed away yesterday. Earleen Allen Francis of Clinton, Kentucky (a native of Bardwell) had joined the Army in 1938. She was among a handful of survivors of a group of about 60 Army and Navy nurses captured by Japanese forces after the fall of Corregidor, a small island in the Philippines. The nurses were regularly starved during their 37 months of captivity. In the midst of those dark days she and other nurses set up a clinic to care for the sick and wounded and provided comfort for the dying. Interestingly, Francis and her fellow nurses were never sick during the time they battled disease, starvation and crude conditions to care for other civilian and military prisoners. The other captives referred to Francis and her nursing colleagues as “Angels in Fatigues”. In 1945 US Army tanks crashed through the gates freeing her and the other POWs after more than three years in captivity. The nurses’ story has been told and retold in books and on television. President Reagan recognized Francis during a 1983 reunion of the former prisoners of war. The Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs recognized Francis for her extraordinary service just four weeks ago. PCC Fine Arts Center Selected as one of Three Pilot Sites for ArtsReach PADUCAH, KY. (September 23, 2002) - Paducah Community College's Fine Arts Center has been selected as one of three pilot sites for ArtsReach Kentucky. The Kentucky Arts Council and the Kentucky Center for the Arts recently announced the selection, said PCC Fine Arts Center Director Gail Robinson Butler. Butler has received training for the program at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Louisville. As part of the ArtsReach program, PCC will partner with the Paducah Parks Department to provide arts education programs to children and teens in the Neighborhood Afterschool Program conducted in three Paducah Housing Authority Community Center sites - Anderson Court, Ella Munal Court and Elmwood. PCC will provide three Kentucky Performing Arts on Tour artists and three PCC faculty and staff to conduct the activities at the centers. Activities will include theatre games, music activities, photography, visual arts, and television production. Activities will begin in September 2003 and run through April 2004. The other pilot sites are the Pennyroyal Arts Council in Hopkinsville and the Paramount Center for the Arts in Ashland. As part of the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds' State Arts Partnership for Cultural Participation (START) initiative, the Kentucky Arts Council will also work closely with the PCC Fine Arts Center and the other 13 centers to build capacity to increase arts participation that is tailored to communities. The opportunity to participate in ArtsReach Kentucky is a part of the START initiative. Seasonally adjusted jobless rate falls in August FRANKFORT, KY. (Sept. 20, 2002) - Kentucky's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate decreased in August 2002 to 5.2 percent from 5.3 percent in July, according to the Department for Employment Services, a Cabinet for Workforce Development agency. In August 2001, the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 5.6 percent. The U.S. seasonally adjusted jobless rate fell to 5.7 percent in August from 5.9 percent in July. "Kentucky's seasonally adjusted jobless rate has been in the 5.2 to 5.4 percent range every month of 2002 thus far. The number of Kentuckians unemployed in August was the lowest number of unemployed in the commonwealth since April 2001," said Carlos Cracraft, the department's chief labor market analyst. Nonfarm employment in Kentucky increased by 5,700 jobs in August 2002, bringing the state's total nonagricultural employment to 1,832,400. Since August 2001, nonfarm employment has jumped by 19,100 jobs. Five of the eight major nonfarm job sectors had employment increases in August, one had an employment decrease and two stayed the same from July to August, Cracraft said. According to the seasonally adjusted employment data, the manufacturing sector led with a gain of 1,600 jobs in August. During August, durable goods manufacturing rose by 1,300 jobs while nondurable goods increased by 300 positions. Since August 2001, Kentucky has lost 4,500 manufacturing jobs. The services sector had the second most growth of the major sectors between July and August, adding 1,500 jobs. The sector added jobs in educational services and membership services (400 each), health services (300), and amusement and recreation services (200). Those gains were somewhat offset by a loss of 400 jobs in business services and 200 positions in social services. Since August 2001, services sector positions have risen by 12,900. In August, employment in the construction sector grew by 1,400. Special trade contractors involved in concrete work, electrical work and the installation of drywall, insulation and roofing added 1,100 jobs to the sector. Another 300 positions were added in general building contractors. "Some 3,500 new jobs have been added to this sector over the past three months," Cracraft said. In the government sector, employment gains were posted in local government including local education resulting in an overall increase of 1,200 in August 2002. The sector is 4,500 jobs ahead of last August. The finance, insurance and real estate sector went up by 200 positions in August. Kentucky's trade sector remained at 428,400 jobs from July to August. Growth reported in eating and drinking establishments (600), apparel and accessory stores (300) and miscellaneous retail stores (200) were balanced by drops in general merchandise stores (-400), and automotive dealers and service stations (-100). Since August 2001, the trade sector has grown by 5,800 jobs. Jobs in the transportation, communication and public utilities sector stayed at 106,100 jobs in July and August. The sector has declined by 1,800 jobs since August 2001 with 1,400 of those losses occurring in the air transportation industry. The mining and quarrying sector had 200 fewer jobs in August 2002. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly estimate of the number of employed Kentuckians for August 2002 was 1,888,458 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This figure is down 482 from the 1,888,940 employed in July 2002, but up 36,571 from the 1,851,887 Kentuckians employed in August 2001. The monthly estimate of the number of unemployed Kentuckians for August 2002 was 103,661. This figure is down 1,846 from the 105,507 unemployed in July 2002, and down 7,075 from the 110,736 Kentuckians unemployed in August 2001. The monthly estimate of the number of Kentuckians in the civilian labor force for August 2002 was 1,992,119. This figure is down 2,328 from the 1,994,447 recorded in July 2002, but up 29,496 from the 1,962,623 recorded for August 2001. The civilian labor force includes non-military workers and unemployed Kentuckians who are actively seeking work. It does not include unemployed Kentuckians who have not looked for employment within the past four weeks. Employment and unemployment statistics are based on estimates. They are compiled to indicate employment trends rather than actually to count numbers of people who are or are not working. NOTE: Kentucky's statewide unemployment rate and employment levels are seasonally adjusted. Employment statistics undergo sharp fluctuations due to seasonal events, such as weather changes, harvests, holidays and school openings and closings. Seasonal adjustments eliminate these influences and make it easier to observe statistical trends. Corvette Show to be Held FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 25, 2002) -- The annual Classical Glass Corvette Show & Arts and Crafts Festival at Green River Lake State Park near Campbellsville combines displays of America's premiere muscle car with a variety of arts and crafts for sale. The event is scheduled for Oct. 5. 'Vette owners will compete for a variety of awards, including a $100 Best of Show prize. The entry fee is $15 per car. Refreshments will be available for sale, and door prizes awarded. The event starts at 9 a.m. at the beach area. There is no admission charge. Booth space costs $20. Information on registration is available by calling 1-270-465-2365. Fall 2002 enrollment sets record in KCTCS colleges LEXINGTON, Ky. (Sept. 24, 2002) - Colleges in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) are enrolling record numbers of students this fall. Enrollment is up more than 5 percent over fall 2001 and more than 45 percent since fall 1998, the first year the new system was in place. KCTCS colleges recently reported to the state Council on Postsecondary Education fall 2002 enrollment of 66,370 full- and part-time students. The preliminary figure includes some course sections that will open in the coming weeks. The fall 2002 unofficial enrollment represents an increase of 5.15 percent over fall 2001 final enrollment of 63,120. Official enrollment is certified on Nov. 1. Enrollment has increased this fall among both full-time students (up 4.1 percent) and part-time students (up 5.1 percent). Fifteen of the 16 KCTCS districts are seeing enrollment increases from fall 2001 to fall 2002. Perryville reenactment to be held FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 23 2002) -- Six thousand "troops," 350 horses, dozens of cannon and perhaps 25,000 spectators are expected Oct. 5-6 for the largest reenactment ever staged of the pivotal Battle of Perryville at Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site in Boyle County. This is the 140th anniversary of the original clash, a fact not lost on the North-South Alliance, a major national reenactment group. So two years ago, the alliance decided to make this year's Perryville event their only national reenactment for 2002. For the past year and a half, officials in the Department of Parks, the Perryville Enhancement Project and the Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitor's Bureau have been hard at work planning the observance. Regular visitors to the annual reenactment won't recognize the 2002 edition. Instead of about 1,000 reenactors, they can expect to see six times that many. Instead of two battles, they can see three. Instead of dozens of horses, they'll see hundreds. The pastoral hills of the original battle site also will be bristling with far more cannon than usual. The grounds of the park itself will be reserved for the reenactors themselves. Visitors will be shuttled to the site from about two miles away. Persons needing special assistance will be accommodated with designated buses. A visitor will have every opportunity to become immersed in the event. Even some of the food available for sale will be reminiscent of mid-19th century fare, with dishes such as beef stew and baked turkey legs, noted Becky Smith, director of recreation in the Dept. of Parks. Saturday's schedule starts with an unprecedented 7 a.m. battle reenactment. A second skirmish is scheduled for 3 p.m. The third battle will be staged at 2 p.m. on Sunday. In between the battles, a host of activities are on tap, from tours to concerts, both at the park and in the town of Perryville. Admission is $10 for a one-day adult pass, $15 for a two-day pass; admission for children age 6-12 is $5 for one day. The second day for a child accompanying an adult with a two-day pass is free. For more information, call the park at 859-332-8631. Perryville reenactment to be held FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 23 2002) -- Six thousand "troops," 350 horses, dozens of cannon and perhaps 25,000 spectators are expected Oct. 5-6 for the largest reenactment ever staged of the pivotal Battle of Perryville at Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site in Boyle County. This is the 140th anniversary of the original clash, a fact not lost on the North-South Alliance, a major national reenactment group. So two years ago, the alliance decided to make this year's Perryville event their only national reenactment for 2002. For the past year and a half, officials in the Department of Parks, the Perryville Enhancement Project and the Danville-Boyle County Convention and Visitor's Bureau have been hard at work planning the observance. Regular visitors to the annual reenactment won't recognize the 2002 edition. Instead of about 1,000 reenactors, they can expect to see six times that many. Instead of two battles, they can see three. Instead of dozens of horses, they'll see hundreds. The pastoral hills of the original battle site also will be bristling with far more cannon than usual. The grounds of the park itself will be reserved for the reenactors themselves. Visitors will be shuttled to the site from about two miles away. Persons needing special assistance will be accommodated with designated buses. A visitor will have every opportunity to become immersed in the event. Even some of the food available for sale will be reminiscent of mid-19th century fare, with dishes such as beef stew and baked turkey legs, noted Becky Smith, director of recreation in the Dept. of Parks. Saturday's schedule starts with an unprecedented 7 a.m. battle reenactment. A second skirmish is scheduled for 3 p.m. The third battle will be staged at 2 p.m. on Sunday. In between the battles, a host of activities are on tap, from tours to concerts, both at the park and in the town of Perryville. Admission is $10 for a one-day adult pass, $15 for a two-day pass; admission for children age 6-12 is $5 for one day. The second day for a child accompanying an adult with a two-day pass is free. For more information, call the park at 859-332-8631. Winchester Pastor Charged With Rape 9-5-02 (Tishomingo, Oklahoma-AP) -- A Kentucky pastor accused of raping a 12-year-old Oklahoma girl has surrendered to officials in that state. The Reverend Chadwick Keathley is associate pastor of Ark of Mercy Church of God in Winchester. He responded Tuesday to an arrest warrant issued August 26th. Prosecutors charged the 27-year-old Keathley with lewd molestation, first-degree rape and rape by instrumentation. He was released after posting a $25,000 cash bond, and an October 22nd preliminary hearing was scheduled. The alleged incident occurred during summer 2000 at a Church of God gathering at Camp Bond Youth Camp near Tishomingo. According to an affidavit, Keathley allegedly took the girl at knifepoint away from the camp and into a secluded wooded area, threatening to harm her and her family members. Keathley's attorney, Wallace Coppedge, says Keathley pleaded innocent and he plans a vigorous defense. Man Charged in Drug Case 9-5-02 A dangerous drug is showing up in greater quanities in Central and Eastern Kentucky. Police say methamphetamine may even be the drug of choice right now, over marijuana and prescription drugs. Several recent arrests have police worried that the problem is growing out of control. Police say meth is easy to make and the materials are easy to buy, but people don't realize the dangers of using and making the drug. A recent arrest in Laurel County netted nearly 30 pounds of meth. Giant pickle appears on school roof 9-4-02 AP ASPEN, Colo. - Johnny Hoffman wasn't laughing when he discovered the 8-foot-long, 200-plus-pound pickle had been plucked off the top of his sandwich shop's delivery car. He wanted it back. "I called the police. I wanted them to seal off the exits in and out of town," Hoffman said. "That pickle has become a big part of our image." Hoffman wasn't the only one puzzling over how the pickle wound up on the roof of Aspen High School. School officials and police in this glitzy resort town also want to know who the mastermind is behind the pickle prank. The pickle will stay on the school roof until a team can be brought in to safely return it to its rightful owners. Artist Tim Murray crafted the giant bright green pickle out of steel and brass in 1992. Hoffman and partner Terrance McGuire own delis in Aspen, Denver and Durango. Judge challenges pot-smoking basketball player to game 9-4-02 SANTA ANA, Calif. - The 20-year-old former high school basketball star told the judge he smoked pot because it made him a better player. So the 42-year-old jurist challenged him to a game of one-on-one on a different court. "I thought maybe he was kidding," said defendant Alvaro Alvarez, who accepted the challenge after he was charged with marijuana possession. Superior Court Judge Marc Kelly sentenced Alvarez to attend drug abuse classes for the misdemeanor, then told him to return to court ready for a game. On Tuesday, Alvarez proved he attended class. Then the judge stripped off his judicial robe and laced up his sneakers. "You better not let him beat you," Alvarez's friends said. Alvarez, who said he's been smoking pot since he was 10, added he wouldn't need the relaxing qualities he said marijuana provides to take on a player more than twice his age. After all, he was the defensive player of the year as a sophomore at Santa Ana Valley High School. As he faced off against the judge outside the Orange County courthouse, Judge Steven L. Perk stepped up to referee and half dozen court employees made up the cheering section. Although both players stood about 5-foot-10 and appeared physically fit, it was no contest. In a game to see who could score the first 10 baskets, the judge slam-dunked the former high school star 10-3. "Defensive player of the year, Alvarez? Come on," Kelly trash-talked at one point, then drove for two consecutive lay-ups. "The marijuana's getting to you, Alvarez. You're exhausted, aren't you?" After the game, the two embraced. "You surprise me," a winded Alvarez told the judge. "You are quicker than most of the guys I play with." Perhaps that's because Kelly had played some ball himself, on a Notre Dame team that included future NBA players Orlando Woolridge and Bill Laimbeer. "Lay off the marijuana," he admonished Alvarez. "I might have to, because it's getting me tired," Alvarez replied. No Area Traffic Deaths during Holiday 9-2-02 Hazard Ky. THE KENTUCKY STATE POLICE IN HAZARD WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT DURING THE HOLIDAY 8-30-2002 THRU 9-1-2002 POST 13 DID NOT HAVE ANY FATALITIES. THE OFFICERS AT POST 13 HELD 19 DIFFERENT TRAFFIC CHECKS WITH OVER 950 VEHICLES INSPECTED. TROOPERS ISSUED 44 SEATBELT CITATIONS AND 8 CHILD RESTRAINT CITATIONS ALONG WITH MAKING 8 D.U.I. ARREST. THE OFFICERS DURING THE STATE CAMPAIGN “YOU DRINK &DRIVE. YOU LOSE” HAVE MADE TRAVELING SAFE IN OUR AREA Cont. from Front page Lawyers Disability 'Lawyers love these cases' In Barbourville, cheap plastic chairs in Baker's small waiting room are filled. Welfare mothers who exhausted their benefits. Coal miners wheezing after years of inhaling dust underground, who worked off the books and therefore are ineligible for Social Security Disability Insurance. People who claim they are almost too depressed to leave home each day. "I see some families where their whole income is based on SSI," Baker said. "Both parents and two or three kids, they all get disability checks." "A lot of the people I deal with, they break my heart," he said. "That's why what I do is so rewarding, to be able to help people like that." Like most disability lawyers, Baker gets up to $5,300 for each successful claim. Some disability lawyers deal in volumes large enough to yield six-figure incomes. "Lawyers love these cases," said Jim Kelly, an Eastern Kentucky district manager for the Social Security Administration, which manages SSI. "They don't involve a whole lot of new work for each case," Kelly said. "You have a hundred cases in the government's files with your name on them, and you wait for them to hatch." Lawyers say they're needed to guide the poor and disabled through the bureaucracy. 'Your lawyer is your gun' Applying for SSI requires at least a medical complaint and a doctor's visit to support it. Some applicants push their claims for years, adding fresh complaints, fighting their way through levels of appeal and even suing for benefits if necessary. "SSI has gotten difficult. It's like filing income taxes," said disability lawyer McKinley Morgan of Hyden. Morgan said he wins 75 percent of disability claims for about 700 clients a year. Most are rejected initially, then prevail at appeal hearings before Social Security administrative law judges, he said. Unlike a courtroom trial, nobody represents the government at these hearings to challenge the disability claims. "If you want to be successful, you need to hire a lawyer because we know how to arrange for the medical experts, how to fill out the forms and present the information we've accumulated," Morgan said. "I explain it to my clients in hunting terms, which they can understand: 'Your lawyer is your gun,'" he said. Disability lawyers said SSI applicants are twice as successful with counsel as without. Social Security officials said they don't keep data to verify that. Law degree unnecessary SSI is a booming market for lawyers. Nationally, 434,000 people were denied a disability check in 2000 and then appealed. About 70 percent of them hired a lawyer. Only 35 percent of disability appeals 25 years ago involved lawyers. Some lawyers complain their field is so lucrative it's attracting competition: "non-attorney representatives," storefront offices that advise SSI applicants. These firms, such as AB Disability Associates in Manchester and Disability Claims Services in Pikeville, help applicants with paperwork just as lawyers do, although they can't argue in court without hiring their own counsel. Their market also is growing: About 20 percent of disability appeals in 2000 involved a non-attorney representative, up from 10 percent 25 years ago. "We've got everything from ex-Social Security officials to hairdressers running these businesses," Baker groused. "It feels like everyone's getting into it." There are enough clients for everyone, replied Brenda Bailey, owner of AB Disability Associates. Bailey opened her firm after seven years processing disability claims at Social Security's Office of Hearings and Appeals in Lexington. She said her insider's knowledge of the SSI program is as useful as a law degree; her firm handles about 100 cases a year. "You're supposed to get the same fair hearing regardless of whether you're represented or not. But my experience has been that you're more likely to be approved if you're represented," Bailey said. KY Army National Guard Units Return Home Kentucky, 8-9-02 More than 400 soldiers from the Kentucky National Guard will return to their hometowns this weekend, following successful European missions. The units were deployed in February in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. On Saturday, there will be a homecoming celebration at the Optimist Club Facility in London at one p.m. At 4 p.m., there will be another celebration at Town Square in Somerset. The number of Kentucky National Guards members still on duty for both operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Noble eagle currently stands at about 1,800, which is the largest federal activation of Kentucky Guard troops since World War II. |
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