Latest / Eastern Kentucky Newspapers / Licking Valley Courier - 10.9.26
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: We now turn to the Licking Valley Courier to bring
- 0:03Speaker 1: you news from and around West Liberty. Your reader today
- 0:07Speaker 1: is Janice. We begin with the edition dated Thursday, October
- 0:11Speaker 1: the 8th, 2026. As a reminder, Radio Eye is a
- 0:15Speaker 1: reading service intended for people who are blind or have
- 0:18Speaker 1: other disabilities to make it difficult to read printed material.
- 0:23Speaker 1: Our first article today is Morgan, I'm sorry, Morgan County
- 0:31Speaker 1: Extension Service Upcoming Events Thursday, October 8th, the LRA Homecoming
- 0:37Speaker 1: Annual Meeting at Carlisle. Friday, October 9th, Farmer's Market, 9 a.m.
- 0:43Speaker 1: to 2 p.m. Homemaker Hat Making at Lexington from 5 p.m.
- 0:49Speaker 1: to 7 p.m. Saturday, October 10th, Hike and Learn, 9 a.m. Monday,
- 0:56Speaker 1: October 12th, Beekeepers Meeting, 6.30 p.m. Mahjong Monday at Extension Office,
- 1:04Speaker 1: 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Tuesday, October 13th, Homemaker Council, noon.
- 1:12Speaker 1: Farmers Appreciation Dinner at Woods Bend Weddings and Events, 6 p.m.
- 1:18Speaker 1: Country Cousins Homemakers, 7 p.m. Woods Bend Homemakers, 6.30 p.m.
- 1:25Speaker 1: Woods Bend Church, Farmer's Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday,
- 1:31Speaker 1: October 14th, Wellness Wednesday Walk at Old Mill Park, 1230. Thursday,
- 1:39Speaker 1: October 15th, West Liberty Homemakers, 6 p.m. Friday, October 16th,
- 1:45Speaker 1: Laugh and Learn, 10 a.m. Farmer's Market, 9 a.m. to
- 1:49Speaker 1: 2 p.m. Monday, October 19th, CEC at 519 Fire Department,
- 1:56Speaker 1: 6 p.m. Town and Country Homemakers Meeting, Solid Rock Homemakers Meeting,
- 2:02Speaker 1: 4H Sewing Group, 4 p.m. Tuesday, October 20th, Cooking Through Calendar,
- 2:09Speaker 1: 5 p.m. KIIP Class, 6 p.m. You must pre-register. Farmer's Market,
- 2:17Speaker 1: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Board meeting, 5 p.m. Piece
- 2:23Speaker 1: by Piece Wellness Wednesday Walk at Old Mill Park, 1230. Friday,
- 2:29Speaker 1: October 23rd, Farmer's Market, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday,
- 2:34Speaker 1: October 26th, Mahjong Monday at Library, 10 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Tuesday,
- 2:41Speaker 1: October 27th, SRQCA Training, 9 a.m. You must pre-register. BQCA training,
- 2:52Speaker 1: 6 p.m., you must be registered. Farmer's Market, 9 a.m.
- 2:56Speaker 1: to 2 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, October 26th and 27th,
- 3:01Speaker 1: Environmental Day Camp and Camp at Camp Judy Lane. Wednesday,
- 3:08Speaker 1: October 28th, Wellness Wednesday Walk, Old Mill Park. Friday, October 30th,
- 3:14Speaker 1: last day of Farmer's Market from 9 to 2. Our
- 3:21Speaker 1: next article is Blood Drive is October 15th at Christian Church, Lexington.
- 3:28Speaker 1: The great thing about donating blood is that just about
- 3:32Speaker 1: anyone can do it. No dough is needed to make
- 3:35Speaker 1: a difference in your community. All it takes is a
- 3:38Speaker 1: little bit of time and a pint of blood. Grab
- 3:41Speaker 1: a slice of saving lives by donating blood at this
- 3:45Speaker 1: upcoming drive with the Kentucky Blood Center KBC. All donors
- 3:50Speaker 1: will receive a Grab a Slice of Saving Lives t-shirt
- 3:55Speaker 1: while supplies last as a thank you for adding a
- 3:58Speaker 1: key piece to the blood supply. The Morgan County Community
- 4:03Speaker 1: Blood Drive will be from 1 to 6 p.m. Thursday,
- 4:06Speaker 1: October 15th at West Liberty Christian Church Fellowship Hall at
- 4:11Speaker 1: 304 Prestonburg Street and 304 in West Liberty. They repeated that, so...
- 4:19Speaker 1: I repeated it. KBC, the exclusive provider of blood to
- 4:24Speaker 1: the most hospitals in Central and Eastern Kentucky, is coming
- 4:29Speaker 1: off a difficult summer. Donations, as they often do in
- 4:32Speaker 1: the summer months, suffer because of seasonal vacations, an absence
- 4:36Speaker 1: of school blood drives, and extreme temperatures, which deter donors
- 4:41Speaker 1: from attending drives. At the same time, transfusions increase during
- 4:46Speaker 1: trauma seasons when emergency rooms saw an uptick in severe,
- 4:51Speaker 1: life-threatening injuries, many of which required blood. Fall blood drives
- 4:57Speaker 1: like this one in your community are important to restock
- 5:01Speaker 1: hospital shelves. Because blood cannot be manufactured, the health of
- 5:07Speaker 1: local blood supply relies entirely on the generosity of Kentucky donors.
- 5:13Speaker 1: Blood donors must be at least 17 years old 16
- 5:16Speaker 1: with parental consent, weigh at least 110 pounds, be in
- 5:21Speaker 1: good health, show a photo ID, and meet additional requirements.
- 5:25Speaker 1: Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are welcome. To schedule a donation,
- 5:30Speaker 1: visit KentuckyBloodCenter.org or call 800-775-2522. Our next article is, there
- 5:34Speaker 1: is a picture of a bench. And in the picture,
- 5:46Speaker 1: It's of this bench. It is engraved, and it says,
- 5:50Speaker 1: Celebrating 250 Years of American Freedom, 1776 to 2026. Dedicated
- 5:58Speaker 1: to the patriot men and women of the American Revolution
- 6:03Speaker 1: and honoring all veterans who sacrificed in preserving our freedom.
- 6:08Speaker 1: And that was on top of it, where you would sit.
- 6:11Speaker 1: And then in front of, if you were looking at
- 6:14Speaker 1: it from... you would see the side where it says
- 6:18Speaker 1: Sons of the American Revolution. Then on the bottom where
- 6:23Speaker 1: it's on the ground and help support, there's a, I
- 6:28Speaker 1: don't know, covering or not. And it says through the
- 6:32Speaker 1: generous support of the West Liberty Tourism Committee. Now the
- 6:36Speaker 1: caption underneath the picture, Freedom Bench Dedication, October 17th at
- 6:42Speaker 1: Treadway Park. Big Sandy Chapter of the Sons of the
- 6:45Speaker 1: American Revolution will host a dedication ceremony for the Freedom
- 6:49Speaker 1: Bench at Treadway Park on Saturday, October 17th at 11 a.m.
- 6:55Speaker 1: This bench honors the patriot men and women of the
- 6:58Speaker 1: American Revolution as well as all veterans who sacrifice our freedom.
- 7:03Speaker 1: The public is invited to attend this special event. And
- 7:08Speaker 1: then there is another picture of an art art picture.
- 7:15Speaker 1: This is artist reception for tonight at Wellness Center. Everyone
- 7:19Speaker 1: is invited to stop by the Morgan County Wellness Center
- 7:22Speaker 1: to see the art that will be on display through
- 7:25Speaker 1: October 31st. The exhibit has work by Diana Weddington, Adkins,
- 7:31Speaker 1: Charlotte Allen, Sylvia Carter, Chris Ferguson, Pam Mead, Ashley Rose Oldfeld,
- 7:40Speaker 1: Helen Price Stacy, Copanna Terry, and Terry Peggy Wells. A
- 7:45Speaker 1: reception is scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, October
- 7:50Speaker 1: 8th at the Wellness Center. And the featured artwork is
- 7:54Speaker 1: Hay Day No. 2 by Diana Weddington, and it is acrylic. Okay,
- 8:02Speaker 1: our next article is Confederate Railroad to Perform at Old
- 8:06Speaker 1: Mill Park, and there is a picture of four middle-aged gentlemen.
- 8:11Speaker 1: And it says, popular 1900s, 1990s country band will headline
- 8:18Speaker 1: the final live on the licking concert of the year
- 8:21Speaker 1: with opening act Mary Cutter on Saturday, October the 10th
- 8:27Speaker 1: by Miranda M. Cantrell. Popular 1990s country band Confederate Railroad
- 8:34Speaker 1: is slated to perform at the final live on the
- 8:37Speaker 1: licking show of the year on Saturday, October 10th at
- 8:41Speaker 1: Old Mill Park. Confederate Railway chartered several well-known hits in
- 8:46Speaker 1: the early 1990s, including Queen of Memphis, Trashy Women, Jesus
- 8:53Speaker 1: and Mama, and Daddy Was Never the Cadillac Kind. The
- 8:57Speaker 1: group also produced many memorable videos that aired on the
- 9:02Speaker 1: country music-based networks of CMT and TNN. Lead vocalist Danny
- 9:09Speaker 1: Shirley has described Confederate Railroad music as straight-ahead, outlaw country,
- 9:15Speaker 1: inspired by the late Waylon Jennings and others. The band
- 9:19Speaker 1: is comprised of Danny Shirley, Rusty Hendrick, Mo Thaxton, and
- 9:25Speaker 1: Bobo Benfield, has also drawn comparisons to Southern rock groups
- 9:30Speaker 1: of the past. The free concert will begin at 7 p.m.
- 9:34Speaker 1: with opening act Mary Cutter and Kentucky Raised country singer
- 9:40Speaker 1: and songwriter whose work has appeared on major labeled releases
- 9:44Speaker 1: and charting records by Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith, and Zach
- 9:49Speaker 1: John King. Confederate Railroad and Cutter Music can be found
- 9:54Speaker 1: on all streaming platforms. City Councilman Grant Sorrell, an advisor
- 9:59Speaker 1: to the West Liberty Tourism Commission, said that tourism is
- 10:03Speaker 1: pleased to close out the live on the licking season
- 10:07Speaker 1: with the Confederate Railroad. Confederate Railroad is one of the
- 10:11Speaker 1: best country bands of all time, Sorrell said. Their music
- 10:14Speaker 1: could be humorous and also very serious. Some of their
- 10:18Speaker 1: songs are enduring classics like Daddy Never Was the Cadillac
- 10:22Speaker 1: Kind and Jesus and Mama. We hope that everyone will
- 10:27Speaker 1: join us for this special free event. For additional information
- 10:31Speaker 1: regarding the Live on the Licking Concert series, visit West
- 10:35Speaker 1: Liberty Tourism Facebook page. Our next article is Data Center's
- 10:40Speaker 1: Topic of Discussion at September 30th Fiscal Court Meetings. Property
- 10:45Speaker 1: owner asks court to pass moratorium on data centers. Ambulance
- 10:50Speaker 1: service to apply for loan from Gateway ADD. Court discusses
- 10:55Speaker 1: the proposed UK St. Clair Clinic by Miranda M. Cantrell.
- 11:01Speaker 1: The Morgan County Fiscal Court, during a special September 30th meeting,
- 11:06Speaker 1: heard a presentation regarding the national hot-button topic of data centers.
- 11:12Speaker 1: The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has prompted a nationwide
- 11:16Speaker 1: increase in the construction of data centers. Its functions are
- 11:22Speaker 1: outlined in the following excerpts from a July 9, 2026,
- 11:26Speaker 1: Ford Magazine article titled, What is a Data Center and
- 11:31Speaker 1: Why Are They Suddenly Everywhere? A data center is a
- 11:36Speaker 1: purpose-built building that runs large numbers of computers reliably, securely,
- 11:43Speaker 1: and around the clock. Inside are servers, storage, and networking
- 11:47Speaker 1: gear that do the work, plus the heavy-duty cooling, backup power,
- 11:53Speaker 1: and physical security that keep them running. Data centers store
- 11:57Speaker 1: data and run the software behind the surfaces people use
- 12:01Speaker 1: all day, stream a show, send an email, tap a
- 12:06Speaker 1: card at checkout, back up a photo or ask a question,
- 12:13Speaker 1: and somewhere a data center does the work and sends
- 12:16Speaker 1: it back almost instantly. Data centers, which are often built
- 12:21Speaker 1: in rural areas, have garnered significant opposition throughout the United
- 12:26Speaker 1: States amid concerns regarding the land, water, and electricity usage
- 12:31Speaker 1: required for those facilities. Additionally, Persons living near some data
- 12:38Speaker 1: centers have complained of continuous light and noise emitted from
- 12:45Speaker 1: the facilities. Judge Executive Jim Gacy, during the September 30th meeting,
- 12:50Speaker 1: told the court that an individual he identified as Misty
- 12:54Speaker 1: Gay wished to speak on the subject of data centers.
- 12:58Speaker 1: Gay introduced herself as a Morgan County native who currently
- 13:02Speaker 1: resides in Clark County and stated that she had inherited
- 13:06Speaker 1: her grandfather's farm in Morgan County. I want to begin
- 13:10Speaker 1: by saying something very clearly. Gay said, I'm not against technology.
- 13:18Speaker 1: I am not against economic development, and I'm not here
- 13:22Speaker 1: because I believe Morgan County should be afraid of the future.
- 13:26Speaker 1: I'm here because I love this county. Gay noted her
- 13:30Speaker 1: family extensive history in Morgan County dating back to the
- 13:34Speaker 1: early 1800s and indicated that she and her husband, Bucky Gay,
- 13:39Speaker 1: also a local native, hoped to return to Morgan County
- 13:42Speaker 1: upon his retirement. So when I talk about data centers,
- 13:46Speaker 1: I'm not talking about somebody else's backyard, Gay said. I'm
- 13:50Speaker 1: talking about mine, and I'm talking about the land, water, roads, farms, hollows, creeks,
- 13:57Speaker 1: and communities that I hope will still be here for
- 14:01Speaker 1: the people who come after me. I am asking you
- 14:05Speaker 1: to pause before we commit. Gay shared several statistics from
- 14:10Speaker 1: various sources regarding data center water and electric consumption and
- 14:16Speaker 1: cost and expressed concerns about the ability of Morgan County
- 14:21Speaker 1: utility infrastructure to provide those services to data center facilities. Additionally,
- 14:27Speaker 1: Gay noted that on September 1, 2026, the Rowan County
- 14:32Speaker 1: Fiscal Court approved a two-year moratorium on large-scale data centers
- 14:38Speaker 1: with no projects being proposed at that time. Gay cited Davis, Boyle, Allen, Scott,
- 14:46Speaker 1: and Woodford counties have passed data centers moratoriums in recent
- 14:51Speaker 1: months and also indicated that Mercer County had rejected zoning
- 14:55Speaker 1: regulations that would have allowed large-scale data centers. I am
- 15:01Speaker 1: asking this fiscal court to consider a moratorium on AI
- 15:06Speaker 1: and large-scale data center development until Morgan County has determined
- 15:11Speaker 1: whether our infrastructure can support it and has adopted regulations
- 15:16Speaker 1: specifically designed for it, Gray said. Use that time. Study
- 15:22Speaker 1: our water. Study our electricity and wasteland. Study our roads
- 15:28Speaker 1: and emergency services. Study the effects on farmland, livestock, wildlife,
- 15:34Speaker 1: and neighboring property. Determine what economic benefits would actually remain
- 15:40Speaker 1: in Morgan County after construction is finished and write regulation
- 15:45Speaker 1: that protects the county before you need those regulations. Gay
- 15:51Speaker 1: concluded her remarks with an appeal for proactive stewardship. I'm
- 15:57Speaker 1: not asking you to be afraid of the future, Gay said.
- 16:00Speaker 1: I'm asking you to care enough about the future to
- 16:03Speaker 1: prepare for it. We don't have to be the experiment.
- 16:08Speaker 1: Sometimes progress means having the wisdom to stop, look at
- 16:12Speaker 1: where we're going, and make sure the road can carry
- 16:15Speaker 1: us there. Thank you. Judge Gacy asked magistrates if they
- 16:19Speaker 1: had any further comments or questions and then spoke after
- 16:24Speaker 1: they declined. I don't disagree with you, Gacy said to Gage.
- 16:28Speaker 1: I've been talking to other judges about their moratoriums, and
- 16:32Speaker 1: I hope to have something to present in October, but
- 16:37Speaker 1: I've got to give the magistrates info to base their
- 16:40Speaker 1: decision upon. I've also got to talk to the utilities, etc.,
- 16:45Speaker 1: and get their perspective. Gay replied, Absolutely. I hope you
- 16:50Speaker 1: will take the time to do that. I will take
- 16:52Speaker 1: the time to do it, Gacy responded. This court is
- 16:56Speaker 1: very serious about our county. There's not a person sitting
- 16:59Speaker 1: at this roundtable who does not love this county, and
- 17:03Speaker 1: we all want the best for it. Following the meeting,
- 17:08Speaker 1: Judge Gacy further clarified under another individual's Facebook post that
- 17:13Speaker 1: no data is being proposed for Morgan County. Just to clarify,
- 17:18Speaker 1: there are no data centers being considered for Morgan County,
- 17:21Speaker 1: nor have any contacted myself or the fiscal court, Gacy wrote.
- 17:27Speaker 1: Misty asked to speak to the court to voice her opinion,
- 17:31Speaker 1: so I placed her on the agenda. Any further updates
- 17:36Speaker 1: on the matter of requested data center information will be
- 17:40Speaker 1: noted in the courier as they become available. The Forbes
- 17:45Speaker 1: magazine article referenced earlier in this report can be found
- 17:50Speaker 1: at their website. Ambulance service loan. Following the data center discussion,
- 17:56Speaker 1: Judge Gacy introduced the agenda item regarding the Morgan County
- 18:01Speaker 1: Ambulance Service. This is about a situation that occurred recently
- 18:05Speaker 1: where they think they may be able to make payroll
- 18:11Speaker 1: for the month of October until they get their first
- 18:14Speaker 1: tax payment, Gacy said. We've exhausted every way to go
- 18:19Speaker 1: about doing that. Our last way to go was Gateway
- 18:24Speaker 1: Area Development District, where I sit as chair. We recently
- 18:30Speaker 1: reviewed their request. It's a request for a loan of $ 50, 000.
- 18:35Speaker 1: Ambulance Service Director Raven Ross took the floor to discuss
- 18:40Speaker 1: the issue. We hope that we don't have to use
- 18:43Speaker 1: the loan, Ross said. We don't, pardon me, we don't
- 18:47Speaker 1: know that we will have to have to but we
- 18:51Speaker 1: want it just in case we do. Our billing comes
- 18:56Speaker 1: sporadically and we don't get everything at one time. It
- 18:59Speaker 1: just depends on how it falls and how our payroll
- 19:02Speaker 1: falls and if we have enough at that time. But
- 19:06Speaker 1: hopefully we won't have to use any of it. The
- 19:09Speaker 1: loan is six months, zero interest. Ambulance Board Chairman Jody
- 19:14Speaker 1: Castle noted that the ambulance service has seen rising operational
- 19:19Speaker 1: costs as well as several unexpected expenses of the late,
- 19:24Speaker 1: including $ 28, 000 to be paid to the following extensive state
- 19:29Speaker 1: retirement audit dating back to the early 2000s, a total
- 19:34Speaker 1: of $ 30, 000 to replace and install an engine in a truck,
- 19:38Speaker 1: and a 28% increase in employees' health insurance. Judge Gacy
- 19:44Speaker 1: noted that the above-mentioned retirement audit impacted numerous government's and agency.
- 19:50Speaker 1: Following an extensive discussion regarding ambulance service finances, Magistrate Eric
- 19:57Speaker 1: Pelfrey made a motion that was seconded by Magistrate Tommy
- 20:02Speaker 1: Fannin to authorize Judge Gacy on behalf of the court
- 20:07Speaker 1: to co-sign the $ 50, 000 loan from Gateway Area Development District.
- 20:12Speaker 1: The ambulance service will be responsible for paying the loan
- 20:16Speaker 1: in full. However, the motion carried unanimously. U.K. St. Clair
- 20:26Speaker 1: Clinic Discussion Later in the meeting, Judge Casey shared the
- 20:30Speaker 1: update on the proposed U.K. St. Clair Clinic, which is
- 20:35Speaker 1: previously noted in the Courier-Grant would be constructed on the
- 20:39Speaker 1: property behind the wellness center. This is just a discussion.
- 20:43Speaker 1: No decisions tonight, Gacy said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture
- 20:48Speaker 1: requires that by November 11th or somewhere in there that
- 20:53Speaker 1: we have had some sort of an agreement with UK St.
- 20:56Speaker 1: Clair and turn the property over to them so they
- 21:00Speaker 1: get money to build that clinic. They're going to meet
- 21:04Speaker 1: with Miles on October the 8th. Judge Gacy asked County
- 21:09Speaker 1: Attorney Miles Holbrook to speak on the clinic project. As
- 21:14Speaker 1: the fiscal court, you have to say this is the
- 21:18Speaker 1: direction we're going to go, Holbrook said. Part of that
- 21:22Speaker 1: direction is the cancellation of the lease that we have
- 21:25Speaker 1: with the Youth Soccer League program. That doesn't necessarily have
- 21:29Speaker 1: to be done now. It ends in late 2027. And
- 21:34Speaker 1: we don't think the clinic is going to be built
- 21:38Speaker 1: at all before 2028. I think that UK is wanting
- 21:43Speaker 1: to move forward with solidifying their equity in interest, their
- 21:49Speaker 1: property ownership of this before they start putting any more
- 21:53Speaker 1: money into it. They are asking a lot of the
- 21:56Speaker 1: land that we have behind the wellness center. We did
- 22:00Speaker 1: pay a lot of money for that. That's hundreds of
- 22:03Speaker 1: thousands of dollars, but conceivably their plans for this are
- 22:07Speaker 1: that they're going to employ 30 people. Attorney Holbrook stated
- 22:11Speaker 1: that the salary average is expected to be $ 90, 000 per person,
- 22:16Speaker 1: which he said would generate a pretty high occupational tax
- 22:20Speaker 1: total before returning to the soccer field issue. I've put
- 22:25Speaker 1: in a lot of time on this, but in the end,
- 22:27Speaker 1: I want you all to know it's your decision, Holbrook said.
- 22:31Speaker 1: The USDA is giving UK money to build the clinic.
- 22:36Speaker 1: The USDA is saying that UK has to own the
- 22:39Speaker 1: property before some $ 5 million facility or whatever can be built,
- 22:45Speaker 1: which I think everyone understands. The attorney further noted that
- 22:50Speaker 1: the soccer lease can be broken early with 90 days
- 22:54Speaker 1: notice while Judge Gacy clarified the soccer league would continue
- 22:58Speaker 1: to use the field with UK's permission up until the
- 23:03Speaker 1: clinic groundbreaking. Judge Gacy also told Magistrate Eric Pelfrey that
- 23:08Speaker 1: the USDA's requirement were the reason for the groundbreaking delay.
- 23:14Speaker 1: Magistrate Pelfrey expressed his support for the clinic. This clinic
- 23:18Speaker 1: is going to bring specialty doctors into this county, Pelfrey said.
- 23:23Speaker 1: Beyond occupational tax, and all that we have, yes, and
- 23:28Speaker 1: we have good doctors, but these are specialty doctors that
- 23:32Speaker 1: people travel to Lexington or Moorhead to see. With gas
- 23:36Speaker 1: as high as it is, if we can at a
- 23:40Speaker 1: clinic with good specialty doctors, I think it's a no-brainer
- 23:44Speaker 1: for us. The soccer league, I don't want to put
- 23:47Speaker 1: them out by no means. If we can for sure
- 23:51Speaker 1: get an agreement with UK and SAGUE, If they can
- 23:54Speaker 1: use the field next year, that gives the incoming administration time.
- 23:59Speaker 1: We should start in January finding the location. I know
- 24:03Speaker 1: we've tried, but I think we definitely need to move
- 24:07Speaker 1: forward with this. Magistrate Tommy Fannin noted that the superintendent
- 24:11Speaker 1: of schools, Dr. Ralph Hamilton, had previously indicated that if
- 24:15Speaker 1: the county can make necessary repairs to a retaining wall,
- 24:19Speaker 1: the soccer league would use Herdman Field. if league officials
- 24:24Speaker 1: work out a schedule with the school system. Judge Gacy
- 24:28Speaker 1: discussed the possible property agreement with the school district and
- 24:31Speaker 1: city government involving various properties, including the parking lots at
- 24:36Speaker 1: the county government building, the swimming pool, and tennis courts.
- 24:40Speaker 1: Additional conversations ensured about the soccer field before Judge Gacy
- 24:45Speaker 1: elaborated on Magistrate Pelfrey's earlier statements regarding specialty doctors at
- 24:51Speaker 1: the clinic and further discuss the financial impacts. We're getting OB, GYN,
- 24:57Speaker 1: Gacy said. We're getting cardiology. We're getting sports medicine. I've
- 25:02Speaker 1: asked UK for pediatrics. Believe me, they are working with us.
- 25:08Speaker 1: It will be something this county has never had before.
- 25:12Speaker 1: You want to talk about youth? This clinic will provide
- 25:16Speaker 1: jobs for them to come back to after they graduate
- 25:19Speaker 1: from college. Just enough. Estimate you're looking at a couple
- 25:24Speaker 1: of hundred in an occupational taxes coming. Right now, a
- 25:29Speaker 1: lot of rural counties like us, we can't match grants.
- 25:33Speaker 1: We have to apply for a grant to get the
- 25:36Speaker 1: money to do anything. If we just had that extra $ 200, 000
- 25:41Speaker 1: that would allow us to go ahead and match grants
- 25:44Speaker 1: down the road. Magistrate Fannin said that he expected residents
- 25:49Speaker 1: of other counties to utilize the clinic, and Judge Gacy
- 25:53Speaker 1: indicated that UK has projected approximately 13,000 patients could travel
- 25:59Speaker 1: to the facility for medical services. That's going to be
- 26:02Speaker 1: people coming in here wanting to eat, Gacy said, so
- 26:06Speaker 1: that's going to drive economic development for us. That's also
- 26:10Speaker 1: going to be more money going to West Liberty Tourism.
- 26:14Speaker 1: I think it's a win-win for Morgan County. but we've
- 26:17Speaker 1: still got to keep hunting for a decent place for
- 26:21Speaker 1: these soccer kids to play. I think every one of
- 26:25Speaker 1: us is in agreement with that. Judge Gacy again noted
- 26:29Speaker 1: that Attorney Holbrook would be speaking with the UK officials
- 26:33Speaker 1: on October 8th before concluding the clinic's discussion. Any updates
- 26:39Speaker 1: regarding the proposed UK St. Clair Clinic will be noted
- 26:43Speaker 1: in the courier as they become available. A complete listing
- 26:48Speaker 1: of all items approved during the September 30th meeting can
- 26:51Speaker 1: be found elsewhere in this edition. Our next article is
- 26:55Speaker 1: a picture of boys and girls. And above it, it
- 26:59Speaker 1: says Morgan County High School honors senior soccer players. And
- 27:03Speaker 1: there's the boys and the girls. There's more girls and boys.
- 27:06Speaker 1: But underneath, it says Morgan County High School recently honored
- 27:09Speaker 1: senior soccer players during senior night at Herdman Field. Pictured
- 27:14Speaker 1: above left to right are Brett Potter, Camden Lacey, Adam Gunnell,
- 27:20Speaker 1: Gavin Turner, Maddie Conley, Bella Smith, Addison Day, Gracie Evans,
- 27:27Speaker 1: Abby Engle, Sarah Jenkins, Chloe Dye, Brooklyn Burton, Lila Barton,
- 27:33Speaker 1: and Kennedy Lewis. This concludes excerpts from the recent editions
- 27:39Speaker 1: of the Licking Valley Courier. Your reader today has been Janice.
- 27:43Speaker 1: On behalf of everyone here at Radio Eye, thank you
- 27:46Speaker 1: for listening. Keep on listening, and I hope you have
- 27:49Speaker 1: a very good day.