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Licking Valley Courier - 2.27.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

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Speaker 1: We now turn to the Linking Valley Courier to bring
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you news from end and around West Liberty. Your reader
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today is Janice. We begin with the addition dated Thursday
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February twenty six, twenty twenty six, as a reminder of
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radiois a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Our first article is Local Women to compete
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for Miss Kentucky Crown. Two local women will compete for
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the title of Miss Kentucky following wins in the recent pageants.
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Jenna Evans twenty and Kennedy Palfrey nineteen are both graduates
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in Morgan County High School and are currently students at
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area universities. Miss Kentucky pageant is scheduled for June tenth
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through the thirteenth at the Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center
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in Bowling Green. Congratulations and good luck to Jenna and
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k Kennedy as they represent Morgan County in the Miss
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Kentucky competition. Jenna Evans, a twenty twenty three graduate of
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Morgan County High School, is currently a junior at Eastern
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Kentucky University majoring in broadcasting and electronic media with a
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focus on public relations and sports communications. She advanced to
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Miss Kentucky competition after winning Miss Sportsman's Hill pageant in August.
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For her Kentucky's Community Service initiative, Jenna is partnering with
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the organization Nothing Down About It to promote Down syndrome
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awareness and inclusion. Jenna's passion for Down syndrome advocacy was
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inspired by her cousin Reese. More important information regarding Nothing
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Down About It can be found on the org's website,
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Nothing Down About It dot Com. Jenna is the daughter
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of Brian and Jenny Evans of West Liberty. Kennedy Pelfrey.
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Kennedy Pelfrey is a twenty twenty five graduate of Morgan
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County High School. Is currently a freshman at Moorheads State
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University majoring in Media production and journalism. She advanced to
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the Law Pardon Me. She advanced to the Miss Kentucky
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competition after winning the Miss Wickland Manor pageant earlier this month.
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For her Miss Kentucky Community Service initiative, Kennedy is highlighting
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an organization she established known as Bright Be Real Inspire, Grow, Heal,
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and Thrive to support children and teens facing childhood cancer.
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Kennedy herself is a survivor of childhood cancer, having been
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diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in twenty twenty one. More information
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regarding Bright can be found a Bright Throughthefight dot com.
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Kennedy is the daughter of Eric and Ashley Pelfrey of
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West Liberty. For additional information regarding Miss Kentucky pageant, visit
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their website Miss Kentucky dot org. Our other or our
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next article is State funds for West Liberty vent Clinic expansion.
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Okay funded projects focus on ag diversification and rural development. Frankfurt, Kentucky,
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February twentieth, The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board approve seven hundred thousand,
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three hundred seventeen dollars for agricultural diversification and rural development
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projects across the commonwealth Friday at its monthly board meeting.
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Projects approved for county and state funding included West Liberty
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Veterinarian Clinic l Operations LLS, which was approved for up
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to eighty three thousand, three hundred and thirty three dollars
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in state funds and sixteen thousand, six hundred and sixty
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seven dollars in multi county funds as part of the
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Large and Food Animal Veterinarian Incentives Program to construct a
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new cattle working facility at its clinic. Diversity in our
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agricultural landscape spell success for our farm producers. Commissioner of
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Agriculture and Board chair Jonathan Shell said the projects awarded
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today by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board increase that economic
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value farming has on our farm families in our commonwealth.
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Our next article is Kentucky Homeland Security Office issues public
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safety advisory regarding the drug cy chlorophine note. Sheriff Greg
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Motley recently shared a warning from the Kentucky Office of
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Homeland Security regarding the sinsatic drug cychlorophine, which has reportedly
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contributed to overdose deaths in Central Kentucky, Eastern Tennessee, and
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the other regions. The Courier spoke with Sheriff Motley about
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cy chlorophine, which is reportedly more potent than fentanyl. The
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sheriff said he is not aware of the cy chlorophine
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used in Morgan County at this time. The Kentucky Homeland
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Security advisory regarding the drug is as follows. The Kentucky
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Office of Homeland Security warns that cychlorophine, a highly potent
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synthetic drug approximately ten times stronger than fentanyl, has been
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detected in central Kentucky and is contributing to overdose deaths
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in neighboring regions, including eastern Tennessee. This substance is frequently
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mixed with other illegal narcotics, placing users at extreme risk
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of unintentional exposure. Its presence is expected to expand to
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additional areas within the Commonwealth. Advisory for first responders, health
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care providers, and law enforcement personnel exercise extreme caution when
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handling any unknown or illicit substances. Utilize appropriate personal protective
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equipment PPE to prevent accidental exposure. Treat all suspected cyclorofying
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related overdoses as medical emergencies. Immediately report any confirmed suspected
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cases to local public safety authorities. The Kentucky Office of
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Homeland Security urges the public to remain built a pardon
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me diligent, avoid contact with unknown substances, and report suspicious
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activity to law enforcement additional information. Anyone with knowledge of
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illegal drug activity is urged to contact the Morgan County
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Sheriff's Office at six oh six seven four three thirty
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six thirteen or West Liberty Police Department at six O
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six seven four three forty eight thirty five or the
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Kentucky State Police at six oh six seven eighty four
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forty one twenty one. Please call nine to one one
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for a medical emergencies. Our next article is Morgan County
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EMS will respond to emergency calls in Magoffin County, and
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ambulance crews from Johnson Floyd counties will also assist. As
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Magoffin County official seek permanent solution to Patriot EMS departure
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by Marie M. Cantrell, Morgan County EMS will be responding
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to emergency calls in Magoffin County following the closure of
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Patriot EMS ambulance station in so Sailorsville or Salyersville. On
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February twenty third, Macgoffin County Judge Executive Don McFarland announced
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viv the Macgoffin County Fiscal Court FACEBOOK that a temporary
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coverage plan will utilize EMS crews from the neighboring counties
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of Johnson, Morgan, and Floyd. Johnson County EMS will provide
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coverage for the eastern portion of Magoffin County. Morgan County
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EMS will assume responsibilities for the western portion of the county,
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as well as the Mountain Parkway Corridor. Lifeguard EMS of
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Floyd County will cover the southern area of the county,
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including Route seven. We extend our appreciation to these Partsartner's
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agencies for their cooperation and commitment during this transition, McFarlane wrote,
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Magoffin County will continue working toward a permanent EMS solution
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that meets the needs of our community and insurers reliability,
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timely emergency response. Morgan County EMS Director Raven Perry, who
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also serves as Morgan County's Emergency Management Director, issued a
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statement to the Courier regarding the coverage agreement. The Morgan
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County EMS is proud to support our Magoffin County neighbors
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under our longstanding mutual aid agreement that we have with
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all our adjoining counties in compliance with KRIA seven Covelan
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five five five, Section three paragraph A. Following Patriots EMS restructuring,
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driven by financial strains from low reimbursements and payment delays,
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the service has closed its Magoffin state. Unfortunately, we are
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seeing a lot of this happening with private and some
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county run services as well. EMS stations all over the
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countries are seeing financial strains. Magoffin's officials are currently pursuing
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long term fixes, including new provider partnerships, donated equipment, and
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potential county run ems to resolve this crisis permanently. Morgan
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County will be covering Magoffin's western portion Highway four sixty
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east to the first red light in Sallersville. Johnson County
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will cover the east portions of in Floyd County will
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take the remainder. Morgan County is and will always be
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our top priority. This agreement is not will not affect
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Morgan County EM's s response times or availability to Morgan
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County residents, not deplete our resources, and will have an
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available ambulance for emergency calls. As always, together, we will
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ensure reliability emergency care for all Patriot EMS. A private
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ambulance service provider based in Ironton, Ohio, has served Martin, Floyd, Lawrence, Macgoffin,
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and Boyd Counties in Kentucky, Mingo and Wayne Counties in
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West Virginia, and multiple locations in southern Ohio. Our next
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article is Sheriff warns of phone scams targeting Morgan County residents.
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Sheriff Craig Motley is warning local residents phone scams currently
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circulating in Morgan County. The sheriff posted on Facebook last
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week about three separate scams involving the requested exchange of
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money and or personal information, as well as deceptive claims
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that the caller is a sheriff deputy. The people need
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to be aware of any phone calls they get for
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any type of personal information. Mightley said. The Sheriff's office
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or any law enforcement agency will never call people and
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tell them they have a warrant or that they need
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to send money to get out of trouble. Details of
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the scam can be found as below, as posted by
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Sheriff Mightley on Facebook. Car crash scam. We have seen
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an increase in scams calls this week in Morgan County.
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Our office received information from one of our citizens that
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they received a call stating their child had been involved
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in a serious car crash, and the caller read a
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case number to them and tried to get them to
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repeat it back. Do not repeat back any numbers and
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hang up immediately. The Sheriff's office or any law enforcement
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agencies will never call you and give you a case
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number and request you to repeat it back. It seems
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this is a way to record your voice saying certain
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numbers in letters. Jury scam, Jury duty scam. The second
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scam call today identified themselves as a deputy and told
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the citizen that they had not shown up for jury
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duty and they needed to pay two thousand dollars or
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they would be arrested. Please be aware of any calls
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received and never give out any personal information. Legal document scam.
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Our office has received reports from citizens in Morgan County
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that they are receiving calls from a sergeant still stating
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they have important legal papers at the Morgan County Sheriff's Office.
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Our office does not have anyone by that name employed.
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These calls are scam calls. Please hang up and report
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any calls of this nature received to our office at
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six O six seven four three thirty six thirteen. If
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you have a question regarding a call you receive, hang
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up and contact the Morgan County Sheriff's Office at six
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six seven four three thirty six thirteen. Now, our next
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article is Morgan County Blue Devil's basketball players in nineteen
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sixty two and there is a picture of these young
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shall we say, gentlemen, and underneath the pictures it says
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Morgan County Blue Devils circa nineteen sixty two. Left to right,
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team manager Jimmy Jones and players Jerry Hutchinson, Billy Major, Gardner,
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Ronnie Allen, Doug Evans, Ferrell, Pelfrey, Rodney Wheeler, John Lee Stacy,
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and Stanley Franklin. Former Judge executive Stanley Franklin recently stopped
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by the Courier office to share the above photo of
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nine members of the Morgan County High School class of
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nineteen sixty two, including several members of the basketball team.
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Pittard are manager Jimmy Jones, and players Jerry Hutchinson, Billy Major, Gardner,
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Ronnie Allen, Doug Evans, Ferrell, Pelfrey, Rodney Wheeler, John Lee Stacy,
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and Franklin himself. Though the photographer is unknown, Franklin suspected
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that the team could have possibly been posing for a
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school yearbook pitcher. The team's head coach was Neil Hunley,
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who assisted by Charles Eugene Gene Caine. Franklin recalled that
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at the time this picture was taken, the team's name
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was not the Cougars, but the Blue Devils. Additionally, Franklin
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noted that the school sports offered many beneficial life lessons
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to young athletes. Being involved in athletic programs was an
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education in itself. Franklin said, you definitely learned how to
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get along with people and how to respect them. Franklin
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wrote a point celebrating his teammates sixty four years ago.
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I want to pay tribute to the many players who
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warmed the bench so the starters could play. Franklin said
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many former high school athletes can relate to this position.
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The poem is as follows, M Squat minute Men. Here's
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to the minute men of Morgan County High as good
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as anyone's money can buy. They don't play much and
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their scores are few, but when the others can't do it,
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they always come through. Their job is to sit and
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warm the bench when they are needed. They're really a cinch. Now,
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Fugate shoots a hook that Hunley doesn't adore. After he
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makes one, he wants more. Rose our star is funny
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as a kiddie, but once on the floor he's never witty.
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There's my pardon me. There is Wheeler, of course, who
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loves to pomp. He gets the job done when he
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shoots a jump. Now, Hutch is the ace not very tall?
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If Hunley needs a rebounder, Jerry gets the call. Least
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comes Doc, the composer of this poem, but shorty to
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Hunley is his name is known? Written by Stanley Franklin
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nineteen sixty two. The Courier would like to thank Judge
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Franklin for sharing this vintage photo and the poem. Our
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next article is White's tow truck safety bill gets panel
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approvals Frankfort, Kentucky, February twenty fourth. Members of the House
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Standing Committee on Transportation voted today to approve House Bill
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two eighty two with House Committee Constitute one, sponsored by
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Representative Richard White, that would improve on the job safety
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for tow truck drivers. The measure, known as Troy's Law,
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would allow tow trucks to be equipped with one or
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more flashing, rotating oscillating green lights. House Built to eighty
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two would be named after Troy Caldwell, a tow truck
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operator who was struck and killed while providing road assistance
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on I sixty four. Our tow truck drivers are heroes
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who brave dangerous, unpredictable conditions to those who stranded on
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the side of the road in their time of need,
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said why allowing for the use of green lights on
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a tow truck would add an extra layer of protection
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for our tow truck drivers, encouraging those on the road
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to stay alert and slow down. Under the provisions of
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House Built to eighty two, the green lights could be
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displayed en route and while active or stationary on the
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side of the road. The green lights would be placed
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on the front and rear of the tow truck. Each year,
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we hear stories of how tow truck drivers who were
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struck and killed while providing road assistance. White added, Troy's
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law aims to safe lives and protect the men and
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women who come to our aid when we need it
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the most, ensuring they return home safely to their families
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at the end of the work day. House Built two
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eighty two will now move to the Full House for consideration.
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For more information on House Built two eighty two and
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to keep track of its progress, Our next article is
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cost Share farm improvement approved by SCD. The Morgan County
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Conservation District Board of Supervisors has voted to promote a
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local cost share program for the Morgan County farmers to
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implement the following practices maintenance on heavy use areas with
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filter fabric, purchasing weed chemicals, and installving livestock water tanks.
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This will be a fifty to fifty cost share program
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and the amount will be reimbursed per armor and will
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not exceed four hundred dollars Applications Applicants must come into
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the Conservation District office and fill out an application and
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have a farm number or on record at the Farm
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Service Agency. This will be in the program. Receipts cannot
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be backdated from the time of signing the application. Applicants
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have up to six months to bring in pictures and
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receipts for reimbursements. All payment will be approved at each
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Board of Supervisor's meeting meeting Pardon me Minutes. Meetings are
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held the third Thursday of each month. Applications will be
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accepted from eight thirty am to four thirty pm Monday
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through Friday. Our next article that school okayed for Murray
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State University. Murray State University has received program approval by
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the Kentucky Council on Posts Secondary Education to offer a
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doctorate a Veterinary Medicine DVM, marking a significant step forward
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in its pursuit of a school of veterinary medicine. According
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to a twenty twenty four study by Deloitte, eighty out
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of Kentucky's one hundred and twenty counties are currently designated
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as having a veterinarian shortage or identified as underserved rural
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area for veterinarians. The state of Kentucky currently does not
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have a school of veterinary medicine, and in the US
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there are only thirty three veterinary colleges accredited by the AVMA.
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Murray State's Houston's School of Agriculture has the largest estimated
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pre veterinary medicine veterinary technology in enrollment of any university
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in Kentucky and is just one of three programs in
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Kentucky that is fully accredited by the AVMA. Our next
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article is a pitcher and it has five gentlemen with
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quilts wrapped around them and underneath it it's his Quilts
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of Valor. Presentation. On Friday, February twenty first, the Quilts
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of Valor, Morgan County piece by Peace Organization was honored
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to award five veterinarians five veterans with quilts at a
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ceremony at the Wolf County Public Library. Thank to the
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veterans for your service. Thanks to also to the friends
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and family who attended. Thank you to those who prepared
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refreshments and prepared for the presentation. Pictured standing left to
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right are veterans Donnie Haven's, Morgan County native residing in
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Wolf County, Gary Dunn, Cody Dunn, Garrett Dunn. Gary is
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the father of of Cody and Garrett. Pictured sitting is
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Irvine Allen Junior. Our next article is Kentucky Early Graduation
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program A humble plea for revolution. And in the middle
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there is a spot that is highlighted and I will
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read that first Graduating early seven oh four Kar three
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Colon three five, Section one defies graduate early as follows
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a student who is awarded a high school diploma from
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the district in under four academic years from the start
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of grade nine, based upon meeting all minimum high school
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graduation requirements of this administration regulation and additional requirements as
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may be imposed by a local board of education. Should
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the local district offer the option to graduate early, the
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students must still meet all state and local minimum high
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school graduation requirements as expected of any traditional four year
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high school student, but the student does so on an
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accelerated timeline. While a student in the EGP is not
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required to meet the minimum twenty two credits for high
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school graduation provided under seven oh four CAR three colon
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three oh five, participants must complete all of the unique
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requirements of the EGP in three years or less. And
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here's the article, written by David Adams. The year is
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twenty eighty six. A teenager approaches her grandparents asking, I
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just learned in my history reading that you were forced
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for a long time to go five days a week
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to a school run by the government. Is that true? Yes,
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we really were. What did they do, she asked, skeptically,
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yell at you to keep you quiet, make you eat
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prison food, and make you ask for permission to go
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to the bathroom. Yes, for more than a century that
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is how it went. We got it really awful, and
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it kept getting worse until the Kentucky Tea Party Battle
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of twenty twenty six twenty seven started turning everything around.
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This concludes excerpts from recent editions of The Lacking Valley Courier.
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Your reader has been janis on behalf of everyone here
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at RADIOI thank you for listening, keep on listening, and
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I hope you have a very good day. The battle.
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Everyone found out about the Kentucky Early Graduation Program and
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started signing their kids for it. The people running the
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government eventually figured out what would want that would do
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to their power and start trying to repeal it. That
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they couldn't do it, and the harder they fought, the
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more people signed up. Eventually, most people started learning on
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their own, thinking for themselves and for the whole system
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collapsed as self education had developed over time and more
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people opted out of the system. The old ways actually
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just faded away pretty quickly. That's why she exclaimed, how
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did we get so far off track? In America? Public
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education that was started in Massachusetts four hundred years ago
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by people escaping a government that was trying to be
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their god. The idea was to teach children how to
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read the Bible so they could figure out for themselves
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who their God is. In eighteen sixty five, a beautiful
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thing happened. The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified forbidding the government
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from enslaving people. That lasted until nineteen thirteen. When the
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Sixteenth Amendment allowed the government to enslave everyone. It's a
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long story. During World War One, schools started shifting their
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focus from teaching kids how to think to teaching kids
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how to be good employees. They kept lowering standards over time,
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until only the brightest students could read or think much
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at all, but they could all follow simple directions without
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asking questions. The Kentucky Early Graduation Program was passed relatively
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quietly in two thousand and nine and set most dormant
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until late twenty twenty six. The reason for its slow
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adoption was that when a student graduated a year or
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more early half the money his or her school district
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would have gotten for that student went into a college
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scholarship fund for that student. This is one thing encouraged
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students to learn faster, and when they figured out how
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much more fun that was, they started