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Masks, Sashes and Tiaras: Miss Grayson’s Outstanding Teen champions face coverings for charity

Miss Grayson’s Outstanding Teen, Jasmine Webb, sells masks outside Ralph’s Food Fair last Friday. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times)

By Jeremy D. Wells

Carter County Times

The COVID-19 novel coronavirus may have changed the way that many organizations and events are occurring, but the pandemic has also given Miss Grayson’s Outstanding Teen Jasmine Webb a novel way to raise charitable funds for the Miss Kentucky Teen pageant – selling designer face masks. 

“With everything going on, you have to wear masks anyway,” noted the teen, who made the masks alongside her mother and their neighbors. 

Every participant in the Miss Kentucky Teen pageant is required to raise charitable funds for the Children’s Miracle Network. The minimum each participant must raise is $250, a number the 16-year-old high school junior was already close to achieving within an hour of setting up Friday morning, in front of Ralph’s Food Fair. Selling the masks at $5 each, she had already sold two dozen and raised $120. But since the pageant has been pushed back a year due to the pandemic, Webb has set herself a more lofty goal. She wants to raise $5,000 for the charity. 

It’s a task that might seem daunting to most of us, but Webb is no stranger to fundraising or community organizing. She has raised money for charity before, bringing in over $4,000 to purchase bedding for the Ashland Build-A-Bed organization, who build and distribute beds to children and families in need. 

Selling masks isn’t her first foray into tackling issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic either. She got involved early on in helping neighbors during the pandemic, setting up a website that matches young, healthy volunteers with elderly and immunocompromised neighbors in need. Her Ashland/Grayson COVID-19 Match website, http://www.ashland-graysoncovid-19match.com, allows those in need to sign up for assistance and then matches them with volunteers, who can donate their time through the same web portal. Volunteers can do things like picking up groceries or prescriptions, deliver homemade meals, pickup and drop off library books, or just check in on their neighbors to make sure they are doing ok. 

Her mother, Christina Webb, said Jasmine has always been community minded, and has been involved in pageants her “whole life,” previously serving as a Little Miss Kentucky and Preteen Miss Kentucky. 

This community minded approach to the position is one of the things that impressed the judges from the Grayson Area Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the Miss Grayson Scholarship Organization and pays their scholarship franchise fee, explained Dee Shufflebarger, executive director of the scholarship organization. 

Webb, who goes to Russell High School, was chosen from among teens all across the region for her charity work and talent – she plays piano – Shufflebarger added, noting that the Grayson franchise area for the Miss Teen Kentucky competition includes Carter, Greenup, Boyd, Lawrence, Elliott, Rowan and Lewis counties. 

“All the counties that touch Carter County,” Shufflebarger said. 

Despite being a student at Russell, Webb has strong family ties to Carter County. Her mother, Christina, is originally from Grayson and her father, Ben Webb, originally hails from Olive Hill. 

Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com.

Jasmine Webb, Miss Grayson’s Outstanding Teen, poses with Bluegrass Princess Jaclyn Cornette, her mentee in the Miss America organization’s mentorship program. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times)

Going back to school: School board moves forward with plans for August 6 start date

School board member Bryan Greenhill reviews an agenda during a meeting of the Carter County School Board. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times)

By Jeremy D. Wells

Carter County Times

While many other school districts around the state are looking at taking advantage of changes to the KRS that may allow a later start date, Carter County plans to go forward with their plans to start school on August 6. Carter will join Pulaski County as one of the only school districts moving forward with a traditional early August start date. 

Superintendent of Carter County Schools Dr. Ronnie Dotson explained the options under KRS 158.070 to the board during a special meeting last Thursday. Under changes to the statute implemented in 2017 school districts may start school with a variable calendar, that has less than 170 student instructional days, as long as the school year contains “at least one thousand sixty-two (1,062) hours of instructional time,” Dotson explained to the board, citing the language of the statute. Schools opting to take advantage of this change could have a calendar that contained as few as 152 school days, if students’ school days were seven hours long. If schools did opt to take this route, he explained, they wouldn’t be able to start classes prior to August 24 for the current school year. Because the intent of the change was to give schools an incentive to adopt a later start date, it is worded to stipulate that districts who choose a variable calendar must start, “no earlier than the Monday closest to August 26.” 

While few districts had opted to take advantage of this option since it was added to the statutes in 2017, Dotson told the board that, “the onset of COVID-19 has brought the concept to the forefront.” 

Dotson said the decision of when to start was up to the board, but that he didn’t want to contact families too early, if the board decided to go with a later start date, in case family situations changed and parents needed to change their minds about sending their children to school or opting to have the students join their peers through an online portal. He also emphasized, however, that non traditional instruction (NTI) was going to be an option open to all parents, and that parents could switch their children from traditional instruction to NTI, or vice versa, at any time during the school year. 

Dotson said he had consulted with Jeff Barker from the Carter County Health Department and that Barker had communicated to him that there was “no reason” for the district to change their plans to continue with an August 6 start date. Dotson said at the time of that meeting Barker told him their were only 27 cases of confirmed COVID-19 in the county – that number has since grown to 41 – which amounted to only about one person out of every 1,000 in the county. 

“Unfortunately it (COVID-19) is out there in the community,” said school board member Rachel Fankell. But, she added, if the district follows the precautions they’ve already put in place the children whose parents choose to send them to school should be as safe as anyone else in the community, and even safer than those in the community who were not following the kind of strict protocols the board and the district have put in place. 

Dotson then reiterated that any parents who chose to do so could opt for NTI, and that there was no reason to think that it would be less risky to start at a later date. 

Board member Bryan Greenhill said he did have concerns about children who relied on school lunches and breakfasts if their parents chose NTI, but Dotson said there could be an option for the parents of those children to arrange for lunches to be picked up for the children. 

Fankell added that it was important for the kids to be in school, whether than was in person or through teleconference, noting that they had already been out of school since March and that the governor could possibly step in and take decisions out of their hands anyway if the state saw another surge in infections. 

Dotson said that he would likely start surveying parents about whether they were choosing NTI or traditional instruction during the second week of July, unless the board changed their mind about the August 6 start date between now and then. 

“If we start early and (then) you don’t want to,” Dotson said, the board could still change the start date. 

The board voted unanimously to move forward with their already established plans for an August 6 start date. 

Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com

Waiting for the count: Absentee ballots put election results on hold

Poll workers return ballots to the Carter County Courthouse in this file photo from the general election 2019. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times)

By Jeremy D. Wells

Carter County Times

Carter County Clerk Mike Johnston’s office counted the ballots returned last Tuesday from the four polling places open in the county, along with absentee ballots they had already received, but they couldn’t release official results until yesterday when all mail-in ballots were counted and added to the tally. Mail-in ballots had to be postmarked by the June 23 election date, Johnston’s office explained, but that meant it would take several more days for those ballots to be delivered and counted. 

Results available on election night put the U.S. Senate seat in a race between Mitch McConnell on the Republican side and Amy McGrath for the Democrats. McConnell had received 82.17% of votes cast in Carter County to that point, taking 2,115 for a decisive lead against closest competitor C. Wesley Morgan, who received only 150 votes for 5.83% of the vote. On the Democratic side McGrath had just over half the votes cast, 56.74% at 1,352, while her closest competitor, Charles Booker, had 648 votes for 27.19% of the vote. 

When all absentee ballots were tallied McConnell had 2,165 votes, for 81.9% of the Republican vote and McGrath had 1,392 for 56.4% of the Democratic vote in Carter County. Charles Booker grew from 648 to 684, for 27.71% of the vote, but it wasn’t enough for the Louisville native to overtake McGrath in Carter County. 

On a statewide level Booker and McGrath were much closer, with McGrath barely edging out Booker, with 44.9% of the tallied votes to Booker’s 43.4% at press time. 

In the U.S. House of Representatives Fifth District race Matthew Best, who advanced without competition in a canceled Democratic primary, will face incumbent Republican Hal Rogers. Rogers had received 90.55% of the primary votes against challenger Gerardo Serrano, who had 239 votes for 9.45% before absentee ballots were counted. After all Carter County ballots were counted, Rogers had 2,348 votes to Serrano’s 248, giving Rogers 90.45% of the vote, a 0.1% dip, but still a commanding lead. 

On election night it looked like Carter County Republicans wanted native son Patrick Flannery to face off against incumbent Kathy Hinkle for the 96th district State Representative race. Flannery had 2,044 votes to Rita Flannery’s 547 in the Republican primary on election night. After all absentee ballots were counted Flannery received 2,097 to Yates 565. When votes were counted across the entire district it looked like Flannery, with 78.9% of votes tallied at press time, would handily beat Yates, with 21.1% of the vote. These numbers 

aligned closely with Carter County where, at final count, Flannery had 78.78% of the vote to Yates 21.22%. 

In the presidential primaries it looks as though presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has the support of the majority of Carter County Democrats. On election night Biden had 59.63% of the vote, 1,427 votes, while 18.64% of Democratic voters were still uncommitted and 9.69% of voters, 232, still cast ballots for Bernie Sanders despite the Vermont Senator’s withdrawal from the Presidential race. Once all votes were counted Biden took 1,473 votes, for 59.4%, Sanders took 249, for 10.04%, and 462, or 18.63%, were still uncommitted. Some voters also continued to express support for other candidates who have since left the race with Pete Buttigieg receiving 32 votes, 1.29%, John Delany 39 votes, 1.57%, Tom Steyer 18 votes, 0.73%, Tulsi Gabbard 34 votes, 1.37%, Michael Bennet 20 votes, 0.81%, Michael Bloomberg, 34 votes, 1.37%, Amy Klobuchar 34 votes, 1.37%, Deval Patrick 8 votes, 0.32%, Andrew Yang 30 votes, 1.21%, and Elizabeth Warren 47 votes, 1.9%. 

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump had the support of 93.41% of election night voters, with 2,453 votes, while 6.59%, or 173 Republican voters, were still uncommitted. After all votes were tallied Trump had 2,511 votes while 186 Republican voters, or 6.9%, still said they were uncommitted. While these percentages stayed close to the election night numbers the percentage of committed Trump supporters in the GOP did slip slightly, to 93.1% . 

In the Supreme Court 7th district Robert Conley took 53.59% of the election night vote, with 2,581 votes to Sam Wright’s 1,208 and Chris Harris’ 1,027 votes. After all votes were counted, Conley stayed on top with 2,660 votes to Wright’s 1,249 and Harris’ 1,060. Across the entire 7th District Conley took 48.1 % of the vote, or 8,010 votes, at last tally. The trend in Carter County held across the district among the other candidates too, with Wright taking 4,418 votes for 26.5% and Harris getting 4,238 votes for 25.4% of the vote at press time. 

All Kentuckians were allowed to vote by mail-in ballot this year, due to public distancing restrictions implemented at the state level to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. These voting changes led to what many sources claimed were historic levels of primary voter participation across the state, but because of the need to accurately count all mail-in ballots, results of some elections – such as the McGrath and Booker race in the Democratic Senate primary – were still not yet clear on a state-wide level at press time 

Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com

4th of July display

The front windows of Frank Hager Insurance, on Robert and Mary Street in Grayson, feature patriotic displays of historic materials and veterans’ mementos in celebration of the July 4th holiday. The displays includes photos, medals, uniforms, and other keepsakes, like a hand decorated duffle bag from a sailor’s 1955 tour of Mediterranean Sea ports. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times)

Vacating roads: Fiscal court removes portion of Campbell and Bailey Cemetery Road

State road crews work filling potholes on SR 174 outside of Olive Hill last week. Carter County road surpervisor Jason Carroll said county road crews are also working on pot holes, as well as ditching and mowing, on county roads. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times)

By Jeremy D. Wells

Carter County Times

Bailey Cemetery Road Number One and a portion of Campbell Road were removed from the county road system in a special session on Monday, following a public hearing on plans to remove the roads that failed to draw any opposition to the planned move. The roads were in the process of being removed from the system prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, when state limitations on public meetings halted progress. When Governor Andy Beshear opened public meetings to 50 or fewer participants this week, fiscal court went forward with plans to remove the two roads.

Bailey Cemetery Road Number One was removed completely from the county road system, and returned to the property owner. However, because it is a cemetery road, the land owner has to allow access to the cemetery. In the event someone was going to be interred in the cemetery the county road crew would be responsible for putting down gravel or otherwise making the road passable for funeral traffic.

Only a portion of Campbell Road was removed from the county system. The portion from mile marker 0.92 to the junction with Route 1 was removed from the county system and turned over to the landowner. The other end of Campbell Road, from Field’s Branch to mile marker 0.92, remains in the county road system and must be maintained by county road crews.

The court also took action to begin the process of removing Cooks Creek Road and the middle portion of Nicholas Road from the county road system. If the court receives no objection to the plan during a future public hearing, Cooks Creek Road will be removed from the county system from the first cattle crossing to the end of the road. The portion from 1496 up to the first cattle crossing will remain in the county road system.

The issue with Nicholas Road was brought to the county’s attention by E911 director Joe Lambert. Lambert told the court the middle section of the road has become overgrown, and is impassable by vehicle. To avoid confusion for rescue vehicles, who may think they can take the road through to reach a home with current mapping data, Lambert recommended removing the middle section, and renaming and giving new addresses to one section of the road while maintaining the Nicholas Road name and addresses on the other end.

Two disinterested magistrates will need to visit and assess the state of the roads in question, and register their reports on the roads, before the processes can begin.

In other action the court moved to approve claims and transfers, and approved three percent raises for county employees in the 2020/2021 budget. The raises will be received by all county employees except jail employees, who received raises in the previous fiscal year.

The court also approved a request from Judge Executive Mike Malone to draft a letter thanking the Carter County Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for their service and asking them to vacate office space provided for them in the courthouse. Malone said CASA personnel have not utilized the office since December and, with renovations currently underway rendering some office space unusable, the court could make use of that currently unused office if CASA cleared the space.

Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com

Striking a blow for grandparents and other old folks everywhere

By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times

Like many of you, I’ve been hearing about clever telephone scams victimizing senior citizens by taking thousands of dollars from them through a variety of fictitious scenarios.

Admittedly, I have been critical of those who fell for such obvious frauds as the driveway sealer or house paint that washed off in the first rainfall or the bogus call from a bank or credit card company about refunds of overpayments.

My wife got a call telling her that her Social Security card had expired. Her father was told that the warranty was running out on a car he sold six years ago.

Telemarketers are the biggest nuisance in my life. I hear friends and family complain about the ingenious methods used to trick us into answering those calls.

No one has been able to explain how those cunning crooks got my cell number or how they can make it appear on your caller ID that an incoming call is from a local number.

In fact, I recently got a call that my caller ID said was coming from a number listed to my neighbor who died a year ago. I didn’t want to relive that family’s grief by telling them about the call.

Last month our house phone rang one evening at dinner. The caller ID reflected the 606 area code. I assumed it was someone we knew.

The connection was not the best. I could barely hear the person calling. Finally, I determined that it was a young woman. She said she was my granddaughter and that she needed help.

Thinking it might be a prank call from one of my two granddaughters who go to college in Ohio, I asked if the call was coming from Cincinnati where the older coed is a student at UC.

The caller responded by saying again that she was in trouble. I detected a foreign dialect and then she totally blew her cover by frantically addressing me as “Grandpa”.

It’s not that I’m such a good detective, it’s because all of my 18 grandkids call me “Papaw”.

As We See It: Primary voter turnout something to crow about

If you listened only to national news outlets, or outspoken celebrities on Twitter, you might have thought Kentucky was doing everything possible to restrict voter access to the polls this primary election. The truth, as always, is a little more complicated. 

Yes, election day was pushed back a month, and polling places were limited to fewer locations in most counties. This was a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while some decisions – like limiting the number of voting locations – were both controversial and seemed counterproductive to the social distancing recommendations of the governor’s office (Why force more voters into fewer locations if you want to maintain distance between them and limit contact?), voting in the 2020 primary was actually up compared to most years. 

More than 30 percent of Kentucky’s registered voters appear to have cast a ballot in this year’s election, with projections as high as 1.1 million of the state’s 3.4 million registered voters participating either in person or by mail-in absentee ballot. These numbers beat Kentucky’s previous high, in the 2008 primary election, when just over 922,000 of the, at the time, 2.8 million registered voters turned out. 

In Louisville long lines at the city’s only polling place drew a lot of attention, and criticisms that the city and state were disenfranchising the city’s voters – especially minority voters. There is probably some valid criticism to be made about limiting the number of in-person voting locations. Long lines and associated long waits do tend to discourage some voters, especially poor and working class voters who might have a limited amount of time to cast a ballot before returning to work or picking up children from a babysitter or daycare center. It’s worth taking that criticism to heart, and looking at ways to improve. 

Mail-in ballots, too, have caused some issues, especially for county clerks’ offices. Because voters had until the day of the election to mark and drop their ballots in the mail, county clerks were stuck reporting only partial results on election day. While we usually get a pretty accurate count on election night, minus a few absentee ballots, this year we likely won’t have results until this week as county employees check the postmark on ballots and add their totals to the already tallied early mail-in and election night votes. For a society that has gotten used to the immediacy of electronically tabulated ballots and watching the votes roll in on a scrolling ticker that is regularly refreshed throughout the evening on election night, the waiting may indeed be the hardest part. 

But, by and large, Kentucky’s plan for handling voting during a pandemic – a plan that had the bipartisan support of a Democratic governor and a Republican secretary of state – has produced stellar returns, as evidenced by the number of mail-in ballots requested and percentage of votes recorded. Both Governor Beshear and Secretary Adams have heard the criticism too, and said they want more polling places open for the general election. 

Nothing is ever perfect, but we think criticism of Kentucky’s primary voting plans were largely overblown. The idea that voters were intentionally disenfranchised fits neither the facts nor the agenda of the governor, whose party tends to have more support among the very populations they are accused of disenfranchising. 

There are some changes we’d like to see in Kentucky’s voting system. The ability to request a mail-in ballot, even if you aren’t a Kentuckian currently residing out of state, is one change we’d like to see made permanent. Early in-person voting, like many other states allow, is something else we’d like to see Kentucky consider. Both of these would make voting easier, and would likely improve voter turn-out for both primary and general elections, as well as off year elections when voting numbers tend to plummet. There’s definitely room for improvement. But we can’t lend any credence to the theory that Kentucky purposely suppressed voting in the state’s primary. The numbers just don’t support that contention. 

Indictments – 6/12/2020

The following indictments were returned by the Grand Jury of the Carter Circuit Court on June 12, 2020. An indictment is not a determination of guilt or innocence. It is simply a charge that an offense has been committed and indicates that a case is pending on the charges listed. All defendants have the presumption of innocence until found guilty in a court of law. 

Though it is a part of the public record, the Carter County Times does not make a habit of printing the names of minor children or the victims of alleged crimes, except under exceptional circumstances. 

  • Andy D. Bradley, 39, of Olive Hill, robbery, second degree, by using physical force on the victim while in the course of committing a theft with intent to accomplish that theft, a Class C felony; persistent felony offender, first degree, by committing the felonious act set forth in his indictment while being convicted of two prior felonies. Act occurring on or about March 20, 2020. 
  • Kimberly E. Bradley, 28, of Olive Hill, operating a motor vehicle under the influence, first offense, a Class B misdemeanor; trafficking in a controlled substance, first degree, first offense, by selling, transferring, or possessing with intent to sell or transfer heroin, a Class C felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor; failure to maintain required insurance, first offense, a Class B misdemeanor. Acts occurring on or about February 27, 2020. 
  • Jeremy Bryant, 33, of Olive Hill, burglary, third degree, by unlawfully entering a building with intent to commit a crime, a Class D felony; possession of a controlled substance, first degree, first offense, possession of methamphetamine, a Class D felony. Acts occurring on or about March 8, 2020. 
  • Skyler Conley, 26, of Grayson, four counts of burglary, third degree, by unlawfully entering a building with intent to commit a crime, Class D felonies; receiving stolen property, over $500, by being in possession of tools and other items valued at more than $500, knowing them to have bee stolen, a Class D felony. Acts occurring between September 23, 2019 and October 7, 2019. 
  • Robert Fosson, 55, of Grayson, operating a motor vehicle under the influence, first offense, aggravating circumstances, by operating a motor vehicle on a public roadway while intoxicated and refusing to submit to a blood test, a Class B misdemeanor; receiving stolen property, valued over $500, by being in possession of a stolen 2008 Cadillac CTS, knowing it to have been stolen, a Class D felony; driving with a suspended license, a Class B misdemeanor; possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, a Class D felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor. Acts occurring on or about February 5, 2020. 
  • Cody Frazier, 26, of Louisa, receiving stolen property, with a value over $10,000, by receiving, retaining, or disposing of several items, including a truck and tools, knowing the property to be stolen, a Class C felony; operating on a suspended operators license, a Class B misdemeanor. Acts occurring on or about April 25, 2020. 
  • Willie Greenhill, 33, of Olive Hill, receiving stolen property with a value over $500, by being in possession of a vehicle known to have been stolen, a Class D felony; destruction of VIN number, by intentionally removing, defacing, covering, destroying, altering, or obscuring a VIN number without written authorization, a Class D felony; criminal mischief, first degree, by intentionally destroying property causing more than $1,000 of damage, a Class D felony; tampering with physical evidence, a Class D felony; possession of a controlled substance, first degree, first offense, possession of methamphetamine, a Class D felony. Acts occurring on or about January 1, 2020. 
  • Billy Todd Jolly, 43, of Hillsboro, KY, theft by failure to make required disposition of property valued over $500 when he took $6,000 from the victim for excavating work and never started said work, a Class D felony. Act occurring on or about September 27, 2019. 
  • Joseph Levi Gordon, 27, of Ashland, two counts of wanton endangerment, first degree, by wantonly engaging in conduct which created a substantial danger of death or serious physical injury to the victims, a Class D felonies. Acts occurring on or about May 7, 2020. 
  • Joseph Kouns, 31, of Grayson, theft by unlawful taking, by taking items belonging to the victim with a value over $10,000 with intent to permanently deprive them of the property, a Class D felony; criminal mischief, first degree, by intentionally destroying property belonging to the victim, causing $5,000 damage, a Class D felony. Acts occurring on or about April 5, 2020. 
  • Zachary McWhorter, 19, of Rush, rape, first degree, by having sexual intercourse with a child less than 14 years of age by forcible compulsion, a Class B felony. Act occurring on or about March 6, 2020. 
  • Zachary McWhorter, 19, of Rush, burglary, third degree, by unlawfully entering a building belonging to Clark’s Pump and Shop with intent to commit a crime, a Class D felony. Act occurring on or about February 6, 2020.
  • Jessica Mosier, 41, of Olive Hill,criminal possession of a forged instrument, first degree, by knowingly possessing counterfeit currency in the amount of $100, with intent to defraud, a Class C felony. Act occurring on or about February 9, 2020. 
  • Ronald Osburn, Jr., 48, of Hopkinsville, KY, strangulation, first degree, by intentionally impeding the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of the victim, applying pressure on the throat or neck, or blocking the nose or mouth, without consent, a Class C felony; assault, fourth degree, minor injury, by intentionally causing physical injury to the victim, a Class A misdemeanor. Acts occurring on or about April 17, 2020. 
  • Natasha Parsons, 30, of Olive Hill, burglary, third degree, by unlawfully entering a building with intent to commit crime, a Class D felony. Act occurring on or about March 8, 2020. 
  • Earl Reynolds, 30, of Olive Hill, rape, first degree, by having sexual intercourse with a child less than 14 years of age by forcible compulsion, a Class B felony; sexual abuse, first degree, by having sexual contact with a child less than 12 years of age, a Class C felony. Acts occurring on or about April or May of 2019. 
  • Dakota Ross, 26, of Grayson, criminal abuse in the first degree, victim under 12, by intentionally abusing a juvenile, causing a person under 12 years of age serious physical injury, or placing them in a situation that may have caused serious physical injury, or caused torture, cruel confinement, or cruel punishment, a Class C felony. Acts occurring on or about March 13, 2020. 
  • Anthony Sanders, 34, of Olive Hill, disorderly conduct, second degree, when in a public place and with intent to cause public annoyance, he made unreasonable noise and his actions caused others to be alarmed, a Class B misdemeanor; public intoxication, while appearing in public manifestly under the influence of a controlled substance, not therapeutically administered, to the degree that he may endanger himself or other persons, a Class B misdemeanor; resisting arrest, by using physical force against a peace officer, Class A misdemeanor; possession of a controlled substance, first degree, first offense, drug unspecified, when he unlawfully possessed a schedule 1 or schedule 2 narcotic, a Class D felony; possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor; trafficking in a controlled substance, first degree, first offense, over 2 grams of methamphetamine, by possessing with intent to sell, a Class C felony. Acts occurring on or about March 5, 2020. 
  • William R. Sloas, 48, of Grayson, assault in the second degree, domestic violence, a Class C felony; burglary in the second degree, by knowingly and unlawfully entering the dwelling of the victim with intent to commit a crime, a Class C felony; criminal mischief third degree, by intentionally or wantonly damaging property or tampering with property as to knowing endanger property belonging to the Grayson Police Department, a Class A misdemeanor. Acts occurring on or about May 24, 2020. 
  • Teddy Snedegar, 30, of Olive Hill, theft of services over $500 by intentionally obtaining unauthorized electricity and water from those providers in the amount of $530, by unlawfully obtaining electric and water from the City of Olive Hill, a Class D felony. Acts occurring on or about January 13, 2020

Summertime, and the flavor is pleasing

Goose Bridle’s new limited edition roast is not to be missed

By Jeremy D. Wells

Carter County Times

Colombian coffee is one of America’s favorite varietals. The medium acidity and nutty undertones of the South American sourced coffee beans support a natural sweetness, without the floral and fruit notes that characterize other naturally sweet coffees such as Africa’s Ethiopian Yirgacheffe or Tanzanian Peaberry. The low to medium acidity of Colombian beans also lend them a smoothness that makes them the go-to choice of many American roasters and coffee drinkers. 

So, when Goose Bridle Coffee’s Will Stevens got the chance to get his hands on some Colombian beans, through a new relationship with a new supplier, he was eager to see what he could do with them. The result is the roaster’s newest product, the limited edition Summertime Supremo. 

“My other (roasts are) exclusively Guatemalan,” the Grayson based coffee roaster explained. Those other coffees include the dark roast Boilermaker Bold, the medium roast Miner’s Medium, and the medium/dark roast Old Number 7 – the last of which is distributed exclusively through the Drive-In and Henri’s restaurants in Olive Hill. 

Stevens has no intention of moving away from those Guatemalan beans either. The dark, bittersweet chocolate richness of Boilermaker Bold and the smooth, spice and toffee notes of the Miner’s Medium have proved themselves favorites of Goose Bridle drinkers. But for those craving something different, the bold but smooth character of Summertime Supremo is worth checking out. 

These Colombian beans brew a bold cup, with rich caramel notes that linger on the back and sides of the tongue, enticing you to savor each swallow. The aroma, too, is rich and heady, perfect for getting you up and motivated in the morning, or for relaxing and taking your time with on a lazy weekend morning while the cup gently warms your hands. 

“I think it’s a universal pleaser,” Stevens said. 

But, if you want to try the Summertime Supremo roast, you better not wait too long. The roast is a limited edition for a reason. Stevens said he only plans to keep it “around until it’s gone,” and he only has about 250 pounds of the green coffee beans left. 

You can order the coffee online at http://www.goosebridlecoffeeroasters.com, or pick it up directly from Stevens at his home roasting site. The roast is also available as part of Goose Bridle’s new subscription service, which coffee drinkers can also sign-up for online. With the subscription service coffee drinkers can choose to receive one, two, or four bags a month of freshly roasted beans of their choice. Subscribers who choose the one or two pound options will receive one shipment a month of the coffee beans of their choice. Those who choose the four pound option will have two one-pound bags sent to their home every two weeks, guaranteeing they will receive some of the freshest coffee available in eastern Kentucky. 

Stevens also offers a special deal to local coffee drinkers who want to pick up their beans themselves in Grayson. “For anybody local, I’ll usually kick in an extra half pound, or work out a cost adjustment,” he said. 

If you’ve never had freshly roasted coffee before, you are in for a definite treat with Goose Bridle, no matter what variety you choose. You’ll find that the flavors far exceed any other commercially produced bulk coffee offerings available in your grocery store; even from the “gourmet” boutique roasters. If you love your morning cup of joe, you owe it to yourself to give these locally roasted beans a try. 

Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com

Will Stevens, of Goose Bridle Coffee Roasters, talks about his new limited-edition summer roast, Summertime Supremo. While Goose Bridle’s other roasts feature beans from Guatemala, the new roast is made with beans from Colombia for a bold, yet smooth, flavor profile in a medium roast. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times)

Pet of the Week – 7/1/20

Hercules is our Pet of the Week again this week and really needs to find his furever family. He is a one-year-old male shepherd mix. He’s a very friendly boy and great with other dogs. Hercules is fully sponsored and has a FREE adoption to an approved home. Stop by the Carter County Animal Shelter and meet him or call 475-9771 for more information. 

Shelter hours are Monday through Friday 9am-4pm and Saturday by appointment. 

Kids’ Corner – 7/1/20

Chase Winkleman is 10- years-old and just finished 4th grade at Sandy Hook Elementary. His favorite things include the color red, playing with his Lego, swimming in the pool and watching Sonic the Hedgehog. He’s constantly zooming around the house, pretending to be the blue speedster. 

When I asked him to draw a picture for the newspaper, he was so excited. He knew immediately what he wanted to draw. Apparently, he’s only supposed to have one arm because “we’re only seeing one side of him.” 

When Chase grows up, he wants to be an artist and draw comic books. His favorite superhero is Ironman (I think it’s just because his suit is red). But, he likes Spiderman (again, the red suit), and Batman, too. 

Chase has two little brothers and a little sister and he says he’s going to teach them to draw when they get older. He’s already a better artist than his mother or father, so I think they’ll have a pretty good teacher.

Have a budding artist or writer in the family?
Click here to have their art featured in Kids’ Corner!

Keep it in your yard: Grayson amends yard sale ordinance

By: Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times

Grayson City Council met in special session last week to discuss employee retirements, budgets, and ordinances amendments. It was the amendments to the city’s yard sale ordinance, though, that generated the most discussion among council and the most questions from the public in the comment section of the city’s live stream of the meeting.

Like many other cities, Grayson has been holding closed meetings during quarantine, and live streaming those meetings. Comments on the live stream of last Tuesday’s meeting showed that it was amendments to the yard sale ordinance that seemed to concern most of the public tuning in to watch the meeting.

Grayson’s existing ordinance states that homes are limited to two yard sales per year, for up to three days each time. Most residents, code enforcement office Duane Suttles explained, have their yard sales over the weekend, opting for Thursday – Saturday or Friday – Sunday to sell old household items and clothing. While citizens are required to request a permit for their yard sales, those permits do not cost them any money. Rather, Suttles explained, those permits are simply intended to notify code enforcement of who to hold responsible if the yard sale ordinance is violated. Other than the correction of grammatical errors, the most significant change in the amended ordinance was an increase of fines for violating the yard sale ordinance. The existing $10 fine was increased to “not less than $25.”

The list of infractions that can earn a person a fine, though, is rather small. All yard sale signs, for instance, must be in the yard of the individual holding the yard sale, or in the yards or on the property of those who give permission to place the signs there. No signs are allowed to be placed in the public right of way, or attached to utility poles or other public property. The ordinance also requires all signs to be removed once the yard sale has ended.

Those holding the yard sale, too, must ensure that adequate ingress and egress are allowed for those attending the sale, to “keep congestion to a minimum,” Suttles explained. Anyone who holds regular ongoing sales in their neighborhood, on private residential property, could be found to be in violation of other zoning regulations, which dictate that areas zoned residential cannot support certain types of commercial activity unless that neighborhood is also zoned for business use. These regulations, like the yard sale rules about adequate ingress and egress, are intended to save neighbors from the nuisance of traffic and congestion.

The yard sale discussion led into discussion of other types of temporary sales, such as the flag sales in the empty lot along Carol Malone Boulevard, sales of items off the back of truck beds, and the sale of items on weekends along US 60 and in the Prichard school lot.

“I was hoping this ordinance would keep people off the Prichard lot, or any lot that’s not their home,” councilperson Sudy Walker said.

Suttles explained that what is needed to address those situations is another ordinance aimed at temporary commercial sales or “flea market” type sales. One of the components of the yard sale ordinance, he continued, was that it related to sales that had to be conducted at a residence the person holding the sale had to own or rent.

“Hopefully there will be another ordinance,” to address those flea market type sales, Suttles said.

Mayor George Steele said that because Prichard school was private property, there wasn’t much the city could do unless the school asked the city or city police to address the issue. So far though, Steele noted, “they’ve not asked up to control (sales).”

In the case of the flag sales along Carol Malone, Suttles explained, those individuals had applied for a temporary business permit and worked out a deal with the owner of the lot to utilize the property there for their temporary sales.

In the case of yard sale violations or other sales, Suttles said, “sometimes the only time we can police them is if there is a complaint.”

Steele expressed further reservations about the city taking action on those kinds of sales.

“We don’t want to get in the business of enforcing something on private property, and the people that own that property don’t care if they’re there or not,” Steele said.

Suttles further clarified that any type of sale that did not occur in a residential yard was not governed by the yard sale ordinance, and that the proposed flea market and truck sale ordinance would be needed to take any enforcement action against those type of sales. While the city does require a peddler’s license, that license applied more to those engaged in door-to-door type sales, not to the stationary flea-market or truck bed type sales.

Council voted unanimously to approve the amended yard sale ordinance.

In other action Steele noted that three city employees will be retiring at the end of the month, including police chief Kevin McDavid and city clerk Darlene Simmons. Steele asked council to approve a motion promoting current office clerk Kathy Neice to the role of city clerk, effective July 1, which passed unanimously. Steele also praised Suttles for his work as the new code enforcement officer before asking council to approve Suttles for “double duty” filling the office clerk role vacated by Neice when she advances to the city clerk role. That motion was also passed by council.

Steele also discussed the proposed budget with council, asking them to look it over before coming back to approve the budget. Steele told council there was some chance that the city could get police and fire salaries partially covered with funds available through the CARES Act. That, the mayor noted, would be beneficial for the city’s budget.

Steele told council that he expected the budget to be tight through July and August, but after September he expected the city’s financial situation to improve as more businesses reopened.

“We’re not going to have a lot of money to spend in July and August,” Steele said.

But despite that possible budget shortfall, Steele was confident enough in the improvement of the city’s budget situation after September that he recommended raises for certain city departments, including the police department. Steele recommended a $2 per hour raise for all police personnel. Once salaries were set, he said, they could then finalize the budget.

On the suggested $2 per hour raise for police personnel, Steele said it was necessary to retain talent.

“If we can’t compete… we’re not going to have police officers,” Steele said, before adding that he was “comfortable with these raises.”

Council took no action on budget approval at the time of the meeting, but planned to revisit the issue in another special session dedicated to the budget.

Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com

Stepping outside the comfort zone

By Jeremy D. Wells

Carter County Times

There are lots of things I’m not very good at. Usually that’s ok. I either muddle on through, and call it good enough, or I get someone who is good at those things to do them for me. But sometimes you can’t find – or can’t afford – someone who is good at the things you aren’t. And sometimes muddling through, and hoping you can call it good enough, just isn’t good enough. 

When my partner and I decided to try this newspaper venture, I knew there were things that I didn’t normally have to do that I would have to learn. The writing end of things I wasn’t worried about. I’ve been writing professionally, in one capacity or another, for 20 years now. The writing I can practically do in my sleep. Once you’ve written several dozen election stories, covered several hundred city council meetings, and penned more features than you can shake a stick at, you can almost write them before they’re finished. Not a big deal. 

The distribution end of things was new to me, but it hasn’t been too hard to figure out. Nicole, bless her soul, handled all the bureaucracy for us. I just have to wake up at 5 in the morning and take papers to the post offices and retail distributors. My coffee habit has nearly doubled as a result, but it hasn’t been hard to figure out. 

Then there are the ad sales. Heaven help me, but I’m a horrible ad salesman. I don’t really have a pitch. I know why our paper is valuable. But turning that value into a reason to buy an ad just doesn’t seem to flow from me naturally. 

My first attempt at an email ad pitch ended up being too long. A later ad pitch, pointing out how good our web views were going, fared no better. They were both failures at attracting the attention I wanted – and this was with writing, something I’m comfortable with. Imagine, then, how poorly my in-person ad pitches go. 

There is a reason, after all, that I write. I’ve always been more confident in my ability to express an idea in writing than I have verbally. I’d rather text someone than speak on the phone any day. While in college I could barely make it through a speech class. Today I have no real problem speaking extemporaneously on subjects I’m familiar with. But ad sales aren’t something I’m comfortable with. 

Despite this lack of comfort with ads, they’re something we need to make this paper self-sufficient. I know why this paper is valuable, and I assume you do too since you are holding a copy in your hands (or reading online). But rack sales and subscriptions don’t pay for the cost of printing. Subscriptions barely cover the cost of shipping. Paper sales aren’t as high as they were 20 years ago, and they were already declining then. Print journalism is a changing business, and it’s not one you’re going to get rich in. But it needs to pay for itself, at least. The irony is that while we need to bring on someone with experience to sell ads for us, we can’t afford to do that until I can start selling ads. It’s a fantastic Catch 22, and I’m not sure what the answer is. But I am going to need to get comfortable with it real quick. 

I don’t want to see this paper fill up with more ads than content. That isn’t why we started this newspaper. But there needs to be a good balance, so we can keep going. That means this duck needs to get comfortable being out of water sooner than later. 

So… Wanna buy an ad? 

Jeremy D. Wells can be reached at editor@cartercountytimes.com

Paul Douglas Brock

1942-2020

Mr. Paul Douglas Brock, 77, of Grayson, passed away Monday evening, May 11, 2020 at Gray. 

Survivors include two children, Paula Partin and husband, Todd, and Tommy Abner all of Gray; two grandchildren, Travis Partin and wife, Elizabeth, and Tyler Partin. 

A private family funeral service was conducted in the chapel of the Knox Funeral Home Friday, May 15, with Rev. Garrett Garland officiating. He was laid to rest in the Barbourville Cemetery.

Anna Skaggs Oakley

1934-2020

Mrs. Anna Skaggs Oakley, age 86, of Mansfield, Ohio, formerly of Olive Hill, Kentucky, passed away Thursday, June 25, 2020, at her granddaughter’s residence. 

She was born March 7, 1934, in Elliott County, Kentucky, a daughter of the late Robert Emmitt and Mary Edith Skaggs.

Anna was of the Baptist faith and she enjoyed shopping, spending time with her family and going to church. She was cared and loved by her granddaughter, Lorie and Savalas of Mansfield, Ohio, and their children, LaDashea Oakley, Jazmen Taylor, and Troy Taylor . 

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband Allen Oakley; her step mother, Lucy Skaggs; three children, Woody Oakley, Daffanie Ison (Rick), and Debbie Loveless; three brothers, Billie Skaggs, Charles Skaggs, and Lonnie Skaggs; four sisters, Audrey Cox, Mary Ellen Oakley, Pauline Cox, and Myrtle Slusher; one half brother, Johnny Skaggs; and one half sister, Faye Skaggs Rice.

Anna is survived by two sons, Gerald Dwight “Ike” Oakley (Belinda) of Olive Hill, Kentucky, and John Oakley (Rose) of Mansfiled, Ohio; two daughters, Angie French (Alvin) and Stephine Foncannon (Jack), all of Mansfield, Ohio; 22 grandchildren; 34 great grandchildren; two great-great grandchildren; one brother, Robert Skaggs (Janet) of Carter City, Kentucky; one sister, Hallie Hatfield of Florida; three half brothers, Jack Skaggs and Jimmy Skaggs, both of Michigan, and Bernie Skaggs of Missouri; and five half sisters, Sue Skaggs Townsend, Barbara Jean Mayse, Sharon Arlene White, Janie Blevins, and Monnie Margeson. She also leaves many other family members and friends who will sadly miss her.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Monday, June 29, 2020, at Globe Funeral Chapel in Olive Hill, Kentucky, with Brother Gary Lambert officiating. Burial will follow in the Tabor Cemetery.

Friends may visit from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Monday, June 29, 2020, at Globe Funeral Chapel, 17277 West Highway U.S. 60, Olive Hill, Kentucky 41164.

Family and friends will serve as pallbearers.

Condolences may be sent to the family at Globe Funeral Chapel.

Work Nearly Complete on AA Highway-Grayson Spur Safety Project in Lewis County

New ‘exit’ lane, flashing beacons coming soon

Work’s nearly complete on a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet safety project to add a right-turn “exit” lane and update flashing beacons on the AA Highway (KY 9) at the Grayson Spur intersection in Lewis County.

The project’s new traffic pattern at the Grayson Spur will be in place soon, by next week or as early as Friday:

  • Southbound traffic on the AA Highway (KY 9) from Vanceburg approaching the Grayson Spur (KY 9) will be able to merge right off the AA and curve around to merge southbound onto the Spur, while traffic headed east on AA (KY 10) toward Greenup can continue straight through the intersection.
  • Grayson Spur (KY 9) traffic approaching the AA intersection will benefit from new high-vis flashing beacons, as well as improved sight distance – traffic stopped to turn left onto northbound AA toward Vanceburg can see better because approaching traffic will be out of the way in the new “exit” lane.

The project, which began in March through the Transportation Cabinet’s Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), was done under a $388,347.79 Transportation Cabinet HSIP contract awarded to ASL Excavating Inc.

TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Slide Work to Close KY 2 in Greenup County Through July 3

Closed nearly a mile west of US 23 at Greenup

The Kentucky Department of Highways will temporarily close part of of KY 2 in Greenup County for slide repairs.

Beginning Thursday, June 25, and continuing through about July 3, KY 2 will be closed at milepoint 16.4, which is seven tenths of a mile west of US 23 at Greenup, to rebuild the roadway as part of a hillside slide repair project. It’s the same area that’s been one lane with traffic signals for the last few weeks.

All traffic using KY 2 should detour using KY 1 to either W Hollow (KY 2433) or KY 1459, or use KY 3307 (Whetstone).

Road work schedules are subject to change depending on weather conditions. Motorists are asked to heed all warning signs, slow down in work zones and remain aware of workers and construction equipment when traveling.

Go, Go Gadget Dad

By: Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times

I’ve got a confession to make, I’m an obsessive gadget guy. It’s the kind of thing that drives my partner batty in some ways. When we moved in together I brought along boxes full of things like a 3D printer, multiple
Raspberry Pi single board computers and Pi clones for various projects that I never got around to (partially because the 3D printer I planned to use for enclosures and components stopped working), Arduino boards, small capacitive touch screens, ribbon connectors, and various diodes, LED lights, button cell batteries and other electronic bits and pieces.

Most of those components fit conveniently in a small tackle box style plastic case that I keep in the bottom drawer of my night stand – easily accessible and out of the way of my clutter hating partner.

Other things, though, are really just obsolete pieces of technology that I can’t bring myself to part with because they still work, even if I don’t use
them. Things like old-school VGA monitors that require one or more adapters to work with modern computer video outputs, or a 20-year-old Dell Axim Pocket PC, one of the early PDAs and a precursor to the modern smart phone. In my early days as a reporter I used the Axim religiously. I could use it to take handwritten notes, and embed audio files so I had a complete recording of quotes I paraphrased in my notes. It didn’t always work as I wanted, and a few times I lost some important recordings. But
it really was a game changer and instilled habits that I have kept to this day, like noting the minute count of a recorder in my notes when I can’t keep up with a speaker. Despite the nostalgia, though, there really is no reason to keep some of these things and I probably should pass them on, either to someone who could make use of them or the recycling center. I know it would make her happy if I decluttered.

Despite all this, she knows me well. This Father’s Day she and the boys got me a Fitbit Ionic. I’d never really been interested in a Fitbit before (my idea of exercise is putting my Pepsi on the far end of the table and reaching to get it), but I do enjoy walking with her. And the Fitbit really scratched my gadget itch. It’s actually getting me up and walking more (you should never underestimate the power of achievements to motivate a gamer), and who knows – maybe the Fitbit will motivate me to get those boxes of old gadgets out of the attic and into the donation bin. After all, it
gives me extra credit for taking the stairs.

To wear or not to wear, that is the question

Beginning July 1, Governor Andy Beshear and the state of Kentucky are allowing gatherings of fewer than 50 people. Local city and county government entities are already planning on getting caught up on public hearings they have fallen behind on during the state’s mandatory social isolation period. But one thing that we still need to be aware of and careful about is the use of cloth face masks, especially in situations where the number of people makes it difficult to maintain the recommended distance of six feet.

While some people have been balking at these recommendations, and others purposely flouting them, it’s something that we need to take seriously to keep cases of the virus from spiking, according to medical professionals. Dr. Steven Stack, during the governor’s Monday press conference, reiterated the importance of wearing these masks as local meetings and gatherings recommence.

Some folks have tried to make the wearing of face masks a political statement, but public safety doesn’t – or at least shouldn’t – have a left or right-wing bias. Both our Democratic governor and Republican Senator Mitch McConnell have urged Kentuckians to wear cloth face masks, if not for their own protection then for the protection of vulnerable populations like immunocompromised individuals, children, and the elderly.

It’s true, as many critics of face masks have pointed out, that cloth masks alone aren’t as effective at filtering out the virus as N95 face masks and other high tech personal protective equipment. But what regular use of cloth masks can do is help stop the spread of virus-laden droplets of saliva while speaking. There are multiple studies and videos that show just how big an impact the masks can make. In one popular video a laser is used in a darkened room to show the spread of droplets when speaking without a mask, and the reduced spread when speaking with a mask. Another informal study showed the difference in the growth of bacteria in Petrie dishes that a nurse coughed onto with and without a mask. It should come as no surprise that while the agar in the dish that was coughed on without a mask showed a veritable menagerie of bacterial growth, the growth of the dish coughed on with a mask was remarkably sparse.

In recent days we’ve heard more and more anecdotes about people without masks harassing people who are wearing masks – and vice versa. In a climate where every action is politicized, and every choice scrutinized as fodder for the culture wars, this is no longer surprising. But it is no less disappointing for its growing ubiquity. It’s sad that the very least we can do to help keep others safe is now more about left vs right than it is about keeping our neighbors and loved ones safe. Those on the right who feel that wearing a face mask is a statement about the President need to realize that those wearing masks are doing so for your protection as much as for their own. Those on the left need to realize that while some individuals may eschew masks to make a political statement, others may forego masks because of legitimate medical issues – issues that make your use of masks and maintaining proper social distance from them even more important to their health and safety.

This is something that should not be politicized or allowed to turn into an argument between the pundits and talking heads of the 24-hour television news cycle. We urge you to respect one another. Protect one another. Wear masks if you can. Maintain a proper social distance of six feet if you cannot. And, together, we can weather this public health crisis and return to a normal way of interacting in a shorter period of time. When Democrats like Andy and Republicans like Mitch can agree on these types of actions, it means we all should take the advice to heart and listen to the better angels of our nature instead of giving in to the culture war trolls that seek to divide and conquer us.

Marriage Licenses 6/1/20-6/18/20

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