See GOVERNOR Page 6

See ELECTION Page 3

See LIHEAP Page 3

See JURY, Page 6

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743-4210

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West Liberty, Kentucky 41472Thursday, November 8, 2012

The

Woman’s Clubto host Vets Dayevent at park

The Morgan County Wom-an’s Club invites all veterans, their families and the public to participate in a special Veterans Day program Sunday, Nov. 11.

Normally conducted on the Courthouse Square on Main Street, which was devastated by the March 2 tornadod, the annual program will be held this year at the Kiwanis/Tred-way Park.

The program will begin at 5:00 p.m. and will include a roll call of veterans, a candlelight vigil in honor of the sacrifices endured by veterans and their families in the service of their country.

MCHS requests photos for Veterans’ Day pgm.

If anyone has a photo of a veteran that he or she would like to see displayed at the Morgan County High School Veteran's Day program, please bring the picture to the high school by Friday, Nov. 2.

MCHS Veterans’ Day pgm. slated Fri., Nov. 9

The staff and students of Morgan County High School would like to invite all veterans to attend the annual Veteran’s Day program and luncheon 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 9, at the school. Dinner will be served to veterans at the program’s conclusion. The public is also invited to join students and school officials as they pay tribute to local veterans.

Gov. Steve Beshear was in West Liberty on Oct. 31 to present city and county officials with a symbolic check for $400,000 for the initial design phase of a project to widen parts of Main an Prestonsburg streets. The governor also presented a second check for $416,000 to officials for repairs to tornado-damaged streets and roads. Kentucky Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock, State Rep. John Will Stacy and State Sen. Robert Stivers looked on as Judge Executive Tim Conley, Mayor Jim Rupe, city council members and magistrates accepted the funding.

State funding totals $816,000; Main, P-burg streets to be widened

Kindergartenregistrationdates are listed

Kindergarten Registration for2012-2013 will be held at eachelementary school on the dateslisted below from 9:00 a.m. un-til 5:00 p.m. If school is not insession on the announced datedue to inclement weather, regis-tration will be held on the make-up date.

East Valley Elem. – Feb. 9Makeup - Feb. 16Ezel Elementary – Feb. 7Makeup – Feb. 15Morgan Central Elem. Jan. 24Makeup – Feb. 1West Liberty Elem. – Jan. 26Makeup – Feb. 2Parents should bring a copy

of their child’s original birth cer-tificate, physical, immunizationrecord, vision, and dental examswith them to the registration. Ifany of these items is unavailableat this time, parents attend any-way to get the registration startedfor their child.

If your child attends HeadStart, you will still need to attend.

For more information, callthe Family Resource Center ateach school with questions.

Morgan Central - 743-8432 or8552.

Ezel - 725-8208 or 8202.East Valley – 522-8157 or

8152.West Liberty – 743-8357 or

8302.

Licking Valley CourierLicking Valley CourierWest Liberty, Kentucky 41472

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The

(USPS 312-040)

PerCopy

$25.50 Year In County$28.00 Year In Kentucky

$30.00 Year Outside Kentucky50¢Volume 101 — No. 13 SPEAKING OF AND FOR MORGAN, THE BLUEGRASS COUNTY OF THE MOUNTAINS

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HEALTHGive Us A Call

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2011 Ford F-150S-LT4, Crew Cab, 4x4,

30,000 Miles,Dark Blue

The Morgan County Board ofEducation is implementing a“Snow Plan B” for the current2011-2012 school year.

Details were released lastweek in a letter to parents fromSuperintendent Deathra Barnett.

“Last year Morgan Countystudents missed 28 days ofschool due to inclementweather,” Barnett said.

“Despite our inability to con-trol the weather, we need our stu-dents to be safely in school re-ceiving their education,” shesaid.

Barnett said Snow Plan B willallow students to meet countyschool buses that will be travel-ing, but only on main routes.

“There are times when mainroads are clear and safe whilemany side roads have slick areasthat are unsafe for buses totravel,” she said. “Snow Plan Bwill have safe, designated schoolbus meeting locations where par-ents can bring their children tomeet the school bus.”

These locations will be at lo-cal schools, churches and publicareas throughout the county. “Itwill be the responsibility of the

parents/guardians to meet the busin a timely manner at the mostconvenient designated locationavailable to them,” Barnett ex-plained. “Under the plan, if thereis not a parent/guardian or des-ignee present in the afternoon,the children will remain on thebus and will be taken to the near-est school.”

“Because Morgan Countycovers a large area, we at timeshave experienced snow in certainregions of the county while otherparts of the county will be clear,”Barnett said. “When this occurs,the Board of Education coulddecide to implement “Plan B” astep further — If weather suchas this occurs in one particulararea. that area of the county canbe placed on “Plan B” while stu-dents in the remainder of thecounty can attend school on regu-lar schedule.”

The snow plan when utilizedwill be specifically announced onthe schools all call telephonemessage system as well as ontelevision and radio. This infor-mation will also be accessible onthe schools webpage and alsowill be published in the LickingValley Courier.

Morgan County Schools willcontinue to use the one- and two-hour delays as needed, Barnettsaid. The delays allow roads toclear and while allowing suffi-cient daylight for the bus drivers.

Any state numbered roads areconsidered primary roads thatbuses will be traveling during theimplementation of “Snow PlanB.” State numbered, or primary,road examples are as follows:

Highways 205, 9009, 460,191, 7, 519, 172, 134, 589, 437,2498 (Hospital Hill), and AirportRoad.

If school is on “Snow Plan B”and the bus driver deems the statenumbered primary road too haz-ardous to travel, he/she will no-tify the students on these routesto meet at a pre-designated loca-tion.

Designated parent/guardianpick-up and drop-off points are:

Hwy. 205/134/9009 — Parkand Ride.

Hwy. 191 — Post Office at theold Cannel City School, FaithBaptist Church, Grace BaptistChurch.

Hwy. 7 — Wrigley BaptistChurch, Wrigley 7711 store, OakHill Church of God.

Hwy. 519 — Old Yamahashop, Double J, CountrysideFood Mart, 519 Fire Department,519 Gun and Pawn.

Hwy. 460 East — Old Garageat the junction of 1000, CountyGarage, Frederick & May, Shirts& More/New World Video.

Hwy. 460 West — Ezel El-ementary, Oldfield’s Store, Ani-mal Shelter

Hwy. 172 — Paint Valley En-terprise Church, Betty’s Grocery,Old Paint Church, Gilliam’s Gro-cery, East Valley Elementary.

Hwy. 437 — Old Conley Gro-cery, East Valley Elementary.

Plan announcedto reduce missedclass room daysWill allow schools tooperate when onlysome roads are slick

People who are looking for ajob can get help and greatly in-crease their chances of successby joining a job club scheduledto begin meeting Jan. 17 in WestLiberty.

The Morgan County Job Clubwill meet from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.every Tuesday on the secondfloor of the Morehead State Uni-versity Regional Enterprise Cen-ter at 151 University Drive.

Participation is free. Drop-insare welcome and are encouragedto come 30 minutes early for anew member orientation.

National statistics indicatethat 80 percent of people whoparticipate in a job club find em-ployment, as compared to 15 per-cent of those who search alone,according to Traci Nolen, jobclub coordinator for the EasternKentucky Concentrated Employ-ment Program (EKCEP), Inc.

“If you’re really seriousabout finding a job, you shouldtake this opportunity to take yoursearch up to the next level,”Nolen said. “Our job club willgive you the tools, skills, jobleads, and understanding of howthe job market works that canhelp you get hired.”

Basically, a job club is a smallgroup of job seekers who meetweekly with local workforce pro-fessionals to improve their jobsearches. The group membersprovide support for each otherwhile networking, sharing jobleads, and learning techniques forimproving their job searchesfrom workforce professionals,local businesspeople, and otherinvited guests.

The combination of support,networking, and job-search edu-cation makes job club membersmuch more successful at gettinga job than job seekers who searchalone.

The clubs are sponsored byEKCEP, Inc., the Kentucky Of-fice for Employment & Training,and Gateway Community Action

New Morgan Job Clubaccepting new members

Agency. The sponsors’ expertiseand contacts are made availableto help the club members.

The opportunity to network isone of the most important oppor-tunities the job club provides, ac-cording to Nolen. This gives jobseekers a chance to “know thepeople who know the people whohave the jobs,” she said. As a re-sult, job club members get to pen-etrate what professionals call the“hidden job market” — the jobopenings that exist but aren’t ad-vertised.

Frederick & Mayawarded Ky. 172reconstruction job

JACKSON, Ky. — The Ken-tucky Transportation Cabinet hasawarded two contracts totalingnearly $12 million for highwayprojects in two counties in theDepartment of Highways Dis-trict 10.

Contracts awarded as part ofthe December 2011 letting are:

A $11,636,046.21 contract forreconstruction of 2.6 miles of Ky.172 between Elkfork andCrockett in Morgan County.Frederick & May ConstructionCo.. was the successful bidder.The project is to be completedwithin 275 working days afterconstruction begins.

A $291,985.70 contract forrehabilitation of a bridge overDrowning Creek on KY 499 atthe Estill-Madison county line.Kay & Kay Contracting, LLCwas the successful bidder. Theproject is to be completed within30 days after construction be-gins, but by no later than Nov.15.

Board advertisesfor constructionbids for new schl.

The Morgan County SchoolBoard this week began advertis-ing for bids for construction ofthe new Wrigley ElementarySchool.

Bids for the 65,000 sq. ft. fa-cility will be accepted at theboard office until 2:00 p.m. onTuesday, Feb. 14. The bid adver-tisement is published in the Le-gals section elsewhere in this edi-tion.

The new school to be built onKy. 7 between Wrigley and WestLiberty will replace the old WPA-built school at Wrigley, whichwas discontinued by the boardfive years ago.

The new school is expected tobe ready for occupancy in June,2013.

School Board members recognizedJudge Executive Tim Conley issued a proclamation at Mondayʼs school board meeting designatingJanuary as School Board Member Recognition Month in Morgan County. School board membersare being recognized throughout Kentucky and many other states this month in recognition of theirservice on behalf of the children of their communities. In addition to serving as the eyes and ears ofthe community, school boards set the vision for the future of the education system and it is their jobis to hire the superintendent of their school systems and implement policies for carrying out theirvision. Recognized by Judge Conley (second from left) at Mondayʼs meeting, from left, board mem-bers Ralph Smith, Patty Hutchinson, Brian Lindon, Esther Cain, and Marshall Jenkins.

Louisville firmacquires BatesIron and Metal

Freedom Metals, Louisville,has announced its acquisition ofBates Iron and Metal in West Lib-erty. Former owner, Gary Bates,will be continuing in the role ofGeneral Manager of the WestLiberty location.

Spencer Blue, vice presidentand chief operating officer ofFreedom Metals, said he is ex-cited about the new venture;“Bates will enable us to reach outfurther in the Eastern Kentuckyarea and continue our path ofstrategic growth within Ken-tucky.”

“This isn’t one of those ‘megamergers or acquisitions’, but partof a synergistic strategy for grow-ing our business in an ‘organic’methodical way”, said BruceBlue (founder of Freedom Met-als).

Gary Bates said he is excitedabout the new opportunities thatthe venture will ensure for him.“With Freedom Metals on board,we will be able to continue togrow in our little area of EasternKentucky. The strength of Free-dom will enable us to grow ourretail (peddler) business, whilealso developing our industrial,C&D and small dealer business.”

Bates Iron and Metal has beenin operation since, 2010, and cur-rently has a warehouse for non-ferrous and a yard for ferrousmetals.

Freedom Metals, founded in1983, now has yards in four Ken-tucky cities: Louisville,Elizabethtown, Winchester, andWest Liberty.

Fire destroysSteele Branchhome Jan. 8

Caney Valley Fire Depart-ment members responded to aJan. 8 housefire on Steele Branchat Malone that destroyed a rentalhouse owned by Mrs. HazelSteele.

Caney Valley Fire Chief Pe-ter Brandt said department mem-bers received the call around11:30 p.m., but the aging struc-ture was completely engulfedupon arrival.

“We had difficuly shutting offthe home’s electric supply,”Brandt said. “The fire burned it-self out, but the cause remainsundetermined at this time.”

Brandt also noted that thehouse was inhabited by tenantJulio Canizalez, who was athome when the fire started. Noinjuries were reported.

Other responding agenciesincluded the West Liberty andWhite Oak fire departments.

“I would like to thank WestLiberty and White Oak fire de-partment members for their as-sistance,” Brandt said.

Anyone interested in becom-ing a Caney Valley Fire Depart-ment volunteer is urged to con-tact Brandt at 743-2623.

MONDAY DEADLINE FORNEWS AND ADVERTISING

News items and advertisingsubmitted for publication in TheLicking Valley Courier should besubmitted by Friday of the pre-ceding week and must be in ouroffice before noon on Monday.

Good luck,Amy!

After winning the local Dis-tinguished Young Woman(DYW), sponsored by the Mor-gan County Womans Club, andspending weeks in preparationfor the state program, Miss AmyEvans, a senior at MCHS, willget her opportunity to shine onstage once again when she com-petes in the Kentucky DYW pro-gram this week in Lexington.

Amy is spending several daysthis week with a host family in

Amy Evans

See WEATHER Page 4

See AMY EVANS Page 6

551 Main Street • West Liberty(606) 743-3642

McKenzie’s Dept. StoreMcKenzie’s Dept. StoreThe Nostalgic Store

McKenzie’s Dept. Store since 1945

SELECT GROUPMen’s, Women’s,

And ChildrensClothing

50%-70% OffTake An Extra20% Off Select

Men’s AndLadies Clothing

SHOES20%-50% Off

Morgan Tire Center, Inc.1592 West Main StreetWest Liberty, KentuckyPhone: 606/743-7350 Or 606/743-4663

See All Our Vehicles At www.morgantirecenter.com

1998 Jeep Wrangler4 Cylinder, Automatic, Low Miles

$6,90000$6,90000

743-3054764 Main St.

JAN. SPECIALSAny Pizza, Any Size, Any Topping

$12.00 Plus Tax“New” Cheese Cake Bites

5/$3.00 Plus Tax

The Pizza PlaceThe Pizza Place

— PIZZA ROLLS —

2/$3.00“New” Fish On Bun With

Onion Rings Or French Fries

$4.99 Plus Tax

Specials:— Thursday-Friday-Saturday —

Large Pizza, Any Topping,Small Breadsticks (FREE)$15.99 Plus Tax

— Wednesdays —Any Large Pizza1/2 Price

— Monday & Tuesday — 2 Medium Pizzas, 2 Toppings$12.99 Plus Tax

Kindergartenregistrationdates are listed

Kindergarten Registration for2012-2013 will be held at eachelementary school on the dateslisted below from 9:00 a.m. un-til 5:00 p.m. If school is not insession on the announced datedue to inclement weather, regis-tration will be held on the make-up date.

East Valley Elem. – Feb. 9Makeup - Feb. 16Ezel Elementary – Feb. 7Makeup – Feb. 15Morgan Central Elem. Jan. 24Makeup – Feb. 1West Liberty Elem. – Jan. 26Makeup – Feb. 2Parents should bring a copy

of their child’s original birth cer-tificate, physical, immunizationrecord, vision, and dental examswith them to the registration. Ifany of these items is unavailableat this time, parents attend any-way to get the registration startedfor their child.

If your child attends HeadStart, you will still need to attend.

For more information, callthe Family Resource Center ateach school with questions.

Morgan Central - 743-8432 or8552.

Ezel - 725-8208 or 8202.East Valley – 522-8157 or

8152.West Liberty – 743-8357 or

8302.

Licking Valley CourierLicking Valley CourierWest Liberty, Kentucky 41472

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The

(USPS 312-040)

PerCopy

$25.50 Year In County$28.00 Year In Kentucky

$30.00 Year Outside Kentucky50¢Volume 101 — No. 13 SPEAKING OF AND FOR MORGAN, THE BLUEGRASS COUNTY OF THE MOUNTAINS

Now Open!Now Open!

Home of the

$5.00$5.00

625 Prestonsburg St.743-4210

AUTO • HOMEBUSINESS • LIFE

HEALTHGive Us A Call

606-743-4472

facebook

2011 Ford F-150S-LT4, Crew Cab, 4x4,

30,000 Miles,Dark Blue

The Morgan County Board ofEducation is implementing a“Snow Plan B” for the current2011-2012 school year.

Details were released lastweek in a letter to parents fromSuperintendent Deathra Barnett.

“Last year Morgan Countystudents missed 28 days ofschool due to inclementweather,” Barnett said.

“Despite our inability to con-trol the weather, we need our stu-dents to be safely in school re-ceiving their education,” shesaid.

Barnett said Snow Plan B willallow students to meet countyschool buses that will be travel-ing, but only on main routes.

“There are times when mainroads are clear and safe whilemany side roads have slick areasthat are unsafe for buses totravel,” she said. “Snow Plan Bwill have safe, designated schoolbus meeting locations where par-ents can bring their children tomeet the school bus.”

These locations will be at lo-cal schools, churches and publicareas throughout the county. “Itwill be the responsibility of the

parents/guardians to meet the busin a timely manner at the mostconvenient designated locationavailable to them,” Barnett ex-plained. “Under the plan, if thereis not a parent/guardian or des-ignee present in the afternoon,the children will remain on thebus and will be taken to the near-est school.”

“Because Morgan Countycovers a large area, we at timeshave experienced snow in certainregions of the county while otherparts of the county will be clear,”Barnett said. “When this occurs,the Board of Education coulddecide to implement “Plan B” astep further — If weather suchas this occurs in one particulararea. that area of the county canbe placed on “Plan B” while stu-dents in the remainder of thecounty can attend school on regu-lar schedule.”

The snow plan when utilizedwill be specifically announced onthe schools all call telephonemessage system as well as ontelevision and radio. This infor-mation will also be accessible onthe schools webpage and alsowill be published in the LickingValley Courier.

Morgan County Schools willcontinue to use the one- and two-hour delays as needed, Barnettsaid. The delays allow roads toclear and while allowing suffi-cient daylight for the bus drivers.

Any state numbered roads areconsidered primary roads thatbuses will be traveling during theimplementation of “Snow PlanB.” State numbered, or primary,road examples are as follows:

Highways 205, 9009, 460,191, 7, 519, 172, 134, 589, 437,2498 (Hospital Hill), and AirportRoad.

If school is on “Snow Plan B”and the bus driver deems the statenumbered primary road too haz-ardous to travel, he/she will no-tify the students on these routesto meet at a pre-designated loca-tion.

Designated parent/guardianpick-up and drop-off points are:

Hwy. 205/134/9009 — Parkand Ride.

Hwy. 191 — Post Office at theold Cannel City School, FaithBaptist Church, Grace BaptistChurch.

Hwy. 7 — Wrigley BaptistChurch, Wrigley 7711 store, OakHill Church of God.

Hwy. 519 — Old Yamahashop, Double J, CountrysideFood Mart, 519 Fire Department,519 Gun and Pawn.

Hwy. 460 East — Old Garageat the junction of 1000, CountyGarage, Frederick & May, Shirts& More/New World Video.

Hwy. 460 West — Ezel El-ementary, Oldfield’s Store, Ani-mal Shelter

Hwy. 172 — Paint Valley En-terprise Church, Betty’s Grocery,Old Paint Church, Gilliam’s Gro-cery, East Valley Elementary.

Hwy. 437 — Old Conley Gro-cery, East Valley Elementary.

Plan announcedto reduce missedclass room daysWill allow schools tooperate when onlysome roads are slick

People who are looking for ajob can get help and greatly in-crease their chances of successby joining a job club scheduledto begin meeting Jan. 17 in WestLiberty.

The Morgan County Job Clubwill meet from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.every Tuesday on the secondfloor of the Morehead State Uni-versity Regional Enterprise Cen-ter at 151 University Drive.

Participation is free. Drop-insare welcome and are encouragedto come 30 minutes early for anew member orientation.

National statistics indicatethat 80 percent of people whoparticipate in a job club find em-ployment, as compared to 15 per-cent of those who search alone,according to Traci Nolen, jobclub coordinator for the EasternKentucky Concentrated Employ-ment Program (EKCEP), Inc.

“If you’re really seriousabout finding a job, you shouldtake this opportunity to take yoursearch up to the next level,”Nolen said. “Our job club willgive you the tools, skills, jobleads, and understanding of howthe job market works that canhelp you get hired.”

Basically, a job club is a smallgroup of job seekers who meetweekly with local workforce pro-fessionals to improve their jobsearches. The group membersprovide support for each otherwhile networking, sharing jobleads, and learning techniques forimproving their job searchesfrom workforce professionals,local businesspeople, and otherinvited guests.

The combination of support,networking, and job-search edu-cation makes job club membersmuch more successful at gettinga job than job seekers who searchalone.

The clubs are sponsored byEKCEP, Inc., the Kentucky Of-fice for Employment & Training,and Gateway Community Action

New Morgan Job Clubaccepting new members

Agency. The sponsors’ expertiseand contacts are made availableto help the club members.

The opportunity to network isone of the most important oppor-tunities the job club provides, ac-cording to Nolen. This gives jobseekers a chance to “know thepeople who know the people whohave the jobs,” she said. As a re-sult, job club members get to pen-etrate what professionals call the“hidden job market” — the jobopenings that exist but aren’t ad-vertised.

Frederick & Mayawarded Ky. 172reconstruction job

JACKSON, Ky. — The Ken-tucky Transportation Cabinet hasawarded two contracts totalingnearly $12 million for highwayprojects in two counties in theDepartment of Highways Dis-trict 10.

Contracts awarded as part ofthe December 2011 letting are:

A $11,636,046.21 contract forreconstruction of 2.6 miles of Ky.172 between Elkfork andCrockett in Morgan County.Frederick & May ConstructionCo.. was the successful bidder.The project is to be completedwithin 275 working days afterconstruction begins.

A $291,985.70 contract forrehabilitation of a bridge overDrowning Creek on KY 499 atthe Estill-Madison county line.Kay & Kay Contracting, LLCwas the successful bidder. Theproject is to be completed within30 days after construction be-gins, but by no later than Nov.15.

Board advertisesfor constructionbids for new schl.

The Morgan County SchoolBoard this week began advertis-ing for bids for construction ofthe new Wrigley ElementarySchool.

Bids for the 65,000 sq. ft. fa-cility will be accepted at theboard office until 2:00 p.m. onTuesday, Feb. 14. The bid adver-tisement is published in the Le-gals section elsewhere in this edi-tion.

The new school to be built onKy. 7 between Wrigley and WestLiberty will replace the old WPA-built school at Wrigley, whichwas discontinued by the boardfive years ago.

The new school is expected tobe ready for occupancy in June,2013.

School Board members recognizedJudge Executive Tim Conley issued a proclamation at Mondayʼs school board meeting designatingJanuary as School Board Member Recognition Month in Morgan County. School board membersare being recognized throughout Kentucky and many other states this month in recognition of theirservice on behalf of the children of their communities. In addition to serving as the eyes and ears ofthe community, school boards set the vision for the future of the education system and it is their jobis to hire the superintendent of their school systems and implement policies for carrying out theirvision. Recognized by Judge Conley (second from left) at Mondayʼs meeting, from left, board mem-bers Ralph Smith, Patty Hutchinson, Brian Lindon, Esther Cain, and Marshall Jenkins.

Louisville firmacquires BatesIron and Metal

Freedom Metals, Louisville,has announced its acquisition ofBates Iron and Metal in West Lib-erty. Former owner, Gary Bates,will be continuing in the role ofGeneral Manager of the WestLiberty location.

Spencer Blue, vice presidentand chief operating officer ofFreedom Metals, said he is ex-cited about the new venture;“Bates will enable us to reach outfurther in the Eastern Kentuckyarea and continue our path ofstrategic growth within Ken-tucky.”

“This isn’t one of those ‘megamergers or acquisitions’, but partof a synergistic strategy for grow-ing our business in an ‘organic’methodical way”, said BruceBlue (founder of Freedom Met-als).

Gary Bates said he is excitedabout the new opportunities thatthe venture will ensure for him.“With Freedom Metals on board,we will be able to continue togrow in our little area of EasternKentucky. The strength of Free-dom will enable us to grow ourretail (peddler) business, whilealso developing our industrial,C&D and small dealer business.”

Bates Iron and Metal has beenin operation since, 2010, and cur-rently has a warehouse for non-ferrous and a yard for ferrousmetals.

Freedom Metals, founded in1983, now has yards in four Ken-tucky cities: Louisville,Elizabethtown, Winchester, andWest Liberty.

Fire destroysSteele Branchhome Jan. 8

Caney Valley Fire Depart-ment members responded to aJan. 8 housefire on Steele Branchat Malone that destroyed a rentalhouse owned by Mrs. HazelSteele.

Caney Valley Fire Chief Pe-ter Brandt said department mem-bers received the call around11:30 p.m., but the aging struc-ture was completely engulfedupon arrival.

“We had difficuly shutting offthe home’s electric supply,”Brandt said. “The fire burned it-self out, but the cause remainsundetermined at this time.”

Brandt also noted that thehouse was inhabited by tenantJulio Canizalez, who was athome when the fire started. Noinjuries were reported.

Other responding agenciesincluded the West Liberty andWhite Oak fire departments.

“I would like to thank WestLiberty and White Oak fire de-partment members for their as-sistance,” Brandt said.

Anyone interested in becom-ing a Caney Valley Fire Depart-ment volunteer is urged to con-tact Brandt at 743-2623.

MONDAY DEADLINE FORNEWS AND ADVERTISING

News items and advertisingsubmitted for publication in TheLicking Valley Courier should besubmitted by Friday of the pre-ceding week and must be in ouroffice before noon on Monday.

Good luck,Amy!

After winning the local Dis-tinguished Young Woman(DYW), sponsored by the Mor-gan County Womans Club, andspending weeks in preparationfor the state program, Miss AmyEvans, a senior at MCHS, willget her opportunity to shine onstage once again when she com-petes in the Kentucky DYW pro-gram this week in Lexington.

Amy is spending several daysthis week with a host family in

Amy Evans

See WEATHER Page 4

See AMY EVANS Page 6

551 Main Street • West Liberty(606) 743-3642

McKenzie’s Dept. StoreMcKenzie’s Dept. StoreThe Nostalgic Store

McKenzie’s Dept. Store since 1945

SELECT GROUPMen’s, Women’s,

And ChildrensClothing

50%-70% OffTake An Extra20% Off Select

Men’s AndLadies Clothing

SHOES20%-50% Off

Morgan Tire Center, Inc.1592 West Main StreetWest Liberty, KentuckyPhone: 606/743-7350 Or 606/743-4663

See All Our Vehicles At www.morgantirecenter.com

1998 Jeep Wrangler4 Cylinder, Automatic, Low Miles

$6,90000$6,90000

743-3054764 Main St.

JAN. SPECIALSAny Pizza, Any Size, Any Topping

$12.00 Plus Tax“New” Cheese Cake Bites

5/$3.00 Plus Tax

The Pizza PlaceThe Pizza Place

— PIZZA ROLLS —

2/$3.00“New” Fish On Bun With

Onion Rings Or French Fries

$4.99 Plus Tax

FINANCINGAs Low As

3.9%(For Qualified Buyers)

Call Us Anytime - (606) 743-4402Sales Dept. - (606) 743-3116

Parts & Service Dept. - (606) 743-3153Body Shop - (606) 743-3153

Kindergartenregistrationdates are listed

Kindergarten Registration for2012-2013 will be held at eachelementary school on the dateslisted below from 9:00 a.m. un-til 5:00 p.m. If school is not insession on the announced datedue to inclement weather, regis-tration will be held on the make-up date.

East Valley Elem. – Feb. 9Makeup - Feb. 16Ezel Elementary – Feb. 7Makeup – Feb. 15Morgan Central Elem. Jan. 24Makeup – Feb. 1West Liberty Elem. – Jan. 26Makeup – Feb. 2Parents should bring a copy

of their child’s original birth cer-tificate, physical, immunizationrecord, vision, and dental examswith them to the registration. Ifany of these items is unavailableat this time, parents attend any-way to get the registration startedfor their child.

If your child attends HeadStart, you will still need to attend.

For more information, callthe Family Resource Center ateach school with questions.

Morgan Central - 743-8432 or8552.

Ezel - 725-8208 or 8202.East Valley – 522-8157 or

8152.West Liberty – 743-8357 or

8302.

Licking Valley CourierLicking Valley CourierWest Liberty, Kentucky 41472

Thursday, January 12, 2012

The

(USPS 312-040)

PerCopy

$25.50 Year In County$28.00 Year In Kentucky

$30.00 Year Outside Kentucky50¢Volume 101 — No. 13 SPEAKING OF AND FOR MORGAN, THE BLUEGRASS COUNTY OF THE MOUNTAINS

Now Open!Now Open!

Home of the

$5.00$5.00

625 Prestonsburg St.743-4210

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2011 Ford F-150S-LT4, Crew Cab, 4x4,

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The Morgan County Board ofEducation is implementing a“Snow Plan B” for the current2011-2012 school year.

Details were released lastweek in a letter to parents fromSuperintendent Deathra Barnett.

“Last year Morgan Countystudents missed 28 days ofschool due to inclementweather,” Barnett said.

“Despite our inability to con-trol the weather, we need our stu-dents to be safely in school re-ceiving their education,” shesaid.

Barnett said Snow Plan B willallow students to meet countyschool buses that will be travel-ing, but only on main routes.

“There are times when mainroads are clear and safe whilemany side roads have slick areasthat are unsafe for buses totravel,” she said. “Snow Plan Bwill have safe, designated schoolbus meeting locations where par-ents can bring their children tomeet the school bus.”

These locations will be at lo-cal schools, churches and publicareas throughout the county. “Itwill be the responsibility of the

parents/guardians to meet the busin a timely manner at the mostconvenient designated locationavailable to them,” Barnett ex-plained. “Under the plan, if thereis not a parent/guardian or des-ignee present in the afternoon,the children will remain on thebus and will be taken to the near-est school.”

“Because Morgan Countycovers a large area, we at timeshave experienced snow in certainregions of the county while otherparts of the county will be clear,”Barnett said. “When this occurs,the Board of Education coulddecide to implement “Plan B” astep further — If weather suchas this occurs in one particulararea. that area of the county canbe placed on “Plan B” while stu-dents in the remainder of thecounty can attend school on regu-lar schedule.”

The snow plan when utilizedwill be specifically announced onthe schools all call telephonemessage system as well as ontelevision and radio. This infor-mation will also be accessible onthe schools webpage and alsowill be published in the LickingValley Courier.

Morgan County Schools willcontinue to use the one- and two-hour delays as needed, Barnettsaid. The delays allow roads toclear and while allowing suffi-cient daylight for the bus drivers.

Any state numbered roads areconsidered primary roads thatbuses will be traveling during theimplementation of “Snow PlanB.” State numbered, or primary,road examples are as follows:

Highways 205, 9009, 460,191, 7, 519, 172, 134, 589, 437,2498 (Hospital Hill), and AirportRoad.

If school is on “Snow Plan B”and the bus driver deems the statenumbered primary road too haz-ardous to travel, he/she will no-tify the students on these routesto meet at a pre-designated loca-tion.

Designated parent/guardianpick-up and drop-off points are:

Hwy. 205/134/9009 — Parkand Ride.

Hwy. 191 — Post Office at theold Cannel City School, FaithBaptist Church, Grace BaptistChurch.

Hwy. 7 — Wrigley BaptistChurch, Wrigley 7711 store, OakHill Church of God.

Hwy. 519 — Old Yamahashop, Double J, CountrysideFood Mart, 519 Fire Department,519 Gun and Pawn.

Hwy. 460 East — Old Garageat the junction of 1000, CountyGarage, Frederick & May, Shirts& More/New World Video.

Hwy. 460 West — Ezel El-ementary, Oldfield’s Store, Ani-mal Shelter

Hwy. 172 — Paint Valley En-terprise Church, Betty’s Grocery,Old Paint Church, Gilliam’s Gro-cery, East Valley Elementary.

Hwy. 437 — Old Conley Gro-cery, East Valley Elementary.

Plan announcedto reduce missedclass room daysWill allow schools tooperate when onlysome roads are slick

People who are looking for ajob can get help and greatly in-crease their chances of successby joining a job club scheduledto begin meeting Jan. 17 in WestLiberty.

The Morgan County Job Clubwill meet from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.every Tuesday on the secondfloor of the Morehead State Uni-versity Regional Enterprise Cen-ter at 151 University Drive.

Participation is free. Drop-insare welcome and are encouragedto come 30 minutes early for anew member orientation.

National statistics indicatethat 80 percent of people whoparticipate in a job club find em-ployment, as compared to 15 per-cent of those who search alone,according to Traci Nolen, jobclub coordinator for the EasternKentucky Concentrated Employ-ment Program (EKCEP), Inc.

“If you’re really seriousabout finding a job, you shouldtake this opportunity to take yoursearch up to the next level,”Nolen said. “Our job club willgive you the tools, skills, jobleads, and understanding of howthe job market works that canhelp you get hired.”

Basically, a job club is a smallgroup of job seekers who meetweekly with local workforce pro-fessionals to improve their jobsearches. The group membersprovide support for each otherwhile networking, sharing jobleads, and learning techniques forimproving their job searchesfrom workforce professionals,local businesspeople, and otherinvited guests.

The combination of support,networking, and job-search edu-cation makes job club membersmuch more successful at gettinga job than job seekers who searchalone.

The clubs are sponsored byEKCEP, Inc., the Kentucky Of-fice for Employment & Training,and Gateway Community Action

New Morgan Job Clubaccepting new members

Agency. The sponsors’ expertiseand contacts are made availableto help the club members.

The opportunity to network isone of the most important oppor-tunities the job club provides, ac-cording to Nolen. This gives jobseekers a chance to “know thepeople who know the people whohave the jobs,” she said. As a re-sult, job club members get to pen-etrate what professionals call the“hidden job market” — the jobopenings that exist but aren’t ad-vertised.

Frederick & Mayawarded Ky. 172reconstruction job

JACKSON, Ky. — The Ken-tucky Transportation Cabinet hasawarded two contracts totalingnearly $12 million for highwayprojects in two counties in theDepartment of Highways Dis-trict 10.

Contracts awarded as part ofthe December 2011 letting are:

A $11,636,046.21 contract forreconstruction of 2.6 miles of Ky.172 between Elkfork andCrockett in Morgan County.Frederick & May ConstructionCo.. was the successful bidder.The project is to be completedwithin 275 working days afterconstruction begins.

A $291,985.70 contract forrehabilitation of a bridge overDrowning Creek on KY 499 atthe Estill-Madison county line.Kay & Kay Contracting, LLCwas the successful bidder. Theproject is to be completed within30 days after construction be-gins, but by no later than Nov.15.

Board advertisesfor constructionbids for new schl.

The Morgan County SchoolBoard this week began advertis-ing for bids for construction ofthe new Wrigley ElementarySchool.

Bids for the 65,000 sq. ft. fa-cility will be accepted at theboard office until 2:00 p.m. onTuesday, Feb. 14. The bid adver-tisement is published in the Le-gals section elsewhere in this edi-tion.

The new school to be built onKy. 7 between Wrigley and WestLiberty will replace the old WPA-built school at Wrigley, whichwas discontinued by the boardfive years ago.

The new school is expected tobe ready for occupancy in June,2013.

School Board members recognizedJudge Executive Tim Conley issued a proclamation at Mondayʼs school board meeting designatingJanuary as School Board Member Recognition Month in Morgan County. School board membersare being recognized throughout Kentucky and many other states this month in recognition of theirservice on behalf of the children of their communities. In addition to serving as the eyes and ears ofthe community, school boards set the vision for the future of the education system and it is their jobis to hire the superintendent of their school systems and implement policies for carrying out theirvision. Recognized by Judge Conley (second from left) at Mondayʼs meeting, from left, board mem-bers Ralph Smith, Patty Hutchinson, Brian Lindon, Esther Cain, and Marshall Jenkins.

Louisville firmacquires BatesIron and Metal

Freedom Metals, Louisville,has announced its acquisition ofBates Iron and Metal in West Lib-erty. Former owner, Gary Bates,will be continuing in the role ofGeneral Manager of the WestLiberty location.

Spencer Blue, vice presidentand chief operating officer ofFreedom Metals, said he is ex-cited about the new venture;“Bates will enable us to reach outfurther in the Eastern Kentuckyarea and continue our path ofstrategic growth within Ken-tucky.”

“This isn’t one of those ‘megamergers or acquisitions’, but partof a synergistic strategy for grow-ing our business in an ‘organic’methodical way”, said BruceBlue (founder of Freedom Met-als).

Gary Bates said he is excitedabout the new opportunities thatthe venture will ensure for him.“With Freedom Metals on board,we will be able to continue togrow in our little area of EasternKentucky. The strength of Free-dom will enable us to grow ourretail (peddler) business, whilealso developing our industrial,C&D and small dealer business.”

Bates Iron and Metal has beenin operation since, 2010, and cur-rently has a warehouse for non-ferrous and a yard for ferrousmetals.

Freedom Metals, founded in1983, now has yards in four Ken-tucky cities: Louisville,Elizabethtown, Winchester, andWest Liberty.

Fire destroysSteele Branchhome Jan. 8

Caney Valley Fire Depart-ment members responded to aJan. 8 housefire on Steele Branchat Malone that destroyed a rentalhouse owned by Mrs. HazelSteele.

Caney Valley Fire Chief Pe-ter Brandt said department mem-bers received the call around11:30 p.m., but the aging struc-ture was completely engulfedupon arrival.

“We had difficuly shutting offthe home’s electric supply,”Brandt said. “The fire burned it-self out, but the cause remainsundetermined at this time.”

Brandt also noted that thehouse was inhabited by tenantJulio Canizalez, who was athome when the fire started. Noinjuries were reported.

Other responding agenciesincluded the West Liberty andWhite Oak fire departments.

“I would like to thank WestLiberty and White Oak fire de-partment members for their as-sistance,” Brandt said.

Anyone interested in becom-ing a Caney Valley Fire Depart-ment volunteer is urged to con-tact Brandt at 743-2623.

MONDAY DEADLINE FORNEWS AND ADVERTISING

News items and advertisingsubmitted for publication in TheLicking Valley Courier should besubmitted by Friday of the pre-ceding week and must be in ouroffice before noon on Monday.

Good luck,Amy!

After winning the local Dis-tinguished Young Woman(DYW), sponsored by the Mor-gan County Womans Club, andspending weeks in preparationfor the state program, Miss AmyEvans, a senior at MCHS, willget her opportunity to shine onstage once again when she com-petes in the Kentucky DYW pro-gram this week in Lexington.

Amy is spending several daysthis week with a host family in

Amy Evans

See WEATHER Page 4

See AMY EVANS Page 6

551 Main Street • West Liberty(606) 743-3642

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Gov. Beshear presents checks for street widening, road pjts.

By Miranda M. CantrellGov. Steve Beshear present-

ed local officials with two sym-bolic checks totaling $816,000 during a Nov. 1 visit to West Liberty to announce a $7.2 mil-lion project to widen Main and Prestonsburg streets as part of a joint city/county reconstruc-tion effort.

Judge Executive Tim Conley and Mayor Jim Rupe accepted a $400,000 check from the Ken-tucky Transportation Cabinet’s state road contingency fund to pay for initial design work on the widening project, which involves the construction of

a turn lane beginning at the county government building on Prestonsburg Street that would continue through Main Street to the Court Street intersection.

The widening would also ex-tend the other direction toward Route 7 to Wildcat Carwash.

“Widening Main Street and Prestonsburg Street will benefit travelers of West Liberty in two ways,” Gov. Beshear said. “It will relieve a chronic traffic congestion point. At the same time, those who want to rebuild in the downtown area will know the exact footprint.”

The governor also an-nounced that Morgan County was approved for $416,000 from the Transportation Cabi-net’s Emergency Road Aid pro-

gram for the repair of tornado-damaged streets and roads.

“An extraordinary disaster requires an extraordinary re-sponse,” Gov. Beshear said. “Now we can turn more of our attention to the rebuilding of infrastructure. That includes repairing and improving the main transportation artery. We intend to get started quickly. We cannot wait until the legislature takes up a new Kentucky high-way plan in 2014.”

Kentucky Transportation Secretary Mike Hancock con-curred.

“With planned reconstruc-tion in downtown West Liberty, now is the right time to address the widening of Main Street and Prestonsburg Street,” Hancock

said. Judge Executive Tim Conley

lauded Gov. Beshear’s efforts to assist Morgan County since March 2.

“Gov. Beshear and his entire team have shown true compas-sion and understanding to our needs,” Conley said. “It cer-tainly has not gone unnoticed. It takes an extraordinary governor to respond in devastating times. This governor has given 110 percent to the quality of life for our people.”

Mayor Jim Rupe also offered his gratitude to the governor.

“This announcement by Gov. Beshear just magnifies his commitment and concern

The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) Program administered through the Northeast Kentucky Com-munity Action Agency began taking applications for utility assistance on Monday, Nov 5. But according to David Car-roll, Executive Director of the

agency, an important issue has arisen that both individuals applying for assistance and the heating source providers need to be aware of.

Mr. Carroll said that nor-mally, once the application is approved, a voucher is sent to the heating source provider notifying them of the dollar amount that will be paid to the

LIHEAP applicants mayface delays getting heatFunds delayed; agencyurges applicants to check their vendors

Grand jury returns indictments against eleven defendants

The Morgan Grand Jury recently returned 11 indict-ments against as many people, including a local man accused of stealing goods from the Red Cross shelter initially located at Morgan Central Elementary School following the March 2 tornado.

Daniel Leland, 55, of Malone, was charged with sec-ond degree robbery on March 5 for allegedly attempting to steal food intended for storm victims from the shelter, where he reportedly posed as a Red Cross volunteer and gathered several items including bottled water, 13 cases of ready-to-eat

military-type meals and 10-15 “care packages” of food.

Kentucky State Police offi-cials allege that Leland threat-ened Red Cross staffers when they questioned him about the food and claimed to the authori-ties that he planned to distribute the items in another county.

Leland, who had served as a Red Cross volunteer in the past, was not working for the agency when the incident occurred.

Also indicted for perjury in connection with the case was former Red Cross vol-unteer Peter Brandt, 46, of West Liberty,who State Police charged with giving false testi-

mony that he permitted Leland to take the goods because Le-land was authorized to dispense such items.

Brandt was affiliated with the local Red Cross chapter

Planning, zoning mtg. rescheduled for Nov. 19

The Planning & Zoning Commission public hearing that was slated for Nov. 12 has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 19, due to the Veterans’ Day holiday. The meeting will be held in the upstairs council room at City Hall.

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Prices Good Till 11-30-12 OrWhile Supplies Last

Republican Mitt Romney polled 67.5% of the votes cast for President in Morgan County Tuesday, defeating President Barack Obama by a vote of 3,021 to 1, 369. Romney who lost to Obama nationally, polled nearly 1.1 million votes to carry Kentucky, sweeping 116 of the states 120 counties. In Eastern Kentucky, only rock-solid Democratic Elliott County voted in favor of the President. In Morgan, Romney carried all of the county’s 12 precincts and won the absentee vote as well by overwhelming margins.

R e p u b -licans can-didates also won big here for Congress a n d S t a t e S e n a t o r . Fif th Dis-t r ic t Con-g r e s s m a n Hal Rogers coasted to an easy vic-tory over Democrat Kenneth Stepp with a 3,097 to 1,246 vote majority. State Senator

Robert Stivers polled 56.9% of the votes cast in that race to defeat Democrat Ralph Hoskins by a 582 vote majority. Both Stivers and Rogers easily won re-election in their districts.

In a non-partisan race for Justice of the Kentucky Su-preme Court for the 7th Dis-trict, incumbent Will T. Scott, a Republican, won handily in Morgan, defeating Janet L. Stumbo, a Democrat, by a vote of 2,650 to 1,179. Scott, who narrowly defeated Stumbo eight years ago, was re-elected to the seat by a wide margin Tuesday.

A constitutional amendment to constitutionally insure the right of Kentuckians to hunt, fish, and harvest wildlife in the state was approved with 3,321 Morgan Countians voting to in favor and 361 voting no.

With three school board seats being contested and a

Romney big winner inMorgan; Vance, Finch,Oldfield win bd. seatsRogers, Stivers, Scottwin; City Council isre-elected in Tues. vote

Barack Obama, who carried only four of Kentucky’s 120 counties, was re-elected to a second term as President in nationwide vot-ing Tuesday.

A precinct by precinct re-cap of Tues-day’s vote i n Morgan County ap-pears else-where in this edition.

Special Cougar football recap in next week’sLicking Valley Courier

Morgan County's fantastic run in the 2012 season came to an end last week with a 22-14 loss to Lawrence County in the opening round of the 3-A state playoffs at Herdman Field.

The Cougars tied a school record for wins with eight and hosted a post-season home game for only the second time in school history.

A complete game story and season recap, including analysis from coach Brian Turner and the Cougar seniors, will appear in next week's paper.

The Licking ValleyCourier