Latest / Eastern Kentucky Newspapers / Ashland Daily Independent - 2.4.26

Transcript

Ashland Daily Independent - 2.4.26 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

0:01
Speaker 1: We now turn to the Ashland Independent to bring you
0:04
news from in and around Ashland and Boyd County. Your
0:08
reader today is Jane. We begin with the addition dated
0:13
February second, twenty twenty six. As a reminder, RADIOI is
0:18
a reading service intended for people who are blind or
0:22
have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
0:27
Our first article Face of the City. Raceland police chief
0:32
retires after forty two years in law enforcement by Aaron
0:37
Snyder of the Daily Independent. Raceland's police chief conducted his
0:43
final call on the job Friday afternoon at twelve forty four.
0:49
Don Salmons is calling it a career assigned, declaring the
0:54
legend is retiring, greeted those who entered the community center
0:59
as the Senate of Raceland had a celebration for a
1:02
man who had been a pillar of the small town
1:05
since the nineteen eighties. Salmons began his law enforcement career
1:12
as a Raceland police officer in nineteen eighty four. He
1:16
spent two years in Long Island, New York, at the
1:19
Brookhaven National Laboratory. He came back home to become a
1:24
peace officer in Greenop County. He was named chief of
1:28
police in Raceland in nineteen ninety nine. I didn't like
1:34
New York, he said with a laugh. I've been all
1:37
over the eastern half of the country and nothing compares
1:41
to here. People are friendly here, and it's the perfect
1:44
place to live. Salmon's favorite memories are from the annual
1:50
Operation Holiday Heroes events, formerly Shop with a Cop. Children
1:56
all over Greenop County received Christmas gifts from a dozen
2:00
kids in nineteen ninety nine to about five hundred in
2:04
twenty twenty five. Salmons said, I have people walk up
2:08
to me to this day saying you don't remember me,
2:12
but I was eight years old and you took me
2:14
to Kmart. Salmons, who will turn sixty eight in April,
2:19
was born in Ashland and raised in Boyd County. When
2:23
he started with Raceland Police, there were two part timers
2:27
and two full time officers. The station then was simply
2:32
one small room. Presently, the police force consists of eight officers.
2:39
This went by quick, really, but it's changed so much
2:43
since when I first started, he said. All the guys
2:46
I've worked with are here. I couldn't ask for better.
2:51
Salmons encountered health issues over the past year plus. In
2:56
twenty twenty five, he had five surgeries on his right
2:59
leg after it artery collapsed. Doctors ultimately removed veins from
3:04
his left leg to insert into his right leg. He's
3:08
endured extensive rehabilitation. One of the most challenging and in
3:14
depth cases he worked revolved around Timothy Chambers, who was
3:18
convicted in federal court on multiple counts of sending child
3:22
pornography online and taking a minor across state lines to
3:27
have sex with him. Chambers was sentenced to one hundred
3:31
and seventy years in prison in two thousand and six.
3:36
We arrested several here. There were different states involved, the
3:40
FBI involved, Salmons said. Salmons did much more than police work.
3:46
Dustin Burchett, city administrator said, when he accepted that role,
3:52
there was not a bigger supporter than Don Salmons, and
3:57
I'll forever be grateful. All the good did you see
4:00
Raceland doing now is on this man's backs, his foundation
4:04
he started. Burchett said, I remember early on there would
4:08
be issues in the first person everybody looked for was
4:13
Don Sammons. He'll always be a friend to this county.
4:19
We're definitely going to miss having him here, said Raceland
4:24
Mayor Tony Wilson. How do you replace a guy that's
4:27
been here forty two years. He's probably held this place
4:31
together through difficult times. He's been the face of the
4:35
city for many years, for many reasons. He's been involved
4:39
in anything and everything. I'm glad he's able to go
4:43
out on top. He's a community servant to all of us.
4:48
Green Up Mayor Lunde Meadows read a proclamation from Senator
4:54
Robin Webb. Wortland Mayor Bobby Reynolds shared a proclamation from
4:59
Congo Homan. Thomas Massey. James Stevens read one from Senator
5:04
Ran Paul. Flatwood's mayor presented one from Senator Mitch McConnell.
5:11
Burchett gave a proclamation from Representative Aaron Thompson. Wilson read
5:17
a proclamation from the city. Salmon's wife, Terry, passed away
5:23
fourteen years ago of a major heart attack. Three of
5:27
his five children, de Wayne, Cheyenne, and Chris, attended Friday celebration.
5:34
Sean and Dustin were unable to get away from work
5:37
obligations to be there. Sammons has ten grown children and
5:43
two great grandchildren. This feels strange, Simons said, for forty
5:48
two years, this is all I've done. It will feel different.
5:53
I won't have to get up in the mornings. I
5:55
don't have to worry about what's going to happen, what
5:58
I'm going to get into. Simmons said he plans to travel.
6:04
He has already booked a train trip in April. In
6:09
other news, Greenup School Board dix with buyout by Aaron
6:13
Snyder of the Daily Independent. Greenup County School Board voted
6:19
on a two hundred and fifty thousand dollars buyout for
6:22
former superintendent Tracy Morrissey, replicating a decision it made earlier
6:28
this month. The Board of Education conducted a revote after
6:33
a local attorney filed a violation of the Open Meetings Act.
6:39
School Board attorney Jimmy Lyon acknowledged the mistake, saying the
6:44
notice of the board's January two special meeting was not
6:48
properly displayed at the central office. The Board of Education
6:53
opened the floor to public comment Thursday evening, prior to
6:57
board members Matt Tussey, Chair Carl Cotton, and Sandy Moser
7:03
making a decision on how to handle Morrissey's resignation as
7:08
the district's superintendent. After about twenty minutes of various remarks
7:13
from the public and from the board table, Tussy made
7:17
a motion to proceed with a two hundred and fifty
7:20
thousand dollars buyout, essentially paying Morsey the remainder of her
7:26
contract as the district moves forward without her in any capacity.
7:32
Cotton and Moser agreed to account for the unanimous unanimous
7:38
attorney three zero vote. Attorney Tracy Frye from the crowd
7:44
called the board cowards. She had pleaded with them to
7:48
wait until new board members Abe Haslip and Nick Fannon
7:53
were officially sworn in, and after Cotton and Moser officially
7:57
tendered their resignations to make a well informed decision on
8:02
how to handle Morrisey's exit. Frye represented families of five
8:07
children in a civil case against Morrissey, the school board,
8:12
and others, which accused the district of improperly handling allegations
8:16
of abuse of special needs children at mckel Elementary. That
8:22
case was settled in December, but a criminal case involving
8:26
four former McKell employees is set for trial in August.
8:32
Text messages tied to Morsey containing disparaging remarks about special
8:37
needs children and adults surfaced when the Circuit Court unsealed
8:42
documents after Lyon said Thursday he was confident the board
8:47
would win any potential wrongful termination lawsuits against them. Fry
8:52
said that was more than enough reason to proceed with
8:56
terminating Morrissey as a tenured educator. The board essentially had
9:02
three options. Continue paying Morsey as a superintendent, which with
9:07
benefits and retirement would have totaled about three hundred and
9:10
fifty thousand dollars, move forward without possible lawsuits with a
9:15
two hundred and fifty thousand dollars buyout, or terminate her
9:20
and risk those lawsuits. Morsey had not resigned as a
9:26
tenured educator, so interim Superintendent Steve Hall could have placed
9:31
her in a position elsewhere in the district if the
9:35
board decided to retain her as a district employee. Ryan Elkins,
9:40
a member of the public, suggested placing Morsey in a
9:44
vacant custodian position. Put her to work, but don't give
9:50
away my money, Elkins said, referring to taxpayer burden. Hall
9:55
said when he was hired as interim superintendent on December second,
10:00
community members were emphatic that Morrisey should not be around children,
10:05
so it became rather challenging to insert her anywhere in
10:09
the district. He said he wanted to honor the public's wishes.
10:15
Lyon said, Tussy made the motion, and then he asked
10:18
the chairman to explain your reasoning. It appeared to us
10:22
the public was very adamant they wanted miss Morrisey gone.
10:27
Tussy said, the options presented to us was to buy
10:31
her contract out or give her another job in the
10:35
school district. Whenever we talked about appointing her to another
10:39
position in the school district, that wasn't good enough. There
10:44
was a lot of hollering and screaming. They wanted her out.
10:49
We've addressed the option of a buyout. By doing a
10:53
buyout of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, we are
10:56
saving the district a little over one hundred thousand dollars
11:00
over the course of that contract. We looked at it
11:04
as the best option to move forward. We can't get
11:08
the situation done and over with, and tried to do
11:11
what we're here to do, which is focus on kids
11:14
in the district instead of fighting this fight I've been
11:17
fighting for over a year now. That's the reason I'm
11:21
making this vote by deciding on a buyout. Is it
11:27
the board's intention to terminate that tenure also, so you
11:31
can't work here in any capacity. Was that part of
11:35
the thought on the board members that we don't want
11:39
her here period? Lion asked yes. Tussy said. Some more
11:44
back and forth between the board and the public ensued.
11:48
Hall said publicly, he has submitted a complaint to the
11:52
State Standards Board that Morsey violated the Code of Ethics.
11:57
I have received confirmation they have received the report. Hall said,
12:02
all I did was report the facts as I found them.
12:06
The Standards Board has found that the complaint I filed
12:09
rose to the level of action by this Standards Board.
12:14
At this point, the next step in that process is missus. Morrissey,
12:19
with or without legal counsel, has the opportunity to address
12:23
those Code of Ethic violations. She can dispute them, prove
12:28
them wrong. Rebut whatever those charges were at that point,
12:33
once I made the complaint, it is out of our hands.
12:38
If the Standards Board finds they made these violations, her
12:42
certificate will be suspended. Hall said she would no longer
12:47
be able to serve as a superintendent in the state
12:50
of Kentucky. If she wants to teach. She can come
12:54
back in two years and get a teaching certificate renewed,
12:58
but she can never have a superintendent certificate. A grandfather
13:03
of one of the victims in the McHale classroom said
13:06
to the board, you're going to give her two hundred
13:09
and fifty thousand dollars. I'm sorry, I have no confidence
13:14
in none of you. If you do that, that's just
13:18
me speaking as a grandfather. That is totally wrong. But yeah,
13:22
that's the easy way out. You already told them you
13:26
thought you could win all this against her, The grandfather
13:30
said to Lion, so do they trust you or do
13:34
they want to write that check? Said Fry to the board,
13:38
Mister Lion, who has been your attorney for thirty years,
13:42
set on the record that you can fire her and
13:45
you can win. You're going to sit there after your
13:49
interim superintendent tells you he searched his brain to try
13:53
to find a way to keep this woman away from kids,
13:57
and you're talking about writing her at two hundred and
13:59
fifty five thousand dollars check. That is insane. Tussy proceeded
14:05
with the motion for the buyout. Moser and Cotton quickly agreed.
14:11
You guys are sick, you're sad. The grandfather said, every
14:15
one of you should be voted out of here. Every
14:18
one of you needs to go. The school board continued
14:23
on to approve appointed board members Hayslop and Fannin moving
14:30
on Greenup Schools add two board members, Aaron Snyder of
14:34
the Daily Independent. Nick Fannin and Abe Hayslop filled two
14:40
vacancies on Greenup County's Board of Education. Attorney Jim Lyons
14:45
wore the two in during Thursday evening's meeting at Central Office.
14:50
Fannin and Hayslop represents the Districts three and four, respectively.
14:57
They assumed spots previously held by Mary came Againnis Rourke
15:01
and Lance Warnock. Hayslip has three children, two of whom
15:07
graduated from Greenop County Schools and one who is a
15:11
students at Grace Branch Elementary. As a parent in Greenop County,
15:17
you have a duty and obligations to fulfill and if
15:20
you see a need, you fulfill a need. And that's
15:24
really what motive motivated me to do this. Hayslip, who
15:29
is in management with Bob Evans Restaurants, said he plans
15:33
to help make decisions to benefit students of the district.
15:37
It's imperative you have people with sound minds on the
15:41
board to take things thrown at them, he said. Fannin
15:46
brings a unique perspective as he does not have children.
15:50
I'm very active in the community, he said, citing his
15:54
involvement with the n E K Y Chamber of Commerces
15:58
Young Professionals Association. Fannin works in the University of Kentucky
16:04
Healthcare Finance Department. I want to try to help bring
16:08
this district forward as much as we can, while also
16:12
understanding there's a lot of work to be done to
16:14
get us there, Fannin said. I unbiased as can be,
16:20
he added. Fannin has a master's degree in business and
16:24
a degree in finance. We have a diverse board already,
16:28
Fannin said, and with two new members soon, there's even
16:33
more opportunity for diversity. We all have to function as
16:37
a unit. One day we'll have a full board to
16:42
make good, informed decisions to help the kids of the district.
16:47
Carl Cotton and Sandy Moser tended resignations Thursday, leaving Matt Tussey, Chair,
16:54
Hayslip and Fannin on the board. Moving on another creditor
17:01
lays claim to ARC's eight million dollar loan by Deborah
17:06
Yetter of the Kentucky Lantern. A federal lawsuit accusing Addiction
17:12
Recovery Care, or, Kentucky's largest treatment provider, of defaulting on
17:18
an eight million dollar loan, has a new twist. Just
17:22
two and a half weeks after Angelica Capital Trust sued
17:26
the embattled provider, accusing ARC of refusing to repay the
17:31
eight million rate eight million dollar. A second company is
17:36
seeking to join the case, arguing it has a prior
17:40
claim to the money because it was the first to
17:43
lend ARC a similar amount. In both cases, the loans
17:47
were secured through about eight million dollars in federal income
17:53
tax credits ARC was to receive last year, said the
17:57
filing January twenty eighth U S. District Court in New
18:01
York by clear Cove Opportunities Fund. ARC sold the very
18:07
same tax credits to both financial firms, which buy such
18:11
credits from businesses that are in need of immediate liquity,
18:17
said clear Cove's filing. In turn, businesses repay the firms
18:22
with interest when they receive the money from the internal
18:26
revenue service. ARC sold the same credits to clear Cove
18:30
in July and again to Angelica in November. Clearcove's filing
18:36
said it is seeking to interview intervene in the lawsuit
18:41
to protect its claims. It said ARC has now been
18:45
exposed as having perpetrated fraud in attempting to sell clear
18:50
Cove's property the tax credits to another investor, said the
18:56
filing by the Chicago based clear Cove in December received
19:01
eight million dollars in tax credits, but has repaid neither company.
19:07
According to court filings, both are asking the federal judge
19:12
to freeze funds to keep ARC from dissipating what's left
19:16
of the eight million dollars. ARC spokeswoman Vanessa Keaton provided
19:21
a brief response in an email after The Kentucky Lantern
19:25
asked for comment. A lawsuit only represents one side's perspective.
19:31
ARC spokeswoman Vanessa Keaton said, and to the Kentucky Lantern,
19:39
we aren't going to litigate our case in the media
19:42
and will not comment on pending litigation. The litigation appears
19:47
to be another major hit for Louisa Base Company, already
19:52
the subject of an ongoing FBI investigation into possible health
19:57
care fraud. And facing mounting fire financial problems that have
20:01
forced it to close facilities and lay off staff Clearcove Firms.
20:07
Court filings comes as Angelica is asking US District Judge
20:13
George B. Daniels to hold ARC and its owners Tim
20:17
Robinson and his wife Leela in contempt of court for
20:21
spending assets. Angelica says it is owed. The court had
20:26
scheduled a hearing on the matter for today, but the
20:29
online docket shows the hearing is now scheduled for February eleventh. Meanwhile,
20:35
the judge on Thursday issued in order for ARC to
20:39
place four point seven million dollars in an escrow account
20:43
and update the court daily on the account balance to
20:46
ensure the funds have not been dissipated. Angelica, based in
20:52
the Bahamas, has alleged ARC is on the brink of
20:56
insolvency and has threatened to file for bankruptcy if forced
21:01
to repay the funds. ARC has explicitly threatened to go
21:07
into bankruptcy absent some prayed for asset sale to a
21:12
third party, which does not appear at all likely. Its
21:16
lawsuits said ARC had claimed it was negotiating to sell
21:20
the company and needed the eight million dollars advanced from
21:25
Angelica to get the deal done and survive, Angelica's court
21:30
filing said, but the proposed sale, which ARC announced in October,
21:35
fell through last month. The company announced it is among
21:40
a series of setbacks for ARC, once Kentucky's fastest growing
21:44
provider of treatment for drug and alcohol addiction, ARC was
21:50
founded in his native Eastern Kentucky by Tim Robinson, a
21:55
lawyer and recovering alcoholic. The for profit company grew rapidly
22:00
in recent years, fueled by an expansion in Medicaid payments
22:04
for such treatment, and Robinson and his company emerged as
22:09
prolific political donors. But ARC has foundered in recent months
22:16
amid fraud allegations and cuts in reimbursement from insurers who
22:21
pay Medicaid claims and had questioned what they described as
22:25
aggressive billing practices. Angelica, in a court filing set ARC
22:31
engaged in massive fraud by submitting millions of dollars in
22:35
false claims to Medicaid and Medicare, both government health plans.
22:41
It set ARC to attempt to resolve an ongoing federal investigation,
22:46
has negotiated a proposed settlement with the US Department of
22:50
Justice to pay the government twenty seven point seven million dollars,
22:55
sixteen million dollars of which is restitution, according to the
23:01
proposed settlement, which Angelica filed in court. The federal investigation
23:06
began after some individuals filed a quatam or whistleblower lawsuit
23:12
alleging fraudulent practices by ARC. Such cases typically are sealed
23:18
while the government investigates. Allegations under investigation include that ARC
23:25
and its affiliates falsified medical records, build for services already
23:30
paid for by other programs, provided and built for medically
23:35
unnecessary services, and unlawfully distributed certain medications used to treat addiction.
23:43
This settlement agreement is neither an admission of liability by
23:47
the ARK entities nor a concession by the United States
23:51
that it claims are not well founded, it said. Our
23:55
next article, DESCO announces expansion. DISCO Federal Credit Union will
24:02
expand to include twelve new counties across Ohio, Kentucky, and
24:07
West Virginia, enabling more residents, workers, and businesses. The newly
24:14
approved chartered counties r Adams, Galla, Jackson, Pike, and Ross
24:21
Counties in Ohio. Mason Lewis Carter Fleming and Rowan Counties
24:27
in Kentucky, and Mason and Putnam Counties in West Virginia.
24:33
Expanding into these new counties is a milestone that strengthens
24:37
our ability to serve members with the quality and care
24:41
they deserve, said Jeff Lyons, President and CEO of DESCO
24:46
Federal Credit Union. We are thrilled to welcome new members
24:50
into the DESCO family and provide financial solutions that help
24:55
them thrive. Services will include personal banking, loans, credit, digital services,
25:03
business services, financial education resources, tools for youth financial literacy,
25:10
and other features. To learn more about eligibility products and
25:16
how to join, visit DESCOFCU dot org. Moving on Senate
25:24
bill to clarify teacher and student communication law by McKenna
25:30
Horsley of Kentucky, Today, a bill that aims to revise
25:34
restrictions on how Kentucky teachers communicate electronically with their students
25:40
has passed out of the state Senate. The legislation, sponsored
25:45
by Senator Lindsey Tickner, Republican Smithfield, builds on her law
25:52
from last year the required public school teachers and students
25:56
to electronically communicate only by traceable fees like emails and
26:02
school approved apps as a way to come back sexual
26:06
grooming of children. However, advocates said the law still had
26:10
room for improvement despite its passage by the Republican controlled
26:15
General Assembly and signature from Democratic Governor Andy Basheer. Since
26:22
the law took effect at the start of the current
26:24
school year, parents and teachers wanted clarification about barring all
26:29
types of electronic communication, including text between students and teachers.
26:36
Questions arose about what to do when sports teams needed
26:39
updates from their coaches or students are traveling on field
26:44
trips and need to be contacted quickly. Among the proposed
26:48
changes in Senate Bill one eighty one, school employees and
26:53
volunteers may not engage in unauthorized electronic communication with students,
27:00
which is defined as a private message to a student
27:03
without their parent as a recipient of the message, and
27:07
without parental approval from a consent form. This concludes excerpts
27:13
from recent editions of the Ashland Daily Independent. Your reader
27:17
has been Jane on behalf of everyone here at radio.
27:21
I thank you for listening, Keep on listening and have
27:24
a good day.