Powell County High School will be crowning the next Homecoming Queen and her court during halftime of Friday nights football against Estill County. There will be a Homecoming Parade held Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The parade will begin at Whitaker Bank and proceed to an end at PCHS. See more photos on page A-16.

By CECIL PERGRAM

Times Editor

Powell County High School will be naming its 2018 Homecoming Queen during halftime of Friday night’s football game against Estill County.

This year will feature six local ladies vying for the title of Queen including Allie Adkins, Emily Branham, Molly Cornett, Hope Rankin, Lauren Salisbury and Kelsey Turner.

Ladies who are underclassman will also be competing against their peers for a spot in the Homecoming Court.

Those representing the Junior Class are Kaitlyn Haws, Madison Ovington, Hope Rogers and Brooklyn Smith.

Allison Collins, Brooklyn Harrison, Kamryn Kennon and Summer Ward will be representing the Sophomore class.

Cheyenne Barnes, Mikah Halfacre, Logan Reffitt, and Keeley Willoughby will be representing the Freshman Class.

The ladies will competing against their peers for the most votes and the top Senior with the most votes will be introduced as the Homecoming Queen.

The runner-up with the second highest vote totals will be named to the Homecoming Court along with the top vote getters from the junior, sophomore and freshman classes.

There will be a Homecoming Parade held on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The Parade will start from the Whitaker Bank parking lot and will proceed down College Avenue before ending at PCHS.

On September 29 hundreds of empty shoeboxes will be transformed into gifts of hope as part of a community packing party aimed to reach out to children in need around the world. Operation Christmas Child, a project of the international Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse, will deliver the shoeboxes—filled with fun toys, school supplies, and hygiene items—to children affected by war, disease, disaster, poverty and famine.  The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to demonstrate God’s love in a tangible way to children in need around the world and, together with the local churchs worldwide, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ.

“We are so excited to come together with local volunteers to offer a community event that will have a lasting impact in the lives of children around the world. Each shoebox gift sends a message to a child that they are loved by God and not forgotten. It is an honor for our community to play a part in that.  For many of these children, the gift-filled shoebox will be the first gift they have ever received.” says local volunteer, April Stone, who also volunteers year-round with the project.

The party will be held at Powell County Middle School Gym located 770 W College Ave. in Stanto on September 29, at 10:00 a.m. The event is open to the public and anyone is welcome to come experience the joy of giving. This will be a fun event for the family, church groups, school clubs, scout groups and others.  In addition to packing shoebox gifts, the event will feature snacks, activities, a fun photo opportunity with a walking shoebox, and a station to write letters that may be included in the boxes.  Participants will also have opportunity to enter a drawing for four complimentary tickets to visit Dollywood this fall in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Whitaker Bank in Stanton and Clay City are serving as collection locations for donated items that will be used to pack the gift boxes.  Donations (which must be new items) will be accepted through September.  Typical items include small toys, soap, washrag, toothbrush, paper, pencil, sharpener, crayons.  For more complete information on the type of items needed (and those items that are not allowed for the boxes) visit the Operation Christmas Child website www.samaritanspurse.org/occ and click on “Pack a Shoebox”:

Groups, churches, and organizations who would like to be involved with the event as a team or otherwise may contact Misty Marsh at Whitaker Bank, 606-663-2283, for more information.

Shawn Glover

By LISA JOHNSON

Times Staffwriter

On September 10 just after 9 a.m. Shawn Glover reportedly forced his way into a home in Stanton  and claimed he was moving in with of his two children and their mother (his girlfriend).

Later he  advised he was going to shoot the unnamed woman in front of the children” with a sawed off shotgun he had in his possession. The woman told law enforcement every time she attempted to leave Glover would block her exit with the weapon in hand.

The woman was able to escape with the children sometime after 6 p.m. and managed to contact law enforcement.

An Emergency Protective Order was filed at around 7 p.m.

The woman returned home briefly to turn off the water hose and pick up some personal items when Glover suddenly ran through the back door pinning the woman against the wall while covering her mouth. The woman told Glover the police were watching the home and he should leave. Glover responded by telling her he would be watching before before he turned and fled the scene.

Law enforcement attempted to locate Glover but were unable to find him, however, they did recover his weapon.

Glover is reportedly being charged with first degree burglary, possession of a weapon by a felon, terroristic threatening and unlawful imprisonment.

Law enforcement is asking if you know the whereabouts of Shawn Glover to contact police immediately by just dialing 911.

Alexandra Grace Gulley

By CECIL PERGRAM

Editor

This years 56th Miss Powell Contest featured 10 local beauties vying for the crown but in the end it was Alexandra Grace Gulley who came away with the title of the 2018 Miss Powell County.

Gulley was joined on stage by other finalists first-runner-up Allison Mackenzie Adkins, second runner-up Kaylee Rose Miller, and third runner-up Jillian Faith Hummelgard.

In addition, to being named Miss Powell County Alexandra Gulley also took home awards for Most Poise, Best Personality and Best Hair.

Peyton Derickson was awarded the Miss Congeniality Award. Kaylee Rose Miller received awards for Best Eyes, Best Smile and Most Talent. Allison Mackenzie Adkins was awarded Most Photogenic and Best Formal Wear. Julian Faith Hummelgard took home the award given out for Best Swimwear.

The master of ceremonies at this years event was WKYT’s Victor Puente who is a Powell County native.

By LISA JOHNSON

Times Staffwriter

On Saturday, August 25 I went to meet with the Friends Of Powell County Pets Organization.  I got to speak with Teresa Stidman, Beverly Moreland, and Panda Taylor.

They have cats and dogs available for adoption.

You need to go and meet Gadget the gray Cat.

Please find a place in your heart and homes to adopt an animal and give the a second chance to life.

If you’re unable to adopt you can still find other ways to help donate items such as, food, cleaning supplies, or even a dollar does add up.

Clay has still not been adopted out yet.

If you decide to let me know its worth a picture in the paper.  Thank you for all your love for our animals.

By CECIL PERGRAM

Editor

The spirit of National Dog Day was in effect on August 26 at Red River Adventures when it played host to animal shelters from the counties neighboring the Red River Gorge.

Danielle Braden says she and her husband, Ernie started thinking about holding events for the people in the community about three years ago when she started the 22 Paddle Salute to honor Veterans and the fact that 22 Veterans commit suicide everyday.

“The ’22 Paddle Salute’ is a great way that we get to honor our Veterans and they get to enjoy the day,” Braden said. “This year we wanted to introduce another event because I thought we could manage two. So we introduced the Kayaks for K9’s.”

“If it wasn’t for our dogs me and my husband wouldn’t have met at Pet’s Mart and wouldn’t have got married. We thought about what we could do to try to support sheltered dogs because our dogs are rescues and we wanted to help the animals in the community. There are so many dogs in the Gorge that get rescued and need to find a home,” Braden said. “We decided to ask Shelter Sound and all the local shelters from Powell, Wolfe, and Menifee counties were invited with all the dogs they’ve rescued. Next year we hope to have even more shelters.”

“There are a lot of dogs in the area that need adopting and its about the time shelters get more recognition for all their hard work,” Braden said.

Braden says she hopes to make the event an annual occurrence in the Gorge.

“I would love to do this every year. It’s stressful but it’s worth it you get to see people dropping off donations and people telling stories about dogs and where they were rescued from, what kind of conditions they were rescued and how the shelters have been able to take some of these dogs from a bad place to a really good place and got them ready to where they are ready to find a home,” Braden said.

The Clay City Council set September 8 as the date for this years Ice Cream Social during it’s August 20 meeting.

By CECIL PERGRAM

Times Editor

The Clay City council held a regular scheduled meeting on August 20 at the Clay City Municipal Building.

Clay City Mayor Jimmie Caudill told the council that he would like their input about where the city should be spending  money from the road fund.

“When you all are traveling around if you run across any potholes or anything else bring them to our attention and this summer while it’s good and warm we will try to get repairs done that needed to be done,” Clay City Mayor Jimmie Caudill said. “Anything under $20,000 we can just get a couple of bids and just have them repaired.”

Clay City Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Roy Strange came to the meeting to let the council known the department was having problems with it’s internet and phone service at the station.

“We will check into it, unfortunately, not everything is simple as say it is when they sell it to you,” Caudill said.

Clay City Police Chief Marty Tipton was present at the meeting to provide the council updates about the city police department. Chief Tipton told the council he would like to recognize Powell County Sheriff Deputy Eddie Barnes for responding to calls within Clay City while he was handling a family emergency.

“I still got my time in but I believe that he and the Sheriff’s Office should be recognized,” Chief Tipton said.

Chief Tipton told the council that he would be attending an upcoming sexual assault investigation training during the month of November.

“It’s state mandated and every agency has to have at least one representative for this training,” Chief Tipton said.

“As far as state mandated trainings we never really even seek approval for those I’ll just tell you to go ahead go ahead and do what the state requires,” Caudill said.

Chief Tipton provided the council with statistics concerning the police department since he was appointed to his position in February. Chief Tipton told the council he has over 400 citations ranging from simple traffic violations to felony offenses and has served around 50 outstanding

warrants.

“There has been a lot of activity of the last six months and it promises to be another busy fall,” Chief Tipton said. It’s hard to access an officer’s activity but one of the surest signs is what your case load is like and how many citations you’ve issued. It’s easy to be able to show to you all that your getting what you paid for.”

“I want to commend you on your efforts I have a lot of positive reports,” Caudill said. “I appreciate the job that your doing. I’ve been here twenty years and had a lot of people work for me and I’m really pleased with how your applying yourself and stuff like that.”

“One other thing that I’ve heard a lot of is that he’s visible and people see him,” Joann Campbell told the council.

The council reviewed the job performance of Cheif Tipton over the past six months and approved a motion to give him a 75 cent raise bringing his earning up to $15.50 per hour.

Mayor Caudill told the council he a quote from Liquid Engineering in regards to cleaning water tanks.

“We have a quote from Liquid Engineering what they do is they dive into our water tanks and clean them and do whatever is required,” Caudill said. “Skinner Branch has 200,000 capacity tank and a 100,000 capacity and they recommend that we do them both. The fee is one at a discount is $2,735 and the other $2,975 the other one is $2,795. I recommend that we do this because it should be done regularly.”

Caudill told the council it would cost the city of Clay City under $6,000 to clean the water tanks. The council passed a motion to allow the city to go forward with the cleanings.

The council approved to leave the 2019 Motor Vehicle and Watercraft Tax Rates at the same rate of 15.2 cents per $100 of assessed value.

The council approved to acknowledge and accept an audit completed for the city of Clay City for the year 2016.

“I talked to the auditor and he was looking at our tourism commission that we created and he feels that it’s a entity of the city of Clay City and he recommend that it be audited as well,” Caudill said.

Clay City Attorney Scott Graham told the council he believed legal statute only required the city of Clay City to have an audit completed every four years.

“I think an audit is required once every four years for the tourism commission and I’ll talk to the auditors about it but with that type of entity like that because they don’t really bring in a significant amount of funds your required to do an audit once every four years and the state doesn’t require that annually,” Graham said.

Mayor Caudill told the council the city of Clay City needed to have a Planning and Zoning Ordinance approved by October and that they could expect to be seeing progress in regards to that ordinance in the near future.

“We will have something in place even if we have to start revamping the ordinance the very next week,” Caudill told the council.

The council agreed to pass a motion to schedule the Ice Cream Social for September 8 at the Clay City Park. The council also passed a motion to spend up to $2,000 for the cost of hosting the event.

The council agreed to recommend the of Bobby Carmichael as the city of Clay City’s representative on a committee to be established to a board regarding alcohol beverage control in Powell County.

The council approved to accept minutes from July 16, July 19 and August 13.

The council approved water and sewer adjustments

The council approved financial statements for the months of April, May and June.

The council approved a motion to transfer $129 from the drug fund to general fund.

The council approved a motion to transfer $4,871.05 from the restaurant tax fund to the general fund.

The council approved a motion to transfer $15,439.51 from the sewer fund to the general fund.

The council approved a motion to transfer $11,012.96 from the water fund to the general fund.

Madeline Murray

Madeline Murray will be competing in the 2018 Kentucky State Fair Coca Cola Talent Contest in Louisville.

The Coca-Cola Talent Classic showcases the incredible skills of 13 to 21 year-olds, who have already competed in sanctioned preliminary contests across the state

Murray won second-place at the preliminaries held last year at the 2017 Powell County Fair.

She will be performing a violin solo of “He’s a Pirate” from the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Madeline Murray is the 13 year old daughter of Autumn and Jimmy Murray.

Maddie is a freshman at Powell County High School and plays clarinet in the PCHS band.  She was a member of the All-District Symphonic Band during the 2017-2018 school year.

Murray has been studying violin for seven years and is a member of the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra in Lexington, KY where she has been a member for four years. Maddie enjoys singing and playing violin and ukulele at various venues across state.

She hopes to perform her best and proudly represents Powell County in the 2018 Kentucky State Fair.

By CECIL PERGRAM

Times Editor

The Powell County Health Department recently administered Hepatitis B vaccinations to members of the Clay City and Stanton Fire Departments.

Hepatitis B vaccination is a voluntary service that has been made available to every firefighter in the state of Kentucky.

The Kentucky Fire Commission has an agreement with the Department of Health where the local health department in each community administers Hepatitis B vaccines to fire fighters. Local health departments purchase the Hepatitis B vaccine and then bill the Fire Commission directly for the cost of the vaccine.

According to the United States Fire Administration first responders are at higher risk for the hepatitis viruses they say that there are many reports of viral hepatitis being contracted from things such as accidental needle sticks, Cardiopulmnary resuscitation (CPR) and contact with bodily fluids while responding to medical calls.

“You have all the wrecks and stuff that firefighters respond to in the community, then you have needles related to the drug epidemic, so a lot of people are actually getting Hepatitis anymore so this will help us if we get a cut or something like that this will help to keep us from getting infections,” Clay City Fire Department Chief Mike Sparks said. “We are working on trying to get a clinic to sponsor us for Hepatitis A vaccinations too.”

“While responding to recent tip to locate a missing person the Powell County Fire Department and Powell County Search and Rescue teams had to suck dirty water from a well before they were able to conduct a search, first responders and firefighters have to sometimes deal with horrible conditions just to do their job,” Clay City Fire Department member Lisa Johnson said.

Both the Clay City and Stanton Fire Department’s would like to extend a special thanks to Sandy Roy, Lana Morehead and Judy Collins for administering the vaccinations to firefighters at the Clay City Fire Station. They would also like to give thanks to Powell County Health Department Director Kathy Hayes for allowing the clinic staff to aide in keeping firefighters safe, so that in turn those firefighters can continue to keep the Powell County community safe.

If anyone would like more information about Hepatitis A or Hepatitis B vaccinations they are encouraged to contact the Powell County Health Department at 663-4360 or they can visit the health department at 376 N. Main Street in Stanton. Hours of operation are 8 a.m.-to-5 p.m. Monday-Thursday. The health department is closed on Fridays and weekends.

The Powell County Board of Education recently got to see the newly renovated gym floor at the Powell County High School Gymnasium during a recent tour of all five schools in the district. The Lady Pirates Volleyball team will be the first athletic team to see action on the new floor on August 6 when they play host to Frankfort.

By CECIL PERGRAM

Times Editor

The Powell County Board of Education recently held a special meeting and board walkthrough of all the districts schools on July 26.

The board approved a Capital Funds Request for High School Renovation Project involving a security vestibule at the entrance of high school. Tiffany Anderson told the board Kentucky Department of Education had recently approved the use of School Facilities Construction Commission funds to be used for the renovation project.

“We had put the project on hold with Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects because if something happened and the state didn’t release these funds they would start billing us and we didn’t want to owe them anymore money so we just stopped for a minute until we got this taken care of,” Anderson said.

We’ve been expecting to put this back on the agenda for the August meeting,” Powell County Superintendent Anthony Orr said. “Kevin Cheek or somebody from Sherman Carter Barnhart should be here to talk about that and we may have some discussions that we need your guidance on.”

The Clay City Elementary School Site Based Decision Making Council had made a request for the board to reinstate an Elementary School Assistant Principal position at the elementary school level.

Orr told the board the school was using a resource teacher by reallocating funding they got from the board for a counselor position as a resource teacher.

“It’s been a pretty flexible teacher position it’s really been part-time counselor, part-time assistant principle and kind of filling in to meet the needs as they showed up in the school,” Orr said. “This year they would like to transition that to an assistant principal position.”

“While the council has approved that, we don’t have the position as part of our set of approved positions at an elementary school,” Orr said. “In order for them to be able to post and fill the position the board really has to support it. We’ve had a couple of conversations about what’s the board’s responsibility and where the authority of the site-based-council and authority of the school board meet at or intersect on an issue like this.”

“The way I thought about it was if an elementary school council came to us and said they wanted to hire a full-time football coach that we would say that we don’t have a position for a full-time football coach at elementary schools and so you can’t hire one,” Orr said. “That’s not us telling you what you can and can’t do but its about elementary schools not having that position.”

Board member Diann Meadows made a motion to approve creating an elementary school Assistant Principal job description for Clay City Elementary but the motion died for lack of second.

“My conversation with the schools and student council is going to be lets take this year to build a better case with data about how position is used, how the position could have been used and where was the missed oppourtunies and the kinds of things that would answer the questions of the board,” Orr said. “This is not a no and don’t ever ask again but we don’t feel comfortable moving forward and if we put together data that helps makes this a more clear decision I would be glad to support the school in doing that.”

The board gave it’s approval to designate and bond Dr. Anthony Orr as Interim Treasurer.

The board approved the updated KASA Membership for 2018-2019 school year.

The only other action taken by the board was to approve to proceed with building inspections at the Powell County Middle School, Powell County High School, Stanton Elementary School, Bowen Elementary and Clay City Elementary.