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Manchester Enterprise - 10.9.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

0:01
Speaker 1: Now we turn to the Manchester Enterprise to read news
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Speaker 1: from and around Manchester. Your reader today is Mike Keller.
0:11
Speaker 1: We will begin with the edition dated October the 9th.
0:16
Speaker 1: As a reminder, Radio Eye is a reading service intended
0:19
Speaker 1: for people who are blind or have other disabilities that
0:23
Speaker 1: make it difficult to read printed materials. First story is
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Speaker 1: Second Voices and Vision event brings community together to advance
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Speaker 1: rural mental health and suicide prevention in southeast Kentucky. On Thursday,
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Speaker 1: September the 10th, community leaders, health care providers, educators, advocates,
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Speaker 1: and residents from across southeast Kentucky gathered for the second
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Speaker 1: annual Voices and Vision event. hosted by Volunteers of America Mid-States, VOA,
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Speaker 1: and the Whitney Strong Organization, to address one of the
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Speaker 1: region's most pressing challenges, improving access to mental health and
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Speaker 1: preventing suicide in rural communities. This year's event, Voices in Vision,
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Speaker 1: Suicide Awareness and Prevention, Rural Mental Health and access to
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Speaker 1: care brought together professionals and community members for a day
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Speaker 1: of conversations focused on reducing stigma, strengthening support systems, and
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Speaker 1: identifying practical solutions to help individuals and families access the
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Speaker 1: care they need. CDC data shows that in 2021, the
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Speaker 1: suicide rate was 21.7 per 100,000 in most rural counties,
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Speaker 1: compared with 11.6 per 100,000 in large metropolitan counties, nearly
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Speaker 1: twice as high, said Jennifer Hancock, VOA, mid-state president and COA,
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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, CEO. This isn't a problem that belongs to
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Speaker 1: mental health professionals alone. It belongs to all of us.
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Speaker 1: Every one of us can learn to recognize warning signs.
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Speaker 1: Every one of us can learn how to start a
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Speaker 1: difficult conversation. Every one of us can learn how to
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Speaker 1: connect someone to help. Throughout the event, speakers and panelists
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Speaker 1: discussed the unique barriers rural communities face, including provider shortages,
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Speaker 1: transportation challenges, isolation, economic pressures, and limited access to behavioral
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Speaker 1: health services. Attendees heard a keynote presentation from Landon Minor, M.S.,
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Speaker 1: and Taylor Brown, M.A., M.S., from the EKU Trauma and
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Speaker 1: Suicide Prevention Clinic. They also gained insights from a panel
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Speaker 1: discussion on strategies to improve rural mental health care. It
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Speaker 1: can cause anxiety for us to approach these subjects because
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Speaker 1: society tells us that maybe we shouldn't talk about it.
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Speaker 1: That's a stigma that glides around and can shut down conversation,
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Speaker 1: Miner said. It really is of adequate to talk about
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Speaker 1: this stuff and provide anyone a safe space to share
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Speaker 1: their experiences. The event also featured remarks from Senator Brandon Storm,
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Speaker 1: who represents the region in the Kentucky Senate and serves
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Speaker 1: as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Speaking to attendees,
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Speaker 1: Senator Storm underscored the importance of bringing communities together to
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Speaker 1: address mental health challenges and support individuals and families across Kentucky.
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Speaker 1: Families often don't know where to turn, he said. It's
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Speaker 1: very important for people who are in that mental health
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Speaker 1: crisis to understand that you're not pushing them somewhere, you're
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Speaker 1: walking with them somewhere. And now we have Volunteers of
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Speaker 1: America and Humana host Community Health Fair in Manchester. as
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Speaker 1: part of Rural Health and Recovery Initiative. Hundreds of people
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Speaker 1: attended a community health fair on Tuesday, hosted by Volunteers
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Speaker 1: of America and Humana Incorporated at Eastern Kentucky University's Manchester campus.
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Speaker 1: The great community event was part of Humana's efforts to
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Speaker 1: serve and support Eastern Kentucky communities in partnership with VOA.
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Speaker 1: A group of Humana employee ambassadors were in Clay County
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Speaker 1: for three days, bringing clinical and business expertise to the
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Speaker 1: area and learning about local efforts to help improve health outcomes,
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Speaker 1: support recovery, and strengthen rural communities. The health fair featured
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Speaker 1: Humana health care professionals and other providers connecting local residents
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Speaker 1: with health and wellness resources. offerings included, screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol,
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Speaker 1: and BMI, a comprehensive metabolic panel evaluating liver function, kidney function,
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Speaker 1: blood sugar, glucose, electrolyte balance, sodium, potassium, et cetera, and
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Speaker 1: protein levels. A complete blood count, which measures red blood cells,
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Speaker 1: can identify anemia, white blood cells, can indicate infection or inflammation,
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Speaker 1: hemoglobin and hemocritic platelets, platelets important for blood clotting, education
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Speaker 1: preventing around cancer and the importance of easy early screenings,
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Speaker 1: tests for hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis and syphilis, suicide
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Speaker 1: screenings and crisis intervention, substance use tests, Disorder information. Humanities
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Speaker 1: clinicians offered health education resources on topics including tobacco cessation, nutrition,
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Speaker 1: healthy aging, medication management, mental health and well-being, parenting resources,
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Speaker 1: early childhood development, social media safety, and healthy screen time practices,
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Speaker 1: and community resources to address barriers to health, like access
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Speaker 1: to transportation, housing, food, and other social supports. More than
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Speaker 1: a dozen Humana employees and clinicians took part in the
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Speaker 1: three-day visit. They volunteered, met community members, and gained a
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Speaker 1: deeper understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing rural Kentucky communities.
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Speaker 1: Participants visit VOA's Freedom House, the VOA Recovery Community Center,
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Speaker 1: and the Clay County Senior Citizen Center. The work included
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Speaker 1: volunteer projects, health education, community engagement opportunities, and conversations about healthcare,
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Speaker 1: addiction recovery, and economic well-being. Additionally, participating Humana executives met
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Speaker 1: with local leaders to learn more about community-led solutions that
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Speaker 1: are improving health and recovery outcomes. On Monday evening, a
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Speaker 1: fireside chat brought together leaders from healthcare, education, government, and
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Speaker 1: nonprofit organizations to discuss health equality, addiction recovery, rural healthcare,
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Speaker 1: and innovative partnerships that are creating positive changes across the region.
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Speaker 1: The OA leaders say humanist engagement is an opportunity to
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Speaker 1: showcase the work taking place in Clay County while highlighting
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Speaker 1: the importance of collaborative approaches to addressing rural health challenges.
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Speaker 1: The solutions to some of Kentucky's toughest challenges are being
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Speaker 1: built right here in Clay County, with health care providers, nonprofits, employers,
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Speaker 1: and local leaders working together towards common goals, said Jennifer Hancock, president,
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Speaker 1: and CEO of VOA's MidStates. This visit gives Humana's leaders
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Speaker 1: and healthcare professionals an opportunity to learn directly from the
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Speaker 1: people and programs that are helping families recover, rebuild, and thrive.
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Speaker 1: We are proud to showcase the resilience of this community
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Speaker 1: and the innovative work happening every day across Eastern Kentucky.
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Speaker 1: Humana and the Humana Foundation share a long-standing partnership with
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Speaker 1: Volunteers of America, supporting healthier, stronger communities in Kentucky, Louisiana,
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Speaker 1: and across the country. And now we'll give you a
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Speaker 1: little sporting news. First news is about volleyball. Pressure served blue.
9:34
Speaker 1: Sometimes you can want something so badly that wanting it
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Speaker 1: becomes part of the problem. Kentucky volleyball got a first-hand
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Speaker 1: lesson in that Sunday afternoon. More than 6,000 people had
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Speaker 1: packed historic Memorial Coliseum. Louisville was on the other side
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Speaker 1: of the net. ABC was carrying the match nationally. There
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Speaker 1: were rankings and postseason implications, along with the usual emotions
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Speaker 1: that serve us whenever Kentucky and Louisville get together on
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Speaker 1: anything more competitive than a spelling bee. Kentucky wanted to
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Speaker 1: win badly. Maybe that was part of the problem. In
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Speaker 1: the first set, for us, it kind of personally felt
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Speaker 1: like we wanted to win so bad, we kind of
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Speaker 1: forgot the process of winning Asia Thigpen said afterward. There
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Speaker 1: was a lot packed into that answer because for most
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Speaker 1: of the first set, Kentucky didn't look much like a
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Speaker 1: team that had spent the early part of the season
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Speaker 1: beating ranked opponents and collecting great player miles. The Wildcats
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Speaker 1: never led. They made too many hitting errors, struggled offensively,
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Speaker 1: and generally looked like a team trying very hard to
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Speaker 1: win a volleyball match instead of simply playing volleyball. Louisville
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Speaker 1: was happy to help make things worse. The Cardinals took
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Speaker 1: the opening set 25-19, and very nearly took the second.
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Speaker 1: Kentucky was hanging by a thread in the second set,
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Speaker 1: with the uncomfortable possibility of going down two sets to none,
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Speaker 1: staring everybody in the face. Wildcats somehow survived 29-27. From there,
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Speaker 1: everything changed. Kentucky won the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-19,
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Speaker 1: and the match 3-1. But what interested me most wasn't
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Speaker 1: that the Wildcats had beaten Louisville. It was how they
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Speaker 1: managed to get from looking so uncomfortable early to looking
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Speaker 1: so much like themselves later. There was no Newt Rockne
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Speaker 1: speech between sets. Greg Skinner didn't overturn a table or
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Speaker 1: unveil some brilliant tactical adjustments. that he had been saving
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Speaker 1: for just such an occasion. He reminded his players of
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Speaker 1: something considerably less dramatic. I think our team just did
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Speaker 1: a really good job of staying in the moment as
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Speaker 1: the match went on, especially after the first set, Skinner said.
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Speaker 1: Staying in the moment is one of those things that
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Speaker 1: sounds ridiculously easy when somebody else tells you to do it.
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Speaker 1: Don't worry about what just happened. Don't think about what
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Speaker 1: might happen next. concentrate on what's directly in front of you.
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Speaker 1: That's easy enough when you're sitting in a yoga class
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Speaker 1: breathing deeply with meditation music playing softly in the background.
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Speaker 1: These women were being asked to do it with Louisville
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Speaker 1: across the net, 6,000 people screaming around them and a
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Speaker 1: national television audience watching to see whether they could keep
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Speaker 1: the second set from slipping away. Brooklyn DeLay said the
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Speaker 1: important thing was that Kentucky's didn't back away from what
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Speaker 1: it had been trying to do offensively. The Wildcats had
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Speaker 1: struggled in the first set, but they kept swinging aggressively
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Speaker 1: because against a team as good as Louisville, taking something
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Speaker 1: off the ball would only invite more pressure. Interestingly enough,
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Speaker 1: Louisville coach Dan Meske saw essentially the same thing from
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Speaker 1: the other bench. Kentucky remained aggressive in the biggest moments
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Speaker 1: while his own team occasionally became passive. That's where the
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Speaker 1: match turned. Earlier this season, Skinner talked repeatedly about comfort
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Speaker 1: being the enemy of greatness. Kentucky had spent plenty of
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Speaker 1: time playing from ahead. Sunday presented the other side of
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Speaker 1: the equation. What happens when you're behind? For a team
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Speaker 1: accustomed to making opponents chase it, Kentucky suddenly had to
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Speaker 1: do the chasing. Dig Ten said the team had recently
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Speaker 1: talked about the difference between trying to win and trying
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Speaker 1: not to lose. That's a subtle distinction until you're actually
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Speaker 1: standing on the court with a score tied in the 20s.
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Speaker 1: When you're ahead, protecting the lead can make you tentative.
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Speaker 1: When you're behind, wanting to result too badly can make
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Speaker 1: you impatient. That's what made Thigpen's comment about forgetting the
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Speaker 1: process of winning so revealing. After the first set, Kentucky
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Speaker 1: went back to the mundane stuff. execute the three balls,
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Speaker 1: side out, communicate, make the right hitting choice, trust the
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Speaker 1: teammate next to you, and keep swinging. Skinner has talked
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Speaker 1: all season about composure, presence, and staying in the moment.
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Speaker 1: I asked him afterward whether composure can still be taught
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Speaker 1: at this point in a team's development or whether they
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Speaker 1: simply have it or they don't. You can't really teach
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Speaker 1: that type of environment or pressure or stress from other teams,
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Speaker 1: he said. The more you experience it, the better you
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Speaker 1: get at handling it and dealing with it. You talk
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Speaker 1: about it all you want. Eventually, however, somebody has to
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Speaker 1: serve the ball at 27-all. Kentucky did, which explains why
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Speaker 1: Sunday may ultimately be worth more to Kentucky than than
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Speaker 1: another comfortable sweep. The Wildcats finished with 73 kills in
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Speaker 1: four sets, while six Kentucky players boasted career or season highs.
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Speaker 1: Skinner thought setter Cassie O'Brien became noticeably better as the
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Speaker 1: match progressed. You can see the brute relief returning to
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Speaker 1: her eyes. By the end, the same crowd and circumstances
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Speaker 1: they may have contributed to all that early emotion were
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Speaker 1: feeding the Cats instead. Skinner called the victory a huge
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Speaker 1: moment for the program. He mentioned the sold-out crowd, the
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Speaker 1: ABC audience, the rankings, RPI, NCAA tournament implications, and the
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Speaker 1: possibility that thousands of people who had never watched Kentucky
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Speaker 1: volleyball before had just seen the Wildcats perform on national television.
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Speaker 1: All of that matters, especially for a program that's still
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Speaker 1: trying to grow the sport and its audience. But I
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Speaker 1: suspect What happened at 29-27 in the second set may
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Speaker 1: matter more to Skinner once December arrives. Kentucky is going
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Speaker 1: to trail again. There will be another night when the
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Speaker 1: opponent is playing better, the ball isn't falling where it should,
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Speaker 1: and the winning starts to feel important enough that the
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Speaker 1: desire to win gets in the way of actually doing it.
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Speaker 1: Now these Wildcats have been there. They found out Sunday
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Speaker 1: that composure isn't pretending to The pressure doesn't exist. It's
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Speaker 1: remembering the process of winning when the pressure makes you
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Speaker 1: want to forget it. Now here's a little local sports.
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Speaker 1: Tiger football finally comes home. After spending the first several
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Speaker 1: weeks of the season on the road, the Clay County
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Speaker 1: Tigers are finally coming home. Clay County 2-2 will take
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Speaker 1: the field at Tiger Stadium for the first time this
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Speaker 1: season Friday night hosting Rowan County at 7.30 p.m. The
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Speaker 1: Tigers return to Manchester with some momentum behind them after
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Speaker 1: picking up back-to-back road victories, including last week's dominant 47-0
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Speaker 1: win over Clinton County. For the young Clay County team
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Speaker 1: that has been forced to learn on the road early
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Speaker 1: this season, coach Mike Sizemore is excited to see his
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Speaker 1: group finally get the opportunity to play in front of
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Speaker 1: the home crowd. It's always great to play at home.
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Speaker 1: I know our guys are excited to have their first
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Speaker 1: home opener, Sizemore said. For a lot of our team
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Speaker 1: this year, this will be their first significant varsity experience
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Speaker 1: in front of our home crowd and playing on our field,
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Speaker 1: so I know they will be excited to go out
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Speaker 1: there and play. The Tigers have handled the early travel well,
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Speaker 1: and Sizemore believes those weeks away from home have helped
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Speaker 1: a young group gain valuable experience. They've done a great
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Speaker 1: job of battling the adversity of early season travel and
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Speaker 1: have withstood these challenges that come with being on the road,
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Speaker 1: Sizemore said. Rowan County will provide another test for the Tigers.
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Speaker 1: Clay County defeated the Vikings on the road last season,
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Speaker 1: but Sizemore saw a young Rowan County team at the
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Speaker 1: time be expected to be much improved this year. Rowan
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Speaker 1: has a very talented team and will bring a lot
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Speaker 1: of challenges to the game for us, Sizemore said. We
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Speaker 1: were able to beat them at their place last season,
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Speaker 1: but you could see they had several young players that
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Speaker 1: would grow up over the offseason and be a better
18:50
Speaker 1: team coming into this season. And that's been the case.
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Speaker 1: Sizemore noted Rowan County's speed offensively as something the Tiger
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Speaker 1: defense will have to be prepared for. On the other
19:04
Speaker 1: side of the football, the Vikings have shown the ability
19:07
Speaker 1: to course turnovers, and take advantage of mistakes. Clay County
19:12
Speaker 1: will look to counter that by taking care of the
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Speaker 1: football and continuing to play the efficient style that has
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Speaker 1: helped the Tigers find success over the past two weeks.
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Speaker 1: With two straight wins now behind them, Sizemore wants to
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Speaker 1: make sure his young group remains hungry and continues to
19:32
Speaker 1: improve rather than becoming satisfied We have to keep the
19:39
Speaker 1: main thing, the main thing, Sizemore said. We have to
19:42
Speaker 1: continue working extremely hard this week in practice. We have
19:47
Speaker 1: to see if we can keep going. more physical on
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Speaker 1: the field and finding the right combination of kids that
19:54
Speaker 1: add to the level of effort and intensity that we
19:58
Speaker 1: want from them. After weeks of waiting, the Tigers will
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Speaker 1: finally get the chance to bring that effort back to
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Speaker 1: Manchester when we take the field Friday night in front
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Speaker 1: of the home crowd. Kickoff between Clay County and Rowan
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Speaker 1: County is set at 7.30 Friday at Tiger Stadium. And
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Speaker 1: now we have the question of the week. Should local
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Speaker 1: government invest in shovel-ready commercial sites before businesses commit? Point.
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Speaker 1: To attract business, Clay County must be ready. When a
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Speaker 1: company begins looking for a place to build or expand,
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Speaker 1: Clay County and St. Jesse competing against neighboring counties. We
20:41
Speaker 1: are competing against communities across Kentucky and in some cases
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Speaker 1: across the country. That means being interested in economic development
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Speaker 1: isn't enough. We have to be ready for it. Clay
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Speaker 1: County should invest in developing shovel-ready commercial and industrial sites
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Speaker 1: before a company commits to coming in. Businesses looking to
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Speaker 1: expand often want property where construction can begin quickly. They
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Speaker 1: need adequate water, sewer, electricity, broadband, and highway access. They
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Speaker 1: want to know where environmental studies have been completed and
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Speaker 1: whether the property can accommodate their project. If we wait
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Speaker 1: until a company calls before beginning that work, we may
21:28
Speaker 1: already be too late. Consider how we prepare for almost
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Speaker 1: everything else. We don't wait until students arrive before building
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Speaker 1: a school. A restaurant doesn't wait for customers to walk
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Speaker 1: through the door before buying tables and kitchen equipment. Preparation
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Speaker 1: comes before opportunity. Economic development isn't much different. Yes, repairing
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Speaker 1: property costs money, and there's always a risk that development
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Speaker 1: won't happen immediately. Taxpayer dollars should never be spent carelessly.
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Speaker 1: Any property considered for development should have realistic potential and
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Speaker 1: investments should be based on research rather than wishful thinking.
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Speaker 1: But doing nothing also carries a cost. For generations, one
22:18
Speaker 1: of Clay County's biggest challenges has been creating enough good
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Speaker 1: paying jobs for people who have to remain here. Too
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Speaker 1: many young adults graduate and leave because opportunities are greater elsewhere.
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Speaker 1: Changing that requires more than saying we want businesses. It
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Speaker 1: requires giving businesses a reason to choose us. Clay County
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Speaker 1: has advantages. We have available land, improving infrastructure, proximity to
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Speaker 1: major highways, and a workforce with generations of experience in manufacturing, construction,
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Speaker 1: and other industries. Our location in eastern Kentucky can also
22:59
Speaker 1: position us for opportunities that may not have existed generations ago.
23:05
Speaker 1: but companies cannot build on potential alone. Imagine an economic
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Speaker 1: development prospect considering five Kentucky communities. Four can immediately show
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Speaker 1: property with utilities, access, and necessary studies already completed. The
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Speaker 1: fifth says we can probably get all that done. Which
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Speaker 1: community has the advantage? Being shovel-ready doesn't guarantee that a
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Speaker 1: company will come to Clay County. Nothing can guarantee that.
23:35
Speaker 1: What it does guarantee is that when opportunity comes looking,
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Speaker 1: Clay County can sit at the table and compete. Economic
23:43
Speaker 1: development requires patience, planning, and sometimes calculated risk. Instead of
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Speaker 1: waiting for someone to choose Clay County and then getting ready,
23:53
Speaker 1: perhaps it's time to get ready so they can choose us.
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Speaker 1: And then we have the counterpoint. Taxpayer dollars shouldn't be
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Speaker 1: spent on a maybes. How many of you go and
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Speaker 1: watch to see more jobs and businesses come to Clay County?
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Speaker 1: The disagreement isn't over whether economic development is important. The
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Speaker 1: question is how much taxpayer money government should risk trying
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Speaker 1: to make it happen. Buying property and spending potentially millions
24:23
Speaker 1: of dollars preparing commercial or industrial sites before a company
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Speaker 1: has committed to locating here can become an expensive gamble.
24:34
Speaker 1: Clay County has many needs competing for public dollars. Roads
24:39
Speaker 1: require maintenance. Water and sewer systems need improvement. Emergency services
24:45
Speaker 1: must be funded. Parks, recreation, and other public facilities also
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Speaker 1: require investment. Every dollar placed into speculative development is a
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Speaker 1: dollar that cannot be spent somewhere else. Supporters of shovel-ready
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Speaker 1: sites make a reasonable argument. Companies often want locations where
25:05
Speaker 1: they can begin construction quickly. But being ready doesn't necessarily
25:10
Speaker 1: mean government must purchase and develop large tracts of property
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Speaker 1: hoping someone eventually arrives. There are other approaches. Local government
25:20
Speaker 1: can identify privately owned properties suitable for development, work with
25:25
Speaker 1: landowners and utility providers, complete planning work, and establish partnerships
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Speaker 1: that allow governments to respond quickly when a legitimate prospect emerges.
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Speaker 1: That can make Clay County competitive without placing taxpayers in
25:42
Speaker 1: the real estate business. There's also no guarantee that an
25:46
Speaker 1: expensive industrial or commercial site will attract the type of
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Speaker 1: development the community wants. Across Kentucky and the nation, communities
26:01
Speaker 1: compete fiercely for business. Even a fully prepared site can
26:05
Speaker 1: remain vacant for years. During that time, taxpayers have money
26:09
Speaker 1: tied up in property that produces few jobs and little
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Speaker 1: economic activity. Clay County should certainly invest in infrastructure that
26:20
Speaker 1: benefits everyone. Better roads, reliable water and sewer service, broadband,
26:26
Speaker 1: and workforce development make the county more attractive to business
26:31
Speaker 1: while also improving life for existing residents and employers. Those
26:36
Speaker 1: investments provide value whether a major company arrives next year
26:41
Speaker 1: or 10 years from now. Economic development should also include
26:46
Speaker 1: helping businesses already here expand and encourage local entrepreneurs. Sometimes
26:52
Speaker 1: creating 10 jobs at several existing businesses can have as
26:57
Speaker 1: much impact as waiting years for one large employer, promising 100.
27:03
Speaker 1: When a serious company expresses interest in Clay County and
27:06
Speaker 1: demonstrates that jobs and investment will follow, public participation may
27:11
Speaker 1: be justified. At that point, officials can evaluate the number
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Speaker 1: and quality of jobs, projected economic impact, and amount of
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Speaker 1: public investment required. This concludes the reading of the Manchester Enterprise.
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Speaker 1: Your reader has been Mike Keller. Please stay tuned for
27:34
Speaker 1: continued programming. And on behalf of everyone here at Radio Eye,
27:38
Speaker 1: thank you for listening, and we hope you have a
27:41
Speaker 1: good day.