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Ashland Daily Independent - 3.4.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

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Speaker 1: We now turn to The Ashland Independent to bring you
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news from in and around Ashland and Boyd County. Your
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reader today is Jane. We begin with the addition dated
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March third, twenty twenty six, as a reminder Radioizer reading
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service intended for people who are blind or have other
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disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material. Our
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first article like Grandma's House, Jay and Jay's closes, marking
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end of sixty seven year run for restaurant by Aaron
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Snyder of The Daily Independent. Johnny and Marie Justice hired
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Jeremiah Lincolnship as a temporary employee at Jay and Jay's
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Family restaurant on February twenty seventh, two thousand eight, eighteen
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years later to the date. He was clearing tables and
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washing dishes on the final day marked the end of
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a sixty seven year era of a dining staple in
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the community. I was supposed to work for three weeks,
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and here I am still, he said, while cleaning a booth.
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Like many others who entered the restaurant, he was hooked
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from the start. Jay and Jay's officially closed for good
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at eight pm Friday, February twenty seventh, nearly seven decades
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after opening as a hot dog stand in nineteen fifty nine,
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the restaurant, which featured the original diner counter from the
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hot dog stand on Thirteenth Street, opened in nineteen sixty four.
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The final week was busy, especially Thursday, when the restaurant
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experienced record single day sales. Ryan Justice, Johnny ann Mary's grandson,
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said he's been the sole owner since twenty eighteen. He
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said the restaurant went from forty five employees pre COVID
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to about fifteen in twenty twenty one to just seven
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as of closing time. I'm kind of by myself now,
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Justice said Friday. There were five of us that used
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to run this together. My grandparents passed away, and my
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brother and father passed away. Justice said his fiance has
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assisted him. They planned to reopen a flower shop in
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the near future. Brenda Shannon spent the bulk of her
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thirty year career at Jay and Jay's waiting tables. She
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said she will miss the delicious home cook food and
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greg company, both customers and fellow employees. Everybody here is
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just like family, Shannon said Friday afternoon. When the end
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of the day comes, it'll really get emotional knowing you
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ain't going to be here anymore. Christy Blankenship, Shannon's sister
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and Jeremiah's wife, logged twenty five years at Jay and Jay's.
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She worked most of her days in the kitchen. Christy
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Blankenships said, while restaurant work is challenging, the atmospheric Jay
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and Jays was always relaxing because everybody gets along. You're
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not stressed out. For the Blankenships, Jay and Jays has
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been like a second home. Throughout the last couple of weeks,
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several regulars came in to take pictures and request items
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such as old men us for scrap books. I've always
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loved hearing stories from multiple generations. Justice said, it's four
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generations for a lot of people. People will come in
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and they've been here with their parents, their kids, and
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now they're grandkids. It's a place where people feel comfortable
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coming in. It's like going to grandma's house. Justice is
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proud of his grandparents, he said. Christi Blankenship called Johnny
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and Mary Justice the sweetest people. They would do anything
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for anybody, She said. We called them Mamma and Papa.
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They were everybody's Mamma and papol. They would go out
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and sit with customers, they'd come in and work with us.
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Mary would sometimes come in at five point thirty in
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the morning and stay untill nine at night. You couldn't
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find better people. Shannon Schitt said she has a hard
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time imagining working anywhere else, so she's retiring. It's been
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a great place to work, she said. Justice said he
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is grateful for the community support for sixty seven years.
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Diners gravitated to the liver and onions, soup, beans and
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corn bread, pan fried pork chops, chicken and dumplings, homemade desserts,
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and more. Christy Blankenship said Friday was bittersweet. She said
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she is taking a month off before finding another job.
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Everybody's been really good to us, She said. It was
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crazy Thursday, like unbelievable by It's really sad. It feels
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good to have a good send off, Justice said. In
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other news, y MCA reports record breaking February by Lee
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Board of the Daily Independent, the Ashland area y MCA
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has broken its own membership record. Executive directors got Campbell
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said February figures show membership hit five thousand, seventy five units.
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That is a number of memberships, some of which are
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couple or family memberships, meaning the total number using the
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facilities is even higher. Previously, the highest membership was five thousand,
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fifty two units in two thousand one. Given changes in
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the community, the achievement is especially striking. In two thousand
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one you had Armco, Ashland Oil headquarters, g T. E.
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Salve and the coke plant. Campbell said, there were large
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corporations here when we had our all time membership high.
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We have none of that now, and we also have
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competition now. Above all, Campbell said he credits the work
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of God as enabling the wise growth. He said he
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and the staff also have put in the work to
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create a Surgeon membership, including visiting with businesses in the
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Tri State to encourage employees to join and to encourage
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corporate memberships. We have lots of programs for children and
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for seniors. Campbell said. The board has been proactive in
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allowing us to make positive changes. We're now open twenty
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four to seven and we have bubbles and sweets so
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you can grab a coffee or protein drink, and we're
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doing some renovations. The Fall Basketball League started with about
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sixty and last time had about two hundred. He continued,
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We're going to have an indoor volleys all co ed
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league for spring and fall. Our athletic director Max Hunter
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has taken the sports program to another level. The Ashland
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Area YMCA opened in eighteen ninety seven in downtown Ashland.
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The current building at thirty two thirty two Megan Nyer
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Way was built in nineteen seventy one and opened in
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nineteen seventy two. I'm so excited we broke that record.
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I've been waiting for this day since I was accepted
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in this position, Campbell said. I love the place. We
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have a lot of great people who work here and
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a lot of great members our next article, School six
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Artifacts Ashland Middle School will host Heritage on the River
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Ashland's role in America two fifty. The school will highlight
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each school current and historic in the district with a
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display of items such as old photos, yearbooks, trophies, flags
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and pennants, and sports uniforms. Schools will include Charles Russell,
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crab Hagar, Oakview, Pogue, Ashland Middle, Paul G. Blazer Normal School,
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John Means Elementary, Bayless Elementary, Wileye Elementary, Conden Elementary, Wade
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Clay Elementary, Hatcher Elementary, Coles Junior High, Putnam Junior High, Cole's,
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Putnam Junior High, Verity Middle, Booker t Washington Central High,
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and Ashland High. For more information or to donate items
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to share, emails Stacy May at Ashland dot KY Schools
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dot u S. Also Spring yard sale Saturday. The Dressing
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Room will host it spring yard sale from nine am
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to two pm Saturday, inside at twenty five sixteen Carter Avenue.
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A variety of items will be available for purchase, including
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household goods, shoes, and accessories. For more information, call area
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code six oh six three two four five four zero
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zero and art sought for exhibit. The rwand Counting Art
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Center is seeking submissions for its show Uplifted, a celebration
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of Appalachian resilience. The show is open to marginalized Appalachian
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artist whose work is shaped by lived experience and community ties.
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Each artist may submit up to three works. There is
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no submission fee. Notifications will be sent by April sixth.
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The exhibit will be April twentieth through the twenty ninth,
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with a closing reception from four to six to three
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thirty pm April twenty ninth recent obituaries Jeffrey Neil Cosby
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of Ashland, seventy Georgia, Lucille Watson ninety three of Flemingsburg,
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John Paul Stevens eighty four of Ashland and John David
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Meyers eighty nine of Ashland. In other news, Let the
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Show Begin. Paramount Theater, Ashland celebrates grand reopening. By Aaron
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Snyder of The Daily Independent, Matt Hammond remembers walking into
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the Paramount Theater at age thirteen as a nervous teenager
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preparing to sing for an audition. Sixteen years later, he
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is now the venue's executive director. Everybody has a paramount moment,
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Hammond said. From the second you walk into this building,
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you know how important it is. But what's most important
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is the people who have passed through it. The Paramount Theater,
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Ashland celebrated its grand reopening on Thursday evening. More than
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two hundred people attended the event, which featured food cooked
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in house, drinks, posters advertising upcoming shows, and renderings of
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the final product pairing the Paramount with the incoming Conference Center.
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Venue Works began managing the venue, which is owned by
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the City of Ashland, on January first. Venue Works is
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in partnership with AP three, which will handle the construction
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of the conference center. AP three and Venue Works signed
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a five year agreement with the city, which purchased the
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Paramount's facilities for three million dollars in twenty twenty four.
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Venue Works creates memories, said hr Cook, Regional vice president
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of Operations of Venue Works. We don't own the venues,
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but we manage the assets of those communities. Cook credited
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the city commissioned City staff, community partners in City Attorney
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Andrew Wheeler for helping make the reopening a smooth transition.
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I'm so happy to have gotten to this point, said
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Mayor Chuck Charles. Let the show begin, Cook said, one
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of the first orders of business was hirer In hiring
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an executive director. Twenty five people applied, but Hammond, the
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former director of Paramount Players, wasn't one of them. I
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got to talking to him and asked, why didn't you
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apply for the position, Cook said. He told me, I
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don't know. I didn't think I was qualified. The more
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I talked to him, I saw a lot of talent there.
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He knows everybody, He's done everything. He's twenty nine years old.
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He's a go getter, and he's local. Hammond graduated from
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the University of Kentucky with a master's degree in theater
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management in twenty twenty three. You assume you're going to
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have to leave home to do that, But my question is,
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why can't an executive director come from Ashland, Kentucky, Hammond said.
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Hammond introduced his executive team Thursday, Colby Rice, marketing director,
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Art Lima, event manager, and Jason Webb. This dude can
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cook guys, Hammond said of Webb, who was busy carving
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meat for guests most of the evening. Hammond announced the
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Summer Arts Academy is returning, so summer camps we'll be back.
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He also pulled back the curtain on some news regarding
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a popular longtime children's show. In October, we will have
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Sesame Street Live, he said, prompting applause. The Paramount will
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show two movies in March, he said, The Wizard of
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Oz and Legally Blonde. Viewers just need to donate pet
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food or toy to gain admission. Cook and Hammond both
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announced the Paramount Players, led by a Pack Incorporated, is
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returning auditions for the SpongeBob musical, scheduled for late April
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or on Friday. Hammond said the Festival of Trees and
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Trains will also continue, as will local organizations such as
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the Ashland Youth Ballet and Boyd County High School Band.
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Pack Incorporated hasn't gone anywhere, Cook said, We're working together
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to bring the entertainment and education here. Cook introduced members
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of the corporate staff, including Chris Carton, vice president of
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Food and Beverage Operations, j R. Cook, Operations director at
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the Sister Paramount in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Mike Silva,
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COO of Venue Works. Silva thanked d Ashland for welcoming
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venue Works into the community. Silva said Venue Works is
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one hundred percent employee owned. While based in Iowa, venue
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Works has a presence across the country. Silva said. He
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talked about the importance and strategy of the company's locations.
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We are in Juliette, not Chicago, in Cedar Rapids, not
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Des Moines, Rochester, not Buffalo. Silva said, We're going to
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market the heck out of this building locally, regionally, and nationally.
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Silva added, Ashland, Kentucky will be on the lips and
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tongues of music agents across the country. Hammond said the
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team's goal was to not have a dark period. We'll
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be here for another ninety five years, he said, of
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the ninety five year old venue. You guys are going
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to keep this alive. The community loves this place. According
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to hamm In, the Paramount has forty five confirmed events
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and forty seven on hold. The Paramount has a bright future,
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he said. Jake Schumer of AP three LLC said construction
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will begin on the largely state funded conference center set
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to be adjacent to the Paramount next week. Targeted completion
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is October twenty twenty seven. There's good synergy with the
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theater and the conference center, Schumer said. We're real excited
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about that things that are happening here in Ashland. Our
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next article Making Maroon Waves in Wrestling, Ashland athletes quickly
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gained gaining big stage experience in sport by Aaron Snyder
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of The Daily Independent, Wrestling rookies shined in Ashland Maroon
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on the state stage matt in Louisville last weekend. Four
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of Ashland's youth wrestling program's ten Kentucky USA Wrestling State
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Meet participants are in their first year in the sport,
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while only six years old. Abraham Treadway is one of
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the veterans of the group. The coach's son won a
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state title in the six U fifty pound division. He's strong,
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a bit of a bull, said Ashland coach Colton Treadway.
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Their little kids so their unpredictable day to day, but
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he was just locked in over the weekend. Cash Stevens
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six U, Lincoln Johnson eight U, DJ Hord TENU, and
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Cruz Stephens eight U are all first year wrestlers for Ashland.
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With a third place finish at Broadbent Arena, Cash Stevens
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shared the podium with teammate Abraham Treadway. They've shown so
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much potential and are learning so quickly, Coach Treadway said.
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It's even more impressive for the eight U and ten
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U age group as they're going up against some who
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have been wrestling for four or five years. I'm wildly
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impressed with our team. Lincoln Johnson placed fourth in eight
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U sixty two pounds. The seven year old was extremely
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receptive to wrestling from the beginning, said Tyler Johnson, Lincoln's father.
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He was always eager to learn. Tyler Johnson said, Lincoln
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kept wowing his family throughout the season with the strides
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he made on the mat despite never wrestling before. After
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Lincoln finished in third at region, he went to State
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and defeated three opponents. One of those opponents had previously
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beaten him and had taken first place at regional's, but
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Lincoln won the match by just one point. Tyler Johnson
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said that was the moment my wife and I realize
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there is something truly special about this boy. Tyler john
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Since said his son goes into competition with an I'm
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not done mindset. At the program's peak, the team consisted
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of fifty wrestlers. According to Treadway, As for coaching, it
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was super easy because I had a bunch of awesome
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volunteer coaches. He said. The high school team was instrumental.
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They'd stay after practice to help with the kids. Just
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really supportive. The girls team and girls coach Janie Moyer
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have been great. Jane is a godsend. She's done an
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absolutely amazing job with them. Colton Treadway said his family
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moved from Maryland to the area in twenty twenty three
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so he could study at Marshall University. They signed up
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their eldest son, Eugene, in the fall of twenty twenty three.
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Colton Treadway assisted last year when the previous youth head
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coached moved up to middle school and high school, Treadway
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took over. He has wrestling ling experience in Maryland. I'm
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so grateful for the opportunity to coach them, Treadway said.
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My wife and I just had a baby in October,
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so there may be at least another eight years of
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me being around the program. Other Ashland state meet qualifiers
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were Knox Brown six U fifty six pounds, Aaron Gumbert
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twelve U one hundred and thirty five pounds, Eugene Treadway
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eight U seventy pounds, Declan Mourrior twelve U one sixty,
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Kensley Trougutt ten U fifty six and A. J. Smith
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eight U sixty two. Brown was a region champion. Moving on,
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local poet retired nurse turns ninety by Lee Ward of
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The Daily Independent, One of the Daily Independents most prolific poets,
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celebrates an important milestone today, she turns ninety. Mattie Cooper
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has a fifty plus year history of writing, including poetry
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tributes to others, church bulletins, and even the occasional amusing antidote.
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A nurse at King's Daughter's Medical Center for thirty years,
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Cooper retired in nineteen ninety seven, and she left a
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long list of nurses she trained and patients who remember
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her fondly. Every time we go anywhere, people stop her
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and remember her. Daughter, Natalie Robinson, said she can't remember
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all of them because of the massive number of people
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she took care of. The Ashland native met her husband
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of more than fifty years, Harold Cooper, through a fellow
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nurse and close friend. The two married and had two children.
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She has three grandchildren and three great grandchildren. Robinson said
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her mother has always been an excellent cook, noting her
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homemade rolls might be what she's best known for, but
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she has other specialties including chocolate cake, spaghetti sauce, meat balls, coleslaw,
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and deviled eggs. She and her husband still a turned
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church at thirteenth Street, Febroll Baptist Church, where she participates
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in church dinners. Her daughter said she loves to shop,
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but most of her time and energy go into writing
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poetry and items for the church bulletins. Her advice to
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anyone who wants to know how to have a long life,
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Cooper said, is putting others before yourself. Cooper has a
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strong relationship with Jesus and her spirituality shows through her writings.
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Robinson said she loves with all her heart and has
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a list of people she calls on a daily basis
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to make sure they're doing okay. She has always put
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others welfare before her own. Moving on Boyd County Fair
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moving to June by Lee Ward of the Daily Independent,
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Changes are in store for the Boyd County Fair. The
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fair will be moved to June twenty third through the
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twenty seventh, with pre fair activities on June nineteenth and twentieth.
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We are so excited to announce plans for the twenty
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twenty sixth fair. Fair President Ellen Keaton said, we will
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be joining in the America two hundred and fifty celebration
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theme this year. We have chosen stars, Stripes, and summer
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Nights as our slogan to commemorate this special gear in
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our country. In addition to familiar favorites, Keaton said, the
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entire fair will display a patriotic theme. We are in
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the planning stages for the events at this time. She said,
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there will of course be crowd favorites Demolition, Derby, Autocross,
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Motocross and the Rodeo. We have booked Michael Colmes for
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Gospel on Thursday night, along with Rob mcnerlin and other
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look favorites on Friday night. Wednesday night will feature a
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new exciting event in the main fair building. Roller Derby
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Queen City Stunt Circus will perform June twenty sixth and
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twenty seventh for multiple shows each day. Preparations for the
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four h Livestock and Horse Show our nearly complete, and
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detailed information will be available on the fair's website soon.
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Keaton said. The Miss Boyd County pageants are scheduled for
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June thirteenth, with entry forms and additional details also to
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be provided on the website. The next Fairboard meeting will
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be at five thirty pm March sixteenth at the Midland
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Branch of the Boyd County Library. Meetings are open to
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anyone who would like to volunteer for the fair. The
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Board County Fairgrounds are at seventeen sixty Addington Road. More
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information can be found on the Fair's Facebook page or
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at Boyd County Fair dot net. Moving on three indicted
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for meth trafficking by Aaron Snyder of the Daily Independent.
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Three South Shore residents were indicted by a Greenop County
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grand jury on meth trafficking charges last week. Anthony Carrington,
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sixty four, was indicted on charges of first offense trafficking
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in more than two grams of myth. He was also
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indicted on a first degree persistent felony offender charge. Amberlyons
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thirty nine, and Christopher Irvin, forty one were each indicted
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on a charge of first offense meth trafficking equal to
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or greater than two grams. All three were booked into
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the Greenop County Detention Center. In other news, man gets
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five years for trafficking by Aaron Snyder of the Daily Independent,
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a forty two year old man pleaded guilty to trafficking
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charges Thursday in Greenop County Circuit Court. Christopher Antler, represented
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by attorney Bradley Horne, told Judge Brian McLeod he sold
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meth and herowine to an informant inside a residence in
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June twenty twenty five. The court sentence Antler to five
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years on each charge. He will serve those concurrently for
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a total of five years. Boyd detention center warns of scam.
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The Boyd County Detention sitter made a post on social
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media Thursday warning the community of a scam. The Boyd
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County Jail reported individuals are calling family members of inmates
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and are falsely identifying themselves as a deputy or employee
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of the jail. These callers are requesting money to get
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or keep a family member out of jail. This is
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a scam. I am the detention center posted the Boyd
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County Detention Center will never call and solicit money or
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bond over the phone. We will never ask you to
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send money directly to us. This concludes excerpts from recent
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editions of the Ashland Daily Independent. Your reader, husband Jane
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on behalf of everyone here at radio. I thank you
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for listening, Keep on listening and have a good day.