News

By Dennis Brown

Students in Lewis County schools last week received some lessons in safety, thanks to Health and Safety Day, coordinated by the Lewis County 4-H program.

The program is designed for sixth graders, according to 4-H Coordinator Sherrill Bentley, and all of those students in the county attended the event.

Bentley said nine booths were set up at Lewis County Middle School and were tended by volunteers from the Lewis County Health Department, Lewis County Extension Office, school nurses, Fleming-Mason Energy and Lewis County Youth Services Center. Information was provided on topics related to the health and safety of students.

Among the stations was one to demonstrate some first aid practices including how to treat burns, and minor cuts and treating nose bleeds. Another dealt with sun safety and the importance of wearing sun screen and protective clothing to help prevent sunburn and skin cancer.

Bentley said a booth dealing with ATV safety allowed volunteers to review safety equipment needed to ride an all terrain vehicle and the importance of wearing and using proper safety equipment. One of the booths demonstrated how students could perform the Heimlich maneuver on a choking adult, infant or child.

Other stations dealt with diabetes education, farm and tractor safety, health and nutrition and safety around electrical wires, she said. Bentley added diabetes education was chosen as one of the safety topics since Lewis County has a comparatively high rate of diabetes.

She said the topics were chosen based on the core curriculum and planned program of studies for sixth graders.

Fleming-Mason Energy provided demonstrations utilizing a trailer which had been modified to include utility poles, electric lines, connections and a line transformer.

Billy “Grover” Money, a staking engineer with Fleming-Mason, demonstrated various scenarios in which various items came into contact with electric lines.

Money, wearing appropriate safety gear, explained the dangers as he demonstrated items such as antennae and ladders coming into contact with electric lines. He also showed, utilizing a large stuffed bird, how animals can contact electric lines and cause a short.

One of the demonstrations popular with the fourth grade students showed how a hot dog can be instantly “cooked” when placed in contact with a hot wire and a ground.

He cautioned the students to stay away from any downed lines they may see and to report the downed lines to a local utility company. Money also answered several questions from students and stressed that if you are in a vehicle that a utility line has come into contact with to stay put until told by a utility worker that it is OK to safely exit the vehicle.

One of his demonstrations showed how even kite strings can conduct electricity when they come into contact with utility lines. Money also talked to the kids about safety inside the home while demonstrating the proper use of extension cords, safety caps for outlets and ground fault circuit interrupters.

Money said he enjoys putting on the demonstrations for groups of all ages and added that many of those who attend the demonstrations come away with a greater respect for the electricity traveling through the lines in every community.

Electric safety a good idea for everyone

By Dennis Brown

Although Fleming-Mason Energy was directing a safety demonstration at Lewis County students last week, utility officials say adults should also be aware of the dangers associated with electricity.

Steve Harn, Superintendent of Metering for Fleming-Mason Energy, says there are many dangers associated with electricity when some simple safety precautions aren’t followed.

Harn said some simple rules include staying away from electric company poles, guy wires, substations, and trucks working on lines. He cautions everyone to stay away and keep others back from fallen power lines and to report those instances to a power company.

Harn said to keep all objects away from power lines including ladders, antennae and kites and to never touch a person who is in contact with a live or “hot” power line. He also advises not to plant trees beneath power lines or build anything under those lines.

He urges motorists to slow down and proceed with care if they see crews working on power lines and to contact the power company before doing any type of digging or work adjacent to underground or overhead power lines.

Vanceburg Electric Plant Board Superintendent Eric Bloomfield said the utility company has had some instances in which customers have attempted to reconnect electricity themselves after having service disconnected because of non-payment.

Bloomfield said the attempts are extremely dangerous and the utility company has various ways to spot when someone is using electricity without having a legally connected service.

He said that even after a disconnection has been bypassed that a danger still exists because the circuit is exposed. Bloomfield said anyone having access to touch it could be electrocuted because the safety measures to prevent contact with the non-insulated connections have been removed.

Vanceburg Police Lt. Tom Flannigan said he has been working with the Electric Plant Board on utility theft cases and noted the danger associated with tampering with electrical connections coming into homes and buildings.

Flannigan said the practice is extremely dangerous and could proved deadly to those who tamper with utility connections and bypass disconnection measures taken by utility workers. Flannigan said those who do so will also be charged with theft of services along with any destruction of property in association with their actions.

Anyone who knows of illegal utility connections should contact authorities or the utility company to report them.

Shirley A. Hinton retires as Lewis County Clerk

By Dennis Brown

After nearly 56 years of filing deeds, overseeing elections, issuing fishing licenses and handing out license plates to Lewis County motorists, County Clerk Shirley A. Hinton has retired from that position. Her retirement from the post became effective at midnight on Saturday.

Hinton said the decision to retire from public service was bittersweet and added she will miss the daily interaction with friends and associates in her courthouse office.

Hinton began her stint in the clerk’s office in January 1954 when she joined the staff of then County Clerk George Martin Plummer as a deputy clerk, a position she held for the next 16 years.

She said she asked voters to support her bid to become clerk in 1969 and carried that first election to public office with 70 percent of the vote. She was unopposed in the ten elections since then. The current term will expire in 2010. And Chief Deputy Clerk Glenda Himes has been appointed to complete the term.

“I have faithfully, and to the best of my ability, served the citizens of Lewis County and upheld the trust that the good people of placed in me over the years,” Hinton said on her final day in office.

“I sincerely hope that my legacy will be one of a dedicated public servant committed to the betterment of Lewis County and serving the needs of its great citizens,” she added.

Hinton recalled some of the major changes in the clerk’s office during her time there. One of those came in 1981 when the state implemented computer systems to handle automobile registrations and licensing.

“(Deputy Clerk) Virginia Ruark and I went and took two days of training then came back and started training the other deputies. It was a major step going from the old manual typewriters on the counter to entering the information on computers,” she said.

Voting machines utilized in the county have also been upgraded several times since Hinton first took office. Paper ballots gave way to massive machines located at each precinct.

Because of their size, the 900 pound vote counters remained at precinct locations and teams made visits to set them up for each election. In 1998 touch voting machines, or 1242s, were introduced and in 2006 E-slate voting was brought into the county.

With the construction of the Lewis County Justice Center in 2003, the clerk’s office expanded to encompass space that had been occupied by the sheriff’s office. The sheriff’s office relocated to the first floor of the courthouse when the court clerk’s office moved into the new facility.

Last year the clerk’s office modernized once again with the installation of equipment to computerize delinquent real estate taxes and with computers to digitally record deeds for the county.

Hinton said most records now filed with the clerk’s office are also stored on microfilm at the state’s Department of Libraries and Archives in Frankfort.

“I have truly been blessed with a great staff throughout the years,” she said. “They are the face of this office. They are the people everyone sees when they come in to do business here and they continually strive to assist everyone who comes through these doors.”

Those workers are presently Charles Hall, Debbie Witten, Stephanie Story, Annabelle Applegate and Ike Hammond.

Hinton said she has had many wonderful and knowledgeable deputy clerks over the years, including Glenda Himes, Virginia Ruark, Barbara Reis Stone, Carla Lambert, Vera Lambert, Sue Harris, Sue Gilbert, Ruth Brewer and Charlene Johnson. “Forgive me if I’ve left anyone out,” she said. “This is a very emotional time for me.”

Hinton said she plans to spend her extra time tending to her flowers, doing volunteer and church work, visiting with friends and family, and will dote on her grandson, Ike, who attends Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio, and works part-time at the clerk’s office.

She said her daughters, Willa Norris and Lucinda Hinton, visit with her regularly at her home west of Vanceburg. Her husband, Dick, died in 2001.

“Everyone has always been so kind and gracious,” she said. “I will never forget everything the wonderful people of our great county have done for me. I love them all.”

Glenda Himes is named to complete clerk's term

By Dennis Brown

A veteran employee of the Lewis County Clerk’s Office has been appointed to fill the remainder of the term left vacant by the retirement of Clerk Shirley A. Hinton.

Glenda Himes, Chief Deputy Clerk, was told of her appointment by Judge Executive Steve Applegate Thursday afternoon.

“Those are going to be some big shoes to fill,” Himes said of Hinton after hearing the news. “No one could do this job with the expertise and skill that she has demonstrated over the years.”

Himes joined the clerk’s office January 22, 1979, and has worked in multiple capacities since. Most recently as Chief Deputy Clerk.

Himes learned of her appointment Thursday afternoon when Applegate stopped by the clerk’s office to report he had spoken with the Kentucky Department of Local Government concerning the proper steps to take in appointing someone to fill an unexpired term to the county clerk’s office.

“I will continue to do my best to accommodate all of the needs of the citizens of Lewis County for this office and will operate this office in the same efficient and professional manner as has been the standard for all these many years,” Himes said. “The transition will be seamless and I pledge to continue to perform my duties and the duties of this office to the best of my abilities.”

Applegate passed along a list of names and numbers of state officials that Hinton and Himes will be working with during the transition and reviewed information on closing out the records, transferring accounts and getting the office ready to reopen under Himes’ administration. The clerk’s office was closed Monday to allow for the transition and was set to open on regular schedule Tuesday.

Dennis Brown/Lewis County Herald

Glenda Himes was appointed to complete the term of County Clerk left vacant by the retirement of Shirley A. Hinton last week.

Applegate said it was his first opportunity to appoint an elected county official to complete a term and added he was proud and honored to appoint the most qualified person to fill the position.

He said in recent memory there have been only two positions in the courthouse to become vacant and require appointments. Those, he said, were made by the governor’s office as required by statute. Betty Ripato and Anthony Silvey were each appointed to the office of PVA to complete unexpired terms.

Himes, a lifelong Lewis County resident, resides at Flag Point near Garrison with her husband, Steve. She is the daughter of Otha and Hazel Goodwin of Ashland.

Himes’ dedication to her job and attention to detail will ensure the office of Lewis County Clerk will continue to operate as an efficient and well-oiled machine.

Storms strike Black Oak

By Dennis Brown

A localized thunderstorm dumped inches of rain and resulted in damage and road detours at Black Oak last week.

Larry Fannin, who lives on Fannin Lane east of Vanceburg, said his rain gauge recorded just over four inches of rain in a short period early Tuesday afternoon and his tobacco patches echoed that measurement.

“We just finished setting tobacco on Friday and now I’m looking at resetting two, or maybe all three of the patches,” Fannin said from his farm.

The rain and resulting runoff washed out a section of culvert pipe at the mouth of Fannin Lane and left two utility poles supported by the lines connected to them. Rock and gravel from several driveways was washed out onto the roadway and into neighboring yards.

Ky. Rt. 8 between Vanceburg and the Ronald Reagan Memorial Parkway at the Black Oak Industrial Park was closed as water continued to run over the roadway and state road crews worked to clear the roadway of debris to allow for the safe travel of motorists.

Fannin said the storm also produced some hail and a little wind, the second time in as many years this type of storm has overloaded the drainage systems in place in the area.

Fannin said his family moved to that location in 1953 or 1954 and since that time he doesn’t recall the storms having this type of effect. He said he believes the construction of the Ronald Reagan Memorial Parkway, a connector road between the AA Highway and the Black Oak Industrial Park, may be to blame for the situation.

Fannin said the construction of the roadway changed the landscape and removed trees that likely helped to slow runoff of the rain. He noted that the natural drainage paths and ditches were altered with the construction of the roadway and existing culverts aren’t big enough to handle the volume of water produced by heavy rainfall over short periods.

Driveway gravel washed across Ky. Rt. 8 and was deposited in lawns. Rocks and debris were washed from ditches and left on the roadway. Water ran underneath some homes on the north side of Ky. Rt. 8 and into at least one home.

Homeowners were busy cleaning the debris and state and county road crews were called from other jobs around the county to

Dennis Brown/Lewis County Herald

This garden/tobacco patch on Fannin Lane at Black Oak was heavily damaged last week as the result of a storm passing through the area. Larry Fannin said he plans on resetting portions of his tobacco patches.

work on clearing the roadway and begin repairs to damaged culverts and ditches.

Fannin said he was looking at resetting about one to two acres of his five acres of tobacco and repairing the fields where the runoff cut through the loose soil. “The rain just seemed to come all at once,” he said. Water remained standing in at least one of the patches the next day.

Fannin said he had talked to some county and state officials concerning the problem and added they had indicate they would visit the area to assess what steps could be taken to improve drainage and lessen the chances of similar damage in the future.

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