Webb, a Grayson attorney presently serves as Vice-Chair of the powerful Appropriations and Revenue Committee, and Chair of the bipartisan House Women's Caucus. She is a member of the Budget Sub-Committee on Judiciary and Corrections, Judiciary, Tourism and Energy, and Agriculture and Natural Resource Standing Committees. She has been appointed to serve on the Tobacco Task Force, Oxycontin and Drug Strategy Task Force, Task Force on the Economic Status of Women, and the Local Jail Standards Commission.

On the national level she represents Kentucky on several committees, as a member of the Council of State Governments Public Safety and Justice; National Council of State Legislatures Law and Justice; and the Southern Legislative Council Energy Committee.

Representative Webb was instrumental in the negotiation and passage of HB 611, the tobacco master settlement monies distribution, and fought to maintain monies to be paid directly to tobacco impacted counties.

She is the lead plaintiff in the pending lawsuit against the Kentucky Personnel Cabinet in U.S. District Court to provide equity for state employee health insurance. Her work is done primarily in public safety issues such as corrections, drug diversion and addiction, domestic violence, health insurance, and other issues affecting rural Kentucky and families and children.

The Lewis County Sheriff's Department attended a training session last Friday at the Lewis County Courthouse for a new non-lethal weapon called a Taser X26. Six of these weapons were purchased by the department at the price of $750 each.

The weapon is the most modern non-lethal weapon on the market. It is a small, light-weight "shocker-like" weapon that subdues a suspect for a short period of time, allowing officers to make the arrest.

The gun releases 50,000 volts and causes absolutely no injury, even in cases of heart problems or high blood pressure. The weapon is equipped with nighttime illumination and stores the time and date of each shot.

"The purpose of purchasing the guns is, number one, for the protection of injury to the officer," said Lewis County Sheriff Bill Lewis, "and number two, to protect the suspect that is being taken into custody."

The Taser allows an officer to stand up to 21 feet from the suspect. Also, a baton can cause injuries to the suspect. Pepper spray allows the suspect to continue to move and fight even though temporarily blinded.

According to statistics provided by Deputy Dwayne Stone, certified Taser X26 trainer, the non-lethal weapon has reduced injuries to officers by 80 percent and injuries to suspects by 69 percent. The weapon has save $2.5 million in liability savings and 1,740 lives have been saved.

School resource officers will be armed with the Taser to protect students from unwanted visitors. Also, each deputy in the department will be armed with a Taser while on duty.

Meeting in a special session last November 20, the Vanceburg City Council adopted a resolution to accept Downtown Revitalization Funds of $250,000 from the Renaissance Kentucky Alliance and to authorize Mayor William T. "Bill Tom" Cooper to execute all documents necessary between the city and the Kentucky Housing Corporation.

The council then entered a lengthy discussion on the problems with the radio system for the Vanceburg Police Department and the city and county fire departments.

Dispatcher Richard Evans told the council that since the ice storm last February the system has not worked well and has become worse.

Evans said that communicators could not talk on the south end or the east end and could not even talk in front of the courthouse on the radios.

He said that the cure is a new repeater and that someone is going to get hurt if something isn’t done to correct the problem.

Vanceburg Police Chief Joe Billman echoed that sentiment.

Dennis Brown of Brown Communications stated that the ice storm caused a lot of problems for a lot of people.

Brown had presented a letter to the mayor informing the council that an invoice for the second of two repeaters he had installed had not been paid. One repeater was installed in 1998 at a cost of $8,772. The invoice on another that was installed in the year 2000 had not been paid.

Mayor Cooper assured him that that bill would be paid and told him the city could not find an invoice for that second repeater. He said that by law the city could not pay any bill unless it first has an invoice in hand.

Brown agreed to remove the repeaters from the WKKS Radio tower and said that other companies wanted to rent that space for other communications equipment such as cell phones and wireless Internet service.

A communications company from Pikeville advised the city to put one antenna up on the fire tower and another on the city’s water tower.

Chief Billman told the council that he would have the equipment checked to see what repairs need to be done.

Brown told the council that the antennae were damaged from the ice storm and recommended that they be replaced.