1205 news

Magistrates accept insurance bid

By Al Owens

Meeting in regular session Monday the Lewis County Fiscal Court tabled accepting Deerview Lane into the county road system until a few minor improvements are completed.

Road Foreman Dane Howard told the court that the road is black topped and in good shape and recommended it be accepted into the system after the improvements are done.

County Attorney Clayton "Buddy" Lykins, Jr. gave second reading to an ordinance amending the budget to show unbudgeted receipts of $75,000 from the Commonwealth of Kentucky for the Boys and Girls Club of Lewis County. The court approved and accepted the amendment.

After a two to two tie vote on two different motions regarding property, liability, fleet and workers compensation insurance the court moved to accept St. Paul Insurance's bid for property, liability and fleet insurance for $77,853.25 and to accept Kentucky Association of Counties' (KACo) bid of $61,919 for workers compensation insurance.

KACo has said it will pull its workers comp in two months if the county did not grant them the bid for the whole insurance package.

The court approved a contract with Brewer's Lawn Service for 2005 for $250 to mow in the Vanceburg-Lewis County Industrial Park at Black Oak and behind the Hollinee Building.

The court moved to approve the relocation of Fuller Branch County Road. Road Forman Dane Howard explained that currently the road lies alongside the branch and is subject to flooding. The road would be relocated away from the branch into the middle of the bottom and would be widened to 16 feet and would be graveled. People's Self Help Housing plans to build 43 low-income houses at that location.

Lisa Psingston from Kentucky Attorney Greg Stumbo's office in Frankfort appeared before the court to announce the establishment of the Kentucky Bureau of Investigation. The KBI is not affiliated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation but is a separate state entity operating on its own.

Psingston said that the bureau features four major areas of investigation. They are drug investigation, Medicaid fraud including food stamp fraud, public corruption and elder abuse.

She told the court that the bureau has satellite offices in Benton, Prestonburg and Maysville.

Linda Goins from Correct Care in Lexington explained that company's program to the court. Medical care can be provided for county jail inmates for a fee of $13 per inmate per month. Care for state inmates is provided at no cost to the county, and that part of the program is already in place.

Jailer Tim Underwood said that the average cost to the county would be $300 per month.

Goins said one trip to the emergency room was much more expensive than that and that Correct Care's program would save the county a lot of money. The program does not cover the cost of regular doctor office visits. The court tabled the issue until next month in order to review the program further before coming to a decision.

Amy Kennedy from the Buffalo Trace Area Development District gave the court an update on the progress of the new Lewis County Health Department Project. The county has received a $1 million Community Development Block Grant for the project. A grant agreement meeting is scheduled for Monday, March 21, in Frankfort that County Judge Executive Steve Applegate and Mayor William T. "Bill Tom" Cooper will attend along with Kennedy and the architects to discuss the requirements and regulations of the contract.

She said that other funds involving $250,000 from Rural Development and ARC each are in the works, and those funds should be received in the next 30 to 45 days.

Kennedy expressed hopes that construction can begin this summer. The grant agreement requires that the project be advertised for bid by August 30. The plans are already approved except for some minor interior design changes.
Kennedy then addressed the Garrison Sewer Project. A recent customer list of the households in the sewer project area has been requested. An income survey list is being compiled. The engineers are revising some design plans, but work is taking place on both projects.
Glenn Bannister appeared before the court and offered to donate the old War Surplus Building in downtown Vanceburg to the county for the purpose of creating a workshop to be used in a rehabilitation program for the jail inmates.
Bannister now works for the jail in the family reunification services, the AA program and conducting religious services.
Magistrate Milt Stanfield noted that rehabilitation is important because the inmates should come out of jail better than when they went in.
The court tabled action on the offer until the April session so the building can be evaluated and the court can look into the matter.
The court moved to contribute $1,000 to the Lewis County Little League.
The court also moved to change the name of the North Central Volunteer Fire Tax District to match the name of the fire department. The new name will be the Lewis County Fire Tax District.
The court approved the Jail Commissary financial report and also approved all the claims and transfers for the General, Road and Bridge and Jail Fund accounts.
County treasurer Kathy Dillow reported that the total of all county funds comes to $3,452,777.34. Total disbursements were $2,793,465.01 with a cash balance of $669,312.33. The court approved that report.
Lykins asked the court to act on a $27,999.33 bid for radio equipment received from DKC Radio, Washington, Kentucky. The money comes from a Homeland Security Grant for Law Enforcement. The county must pay the cost up front and then be reimbursed with the grant funds. The grant has already been approved. The court approved the bid from DKC Radio.
Amy Kennedy stepped back before the court to announce that the Adult Literacy program is back in Lewis County. She said it currently has 76 participants and is looking for more. Right now the program is housed in the Housing Authority Building but is looking for its own location. The Adult Literacy Council will soon begin its fund raising program.
Milt Stanfield announced that the county has received $62,125 from the Co-op Emergency Funding program to repair three slips on Holly Road. The court moved to advertise for bids for that project.
Applegate announced that Lewis County Cleanup Week would be from Monday through Saturday, March 21-26. The Lewis County Solid Waste Department will be receiving discarded items at the recycling center off Rt. 3037 daily between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. At no charge, county residents may drop off old appliances, tires, furniture, mattresses and televisions. Items not being accepted are computer monitors, propane tanks and household waste.
Applegate said that the next regular session of the fiscal court would be on Monday, April 11 at 9:30 a.m. in the third floor courtroom in the Lewis County Courthouse.
The March meeting was recessed until Monday, March 28, at 9:30 a.m. for the purpose of a general budget presentation and to open the bids for the Holly Road project.

School Board approves Code of Conduct

By Al Owens
Meeting in regular session last week the Lewis County Board of Education approved the first reading of the 2005-06 Code of Conduct.
Kevin Duff explained that this action is taken annually to update the code. This year only two minor changes were made from last year. The absence and excuse policy has been revised, and the word "may" has been added to the definition of a weapon. Naturally, no weapons are allowed on school campuses. Any knife can now be considered a weapon.
The board approved a BG1 to add lights to the girls' softball field. The work will not be completed in time for this year's season since the state did not have a budget in time to get started on the project but will be ready for next year.
The board approved the annual Kentucky Interlocal School Transportation Association (KISTA) resolution.
In relation to that action the board approved the sale of two 1989 66-passenger busses through KISTA.
Three other busses, a van and a passenger car were declared as surplus property and will be sold to the public through sealed bids.
Several math teachers from the district appeared before the board to explain the new math programs implemented in the school system. This year the schools moved from a traditional approach to research based programs.
The fourth and fifth grades are using a program called Trailblazers. The middle school is using the Connected Math Program, and the high school is using the CORE Plus Integrated Program.
Sheila Ruark and Tammy Ginn, fifth grade teachers from Garrison and Central, actually had the board do two assignments from the Trailblazers Program.

Ruark told the board that the students were a bit frustrated with the changes at first. Ginn said that the program is challenging but now the students love it because it’s hands on learning.
Ruark said they would have to wait for this year's CATS test results to see how successful the program will be.
Chris Bryan from the middle school used an overhead projector to show the board examples of classroom work compared to assigned homework. The Connected Math Program connects the math with real life applications as well as interacting with other math books at different levels of study.
Bryan told the board that in Connected Math each book has a theme.
He said, "We’ve had wonderful success with it."
Kenny Scott explained the CORE Plus Program used at the high school. He said that the program is application based.
Scott told the board that usually his Algebra I failure rate in the freshmen class is about 30 percent. With this program that is down to about 10 percent.
He said the program gets the students involved. They can't just memorize their way through the class. They have to learn how to apply the math in reality situations.
Jackie Claxon, chair of the math department, said, "This is not math for dummies. It is challenging."
She told the board that the teachers have training in the summer to prepare them for teaching the next level.
Belinda Forman pointed out that test results might not take a big leap this year because the programs are new and the students are adjusting to them, but the staff does expect improvement as time passes.

Fatal accident Monday morning on AA

Fog apparently contributed to a fatal accident early Monday on the AA Highway about five miles west of Vanceburg.
The accident happened about 7:20 a.m. just west of Swearingen Branch and in heavy fog conditions, according to witnesses at the scene.
Lewis County Sheriff's deputy Tom Polley said preliminary reports indicated that a Dodge Dakota was traveling west on the highway and was attempting to pass a tractor trailer when the pickup collided head on with a Ford van, which was traveling east on the roadway.
Polley said the handicapped-equipped van, registered to Comprehend, included the driver, Fred Stamm, 53, and two passengers, Jim Carrington, 65, and Tammy White, 38, all of Vanceburg. The pickup was operated by Kenneth Coovert, 24, of Barboursville, West Virginia.
Coovert was pronounced dead at the scene by Lewis County Coroner Tony Gaydos.
Stamm, Carrington and White were all transported to Meadowview Regional Medical Center in Maysville. White was treated and released. Stamm was airlifted to University of Kentucky Medical Center.
Carrington was also transferred to UK Medical Center, where he died Monday evening. Services for Carrington are will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, March 26, at Gaydos Funeral Home in Vanceburg.

Dennis Brown/Lewis County Herald

Heavy fog apparently contributed to this accident Monday morning on the AA Highway west of Vanceburg. One person was pronounced dead at the scene and another died Monday evening at UK Medical Center in Lexington.

Polley said witnesses indicated the weather conditions difficult to see very far ahead.

Traffic, including school buses, tractor trailers and people on their way to work, was backed up for more than 1.5 miles in each direction.

Members of the Vanceburg and Tollesboro Fire and Rescue Squads were on the scene to assist with removing the victims from the vehicles. Polley was also assisted at the scene by Lewis County Emergency Management and members of the Black Oak and Garrison Fire Departments.

Fire destroys Quincy home

Firefighters were called out early Sunday, March 13, to the home of Kathy Potter on Parker Drive at Quincy.
Sheriff's Deputy Dwayne Stone said the cause of the fire is thought to be a kerosene heater in the kitchen of the home.
Stone said Potter's cat woke her up and likely saved her life.
Vinyl siding on a neighboring residence was damaged from the fire.

Photos by Dwayne Stone/LCSO

Firefighters from the Black Oak, Kinniconick, Vanceburg and Camp Dix Fire Departments were on the scene for about three hours.

Stone said Potter's 13-year-old daughter was not at home at the time of the fire.

Stone is also investigating a burglary at the home of David Potter at Garrison. He said several tools, including a 10-inch table saw and a 12-inch miter saw were taken.

Anyone with any information should contact the Lewis County Sheriff's Office.

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