Meeting in regular session last week, the Vanceburg City Council adopted two resolutions permitting Mayor William T. Cooper to apply for funding for separate projects in the city.

One application is to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet under the Transportation Equity Act for the 21^st Century (TEA 21) and is for $100,000 for the restoration and renovation of the Old Commercial Hotel property. Citizens Deposit Bank & Trust donated the building and lot to the city last month.

The estimated cost of the project totals $85,000 and, if approved, funding from the grant would pay 50% of that cost. The city would be responsible for $42,500. The city will hold that amount in reserve in the event the grant is awarded.

Members of the Lewis County Industrial Authority met last week with engineers working on improvement designs at the Black Oak Industrial Park.

Phil Biggs, with Diamond Engineering in Greenup, presented various sets of plans for improvements to some 60 acres, which will become part of the industrial park.

Biggs drew up the plans following an earlier meeting in which Industrial Authority members roughly laid out the wanted improvements and a budget of $770,000 was set.

Members opted to go with the plan, which will subdivide the property into smaller parcels rather than fewer larger parcels.

Vanceburg Mayor W.T. Cooper told Industrial Authority members he would rather see 10 companies employing 100 workers each than one company employing 1,000 workers.

"We're looking at 100 job plants," Cooper said. "We're looking at companies that don't need the full 60 acres."

Biggs said some 169,000 cubic yards of earth will be removed during the grading process. The task, he said, will not be as bad as it sounds since the sandy material is easy to work with.

Some of the work has already begun with a house on the site demolished by a controlled burn. Some of the cleanup will involve removing outbuildings, chimneys and the foundation of the house.

Lewis said his office was notified about 8:30 a.m. to respond to a gravel driveway about four miles south of the AA Highway on Salt Lick Road.

Lewis said the body of David J. Thornsberry, 29, of Batesville, Indiana, was discovered in a vehicle parked in the driveway.

Lewis said a receipt from Ramada Inn in Maysville was discovered in the vehicle and the victim's billfold and other belongings were found inside the room, apparently left there by the victim when he checked out of the motel earlier that morning.

The session started last week with increased security at the State Capitol and annex.

Webb dubbed the added security a waste of resources and said the measures would likely do little to avert a planned terrorist attack on the capitol building.

The state spent about $400,000 at the complex to install metal detectors, electronic doors and additional security personnel.

Those entering the annex or capitol building must show a photo identification and sign in or have an electronic key. Legislators, some lobbyists and other officials have the electronic keys to allow them to pass through the checkpoints without the delays associated with the metal detector checks and signing in each time they enter the complex.

Webb said one person last week stood in line for four hours to gain access to the complex.

Webb said she had been working nearly non-stop during the first week of the session, even skipping lunch to make it to scheduled meetings and appointments.

Among the bills filed by Webb last week were those concerning OxyContin and juvenile justice. Webb said she also plans to address teacher pay during this session despite the predicted budget shortfalls.

Webb said she is concerned that Kentucky teachers are making only $500 above the US median pay for teachers. As a result, she said, the state is losing qualified teachers to other professions and to bordering states with higher pay.