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$25.50 Year In County$28.00 Year In Kentucky

$30.00 Year Outside Kentucky50¢ Volume 101 — No. 45 SPEAKING OF AND FOR MORGAN, THE BLUEGRASS COUNTY OF THE MOUNTAINS

Licking Valley CourierLicking Valley CourierWest Liberty, Kentucky 41472

Thursday, September 6, 2012

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(USPS 312-040)

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On top is the newly-renovated Herdman Field be-fore MCHS’s first home football game of the season against Estill County on Aug. 31. The facility, named for late MCHS principal and football coach Bruce Herdman, sustained severe damage in the March 2 tornado, and school officials rushed to prepare the field for gridiron play. At left are school board mem-bers Ralph Smith and Brian Lindon, Superintendent of Schools Deatrah Barnett and longtime football supporter Donnie McKenzie as they cut the ribbon during the field dedication ceremony before the game. A large crowd gathered for the dedication ceremony and to cheer the Cougars on as they defeated the Es-till County Engineers in an emotional 44-8 win as the county marked six months of post-tornado progress.

Herdman Field re-christened with ribbon cutting, big win

By Miranda M. CantrellSchool officials held a spe-

cial ribbon cutting ceremony on Friday, Aug. 31, at the new-ly-renovated Herdman Field, where the Morgan County High School Cougar football team re-christened the tornado-ravaged facility with an emotional 44-8 win over the Estill County Engineers in the season’s first home game.

A contingency of school board members and district employees, coaches and athletic supporters gathered at the 50-yard line to re-rededicate the

field named for the late MCHS principal and football coach Bruce Herdman, who died in a June 14, 2000, automobile ac-cident along with his wife, Con-nie, and their teenage daughter, Brooke.

Several members of the Herdman family and a large crowd of fans looked on as school district employee Jason Vanhoose emceed the event from the facility’s new press box.

“This ceremony is in cel-ebration of a community that was battered, but not broken,” Vanhoose said. “In honor and recognition of former principal and coach Bruce Herdman, to-night we re-dedicate Herdman Field.”

Superintendent of Schools Deatrah Barnett said the field dedication was a great success for the school district.

“We are so happy and ex-cited that the field is ready for this season’s football games,” Barnett said. “We will also be doing more renovations to the facility in the future.”

Future permanent improve-ments will include locker rooms for the home and visiting teams, public restrooms and a conces-sion and ticket sales stand.

The Cougars’ win was chron-icled on The Licking Valley Courier Facebook page, where one poster classified the victory as a community-wide morale booster marking six months of

post-tornado progress.“Might this be seen as some

sort of sign?” Brent Elwin Engle wrote on the Courier Facebook page. “Or a type of turning point for West Liberty as a whole?”

Quarterback Larrin Collins thanked the Cougar faithful for their dedication.

“It was an absolute honor to be on that field again,” Collins said. “I want to give a shoutout to the whole team, and to the fans for their amazing support. We love them and play so much harder when those stands are filled on game night!”

Complete game coverage from sportswriter David Patrick can be found elsewhere in this edition.

Cougar rout marks six months of community progress since tornado

Bluegrass celebration is slated for Sept. 7-8th on Smith Creek Hill

Kentucky Ridgerunner Fox-hunters Association presents the 13th Annual Kentucky Ridg-erunner Bluegrass Festival and Clarence Kelly Homecoming Friday and Saturday, Sept. 7 and 8. The event will be held at its usual location on Smith Creek Hill.

Clarence Kelly and his band, Nu-Cut Road, will be on hand to entertain bluegrass music fans that attend this year’s fes-tival. Mr. Kelly, who has made quite a name for himself in the bluegrass music circuit, released his latest CD, “Stories Of Life”, earlier this year. This CD and others will be available at his record table during the festival.

A fine group of bands are scheduled to join Clarence for the two day event. Among those included on this year’s schedule are bluegrass great, Mr. Dave Evans; also Morgan native, Wilbur Carpenter and

Morgan County native, Wilbur Carpenter, and his band, The Dixie Ryders, will be perform-ing during this year’s Kentucky Ridgerunner Bluegrass Festival and Clarence Kelly Homecom-ing. Mr. Carpenter is scheduled to perform on Friday and Sat-urday.

Singer/songwriter, Mr. Clarence Kelly, and his bluegrass band, Nu-Cut Road, will be in ole Mor-gan this weekend for his annual Homecoming. A native Morgan Countian, Clarence and his wife, Paula, currently reside in Fairborn, Ohio with their beloved dog, Chelsie.

Clarence Kelly Wilbur Carpenter

The Dixie Riders, Clarence Gil-liam and New Ground, Black Powder Express, High Caliber Grass, East Kentucky Gospel Boys, True Gospel Echoes, and Bluegrass Online.

Additional activities have been added to this year’s festival including an old fashion baby show, best dressed old fashion couple, a talent show, pony rides for the kids, dunkin’ booth, hay rides, and a photo shoot.

There is plenty of camping sites available, vendor spaces available for vendors (exclud-ing food) wishing to sell their wares. Come, bring the family and enjoy both days in a alcohol and drug free environment.

Directions from West Lib-erty: take Hwy. 172 approxi-mately 5 miles to Hwy. 437, turn right and stay on Hwy. 437 to top of Smith Creek Hill. Signs will be posted.

For additional information contact Norman Wright, (606) 522-4890; Clarence Kelly, (513) 605-0101; or Liz Conley, (606) 522-3713.

Ky. Ridgerunners fest, Clarence Kelly homecoming on tap

Kiwanis Club car show scheduled for Saturday

The West Kiwanis Club’s annual car, truck and tractor show is slated 11 a.m.-4 p.m. this Saturday, Sept. 8, at MSU at West Liberty.

This year’s show will also include motorcycles. There is a $10 entry fee for each vehicle entered in the show.

Bill Dodge, of Bling’s Cycle in Sandy Hook, will present approximately $4,000 raised during a cross-country char-ity motorcycle ride to a family

directly affected by the March 2 tornado.

Several of Dodge’s motor-cycles will be on display at the show.

Musical entertainment is scheduled 2-4 p.m., with an appearance from “Elvis.” The theme is “Back to the Fifties” and will include $0.25 hot dogs and soft drinks.

Everyone is invited to come out and enjoy the day with the Kiwanis Club!

School board sets property tax rates for 2012-2013 fiscal year in August meeting

The Morgan County Board of Education during its regular Aug. 16 meeting unanimously approved property tax rates for the 2012-2013 fiscal year.

Tax rates read as follows:• Property and tangible tax

rates were set at 49.1 cents per $100 of value.

• The motor vehicle tax re-mains the 53.3 cents per $100 of value.

• The utility tax will remain at 3 percent.

Reports and informational items included an update on the new Wrigley Elementary School from Dirk Bertram of Murphy+Graves Architects.

Superintendent of Schools Deatrah Barnett said that prog-

ress continues at the construc-tion site.

“We are still a little ahead of schedule on the new Wrigley school,” Barnett said. “The

See BOARD, Page 2

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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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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

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

McKenzie’s Dept. Store since 1945

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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

We offer a huge inventory of pre-owned vehicles of most

domestic and foreign makes!Morgan County Auto & Finance, LLC, provides the lowest available rate on a car loan in the Morgan County area, and high approval rates for bad credit auto loans.

You can qualify for an auto loan for your used car at an affordable rate.

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

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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

2006 Toyota Corolla S4 Door, Maroon, Automatic, P.W., P.L., CD

Player, Extra Clean, Local Trade, Runs Great

$5,800