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Ashland Daily Independent - 1.21.26 · 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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January nineteenth, twenty twenty six, 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 new storage business in Russell by Lee Ward
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of the Daily Independent. A vacant lot inspired a new
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business idea for sak Van, better known as Michael, the
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owner of nails Pro, said he noticed people with items
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to sell setting up on a vacant lot at three
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twenty nine Russell Road. I thought they have to load
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it up, take it there, unload it and load it
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back up at the end of the day day, Van said,
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I thought it would be good to have storage there,
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so he bought the lot five years ago with the
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idea of creating a combination storage facility and flea market.
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It's called Russell's Safe Storage Rental. Van said he's never
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seen the two business models paired before, but it made
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sense to him. Storage units can be rented for four
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hundred dollars per month. There are twenty eight spots available,
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but Van said if there's a demand, he'll likely expand.
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Units are accessible at any time, and Van said new
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lights will be added to help ensure safety. Reach Van
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at area code eight five nine five nine five three
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seven seven six. Our next article feels like I just started.
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Ashland's student worship pastor reflects on last two decades by
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Mark Maynard of Kentucky Today. Brad Calloway's two decades of
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ministry as student worship pastor at Unity Baptist Church make
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him something of a rarity. When Callawai entered student ministry,
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the average tenure in the role was just one and
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a half to two years. Yet twenty years later and
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approaching his forty six birthday, he continues serving the same
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church and the same community. It seems like a long time,
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but feels like I just started, Callaway said, probably just
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because I'm trying to keep up with the jones, staying
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up with the changes. Youth ministry used to be cookie
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cutter in the nineteen seventies, eighties, and nineties. It fit
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that special mode. You do this, you do that. That
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formula has shifted and Calloway has adapted with it. While
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many student pastors move on to associate or lead. Pastor
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Roles Calloway says student ministry is where God has called him,
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and until that changes, he plans to remain. Calloway's role
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at Unity extends far beyond student worship. Known for his
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wide ranging skill set, he can preach when needed, teach
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across all age groups, manage church technology, and serve as
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a study familiar presence with deep institutional knowledge. Unity Baptist
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pastor Heath Bauer, who is in his fifth year at
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the church, understands Calloway's value because he has witnessed it
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for the past twenty years. Brad has embodied the spirit
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of Philippians too, doing nothing from selfish ambition, but in humility,
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counting the needs of others as more important than his own.
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He represents servant leadership at its best. Like Christ, Brad
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made himself of no reputation, willingly entering the challenging world
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of teenagers as a steady presence of care, patience, and
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gospel faithfulness. Bowers said, yet to recognize only his contributions
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to youth ministry would be to overlook the many other
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ways he has quietly served Christ and his church. Brad
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has helped launch youth couples into marriage through premarital counseling,
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faithfully maintained the church's fleet, and is often found serving
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unseen in the sound booth at Unity Baptist Church. Over
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the years, the most dramatic change Callaway has seen in
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youth ministry has come through technology, especially smartphones. While begin
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with blackberries, has evolved into iPhones that place constant connectivity
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in every student's pocket. Callaway embraces social media to reach students,
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often posting reels or memes to connect where they already are.
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But he acknowledges that attracting and keeping students engaged has
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become more difficult from student ministry. In the early two thousands,
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we had families who were still coming to church, and
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kids could invite other friends and they would come to church.
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Today it's not so much like that. It's more of now,
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I've got to be the one that's going to them
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to show they are cared for, they are loved. Then
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it opens the door for them becoming more regular. The
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first window into student ministry is whatever you're doing on
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social media. Social media's grip on attention spans has only
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intensified the challenge. It definitely made it a whole lot
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more challenging to keep people's attention. He said. There are
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some stats that came out of a Christian university in
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California that said you have about eight to ten seconds
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before a student decides if it is worth paying attention.
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With his energetic personality, Callaway works to capture that attention
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while remaining grounded in preparation and purpose. I remember sitting
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in my office thinking about everything, how are we going
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to lean into this next group coming up through our ministry,
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what are some of the greatest needs they are facing,
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and being able to be flexible. Romans twelve one and
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two talks about being a daily sacrifice, but it's also
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important to know what's going on in the world so
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I can lead students ought to be of the world.
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I don't know where I'd be without him. Ben Stringer,
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who was part of Callaway's ministry from two thousand and
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six to twenty ten, keeps in touch while now living
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near Houston. The hindsight that hits me Brad was always
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there outside of the ministry of Sunday mornings and evenings
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and Wednesday evenings. He said, Brad was kind of the
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guy picking you up on Fridays or Tuesday nights. What
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makes him like a superhero in that facet was the
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amount of time he spent with me outside of his job,
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so to speak. He was really my friend, really a
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part of my life. I knew what he was leading
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me toward. I could see Christ in his life. Stringer
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said he remembers the dashboards of all three of Callaway's
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cars because of the many conversations of struggles and victories
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they shared while driving. The thing drew me in as
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a teenager. He said, his relationships didn't look boring. He
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looked like he had something more going on. He really
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was serving the living God of the universe. You have
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to put yourself out there and have faith. He really
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did shape me. I don't know where I would be
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without him, especially focused on Christ. The rock in his life.
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Callaway credits much of his stability and ministry to his wife, Laura,
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whose parents, Kevin and Wanda Riddle, previously served as youth
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leaders at Unity, including during Calloway's own youth. Laura has
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been a rock for sure, he said. She has lived
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here all her life. She takes a big risk with me.
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I told her when we were talking about getting married.
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I don't know where the Lord is going to want
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me to serve or knew me to serve. As we
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started praying about that when we were dating, she said,
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I really don't want to move. All of my family
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is here. Her being able to say, listen, this is
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what I want, but I desire to be where God
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needs us to be. That kind of support has kind
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of been the anchor for us. For me for sure,
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having her by my side has just been a true
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God send and has helped keep me centered. Another layer
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of ministry comes at home, as Callaway now serves as
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student pastor to his own children. Carmen and Joel are
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currently in the youth group, while their youngest, Vivian, will
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join in a few years. It's weird, he said. At home,
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Laura and I try to be those disciple makers for
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our kids, raising them up. As we've been in student ministry,
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We've seen the doors kids have walked through that they
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shouldn't be going through in lifestyles they're embracing as we are.
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We are disciplining our kids at a young age. All
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of the sudden they are in youth group. It's not easy.
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Kingdom impact beyond Ashland KBC Children and Student Ministry consultant
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Matt Flinnagan said Callaway's decades of leadership at Unity have
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impacted countless families with the Gospel, and we will never
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be able to measure the fullness of the impact. He
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has demonstrated the commitment to reach and discipline disciple teenagers
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in their families. Callaway's Kingdom impact goes beyond Ashland. Flinnagan
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said he and his wife Laura helped lead our KBC
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retreat for other student ministry leaders and their spouses. He
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does much more than help plan. He nurtures meaningful friendships
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and encourages other ministry leaders across the state. He has
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also taught equipped conference for the KBC to empowered churches
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in student ministry. Flanagan said. He added Callaway's longevity is
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a strength. The greatest assets for student ministry leadership are
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spiritual maturity and intimacy with Christ. Flanagan said churches are
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wise to recognize our student's greatest need isn't another peer,
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It's someone who is an example and will point them
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to Christ. This requires relationships built over years. Callaway's service
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at Unity Baptist stretches far beyond youth ministry. Bauer said,
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while Brad is best known for his years of youth ministry,
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that work represents only the visible portion of a much
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larger life of service, one whose full measure is known
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to God alone. Thank you, Brad, for your abiding faithfulness.
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We rest in the promise of our Lord that your Father,
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who sees in secret, will reward you. Matthew six four
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Callaway does not know how long God will keep him
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in student ministry, but he is not seeking an exit.
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My dad, Cliff Calloway, was in ministry, a long time
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worship pastor, and he said, as far as your gifting goes,
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is the Lord still using it? Can he still use it?
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And is it still being effective? At this time? I
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was fourteen when I surrendered to the ministry. Dad said,
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You're not going to be at one place forever. As
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cool as that sounds so far, that cool has meant
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two decades of praying with, crying with, and sharing the
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Gospel with generations of Ashland's students, and Calloway is still
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right where he believes he is meant to be. In
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other news, Marquee Cancer Center treats first patient in US
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with new lung cancer therapy by Elizabeth Chapin University of Kentucky.
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The University of Kentucky Marquee Cancer Center has treated the
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first patient in the US with a new immunotherapy for
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small cell lung cancer, offering hope for patients whose cancers
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have stopped responding to other treatments. UK Markeie Cancer Center
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is the first site in the country to open a
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clinical trial for ZG zero zero six, an experimental drug
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that works by connecting disease fighting T cells to cancer cells,
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allowing the body's immune system to attack the cancer. The
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first patient was treated in late October under the direction
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of Markie Cancer Center medical oncologists so Long Lean Howe
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md pH D. ZG zo zero six has a different
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structure than tar late mab, another immunotherapy that was approved
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by the Food and Drug Administration in twenty twenty four
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to treat people with small cell lung cancer whose disease
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had worsened with standard chemotherapy and immunotherapy, known as by
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specific T cell engager tart lamb mab uses two arms
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to connect cancer cells to T cells as a trispeific engager.
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ZG zero zero six has three arms, two to grab
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cancer cells much tighter and one to grab T cells.
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This is the next step forward in T cell engager
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therapy for small cell lung cancer, said Howe, lead investigator
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for the trial, co director of Marquee's Theoatic Oncology Program
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in Medical Directors of Marquee's Clinical Research Office. We're testing
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a newer vision of tarlatamab that has a stronger ability
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to connect cancer cells with immune cells. This trial will
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explore whether that enhanced design can help more patients respond
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to treatment or give those who've tried tarlatamab another option.
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The trial also addresses an unmet need for patients with
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small cell lung cancer, which is usually diagnosed in advanced stages.
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Patients may respond to chemotherapy and radiation at first, but
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the cancer often returns quickly. Immunotherapies like ZG zero zero
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six represent a newer treatment approach when standard therapies fail.
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Patients receiving the treatment are closely monitored for potential side effects.
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The first patient treated at Marquee sperience no side effects
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from the initial dose and return two weeks later for
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a second treatment, which has also well been well tolerated.
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Howell said. The immunotherapy is also potentially effective in treating
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brain mestitesses, which is common in small cell lung cancer
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and typically requires whole brain radiation. By helping to provide
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better control the systemic disease, immunotherapy may reduce or eliminate
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the need for brain radiation therapy, which can cause cognitive
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problems and other side effects, including fatigue and hair loss.
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Access to cutting edge care. The phase one trial is
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the first four ZGZO zero six in the US, following
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a trial in China that showed the drug was well
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tolerated among patients. The US trial will enroll patients at
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six sites, with Marquee being the first to open and
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treat a patient. Other sites, including Case Comprehensive Cancer Center,
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are preparing to open. Marquie's selection as the first US
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site stems from its status as a National Cancer Institute
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Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of just fifty seven in
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the nation. This designation allows Marquee to offer patients access
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to trials that test the newest treatments before they become
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widely available. We want Kentuckians to be among the first
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to benefit from this newer drug, House said. Clinical trials
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represent the future of cancer care. When patients participate in
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trials at Marquee, they're getting access to tomorrow's treatments today.
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Marque medical oncologists Zilling Howe is leading a clinical trial
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for z g z Rosiero six, a more powerful successor
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to FDA approved immunotherapy that could help small sell lung
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cancer patients who've run out of options. In other news,
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case settled more action demanded by Aaron Snyder of The
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Daily Independent, one of the cases stemming from abuse allegations
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at a local school has reached a settlement. In February
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twenty twenty five, five families filed civil suit against the
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Greenop County School District, claiming the district did not properly
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handle allegations of abuse of special needs students at Mchel Elementary.
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In December twenty twenty five, court documents show the parties
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the plaintiffs, parents of alleged victim and defendants, Greenop County
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Board of Education, former superintendent Tracy Morrissey and other staff
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members advised the Greenow County Circuit Court they have settled
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all claims. As a result, the claims were dismissed. Tracy
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Farreye Council Council for the plaintiffs and Tia Colmes Council
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for the defendants, agreed to the order of dismissal. According
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to court records, settlement details are legally confidential. The criminal case,
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involving four defendants, former Michel Elementary employees Mackenzie l Rice,
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Michael c Lyons, Ashley Trissler, and Faith Jordan is ongoing.
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Rice faces forty counts of first degree criminal abuse of
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a child twelve and under. Lions has thirty three counts,
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Tristler faces five counts, and Jordan I. According to Greenow
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County Commonwealth Attorney Rhyes Mackenzie, there are two victims in
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the criminal case. As part of the civil case, the
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court unsealed text messages between the former superintendent and former
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board members. The messages contained disparaging remarks about special needs
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children and adults and some employees of the district. The
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community responded with protests and by showing up in full
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force at a contentious board meeting that put pressure on
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the school board. The board voted to demote Morrissey, who
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eventually resigned. One board member submitted a written resignation before
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another followed suit. Two others voiced their intentions to resign,
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but they stayed on in order to constitute a quorum.
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The remaining board members voted to hire Steve Hall as
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their interim superintendent. On January second, the school board accepted
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an offer to pay Morrissey a lump sum of two
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hundred and fifty thousand dollars in exchange for her resignation
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and a release of liability. No members of the public
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attended that special meeting. Demand for action, Fry contends the
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school board violated open meetings laws. She posted on social
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media a letter she wrote to Matt Tussey, board chair,
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attorney Jimmy Lyon Junior, and Hall, demanding that a public
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meeting be held regarding this matter. She cited KRS sixty
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one point eight two three, which dates a notice of
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a special meeting should be posted in a conspicuous, conspicuous
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place in the building where the special meeting will take place,
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and in a conspicuous place in the building where the
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agency has its headquarters, and that the notice must be
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posted at least twenty four hours before the special meeting.
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According to the response I have received, this was not
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done Forry wrote. According to Fry, the school district only
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sent their favorite journalist an email about a special meeting,
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and they did not notify other media outlets or did
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not post anything in the paper or on the school website.
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The notice of the meeting appeared in the January first,
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twenty twenty sixth edition of the Daily Independent. Fry said
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the school board had a secret meeting with no one
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present so that no one could voice their concerns about
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a two hundred and fifty thousand dollars payoff to a
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superintendent that had already resigned her position. Moving on James
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Still's River of Earth. James Still's novel River of Earth
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continues to please old readers and to find new ones.
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Set in Appalachian Kentucky, it is a genuine classic told
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from the viewpoint of a small boy. The story encompasses
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about three years in the life of his family and kin.
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The family moves back and forth between their small farm
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and eastern Kentucky coal camps, where the father, Brack Baldridge,
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works when there is work. The mother, Alpha Baldridge, longs
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for a place certain and enduring and complains of forever
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moving yon and back, settling down nowhere for good and all,
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searching for God knows what where e'er we expecting to
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draw up to. Meanwhile, the seasons come and go. Animals
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wild and domestic are born and die, as does the
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narrator's grandmother. At about the same time, Alpha Baldridge gives
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birth to another child. This is a story both simple
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and profound. For all the events of the novel, the
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family's moves, the changing seasons, and the cycle of birth
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and death are echoed in the sermon of a mountain preacher,
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brother sim Moberly, who speaks of the hills. These hills
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are just dirt waves washing through eternity, My brethren. They
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hank a valley so low that w hidd'll rise again.
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They hank a hills standing so proud, but hidd'll sink
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to the low ground. Oh sorrow, oh my children, where
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e'er we going on this mighty river of earth? A
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burning begetting, and a dying and living, and the dead
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riding the waters where e'er it's sweeping us. The secret
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of the novel's enduring power lies in such unspoiled and
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glorious language. The novel's power lies also in Still's narrative art.
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By bringing out the big subjects in small events, Still
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makes the life of the Baldridge family swept along on
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the mighty River of Earth, a metaphor for the universal
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human experience. Of course, you have to tell a story,
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Still once said, then you take all the telling out
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so that the story just happens. River of Earth is
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a story that appears to just happen. Like other world
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famous stories, James Still's River of Earth is a book
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that is never finished saying what it has to say.
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Though published more than eighty five years ago, Still's novel
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retains a freshness and immediacy that makes it permanently contemporary.
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Early on, the young narrator says, I was seven on
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the twenty first of May, and I remember thinking that
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the hills to the east of Little Carr Creek had
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also grown and stretched their red shoulders, and that the
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beechwood crowding their slopes grew down to a living heart.
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Stills River of Earth grows down to a living heart.
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A combination of uniqueness and universality, it brings us news
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that stays in stays news. In nineteen forty, Stephen Vincent
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Bennett declared it a contemporary book, and so it is
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today as fresh and vital as on the day it
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was published. River of Earth, like other Appalachian Class six,
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is available at the JSF Bookstore four four four zero
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thirteenth Street in Ashland, or by calling area code six
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oh six three two six one sixty six seven, or
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by visiting our website JSF books dot com. This concludes
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excerpts from recent editions of the Ashland Daily Independent. Your
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reader has been Jane On behalf of everyone here at radio.
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I thank you for listening, Keep on listening and have
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a good day.