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Ashland Daily Independent - 12.10.25 · Eastern Kentucky Newspapers

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Speaker 1: We now turned 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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December eighth, twenty twenty five, as a reminder radioized 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 Flatwoods has Christmas Parade staff report. The Flatwoods
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Christmas Parade was a success Saturday, said Mayor Buford Hurley.
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The parade started at five pm and traveled on Argylight Road.
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Russell's School Resource Officers Brian Tackett of Flatwood's Police and
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Bart Mills of Russell PD were the grand marshals. Following
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the parade, Bob Nolan lit the city's new twenty two
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foot Christmas tree in the park. Nolan, who is retiring,
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was our biggest advocate for providing a tree that kids
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can enjoy each year at Christmas time in the park.
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According to the City of Flatwood's government page on Facebook,
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Trinity Station Retirement Community one first place with its Peanuts
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themed float. Second place went to Troop one sixty five
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City National Bank claim third place. Hurley said it was
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a nice parade with ground level cameras and our live feed.
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According to the city's Facebook page, it expects the twenty
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twenty six installment to be even bigger and better. Hurley
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said the city is working to make the technology better
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for next year two. He would like to get some
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more music groups and local bands involved, he said Russell.
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Greenop County High school bands performed as part of the
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year's parade. In other news, national organization honors Greenup County
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students staff report. The National Society of High School Scholars
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recently recognized a Greenop County High school student. According to
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a news release, Halle Bailey of Argylite has been selected
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to become a member of the organization. The National Society
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of High School Scholars recognizes top scholars who have demonstrated
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outstanding leadership, scholarship, and community commitment. According to the release,
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President James W. Lewis, co founder of NSHSS, made the
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announcement on behalf of ns HSSs and our co founder,
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Clay's Noble, a member of the family that established the Nobel.
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I am honored to recognize the hard work, passion, and
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commitment that Halle has demonstrated to achieve this exceptional level
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of academic excellence. Lewis said, Halle is now a member
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of a unique community of scholars, a community that represents
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our very best hope for the future. In essay, just
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members automatically become lifetime members at the time of their
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initial membership. The organization helps connect young scholars with resources
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they need to develop their strengths and pursue their passions.
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According to the release our next article, local music icon
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Gary Kessling dies by Leeward of The Daily Independent, a
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local businessman and musician, Gary Kesling died Friday. The family
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announced he was seventy one. Kessling, owner of two Catz
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Studios and nine Lives Records, which had more than thirty
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million streams, downloads and CD sales, also was a percussionist.
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He also was known for presenting Garyoke in the area
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that he might have been best known for his role
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as a member of the classic rock band The Return.
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Portsmouth bass singer David Packard met Kessling in twenty twelve
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and they proceeded to record together for years. He was
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very hands on and helpful while we were recording in
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the studio, very hard working with his music and very
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hard working with the indie music scene, Packard said, adding
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his personality was just as deserving of praise. He was
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a very good soul, kind hearted and the greatest sense
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of humor, he said, was anything music related. He absolutely
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loved it. We lost a legend, but his spirit will
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live on through his music. Nathan Frame, drummer for Three
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Days Under, said Kessling will be missed. Gary was definitely
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a staple in the music community with his band, with
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his recording studio and Gary Ok. Frame said he was
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an amazing musician, wonderful drummer, and wonderful vocals. Outside the
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music part of things, he was such a good person.
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Musician Nick Carr recalls time spent with Kussling. I will
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always treasure the time I shared with him making music
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in that short ceiling basement, sitting on that horribly uncomfortable
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Leopard Prince sofa. He was a good man, Carr said.
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At arrife of the band Middle Run Grass said his
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feelings are summed up with a quote from nash Film
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musician Will Kimburrow about the loss of singer songwriter Todd Snyder.
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I have more gratitude than grief. Our garage band in
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High School opened for Menlo Park Kessling's band at the time,
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it was such an honor to play at Summer Motion.
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Riife said, Gary and Mike Fitzpatrick both treated us like
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rock stars and it was a great feeling to have
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local big names help us out the two cross paths
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later at Callahan Stage. I really will miss him, like
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the other thousands of years he's touched with music over
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the years, he was a family guy outside of music.
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What a life of music. In other news, pictures with
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Santa to be offered. Camp Landing will offer pictures with
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Santa on Saturdays and Sunday until Christmas. Times Saturday will
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be noon to three pm. Sunday times will be one
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to four pm. Participants should bring their own cameras. Camp
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Landing is at one zero six nine nine US sixty
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Tri County Choir in concert. Hilltop Christian Baptist Church will
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host a Tri County Choir concert on Saturday, December thirteenth,
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from six thirty to eight thirty pm. The director is
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Brian Wheeler. There is no charge for the concert. Hilltop
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Christian Baptist is at seven one three Wheatley Road in Westwood.
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There is no charge for the concert come join together
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in an evening of worship, fellowship, and singing of gospel
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and Christmas hymns and music. A press release stated, Moving on,
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Katlettsburg Tree tradition continues. Burg Elementary kept up a yearly
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tradition by decorating the city's Christmas tree on Thursday. The
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city of Katlitsburg helps make it a big event each year,
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closing off portions of streets and employees of the city,
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volunteer firefighters, and police officers contributing students adorned the tree
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with ornaments, a Santa topper, and red and gold garland.
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They also all enjoyed cookies with Santa at the fire station.
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Moving on announcement at museum. The Huntington Children's Museum will
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host a gathering at noon December twelfth featuring a major
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announcement Museum leaders described as an exciting and meaningful step
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forward for the organization and the families it serves. While
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details of the announcement will remain confidential until the event,
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the museum shared that the news expands its mission to
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inspire curiosity, connection, and inclusive play for children of all abilities.
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The museum is at seventeen hundred Washington Avenue. Light refreshments
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will be provided. In other news state awaiting report in
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murder case by Aaron Snyder of The Daily Independent. A
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thirty one year old murder suspect is scheduled for trial
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in March twenty twenty six, but the Commonwealth Attorney's office
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has concerns it can stay on schedule. Christopher Frederick Charles
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Hammond appeared for a pre trial conference in Boyd County
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Circuit Court Thursday morning. Hammond is accused of killing Barry
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Justin Burton at the Bluegrass Inn in Ashland in March
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twenty twenty five. Investigators said a verbal altercation between the
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two led to the shooting. Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Kirsten Rosen
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said she is still waiting on a report from Kentucky
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State Police regarding a charge of using restricted m O
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during feloning. If that report doesn't come in on time,
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the trial date will be in question. Judge John Vincent
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scheduled another pre trial for January twenty ninth. Hammond remains
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in Boyd County's jail on no bond. Formal hearing set
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for attempted murder suspect by Aaron Snyder of the Daily Independent.
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A woman charged with attempted murder in twenty twenty one
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in Ashland is now scheduled for a formal responsibility hearing
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on January twenty ninth at one p m. Felicia Hailton, forty,
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was in Boyd County Circuit Court via video conference from
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the Detention Center Thursday in front of Judge John Vincent.
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Helton is represented by John Thompson of the County's Department
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of Public Advocacy. Helton is accused of pouring gasoline on
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a gas station clerk and trying to light that person
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on fire at the Winchester Avenue SNOCO. The defense has
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claimed Helton is not responsible for their acts due to
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mental illness or intellectual disability. In our view, parking enforcement
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working TDI Editorial Board, Ashland recently resumed overtime parking in
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the downtown area enforcement of anything won't make everyone happy
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or mad. Nearly every city with retail outlets where their
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customers use street parking experience this issue. The age old
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problem in Ashland has been roosters, that is, those who
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work or live downtown and park in front of retailers
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or service providers the entire business day during the reconstruction
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of Winchester Avenue, parking enforcement ceased. It didn't resume until
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a couple months ago to due to a staff shortage
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and a recent court ruling that prohibited municipalities from chalking tires.
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Putting a chalkmark on tires became unworkable because the parker
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would go move their vehicles a few feet, thus making
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it appear as though they left and just happened to
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return to the same parking spot when downtown was busier.
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In earlier times, enforcement was done by two female employees
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called meter maids. That's an outdated term in a politically
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correct world. The area of parking enforcement is smaller than
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it was decades ago. Ashland is smaller than it was
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decades ago, where an aging population who liked parking tents
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steps to our destination. In the big picture, we think
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Ashland's current parking environment plan is working. The city is
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considering lengthening the time limit from two to three hours.
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Some service oriented businesses, such as hairdressers and others, have
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expressed concern that two hours is not long enough for
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their customers. In fairness to the city, they indicated changes
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may be needed. Once they resumed the two hour enforcement.
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Employees who work downtown still have plenty of free parking options.
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They include Mayo Plaza, the city owned lots at fourteenth
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and Winchester Avenue, plus the now city owned parking garage
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on Seventeenth Street. Moving on, affordability is a crisis for
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Kentuckians and what state leaders can do about it. Every
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poll tells that affordability is the major concern facing hard
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working Americans. Many are increasingly angry as they watch the
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cost of goods and services spike, from groceries to housing
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to medical care. At the same time, wages and income
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fail to keep up. What's behind this cost of living
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crunch and what will our leaders do about it? There
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are two sides to affordability, how much things cost and
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how many resources people have to buy them. Both are
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a problem. First, many Americans rightly believe that the price
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of basic needs has gotten out of control. Inadequate public
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investment means hire out of pocket costs for everything from
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child and healthcare to higher education. Corporate monopolies and financial
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speculation in industries ranging from housing to meet production to
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retire ron savings have made things more expensive, and now
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across the board, tariffs put in place by the Trump
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administration are raising costs further. At the same time, wages
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for most workers have not kept up with growth in
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the economy since the nineteen seventies. Wage growth comes from
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how much power workers have to bargain with their employers,
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and as policies have intentionally weakened unions and other forms
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of worker leverage, wages have fallen behind. Thankfully, there are
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actions that can be taken now at the state level
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to address the problem of affordability, as Kentucky policy outlines
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and a new report building a Kentucky workers can afford,
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there are dozens of state policies that would grow worker
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power and family incomes while addressing the costs of basic
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goods and services. For example, the state could repeal harmful
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laws undermining unions like so called right to work, expand
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collective bargaining rights, and restore prevailing wage and minimum wage
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laws so there are more living wage jobs. Kentucky could
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also offer two years of tuition for republic higher education
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and fund programs that help young people enter apprenticeships for
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good union employment. The state could make historic, one time
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and annual investments in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund to
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vastly expand the supply of houses and apartments. Kentucky can
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reinvest in public schools, helping kids succeed in life and
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families address child mental health, and food costs, while also
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giving teachers a real, much needed raise. The legislature could
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also create create a resiliency fund to make infrastructure investments
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that can withstand extreme weather and spiking energy costs, creating
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good construction jobs in the process. That effort could include
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employing vulnerable young adults in a Kentucky Colonel Corps where
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they do one year of living wage public service after
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high school, and the state could support families, including by
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enacting a child tax credit allowance that lifts twenty percent
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of kids out of poverty, providing paid family leave, universal preschool,
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and affordable childcare, and creating more options to make health
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insurance affordable. Using the state's purchasing and regulatory power to
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crack down on corporate profiteering. Kentucky could also join twenty
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states that help put a secure retirement in reach by
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creating a state manag each retirement option for employees of
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all businesses and expand public investment in high quality home care.
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As our population ages, many of The ideas in the
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report build on successes in Kentucky's past or policies that
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are proven to work in other states. And we can
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pay for this agenda from its economic benefits and savings,
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and by balancing the tax code so that those at
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the top chip in for the investments that benefit us. All.
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The richest five percent of Kentuckians are now pocketing three
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point four billion dollars more a year because of state
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and federal tax cuts over the last decade. A windfall
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tax on those at the top could easily fund the
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ideas described above. Affordability will be the political word of
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the year in twenty twenty six. Will it have real
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actions behind it? This article is by Jason Bailey, executive
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director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy www. Dot
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kypolicy dot org. Our next article Packeding Packing fifty thousand
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meals in one night. Ashland, Kowanas host event for those
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in need by Matt Jones of The Daily Independent. More
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than three hundred volunteers came together on Tuesday night to
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make fifty thousand meals for those in need in the area.
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All of these meals stay in the area. Brad Fleming,
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Partnership Manager for Harvest, pack told the crowd lined around
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tables at the Boyd County Convention Center. Tuesday, mark the
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fourth year meals were made in the region. The Carter
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County Kawanas organized the event for the three previous year.
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Fleming said, Unfortunately, the Carter County Club has lost members.
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DJ Reimer, Ashland Kawana's president, said they've lost the members
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that would focus on the event. Raymer said the Kawanas
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felt the program was too beneficial to the region to
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let it go away. We had the goal of doing
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thirty thousand meals, Rymer said. We saw an outpouring of
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donations from across the community, from Ashland, Huntington, Ironton, and
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all around the area. Raymer said the club decided to
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up the goal to fifty thousand meals and the community
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stepped up. Rimer said mom and pop organizations donating up
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to big corporations. Fleming added Tuesday night was not just
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about donations. It takes volunteers to fill the bags. Everybody
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can make a difference, Fleming said. After an introduction by
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Fleming and an instructional video, around twenty tables lined on
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both sides with people first, there was scoopy oatmeal into
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the bags, then adding vitamins and flavor. Next was sealing
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the bags, counting the bags, and packing the boxes. Each
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box was sealed and moved to the front of the
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center where it was loaded on pallets. These meals are
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going to go right back into the community Wednesday morning,
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Rihmer said as a gong rang out signaling another full
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box of meals. I'm very thankful as the president of
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our Kawanas Club to see hundreds of volunteers from all
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across our region come out to support a mission, and
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the mission is to make sure no family, no person
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in our community is hungry. Rhymer said. Fleming is from
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Ashland and said he enjoys coming back to the region.
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I graduated from Ashland Blazer, Fleming said, who now lives
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in Columbia, South Carolina. I've still got a brother and
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sister that live here. They still live on the same
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street I grew up on. Fleming said he found out
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about the organization and wanted to be a part of it.
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This is like my third career. Fleming said, I worked
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myself into a job with them. As the music played
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in the boxes stacked tire, Fleming Rhymer and other Kowana's
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members and shored. The volunteers were stocked with all the
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supplies needed to fulfill all fifty thousand meals. We do
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these events with schools, corporations, and churches throughout the county.
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Fleming said, if they're looking for an event where they
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can bring everybody together like this for a couple of hours,
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have fun, make thousands of meals for the community, Harvest
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Pack is glad to do that. For more information, visit
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harvestpac dot org. Our next article, tool Library giveaway center
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for Holiday decor by Lee Ward of the Daily Independent.
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Shannon Hill really enjoys freebies giving them that is the
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founder of the Ashland Area Tool Library, is in his
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third year of offering free stuff days preceding Christmas. This
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year's first giveaway day was before Thanksgiving, when twenty Christmas
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trees and more than five tables full of holiday decorations
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were distributed. The next giveaway will be Saturday. This year,
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my wife bought a few things to give to kids
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and she's making up a few gift bags, he said.
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The giveaways are an extension of the Tool Library, which
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started when Hill was injured and could no long longer
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work building houses. I just had a bunch of tools
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and people would ask to borrow them from time to time.
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He said. Everybody said I was crazy, you'll lose it all,
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and I said, if I do, I'll stop. Occasionally he
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did giveaways and was able to place items with those
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who needed them. He also takes donations of things others
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would like to get rid of, such as furniture, sealing, fans,
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and curtains. He and his wife donated their used washer
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and dryer. When they decided to replace their old Christmas tree,
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it became a hot item in the world of freebies.
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Everybody was contacting me wanting trees. He said. That year
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I ended up getting a few more donated and gave
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away about eight. Last year we gave away forty two.
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So far this year I think I have given away
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fifteen or sixteen or more. I'm hoping for another dozen
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or so. I'd like to go over fifty. He said.
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He will accept donations anytime and year round. Donors can
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drop off items at his house, even if he's not there.
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He takes various holiday decor not just trees, but trees
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seem to be in demand. It keeps trees out of
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the landfill and gives trees to those who need them,
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he said. Shannon Hills, Ashland Area Tool Library is at
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sixteen oh four Spring Park. To donate or for more
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information about the giveaway days, message the library on Facebook.
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Our next article Paramount City Sustainability. The goal AP three
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shines light on agreement details citizens' voice concerns by Aaron
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Snyder of The Daily Independent. In seeking a business model
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for an Iconty venue to keep its doors open for
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years to come, Ashland's mayor and City Commission made a
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decision based on sustainability. They voted on first reading for
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the city to enter a management agreement with AP three
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LLC beginning January first, twenty twenty six, for operation of
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the Paramount Arts Center. AP three LLC is a for
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profit company based in Lexington. According to the Secretary of
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State website, the organization's inception was March twentieth, twenty twenty four.
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Commissioner Sonny Martin said had said during a November twentieth
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meeting the city would gather public input prior to a
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second reading. This concludes excerpts from recent editions of the
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Ashland Daily Independent. Your reader has been Jane On behalf
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of everyone here at radio. I thank you for listening,
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keep on listening and have a good day.