2020 Our Region by Messenger-Inquirer

DAVIESS

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MCLEAN

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OUR REGION Much has changed in the last year — in the last few months, even. Our entire way of life has been upended by the coronavirus pandemic. Classroom instruction and office work have been turned upside down. Government budgets are being slashed to stave off fund depletions. Friends and neighbors have suddenly become unemployed. Socializing is conducted from a distance and behind a mask. Hanging over it all is a seemingly perpetual gray cloud of uncertainty. Times have been challenging, and we don’t know when that gray cloud will lift. And yet, hope springs: School systems and health care providers have made tremendous leaps in innovation while dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. Officials are eying reforms to the criminal justice system, expunging certain convictions and removing obstacles for people with criminal records to reenter society. Businesses have changed tack and starting manufacturing the personal protective equipment and supplies most immediately needed by area residents and industries. Community members are pooling every resource to make sure their neighbors are fed, clothed, educated and cared for. Through it all, the spirit of community has never wavered. We tell those stories and more in these pages. In our opening letter in last year’s Our Region, we remarked, “Sometimes, our area’s greatest strengths are borne out of the challenges we face.” Those words are truer today than ever before. Underlying the upheaval we’ve experienced is a resilient spirit, ready to take the challenges we face and turn them into something positive. Our message in 2020 is the same as in 2019: The future of our communities is bright, indeed. As always, thank you for reading.

- Messenger-Inquirer COVER ILLUSTRATION: SYDNEY O’HEARN

PUBLISHER Mike Weafer

ADVERTISING Angela Mayes Advertising Director

Shelby Mays Advertising Assistant

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Holly Hayden Sam Howard Lynn Saffran

EDITORIAL Jodi Keen Special Publications Editor

Bob Bruck City Editor

REPORTERS Renee Beasley Jones Bobbie Hayse Keith Lawrence James Mayse Jacob Mulliken Christie Netherton Jim Pickens Joseph Russell

DESIGN Sydney O’Hearn

OUR REGION

Saturday, August 29, 2020

CORONAVIRUS

Coronavirus leaving its mark on the region BY KEITH LAWRENCE

MESSENGER-INQUIRER

n late January, the Federal Reserve said that it was “monitoring a number of risks, including ongoing trade tensions and the coronavirus outbreak in China that has many government executives, public health officials and business leaders on edge.” As the days passed, Americans watched the virus spread around the world and start making inroads into the United States as well. Then, on March 6, Gov. Andy Beshear took to Facebook to warn that the first case of coronavirus in the state had been discovered in Lexington. By March 12, local businesses were trying to figure out how people could work remotely if the pandemic got worse. And suddenly, thousands of us were working from kitchen tables and home offices. Then, on March 16, Beshear ordered bars to close their doors and restaurants to close their dining rooms at 5 p.m., leaving only curbside and delivery options. Schools closed — for two weeks at first, and then for the rest of the school year. Students worked on lessons at home. Spring sports was canceled, along with proms and normal graduations. What were called “non-essential businesses” were closed. Churches took to the airwaves and internet for worship services, leaving their sanctuaries shuttered. Live sports and music events disappeared. Barber shops, beauty shops, nail salons, gyms and several other businesses including department stores that didn’t sell food were closed. Supermarkets and some other

Salvador Loc exits Colby’s Fine Food & Spirits with a carryout order for lunch May 21 in Owensboro. The restaurant reopened that month after doing take-out, curbside and delivery during the shutdown due to the coronavirus. Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messengerinquirer.com

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Photo by Alan Warren Messenger-Inquirer | awarren@messenger-inquirer.com

The entry gate to the street soccer court at Sara Gabrielle Truett, left, and Olivia Cason, start off on an early mornLegion Park was padlocked this spring, as vari- ing training run. The two friends had planned on competing in the ous parks facilities remained closed to the pub- Kentucky Derby Marathon, but it was canceled because of the coronavirus. Undaunted, they ran a private marathon April 26 in Owensboro. lic because of the coronavirus pandemic.

4 OUR REGION

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Gavin Edge, left, gets out of the way as friend Lofton Edge shoots aerosol string from a car March 28 during a birthday party parade past Gavin’s home in Owensboro. Gavin’s parents, Ashley and Dustin Edge, couldn’t hold the normal party for Gavin, who turned 8 on March 28, because of social distancing guidelines, so neighbors joined together, drove by, honked and gave out gifts. stores that sold “essentials” managed to remain open. There was no definite date about when it would end. But the world as we knew it ended — for the time being, anyway. In late May, most businesses were allowed to at least partially reopen. Unemployment rates in the region jumped to levels not seen in more than 30 years. Daviess County’s unemployment rate hit 14.3% in April — the highest jobless rate the county had seen since February 1987. In May, Daviess was at 10.2%; Hancock, 13.6%; McLean, 8.1%; Muhlenberg, 11.6%; and Ohio, 10.1%. In June, the numbers dropped dramatically — to 4.2% in Daviess, 4.3% in Hancock, 3.7% in McLean, 5.9% in Muhlenberg and 4.6% in Ohio. But state officials warned that the economy hadn’t gotten that much better. A lot of people simply stopped looking for jobs. Daviess County’s tourism economy, roughly $220 million a year before the pandemic, was suddenly shattered. Within days, the fourth annual Ken-

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Bar Louie general manager Alex Barton grills hamburgers in the kitchen at the restaurant to provide 150 lunches for families in the Rolling Heights neighborhood and families of Girls Inc. Meal deliveries have been organized by nonprofits, school systems and community organizations to ensure vulnerable residents don’t go hungry during the pandemic.

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

John Nelson with Owensboro’s International Bar-B-Q Festival hands bags of chips to occupants of a vehicle as they make their way through a line for free mutton sandwiches and chips May 9 in downtown Owensboro. Volunteers with the festival and staff from Old South Bar-B-Q handed out more than 1,000 free sandwiches on a day that would normally be filled with barbecue fans during the annual festival, which was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic. tucky Fried Pickin’ — the four-day jam session at the Holiday Inn Owensboro Riverfront — had been canceled.

It was the first of many to come. Friday After 5, the International Bar-B-Q Festival, ROMP, the county

fair and virtually every major event in the region were soon just memories. For Owensboro, the collapse of the hospitality industry came in March on Friday the 13th. Mark Calitri, president of the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said at the time, “One hotel reported that they lost over $50,000 in future reservations. That’s in one day! This type of news indicates to me that April results could be worse.” And they were. The American Hotel and Lodging Association, the largest trade association for the hotel industry, said in a news release, “The economic impact on the hotel industry is already more severe than the 9/11 and 2008 recessions — combined.” Calitri said, “”With the April cancellations of the All ‘A’ Boys Baseball Championship, All ‘A’ Girls Softball Championship, 2A Boys and Girls state championships and Mid-South Conference Tennis Tournament, the Daviess County economy lost an estimated impact of at least $635,000.” And the losses kept mounting. SEE MARK/PAGE 7

OUR REGION

Saturday, August 29, 2020

HEMP

Interest in hemp stalls after tumultuous 2019 season

BY JACOB MULLIKEN MESSENGER-INQUIRER

entucky is in the middle of its second season of hemp, and the success of the crop will likely be determined by cannabis politics and those vocal few who still believe in the potential of the crop. The negatives of the 2019 grow season included inaction by the Food and Drug Administration, staunch hemp usage laws in Kentucky, a glut in the hemp CBD market, tanking prices, and bulk deals with questionable hemp processors such as the former BlueGrass Bio Extracts in Owensboro. These myriad catastrophes led many farmers to reduce their crops, take a year off to observe the market or quit hemp altogether. In reality, the real question headed into the 2020 season was, “Is it worth it?” Many hemp farmers in Kentucky would say no, said Paul Glover, owner of Mile Marker 5 CBD in Hawesville. “I’ve been doing this for over six years,” he said. “You ask these farmers in a 100-mile radius of Owensboro, you will get the middle finger — not no, but ‘Hell no, I’ll never touch this again.’ There are a lot of shysters in this business. I’m not pointing fingers, but you will see it on Facebook, magazines, media outlets; there are people that want to sell snake oil. Before anything can change on the USDA level, it has to change on the FDA level.” The FDA’s inaction in regards to setting any regulation is a major obstacle that hurt farmers in 2019 and will continue to be a bane headed into 2020, said Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles. “The industry as a whole is facing strong headwinds,” he said, “primarily due to inaction by the

Photo by Alan Warren, Messenger-Inquirer | awarren@messenger-inquirer.com

Paul Glover, owner of Hawesville-based Mile Marker 5 CBD, looks over some of his hemp plants in his greenhouse May 6 in Hawesville. FDA letting the industry know which way they are going to go with potential regulation. We need clarification on what hemp products can be sold legally in America. What is happening in Kentucky is happening across the nation. A lot of our hemp companies will tell you today that if given the opportunity, they want to sell hemp-derived products such as CBD, health care supplements (and) food additives, along with the laundry list of hemp’s other purposes. The problem is that we are entering into year seven of legal hemp production in America, and the FDA has simply not reacted as quickly as we expected them to.”

It is estimated that more than 230,000 acres of hemp were grown in 2019, with 26,500 acres being grown by roughly 1,000 Kentucky farmers. That number, both at home and nationally, caused a glut in the hemp biomass market, tanking cannabidiol (CBD) prices and leaving many farmers with no place to take their crop. Despite this potential, the Kentucky Department Agriculture never considered a cap, Quarles said. “The KDA was very intentional in that once the crop transitioned from experimental into the 2018 Farm Bill, that anybody who qualifies has the opportunity to experiment with hemp,” he said. “We want to

let people know what the rules are and provide an application for the process that is as user-friendly as possible and then let the free market and our innovators experiment and develop markets on their own.” While the stories of farmers around the state range from bad genetics that tested too high in THC content, overall failure in the growing process, or unfulfilled contracts with processors, going into 2020 and forward, things will even out for the farmers and the “bad actors” will ultimately be rooted out, Glover said. SEE HEMP/PAGE 7

6 OUR REGION

Saturday, August 29, 2020

ELECTIONS

Elections office sees major challenges, with more to come

BY JAMES MAYSE MESSENGER-INQUIRER

he Daviess County Clerk’s Office’s elections department had a number of unprecedented events over the last two years. Between the November 2018 election and today, the Daviess clerk’s office has handled a previously unheard-of recount in a state House race, went through a major restructuring of its voter precinct plan, tested new voting machines for another state and completely changed its primary election plans in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In November 2018, Leslie McCarty replaced retiring county clerk David “Oz” Osborne. In that same election cycle, 13th House District Rep. DJ Johnson, an Owensboro Republican, lost his bid for reelection to Jim Glenn. Glenn had held the seat for years before being defeated by Johnson in 2016. Glenn defeated Johnson in 2018 by one vote. The clerk’s office held a recanvass of the votes, which confirmed the one-vote margin. State law gives candidates the right to challenge the result of an election, which Johnson did, forcing the House to come up with a plan. That put the pressure on the clerk’s office, which was ordered to conduct a recount. “The powers that be in Frankfort, they said, ‘go ahead and do it,’ but they didn’t give us any guidance,” McCarty said. Chief Deputy Clerk Richard House and Tonya Payne, who handles elections of the office, put together the plan, McCarty said. “With me being new, I was grateful for their leadership and vision,” McCarty said.

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Voters make their way into the Owensboro Sportscenter to vote in-person in Kentucky’s primary election. The Sportscenter was the only polling place in the county to vote on election day other than casting a vote via absentee ballot. After the votes were counted, the outcome was the most unlikely: a tie between the candidates. Johnson voluntarily withdrew from the challenge, but the two are set to face each other again this fall. “It went really smooth,” McCarty said of the recount. “... It was a long day, but we did it with integrity and transparency.” With the recount behind them,

McCarty’s office turned to a project officials had been planning before the recount took up so much of the time: consolidation of the county’s voting precincts. The issues involved with planning the recount made the precinct plan “the number one priority,” McCarty said. Technology had made consolidation possible. The

introduction of electronic polling books, which had been purchased by the state, meant voters could be checked in faster, so more voters could use fewer precincts. As opposed to the old paper poll books, election workers could check in voters electronically with identification like a driver’s license. The county started the process with more than 80 precincts. The

OUR REGION

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Deputy County Clerk Tonya Payne, left, and Major Barry Smith, chief deputy with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department, document the 17 absentee ballots that were rejected by the county board of elections during the November 2018 general election before releasing them in January 2019 for transfer to Frankfort. final precinct plan approved by the state included 56 precincts. The clerk’s office encountered few problems when the new precinct plan was put into action in November 2019, during the election for Kentucky’s governor. Having fewer precincts meant the county needed fewer precinct workers, and potentially fewer voting machines in the future. During the November 2019 election, the Daviess Clerk’s acted as a test site for new machines for the state of Tennessee. The Daviess County Clerk’s Office volunteered to use the “Verity Duo” voting machines in the 14th, 46th and Heartlands precincts, which contain about 11,500 voters combined. The test was part of the state of Tennessee’s voting machine certification process. Tennessee planned to purchase the “Verity Duo” machines, but state

Photo by Alan Warren, Messenger-Inquirer | awarren@messenger-inquirer.com

Richard House, chief deputy of the Daviess County Clerk’s Office, left, and Tonya Payne, supervisor of elections, set up plexiglass barriers at tables June 22 as they get ready for the following day’s primary election at the Sportscenter, the only brick-andmortar polling place in the county.

law required an outside jurisdiction incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin by that has already certified the about 5,000 votes statewide. Again, machines use the equipment as a a recanvass was called for, which test. Kentucky had certified the use confirmed the result, and Daviess of “Verity Duo” machines, although County elections officials held their Daviess County didn’t collective breath at the use them specifically. prospect of another The test, like the recount. When Kentucky November election But Bevin, a shut down, itself, went off without Republican who had a hitch. the May primary had a contentious term The Glenn-Johnson as governor, decided to was barely two recount also lead not pursue a recount, months away. Daviess Clerks office making Beshear, a staff to begin thinking Democrat, the state’s about purchasing new new governor. With voting machines in the future. the governor’s race out of the way, “It did make us realize we will be election officials in clerk’s offices looking at new voting machines next statewide likely began looking year,” McCarty said, adding that the ahead to what they assumed would office is always looking at “what we be a busy, but otherwise normal, can do better.” presidential primary and general When the voting results came election in 2020. in for November 2019’s general It took almost no time at all for election, Andy Beshear, the state’s 2020 to fall about as far away from Attorney General, had defeated “normal” as was possible.

Somewhere in January or February, reports began surfacing in national media about a new illness causing sickness and deaths in Wuhan, China. Cases were later reported in countries like South Korea, and then on cruise ships. A few cases were then reported in Seattle. And then, seemingly suddenly, cases of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 were being detected in other several major U.S. cities, particularly New York. The respiratory illness was easily spread indoors and among large groups, which prompted Kentucky and just about every other state to close offices and businesses and recommend people take shelter at home. When Kentucky shut down, the May primary was barely two months away. A new plan was going to be needed, and quickly. SEE ELECTIONS/PAGE 6

8 OUR REGION

ELECTIONS

FROM PAGE 5

The state first postponed the May primary to June 23. The state board of elections, Beshear and Secretary of State Michael Adams agreed to major changes for the primary, where most of the voting would be done by absentee ballot, with only limited in-person voting on election day and in the days before. Daviess elections officials sought the help of Fiscal Court, which approved the hiring of a ballot processing committee. Those full-time workers and a group of part-time employees worked with the office’s elections staff to answer questions and prepare ballots for voters. More than 18,000 absentee ballots were sent to Daviess County voters. Also, in-person voting for people with disabilities was allowed prior to primary day at the county courthouse. In-person voting was kept to one polling place in counties, and in Daviess County voting took place on election day at the Owensboro Sportscenter. That day, 4,206 people voted in person, while 15,297 people voted by absentee ballot and just under 2,200 people voted at the courthouse. “Complying with health regulation while holding in-person voting was a challenge,” McCarty said. When asked what was an unexpected challenge for the primary, McCarty said, “I think it was the time at the Sportscenter the day before, making sure everything was six feet apart.” Fiscal Court and Emergency Management provided protective equipment for workers at the Sportscenter, McCarty said. By all accounts, voting at the Sportscenter went smoothly. Some voters decided to vote in person rather than use their absentee ballots, so a process was put in place where those voters would swear they had not voted by absentee. As it happened, two people did vote twice, although both were detected by elections workers. One of those

Saturday, August 29, 2020

BY THE NUMBERS: DAVIESS COUNTY VOTING More than 18,000 absentee ballots were sent to Daviess County voters. In-person voting was kept to one polling place in counties, and in Daviess County voting took place on election day at the Owensboro Sportscenter. That day, 4,206 people voted in person, while 15,297 people voted by absentee ballot and just under 2,200 people voted at the courthouse.

is believed to have been by mistake, but the second involved a man who mailed his absentee ballot on Election Day after voting in person at the Sportscenter. That case was forwarded to the Daviess grand jury for possible criminal charges, with the grand jury deciding Aug. 6 to take no further action. The experience at the Sportscenter was so positive that McCarty later said she would be in favor of the county going to having several large polling centers rather than 56 individual precincts. That change, however, would require approval by the General Assembly. At the time of the primary, McCarty and other elections officials said they hoped for nothing but a normal election in November, where voters could go to the polls without having to worry about social distancing due to COVID-19. But, in mid-July, McCarty said the state Board of Elections had begun discussing how they could hold the November general election if the coronavirus pandemic continued to be a major concern. McCarty said local elections officials, likewise, would begin making contingency election plans for November as well. She said the experiences over the past 20 months have prepared the clerk’s office for future election challenges. “It has been a great education, and I couldn’t have done it without my staff,” McCarty said.

OUR REGION

Saturday, August 29, 2020

HEMP

FROM PAGE 3

“Once you cheat these guys (farmers), you are out,” he said. “The bad actors part of this equation will fall by the wayside as these farmers become more knowledgeable of the plant and begin to talk more to one another. Right now, you have guys touting CBG (cannabigerol) and they are saying it is the next best thing and the seeds are $3 a piece. It is nothing but a rip-off. ... Every day, you get these guys out there saying these are the best. Where is the market? Enough people will get burned and they will push these people out of the business.” Despite ongoing lawsuits between farmers and processors, bankruptcies and a “once bitten, twice shy” regard to hemp and those in the industry, a solid lesson was learned, if nothing else, from the 2019 growing season, said Tate Hall, president of the Kentucky Hemp Industries Association. “People learned a lot of lessons from top to bottom. It was a growing pain year,” he said. “... In the long run, our industry will be better for it. In terms of this year, the big lesson is not biting off more than you can chew, be responsible with your acreage and be mindful of the genetics you use. We aren’t a 300-year-old industry like tobacco. This is new, so it will take time to develop.”

MARK

FROM PAGE 2

“A lot of our employers are classified as essential,” Brittaney Johnson, president of the Greater Owensboro Economic Development Corp., said early in the pandemic. “We have a pretty diverse set of companies here. Some are taking it day to day and some are continuing operations as usual.” But, she said, “There’s concern about workers finding child care and staying healthy because you need bodies to run production.” The Malcolm Bryant Corp. put all of its hotels — including both Hampton Inns in Owensboro — on hiatus “until it is safe again for employees to return to work,” the company announced in March. They reopened on May 15. Even funerals were affected because no more than 10 people were allowed in a room at a time.

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

A hemp plant grows in a greenhouse operation run by Fuller Farms on May 6 in Beaver Dam.

Drive-through visitation became a thing. The Salvation Army in Owensboro handed out food to about 800 families in one week — 500 of them on one Friday alone. It normally handled about 200 families a month, Capt. Rebekah Abram said. And the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in Owensboro was getting hundreds of calls for assistance from people who lost their jobs because of businesses being closed in the pandemic. Evictions were postponed. But bills continued to mount. Unemployment checks — for those who got them promptly and many didn’t — had an additional $600 a week from the federal government until the end of July. Glenmore and O.Z. Tyler distilleries began making sanitizer. Hair grew long and shaggy and began turning gray during the weeks that barbershops and beauty salons were closed.

Gas prices dropped below $1 for the first time in years because nobody was driving. Movie theaters were closed. Friday’s, Golden Corral and a few other restaurants permanently closed their Owensboro locations. Domtar announced that it would close for up to two months. Some other industries had weeklong furloughs. There are winners and losers in every emergency. And the Owensboro Riverport Authority was among the winners in the coronavirus pandemic. With factories closed, aluminum producers had to find places to store surplus product. And the riverport was one of the places they chose. Toilet paper, hand sanitizer, bicycles, gardening supplies, swimming pools, guns and ammunition — among other things — were in short supply. By the end of July, Daviess County had seen 688 cases of coronavirus.

Sixteen people were still hospitalized out of 60 who had spent time in the hospital since March. Seven people had died. And the cases kept coming. But a silver lining recently emerged: In late July, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Owensboro was the only metropolitan area in the U.S. where the unemployment rate in June was lower than it was a year earlier. The BLS report said the unemployment rate in the Owensboro metro area — Daviess, Hancock and McLean counties — in June was 4.2%, down from 4.4% in June 2019. CNN and other news outlets carried the story worldwide. “Any time we can get positive national news like this, it really helps,” said Candance Castlen Brake, president of the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce. “People are looking for small cities like Owensboro where they could move and feel safe. The timing couldn’t be better.”

10 OUR REGION | Daviess County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

EDUCATION

City, county public schools push forward toward innovation, progress with education projects

BY BOBBIE HAYSE MESSENGER-INQUIRER

he future of education looks bright in the area. Owensboro and Daviess County public school systems both have big projects on the horizon, specifically pertaining to physical spaces in which to teach the area’s young minds.

OPS MOVING TOWARD COHESIVE INNOVATION

Owensboro Public Schools has been working toward an Innovation Campus since the inception of the Owensboro Innovation Middle School, or iMiddle, which is a feeder school and sister campus to the Owensboro Innovation Academy high school. iMiddle, in the former Owensboro Middle School South building, was previously known as the 5-6 Center, at 2631 S. Griffith Ave. The building has undergone extensive renovations in the past few years with intentions of making it home to iMiddle and OIA, forming the Innovation Campus. The district approved the termination of a sublease for the OIA at the Centre for Business and Research on Allen Street in February 2020, where it operated since its beginning. The board of education opted for the termination so that the school could have a permanent home on the Innovation Campus, which also saves the district more than $32,000 a month. Chris Bozarth, OPS director of maintenance and technology, said construction is on track for OIA’s new home to be completed before

Photo by Alan Warren, Messenger-Inquirer | awarren@messenger-inquirer.com

Matt Robbins, superintendent of the Daviess County Public Schools district, speaks during the ground breaking ceremony Oct. 25, 2019, at the site of the new Daviess County Middle School. the start of the 2020-21 school year. iMiddle is modeled after OIA and is part of the district’s innovation program. An important thing to remember, district officials said, is that while middle and high school students will be sharing a campus, they will maintain separate identities. The two schools will physically be separate, and there will be little-to-no co-mingling of students

unless it’s for a specific project. Middle school students will inhabit the south side of the building, and high school students will be in the north side. There are currently about 285 iMiddle students and 287 OIA students. The district essentially split the building in half to renovate in phases, with iMiddle’s portion being completed by the beginning

of this year. Renovations include site paving, ADA toilets, remodeling existing space for band and choir rooms, a new family resource center and the building of two new resource rooms. Also, the media center and cafeteria will be expanded and one computer lab will be constructed along with one administrative suite. SEE SCHOOLS/PAGE 13

OUR REGION| Daviess County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Braden Freels, left center, and Brendon Green, walk from the bus into Owens- James Rhineburger, left, and Jacob Agee, right, foreground, get instruction on boro Innovation Middle School on Aug. 7, 2019, on the first day of classes at the tuck pointing with mortar from David Hopkins, an instructor in the masonry new school in Owensboro. program, in February 2019 at Owensboro Innovation Academy.

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12 OUR REGION| Daviess County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

GABE’S TOWER

Iconic Gabe’s Tower lives on in memories

BY KEITH LAWRENCE MESSENGER-INQUIRER

abe’s Tower Motor Inn became a landmark on Nov. 16, 1963 — the day it opened. And it remained an Owensboro landmark until it was demolished in June 2020. The silo-shaped hotel at 20th and Triplett streets was the tallest building in western Kentucky at 175 feet — if you counted the beacon on top — when it opened. That day, more than 10,000 people — one-fourth of the city’s population — stood in long lines outside, waiting to tour the 120-room, 13-story hotel. Its 12th-floor restaurant — Gabe’s Atop The Tower — was credited with being Kentucky’s first high-rise restaurant. But its glory days were short — only 14 years. They ended in 1977 when the Executive Inn Rivermont opened downtown. But while they lasted, the hotel made some enduring memories for thousands of people. A lot of marriages began there. “I had my wedding reception in the restaurant and stayed there for the first night of my honeymoon,” Susan King said. Robert Pierson said, “We spent the first night of our honeymoon there — Dec. 8, 1967.” “My wife and I spent our wedding night there in 1977,” Bob Weikel said. For some, it was a step in their careers. Bruce Montgomery said, “I worked in the kitchen. Some fun memories there. Free prime rib every night.”

“It was my first big-boy job,” said Scott Carter, who worked in maintenance at the hotel. “I loved my time there.” Bob Grimsley said, “It was my first public job — assistant maintenance, changing light bulbs and door handles. I remember vacuuming the pool in scuba gear while Stella and J.B. Embry did the morning news from the top of the tower.” “Many life lessons learned as a bellhop at the Tower in 1973-74,” Mark Berry said. “The most lasting

proudly stated that she cooked every steak that came out of that kitchen.” Several learned to swim in the pool on the top floor. Robert P. Warnock said, “I took swimming lessons in the tower pool. Also, my first public singing experience was at Gabe’s — singing This page in a song from ‘The Sound Of Music.’ the Nov. 16, I was 6.” 1963 edition “I learned to dive in the pool,” of the MessenJeanne Marie Hill said. “I also ger and loved to order myself Shirley Inquirer (as it Temples and act like an adult in the was called at the time) cele- restaurant.” And there are other memories. brates the Diane Lewis Thompson said, “I opening of remember going to the restaurant/ the iconic bar at the top probably in my early Gabe’s Tower 20s to have a drink and ran into in Owensa former teacher from Apollo. It boro’s Midwas obvious he was flirting, and I town East remember thinking, ‘WOW! What a neighbordirty old man he is.’ ” hood. Gabe Kathy McGlothlin said, “I Fiorella’s curious hotel was remember going to a birthday hailed in that party there when I was a child. As day’s editorial someone from a family of limited as a “mastermeans, to be able to look out those piece.” windows and see all of Owensboro was exhilarating. As a teenager in Newspapers.com the late ‘70s, my friends and I spent many weekend nights at the disco, one was the realization that ‘don’t strutting our best John Travolta and judge a book by its cover’ is a truism. Cadillacs, designer luggage Olivia Newton-John moves.” “Lunch atop Gabe’s Tower Inn in and custom-made suits don’t necessarily translate to a good tip.” the fall was a beautiful experience,” Linda Howard Young said. “We “I worked there for a number of could see trees of every color all years in the mid-to-late ‘80s,” Gary over town and had a good view Conlan said. “I started as night of the bridge. Also, I took swim auditor and worked my way up lessons there every Monday — a to general manager. I talked Mr. great way to start the week. Even (Frank) Davis into re-opening the in the winter, we could celebrate hotel in 1991.” birthdays with swim parties in the Jean Ann Chinn Stanley said, pool high above the city. Great “My grandmother, Jacy Hardesty, worked there as a cook. She memories.”

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14 OUR REGION | Daviess County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

HONORING OUR

NATIONAL GUARD

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Family members and friends line the driveway to the Owensboro National Guard Armory as members of the Kentucky National Guard’s 206th Engineer Battalion are bused to the armory June 11 after landing at Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport.

Photo by Alan Warren, Messenger-Inquirer | awarren@messenger-inquirer.com

Above: John Hines holds on tight to the leg of Andrew

Daugherty of the Kentucky National Guard’s 206th Engineer Battalion minutes before the unit leaves for deployment July 26, 2019. Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Right: Sgt. Nathan Doolin, with the Kentucky National Guard’s

206th Engineer Battalion, hugs his daughter, Everly, 2, and wife Valeri as they are reunited June 11 at the Owensboro National Guard Armory. The battalion returned after almost a year in the Middle East in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

OUR REGION | Daviess County

SCHOOLS

$8 million under what was budgeted. The current price of the project is $11,473,819. The initial budgeted construction costs were $19.15 million. FROM PAGE 8 The first phase of the Apollo project began with the building of a new The project will cost the district Apollo Eagle Stadium along Southtown about $13.3 million, most of which Boulevard that allowed for the previous is being spent on energy and other stadium to be demolished to make mechanical items that needed an room for a new student parking lot. upgrade, such as the roof, HVAC and The second phase of the project was lighting. the actual building of the new student parking lot. The former student BUILDING A FUTURE FOR parking lot will be the site of the DAVIESS COUNTY STUDENTS Apollo addition, which will consist of Daviess County Public Schools has two wings. That is phase three, which two major construction projects in the is what is slated to begin as soon as works, one of which is the building of a possible. new middle school. Both projects have Twenty-six classrooms will be come in what was originally budgeted, added in the new two-story addition, which district officials attribute to along with administrative offices. the record low interest and market There will also be a corridor added rates taking place as a result of the that will connect the structure to the COVID-19 pandemic. existing building. The district is also working toward Student pick-up and drop-off lanes renovating and adding an addition to will be rerouted to go in a continuous Apollo High School, which came in motion around the school and taken off

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Saturday, August 29, 2020 Tamarack Road and Gemini Drive. The bus drop-off will also move to the new entrance along Gemini Drive. The estimated completion date of phase three of the Apollo project is August 2021. At that time, RBS Design Group officials say they hope to have phase four, which will be the remodel of the existing AHS pods, ready to begin. The estimated time of completion for phase four is 2022. Matt Robbins, DCPS superintendent, said these projects come at a critical time in the community. He suspects the current state of the economy due to the pandemic to at least be part of the reason why projects are coming in cheaper than anticipated. “We are extremely pleased, no doubt, because that helps us moving forward even with the middle school job,” Robbins said. “From our vantage point, it seems like we have hit it at a sweet spot in terms of construction costs and financing.” The new DCMS will be off of

Kentucky 54, adjacent to Gateway Commons. It will be courtyard style, with the gymnasium toward the front of the school, along with administrative offices and the cafeteria. Those spaces and identical sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade class wings will surround a 45,000-square foot courtyard that also includes an outdoor amphitheater and stage. Each classroom wing will have nine classrooms, two science labs, four resource rooms and a computer lab. The southwest corner will have band, chorus and music rooms, and the southeast corner will have home economic, Spanish, art and digital art class space. The completion date for the new DCMS has been pushed to Dec. 1, 2021, “with plans for students to begin classes in their new school with the start of the second semester in January 2022,” Robbins said. The project came in at $27,850,000, and was initially budgeted to be $34.3 million.

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18 OUR REGION | Hancock County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

TOURISM

Jeffreys Cliffs offers unique views, hiking trails

BY JOSEPH RUSSELL MESSENGER-INQUIRER

ust four miles east of Hawesville sits one of Hancock County’s best-kept secrets. After several years in the making, though, the Jeffreys Cliffs Conservation & Recreation Area opened to the public in June — and the buzz is already growing. “I’ve had people ask, ‘Where has this been all my life? I had no idea this place was here.’ This has been here way before there ever was a Hancock County,” said Steve Canepari, president of the Hancock County Heritage Commission, a nonprofit formed to create and oversee Jeffreys Cliffs. “The response has been terrific.” The 230-acre native reserve, on Kentucky 1406 just off U.S. 60 East, is open from sunrise to sunset Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. It features natural woods, cliffs and large rock shelters, along with nearly six miles of hiking trails. On top of Jeffreys Cliffs, a sandstone plateau with cliffs averaging 75 to 100 feet tall, there are about 140 acres that include 3.6 miles of hiking trails — “out-and-back” trails, as opposed to a trail that forms a loop — and several lookout points that offer scenic views of the Ohio River. Around the base, there’s a 2.1-mile looping trail. Both trails, which are available for navigation on the AllTrails hiking website and app, are rated easy to moderate, though to get on top, visitors must scale the Mossy Gap crevice. “That’s part of the adventure,” Canepari said with a laugh, noting he plans to add a ladder or stairs for easier access in the near future. Canepari expects the rock shelters to draw a lot of interest, as

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Steve Canepari, president of the Hancock County Heritage Commission, cuts a bolt while erecting a concrete base for a wooden stairway July 28 at Mossy Gap, an area at Jeffreys Cliffs Conservation & Recreation Area. The stairway will create an easier path to the top of a sandstone plateau in the recreation area.

IF YOU GO WHAT: Jeffreys Cliffs Conservation & Recreation Area WHERE: 715 Williamette Road, Hawesville, KY 42348 CALL: (270) 927-8137 or (270) 927-9794 Open from sunrise to sunset Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays ONLINE: jeffreyscliffs.org

well. All four show signs of use by Native Americans, possibly dating as far back as the Archaic Period (8,000 B.C. to 1,000 B.C.). “It’s got some very large rock shelters, and I think the largest in the state,” Canepari said. “There are some destinations that people would like to visit and hike to.”

One such destination is Morgan’s Cave, which is approximately 240 feet wide, 180 feet high and 150 feet deep. “It’s large enough that you could fit the new Hancock County courthouse inside of it,” Canepari said. According to Hancock County Judge-Executive Johnny Roberts, the eventual goal is for Jeffreys Cliffs to help bring attention to Hawesville and the surrounding area. “Honestly, I’d seen pictures all my life, but until you get out to those spots like Morgan’s Cave, pictures really don’t do it justice,” Roberts said. “The local awareness has expanded, and a lot of people are going and visiting. “It’s certainly a positive for our community.”

It didn’t happen overnight, though. Canepari remembers visiting the cliffs as a child with the Boy Scouts, and that experience never left his memory. He grew up in Hancock County but spent most of his adult life in Alabama before returning home. Not long after, the opportunity to create the nature reserve presented itself. “I grew up in this little town here, and we were not well off at all,” Canepari, 74, recalled. “I lost my dad at a young age. Those scout leaders became like fathers to me. ... I wanted to do something for this place that meant a lot to me, and this fell in my lap.” The process was jumpstarted by Jerry Harris, who grew up in Hancock County but moved to Alaska with his family in 1956. Upon his retirement in 1977, Harris returned home with the intention to buy back his family’s old farmland and settle down for good. Along the way, Harris heard rumors of a man trying to sell the cliffs. He stepped in to purchase the land, and after his death, it was donated to Hancock County. (Harris told his two daughters they could sell any of his property, except the cliffs.) Canepari and a group of others went to visit the newly acquired land in April 2014, he said, but nothing really got started until the following September. With additional help from the Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund and Hancock County Fiscal Court, Canepari set about reaching out to neighboring landowners to help make Jeffreys Cliffs accessible and inform the locals of his plans. “The cliffs were totally

OUR REGION | Hancock County

Pictured is a scenic view of the sandstone mesa along the Morgans Cave Trail at Jeffreys Cliffs Conservation & Recreation Area in Hancock County.

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com

Morgan’s Cave, a large rock shelter, is accessible via a half-mile hike in the lower trails section of Jeffreys Cliffs. The feature was used as a hideout and rendezvous by Confederate guerrillas during the Civil War.

Photo by Greg Eans, MessengerInquirer | geans@ messengerinquirer.com

This large section is part of the sandstone mesa along the Morgans Cave Trail at Jeffreys Cliffs Conservation & Recreation Area in Hancock County. Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messengerinquirer.com

surrounded by private land,” Canepari said. “If you wanted to visit, you either had to get permission from people to cross their land, or you trespassed. “I spent the last two years talking to the landowners around the cliffs so they know we’re going to be a good neighbor.” With help from the community and other area industries, Hancock County leaders expect a bright future for Jeffreys Cliffs. “People are starting to do a lot of hiking and visiting trails in general,” Photo by Greg Eans, Messenger-Inquirer | geans@messenger-inquirer.com Roberts said. “It’s popular now. With Dale Eye, left, and Steve Canepari work to build a stairway July 28 at the bottom social media and word of mouth, once people hear about this area, we of a sandstone plateau at Jeffreys Cliffs Conservation & Recreation Area.

think they’re really going to enjoy coming out and seeing it.” The reserve can also accommodate school visits, with tours through the trails available as well. For Canepari, who enjoyed the sights and sounds of Jeffreys Cliffs as a child, there’s nothing better than passing that feeling on to others. “It’s a unique place. There’s nothing else like it in this part of Kentucky,” he said. “This is the result of all the hard work and all the people that volunteered to help. We want to see them experience it like we did when we were young. “For me, it’s been a labor of love, but it’s not over yet.”

20 OUR REGION | Hancock County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

FEEDING PROGRAMS

Hancock County Schools focuses on feeding students during pandemic

BY BOBBIE HAYSE MESSENGER-INQUIRER

hile Hancock County Schools has the highest recorded lunch debt for students in the surrounding area, it has committed to not let that stand in the way of feeding children, regardless of an adult’s inability to pay. Most school districts in the region offer meals at no cost for students thanks to the federal program Community Eligibility Provision. Through CEP, districts are able to provide all meals free for students if a certain percentage of the school’s population already qualifies for free and reduced meals. Currently, Owensboro Public Schools, Ohio County Schools and Muhlenberg County Public Schools receive the CEP. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CEP was authorized by Congress at part of the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 and is available nationwide to qualifying schools. Officials from Daviess County Public Schools and McLean County Public Schools report that while not exceptionally high, their lunch debts do accrue. Hancock County Schools had the highest lunch debt reported with $13,771.80 earlier this year. As of late July, that number sat at $12,130.18. Pam Ramsey, HCS assistant food service director, said some of this debt has also carried over from previous schools years, but there isn’t a lot of recourse to combat this issue. “We offset the costs, and we just

do the best we can, and try to provide as best we can,” she said. “Our motto is, we just feed the kids.” She said even if a family has a significant meal debt, the child always receives the standard meal provided for all children. There are “alternative meals” offered by some districts for students whose debt balance is excessive. Often, that meal consists of a cold cheese sandwich or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Ramsey said students are fed the standard meals every day. “It’s not the student’s fault,” she said. “We would rather eat that debt, than shame them or have them eat something they don’t want, or for them not to eat at all.” The district sends notes home with the children, and the schools send letters directly to residences to try to get the debts paid off. The family resource centers also work with families to fill out the proper paperwork for free and reduced meals when needed. The district also has worked this year to provide families with more accessible ways

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to pay. “We also have set up Angel Accounts at all of our schools so that any contributors can put funds in there and designate those for any student debt amounts,” Ramsey said. Since mid-March when HCS switched from in-person learning to non-traditional instruction, per a governor mandate due to COVID-19, the district has made and delivered 160,000 meals. Another unique aspect about the district of about 1,650 students

is it delivers meals via bus routes directly to students’ homes. This took place during NTI, and also during the summer feeding program. Throughout that time, the Hancock County Public Library also followed the buses on their routes to provide students with easy access for checking out library books. “It’s gone over really well,” Ramsey said. “We have had some donations, too, to help give extra things. It’s been a really great, collaborative efforts in the community.”

Hancock County High School 80 State Route 271 S. Lewisport, KY 42351 Phone (270) 927-6953 Fax (270) 927-8677 Ashley Gorman, Principal

North Hancock Elementary School 330 Frank Luttrell Road Lewisport, KY 42351 Phone (270) 927-7900 Fax (270) 295-6332 Kelly Moore, Principal

Hancock County Middle School 100 State Route 271 S. Lewisport, KY 42351 Phone (270) 927-6712 Fax (270) 927-9895 Traci Sanders, Principal

South Hancock Elementary School 8631 State Route 69 Hawesville, KY 42348 Phone (270) 927-6762 Fax (270) 927-9400 Jennifer Howe, Principal

Hancock County Board of Education 83 State Route 3543 Hawesville, KY 42348 Phone (270) 927-6914 • Fax (270) 927-6916 Kyle Estes-Superintendent www.hancock.kyschools.us

OUR REGION | Hancock County

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Saturday, August 29, 2020

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22 OUR REGION | McLean County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

BUSINESS

COVID-19 impact on new and expanding businesses varies

BY CHRISTIE NETHERTON MESSENGER-INQUIRER

rom temporary shutdowns and curbside pickups to making facemasks part of the regular inventory of stores, businesses everywhere are adapting to the “new normal” brought on by COVID-19. For businesses just starting out or on the verge of major changes, it is still to be seen how the virus will affect business and to what extent, said Amanda Crick, who runs a new flower shop in Sacramento. Crick runs Blooms Etc. in Sacramento, formerly D’s Florist, along with her parents and owners, Dwight and Lisa Peyton. Blooms Etc. opened in early July, several

months after a state of emergency was declared for McLean County and Kentucky because of COVID-19 outbreaks. Even with the virus outbreak, Crick said business has been good for having opened so recently, and word has been getting out about the new flower shop. She said, however, the store is still taking every precaution to maintain the health and safety of employees and customers. “I think COVID has affected everyone, yes, but we’ve taken every precaution. We are wearing masks as well as selling masks to people,” Crick said. The shop is not just selling any ordinary mask, however. Crick

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Amanda Crick, manager of Blooms Etc. in Sacramento, opened the flower shop in early July. She said it still remains to be seen how COVID-19 will affect the business.

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OUR REGION | McLean County said these masks are convertible, all-in-one masks that can be used as a face mask, headband, scarf, headdress and ponytail holder — another innovative way businesses have adapted to the current global climate brought on by COVID-19. Crick said while the virus has almost certainly impacted her business in some way, it is hard to determine how much, especially with the business being so new. “... July and August are slow months, so we really don’t know if it’s (COVID-19) affected business or not,” she said. “I would say yes because some people are scared to leave their house because of it.” For Bridgeview Pizzeria in Island, which opened in mid-February, just a month before business shutdowns and restrictions started in Kentucky, owner Mischele Hill said the restaurant has been very fortunate. As restaurants began to shut down or move to carry-out only in mid-March, Bridgeview had just started its delivery service, which Hill said helped keep the impact of COVID-19 to a minimum. “I don’t look for it to affect us, really. As far as the dining in, we have several that dine-in, but I think a lot of it is we have more carry-out than we do dine-in also,” Hill said. Another helpful aspect of her business, she said, is that it is family-owned and operated, so Bridgeview did not have to worry about significant lay-offs as many other restaurants did to make up for any decrease in business due to restrictions on dine-in services. Rachel Stringer. the owner of Red’s Tanning and Hometown Creations, opened her business in Island at the end of May. She said while business has been great so far, most of her customers have been shopping online rather than in-store. “We really would like to see more people in the store because a lot of our vendors have things set up in here that they might not necessarily have on their websites. So even if you do look on their websites, it’s

Saturday, August 29, 2020

Red’s Tanning and Hometown Creations owner Rachel Stringer stands with some of her homemade personalized items for sale in her new shop. Stringer opened her tanning and local vendor shop in Island in late May. Photo by Christie Netherton, MessengerInquirer

better to come in and look around at what all they also have here.” Her tanning beds, on the other hand, have drawn in a steady amount of customers, she said, because not only are there few options as far as tanning in McLean, but her prices and weekly specials on sessions are cheaper than many other tanning options nearby. Calhoun’s Ranger Bees owners Curtis and Tiphani Simpson had plans to more than double their beehive count throughout spring this year. While they have managed to mostly continue business as planned, according to Curtis Simpson, the beekeepers did have one setback in recent months. “The most it’s affected us is with getting our bottles to be able to sell our honey. Our plastic bottle supplier is down, so that’s put a damper on the honey sales,” he said. Other than being able to bottle honey, Ranger Bees has mostly been able to continue with its expansion as planned this past spring, having gone from 700 hives to about 1,400, Curtis Simpson said. “God’s been good to us … We’ve

Photo submitted by Tiphani Simpson

A “pollen patty” is added to a Ranger Bees hive as a pollen supplement for the bees when there is no natural pollen available to help the bees “raise brood,” or build up the next generation of bees. Ranger Bees planned to expand to 1,400 in spring this year. grown to somewhere around 1,400 hives, and we’ve just been blessed,” he said. Simpson said the rest of the year will likely go as planned. He said

they will make up the honey crop in the fall and send the bees to southern Mississippi for the winter, then to California in January to pollinate almonds.

24 OUR REGION | McLean County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

COMMUNITY AID

Response fund helps those affected by pandemic BY CHRISTIE NETHERTON

needs are.” Ross said if the spread of the s of the beginning of virus continues to affect the Donations can be made online at www.uwov.org/donate/ or checks August, the Green River community, “we’ll need more can be made to Green River Area COVID-19 Response Fund and mailed Area COVID-19 Response funding, we’re just not sure for to P.O. Box 705, Owensboro, KY 42302. Fund has raised around $740,000 what right now.” Interested nonprofit agencies can find application information at and has granted approximately Agencies that have received https://uwov.org/covid-19- request-funds/. $600,000 to local nonprofit funding through the Response organizations, according to Fund include Audubon Area Head months,” Silvert said. “We were utility assistance. United Way of the Ohio Valley Start, Catholic Charities-Diocese able to make our first grants to “We’re concerned for many president David Ross, in an of Owensboro, Cliff Hagan Boys local nonprofits on April 2 … One people that have been negatively effort to offset negative impacts & Girls Club, Community Dental of our goals was to have a quick affected by COVID and may be on the community due to the Clinic, Early Head Start Home turnaround because we knew the behind on their rent,” Ross said. novel coronavirus. Based Program, Feed A Friend, needs would be pretty immediate The Daviess County Help The fund was created in late Inc., Daniel Pitino Shelter, Help for some of the agencies.” Office and St. Vincent de Paul March by UWOV and the Green Office of Owensboro, Inc., In the have received River Area Community Foundation Hospice and Palliative Care of $100,000 each in to provide assistance to individuals beginning Western Kentucky, Lewis Lane Amy Silvert, GRACF grants from the experiencing economic hardships funding mostly Baptist Church, Lighthouse executive director, said went to provide response fund for as a result of COVID-19. Funding Recover y Ser vices, Inc., aid to those rental assistance, thus far has been intended to the response fund has Mathews Table, Inc., MentorKids in need of according to work in tandem with public helped to partner drivers Kentucky, Methodist Home of Ross. health, government and nonprofit food, shelter Kentucky-Mar y Kendall Campus, in need of work with the and medical Silvert said agencies already working on the New Life Church of Owensboro, Daviess County Senior assistance. donations, front lines providing financial Ohio County Food Pantr y, Silvert said the aid to vulnerable populations in Center, which was in need however, have Owensboro Faith Fellowship, response fund need of food, shelter, medical of drivers to deliver meals. dropped since Senior Community Center of has helped to the beginning and transportation assistance in Owensboro-Daviess County, partner drivers weeks of the the Green River Area of Daviess, in need of work with the Daviess response fund’s founding. She said Owensboro Family YMCA, Society Ohio, Union, Webster, Hancock of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Benedict County Senior Center, which was GRACF has not made appeals for and McLean counties. Joseph’s Shelter, St. Joseph Peace in need of drivers to deliver meals. funding recently, but it may have According to Amy Silvert, Mission for Children, Tenth Street Now, she said, any senior over to in coming weeks depending on GRACF executive director, the Missionar y Baptist Church, The the age of 60 is able to have meals how needs change as COVID-19 fund received fast support from delivered to their home if needed. continues to affect the community. Salvation Army-Owensboro, Union the City of Owensboro and County Happy Pack, Inc., and “There was a great increase “We’re really, right now, just Daviess Fiscal Court — with each Wendell Foster. in senior meals. The population watching and listening to the making a donation of $150,000 — Donations can be made online as well as some local philanthropic wasn’t able to get out and do their agencies that are working on the at www.uwov.org/donate/ or own shopping, and so we helped front lines because they’re doing groups. checks can be made to Green those agencies that provided the work and actually speaking Donations have also come River Area COVID-19 Response food and meals in the early days,” to those in need,” Silvert said. in from corporate donors, local Fund and mailed to P.O. Box 705, Silvert said. “ … It’s really hard to predict. businesses and individuals in the Owensboro, KY 42302. In recent weeks, with food Honestly, we’ve never been community, Ross said. Interested nonprofit agencies assistance needs leveling off, through anything like this, so the “We saw an impending need Silvert said the response fund has agencies are … just working week can find application information for assistance for folks who were to week and month to month to at https://uwov.org/covid-19out of work or were going to have been able to focus on addressing community needs for rent and find out what ... the community’s financial concerns in upcoming request-funds/.

MESSENGER-INQUIRER

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OUR REGION | McLean County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

TOURISM

Coronavirus pandemic puts only small hitch in Livermore trail town efforts

BY CHRISTIE NETHERTON MESSENGER-INQUIRER

lthough coronavirus has slowed Livermore’s Trail Town certification ef forts in some aspects, Livermore Enhancement Foundation Chairman Ralph Thacker said visitors are still getting plenty of use of the city’s outdoor tourism spots. According to the Kentucky Adventure Tourism Department, the benefits of becoming a trail town are that it creates a trail town economy, bringing tourists and businesses into the area, and encouraging business development. Trail towns also receive marketing and branding from the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet and will be featured on visitor guides and highway maps in addition to other promotional materials. LEF has been working tirelessly to move Livermore along in becoming a certified trail town and has made many strides in the past year and a half by adding tourism signs in the city (the first of which was unveiled in Januar y), the addition of canoe liver y in Southern Outdoors last summer and the opening of the River Trails Inn in October of last year. There were also plans to hold a trial run of biking and paddling trails early this summer and to celebrate the city’s progress in its trail town ef forts thus far, though the COVID-19 pandemic

Photo by Christie Netherton, McLean County News

Chad Hall and Ralph Thacker, left, unveil the new Livermore tourism sign along with Trail Town Task Force and Livermore community members in February. The sign is one of nine that will be placed around highways in Livermore to direct people to local parks and tourism spots. has halted the process. Thacker said he hopes to plan out trail trial runs by the end of September, depending on what happens with the virus, and have a Kentucky Trail Town certification for the city by October. In the meantime, however, Thacker said the city has had many adventure tourists staying

at the inn and utilizing the city’s natural outdoor tourist spots, especially the river trails. Southern Outdoors owner Mark Melloy said the canoe liver y has picked up a lot of momentum this summer in just its second season in operation. He said there have been a lot of paddlecraft renters from all over the region.

“It’s word of mouth. We’re developing a little bit of a reputation for having that business to of fer customers where you can come and rent, and we’ll do shuttle ser vice on the Green River, so all of that is gaining momentum,” he said. SEE TRAIL TOWN/PAGE 24

26 OUR REGION | McLean County

TRAIL TOWN

Southern Outdoors owner Mark Melloy said the Trail Town Task Force has been working for some time to get paddlecraft access points along the Rough River as well, specifically in Ohio County, to offer a more challenging route for avid canoeists and kayakers.

FROM PAGE 23

Melloy said the Trail Town Task Force has been working for some time to get paddlecraft access points along the Rough River as well, specifically in Ohio County, to offer a more challenging route for avid canoeists and kayakers. The efforts in gaining some of the access points, however, could take some time. Thacker said the access points are on private property, so the task force must have signed agreements from landowners before officially enabling paddlecraft access in those specific locations along the Rough River. Additionally, LEF is hoping to get funding for river dredging, which could take at least a year. “That may take months, it may be closer to next year before all that gets worked out, but we’re really excited about that Rough River potential,” Melloy said. “I think once we get there, it’s going to open up and we’ll start seeing more people from outside our

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area coming to the Livermore Rough River location.” LEF also recently held a cleanup event at the “Two Rivers Pavilion,” which Melloy said can only help to better ser ve the Livermore community and make the area more appealing to potential tourists. Thacker said the pavilion was in need of updating and new amenities. During the

cleanup efforts, the task force had plans to replace and stain fascia boards around the pavilion, power wash floors, paint, trim grass and remove log jams, along with several other tasks that will help make the park an area to be proud of. “Our vision is to kind of make the pavilion … our official trailhead for biking and our paddling trails … The big thing is making the restrooms accessible to the public in a predictable way,” Thacker said. “We need people that are biking or coming off the water. … People out enjoying the river, they need a place to come and use the restroom and a water fountain.” The task force also plans to install an official trailhead and Kentucky Trail Town sign at the pavilion in addition to time-controlled locks on restrooms to help keep any potential vandalism at bay at night, which he said the park has had issues with in the past. Thacker said there are still several other steps the task force plans on accomplishing in regard to the trails as well, including putting biking signage up on the side of trails and painting sharrows, or shared lane markings for bikes, on some of the city streets.

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30 OUR REGION | Muhlenberg County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

ENERGY

Leaders working to address effects of coal industry BY JACOB MULLIKEN

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ith the closure of Paradise Plant, the bankruptcy of Murray Energy and the continuing pull away from the coal industry across Kentucky and the nation, traditionally coal-driven areas like Muhlenberg County are scrambling to enter a new economic world. The economic impact on the county has been staggering, Muhlenberg County Judge-Executive Curtis McGehee said. “Our loss in TVA funds alone have been upward of $2.3 million,” he said. “The impact has been significant to local government. The mining industry has been dwindling for the past few years, and the loss in TVA funds, coupled with coal severance money being down almost $500,000 in this fiscal year, has been a big blow to us on the governmental level. We are fortunate that we had $1 million carryover, which was a shot in the arm, but not enough to make up for our loss of revenue.” Muhlenberg County is one of the few counties that doesn’t have an occupational tax, and despite the uncertain economic times facing the county, McGehee is advocating that taxes do not go up, he said. “I have recommended that we don’t raise taxes because these are not only difficult times for local government, but for the people,” he said. “They would have a hard time with a tax increase.” Out of the county’s $16 million annual budget that goes toward law enforcement, libraries and other county services, the fiscal court

only collects roughly $1.2 million, he said. As far as the tradition of coal in Muhlenberg County goes, the industry in no longer king. But McGehee said there are moves to attract new and robust industry to the county. “We have our Muhlenberg Alliance for Progress that works closely with other economic groups in Frankfort with the sole goal of recruiting industry into rural American and rural Kentucky, which is difficult right now,” he said. “We are hoping for a return of industry, because that is our county’s lifeline. Coal is diminishing and it has always been a generation’s old tradition in our community. In the late 1970s, we were the number one coal producing county in the world. There were many good jobs available at the time, and sadly that is no longer the case. It isn’t just us fighting this battle, and many are having a difficult time, but us in the coal region are feeling it particularly hard.” Even the Mulenberg County School Board is suffering, losing roughly $6 million in revenue to TVA shortfalls, McGehee said. “Right now, there is only one active mine in the county,” he said. “It used to be that we had several mines going at once, and that equals jobs and revenue.” County officials are focusing on keeping the budget balanced as they wait for the next industrial opportunity to provide stability to the area, he said. “We have already made significant cuts to the budget,” he said. “One of our biggest expenses was personnel, so to make those cuts, we have had to lay several people off from their jobs and cut

budgets across the board.” A major concern, as has been seen in predominantly coal-driven areas around the U.S., McGehee said, is that people will begin to leave seeking opportunity elsewhere, potentially creating ghost towns in areas that were once vibrant. “It is certainly a concern that I have,” he said. “It is becoming more difficult in our area for people to make a good living, and we have already begun losing members of our community to larger areas where there is larger industry. You can certainly understand that families have to make a living and their children have to be provided for. So, people are moving to where more industry exists.” For now, the reality is that, especially given the time, the county is in a pattern of “hurry up and wait,” he said. “The fiscal court and I have been discussing things that we would like to see done and possibilities moving forward,” McGehee said. “I have met with our mayors, and we have discussed strategies that would alleviate pressures on our citizens and local government without burdening the people, which can be a challenging task when you don’t have an occupational tax. But at the same time, you don’t want to heavily tax those that are fortunate enough to have a job. I don’t think that is the answer. We will continue to cut spending until we have a budget that we can live with. This year, our budget is about $16 million.” While coal may be on the way out, local officials, aside from making cuts, are also looking for possible revenue streams through potential partnerships, he said.

“I have been in talks with other judges,” McGehee said. “We have made an offer to some to house inmates in the county and dispatch their first responders. When I had learned of what the expense was for some of these other counties, I put numbers to it and we came up with a savings for them that would create revenue for us. Right now we are looking at establishing partnerships that could be beneficial for us and other counties.” For now, the focus will be on improving infrastructure, and even in the face of uncertainty, McGehee believes the people of Muhlenberg County will endure. “We are looking at things like putting in a transfer station, which would translate into a $200,000 annual savings,” he said. “The goal is to focus on infrastructure changes that have a long-term benefit. I was born and reared here. I served two terms as sheriff and know that people here have seen ups and downs, and we have worked through it. This is the most difficult time we have faced, but I am confident that we will work through it and deal with it in the most positive way that we can.”

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FINANCES

Muhlenberg fiscal court, school district looking to manage loss of TVA funds BY JAMES MAYSE

that didn’t receive direct payments from the agency. Now, everyone is trying to figure out how to cope. hen Tennessee Valley Muhlenberg County Authority’s last coal-fired power generating unit Judge-Executive Curtis McGehee at the Paradise Fossil Plant said he and county magistrates are near Drakesboro shut down, it still working on revenue-generating was the end of TVA’s history of proposals to help close a large gap in burning coal for electricity as the the county’s budget. They have had agency completed its transition to lay off workers as part of an effort to its combined-cycle gas plant at to reduce costs. Paradise that began a few years The county did carry over $1.1 before. million into its 2020-21 fiscal year Every year, TVA paid millions of budget from its previous one, dollars of “in lieu of taxes” payments McGehee said, and the surplus to both Muhlenberg Fiscal Court helped. But the county had to and Muhlenberg County Schools. reduce costs, including laying off 14 Those funds had been in decline, employees. and agencies like the school district “Our budget was pretty lean had taken steps to cope. The funds anyway,” McGehee said. “We don’t were expected to decline again this know if those cuts are going to be year. sufficient or not.” But instead of “declining,” TVA McGehee said county officials are dollars to the county and the schools still working on ideas to generate fell off a cliff. revenue, such as creating a transfer The county had “in lieu of taxes” station and charging garbage trucks funds from TVA reduced from $2.8 by weight rather than a flat rate. million during fiscal year 2019-20 “The transfer station is to $500,000 for the current fiscal still in talks, and I think in the year, which began in July. For not-too-distant future that will Muhlenberg County Schools, the cut become a reality,” McGehee said. in TVA dollars was “drastic,” with “I’m quite confident we will make the district losing millions of dollars, that happen.” district spokeswoman Carla Embry County magistrates are also still said. considering attaching its 911 fee to “We have been preparing for this, a utility bill rather than to landline but it was a huge amount lower than telephone bills. Landline telephones what they projected,” Embry said. have declined with the rise of “We thought it was going to be a cellular phones, so there are fewer gradual decline.” people paying the 911 fee. Instead, the payments nose-dived, “We feel the fairest way to Embry said. include every family is to put it on a The loss of TVA dollars has also utility bill,” McGehee said, and the affected Muhlenberg County towns magistrates want to move forward

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on the plan. Putting the fee on a utility bill would generate about $250,00 in revenue for the county, he said. Also, a plan to offer 911 services to an adjacent county is not dead, but the outlook is uncertain, McGehee said in July. “That plan has not panned out as yet,” McGehee said. “There’s a possibility that could happen, but I’m not as optimistic as I was.” The idea is that Muhlenberg’s dispatch center could provide

services to other counties cheaper than if the counties had their own center. McGehee wouldn’t name the counties Muhlenberg officials have met with, but said in one case, “I think we could have saved them $150,000, and it was not one of our larger counties.” Greenville Mayor Janice Yonts said Greenville didn’t receive money directly from TVA, but the city has felt the impact of the cuts. SEE TVA FUNDS/PAGE 30

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32 OUR REGION | Ohio County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

INNOVATION

WPT Nonwovens thrives amid pandemic

BY JIM PICKENS

MESSENGER-INQUIRER

ravis Robbins has heeded the call — and then some. Robbins is the 32-year-old plant manager for Beaver Dam-based WPT Nonwovens, a company owned and operated by his family. In early spring, as the COVID- 19 pandemic first hit big in America, Robbins watched as health professionals and other emergency management personnel extended pleas for personal protective equipment in the midst of the crisis. After several individuals within the local community reached out asking for help, WPT Nonwovens took action. “My family and I decided that it would be the best thing for us to secure equipment and deliver to our supply lines and start producing N95 and surgical masks in America, in Kentucky, in mass quantities,” Robbins said, “(and) to try to fill the need and bridge the gap in supply and demand ...” To state that business has subsequently boomed for WPT Nonwovens is an understatement. “It’s certainly been surprising to see how well this has been received,” Robbins said.

TVA FUNDS

“Large companies came looking for us, and that’s not the way it usually works.” At the outset, WPT Nonwovens — a company that creates medical, hygiene and air filtration systems, among other products — purchased $500,000 worth of new machinery that would create N95 and surgical masks in mass quantities. By the first of June, they were producing 35,000 masks per day in a 5,000-square-foot facility at their Beaver Dam plant. It was only the beginning. “Since then, we’ve invested another $1.5 million,” Robbins said in late July. “Originally, we were shipping out 100,000 masks a day, and now we’re soon to be at about 2.5 million per week. From the very start, we just felt like there was going to be a very high demand. “We’ve hired 50 people, and we’ll probably hire another 30 in the next two to three months. Originally, we had two machines, and we’ve added two additional American-made machines to meet the product demand.” Moreover, WPT Nonwoven’s coronavirusrelated production is not limited to masks. “We’re selling new nonwoven materials all over the country,” Robbins said. “The demand for such materials has been pretty amazing.” At the outset, Robbins made it a priority

For Muhlenberg County Schools, the sudden decline in TVA revenue came while the school was struggling with the financial impact FROM PAGE 29 of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s horrible timing,” Embry said. “Indirectly, it does affect us,” Yonts said. “The judge has called and “... Our feeding program continued through the entire summer” and asked if we could help do things” buses were used every Tuesday to that were previously done by the county. For example, the city is now deliver five days’ worth of breakfasts and lunches to students in the handling its own trash collection. “The way it’s affecting us is (with) program, she said. The district cut pay for teachers more work,” Yonts said. The city has in 2015 in order to balance its pitched in to help the county when budget. In anticipation of losing TVA needed, she said. “It’s one of those things where, to revenue, the school district has been making careful financial decisions, get through this, it has to be a team Embry said. relationship,” Yonts said.

to support the immediate area and the commonwealth. “We said first and foremost we are going to support the state of Kentucky,” he said in April. “Above and beyond that, we have been in contact with several (group purchasing organizations) and several large hospital chains, and we will be supporting solely the United States with these products.” Jodi Ashby, Ohio County Economic Development Alliance executive director, said other companies in the county talked about repurposing their production lines to assist in the pandemic, but, to her knowledge, none did. Meanwhile, Ashby is not surprised by the success of WPT Nonwovens. “WPT Nonwovens is very unique in terms of their innovative spirit,” Ashby said. “The management of that company and Travis’ motivation to lead the company forward has been impressive. “Travis has taken advantage of his resources. He’s very exploratory with regard to new ideas of all sorts. He’s open to exploring all kinds of things. “Ohio County is very fortunate to have a company like this in our midst.”

“Our finance officer has done an excellent job in cutting every area we can in our expenses,” Embry said. “We have gotten much more efficient in our heating and cooling in our buildings” over the last couple of years “because we knew TVA is pulling out,” she said. The school district weighs its staffing needs carefully in order to control expenses. “As we’ve had retirements, we’ve been very cautious in what retirements we had to fill, Embry said. The closure of the coal-fired coal unit at Paradise has had an unintended impact on school

enrollment, which also affects funding for the district. Namely, families of TVA employees with children left the county, Embry said. “Those folks had to go elsewhere,” she said. “It’s a difficult time for Muhlenberg County,” McGehee said, but Fiscal Court members are working together to manage the loss of funds. “The magistrates have been great to work with,” McGehee said. “... We all realize none of us have all the answers, but when we put our heads together, it gives us a better chance to move forward.”

OUR REGION | Ohio County

Saturday, August 29, 2020

FEEDING PROGRAMS

Ohio County Food Pantry serves about 500 families per month BY RENEE BEASLEY JONES

After about two years at the school, the pantry moved to a hen the Ohio County Food former gas station on U.S. 231 in Hartford. The building has been Pantry’s shelves got bare expanded and remodeled since. earlier this year, a $300 A couple of years ago, the gift came with a challenge to raise building’s owner donated the more. facility to the food pantry. It’s just Miraculously, that donation turned into an $18,000 windfall — in another show of support from the community, Patti Boone said. “On just two weeks’ time. (U.S.) 231, that was a tremendous That’s the type of allegiance the gift.” Hartford-based food pantry has Ohio County Food Pantry serves earned since it started in 2007. an average of 500 families per “You cannot underestimate the month. Each week, it also fills 350 people of Ohio County,” said Patti kids’ backpacks with enough food Boone, a longtime volunteer. “We to get them through the weekend. were shocked.” The pantry opens at 5 p.m. And those funds came at a time every Wednesday to fill household when they were needed most — cupboards. in late April, after COVID-19 hit. “The pantry means a lot Regional food pantries have been to the county,” Ohio County hit hard during the worldwide pandemic because many people lost Judge-Executive David Johnston said. “I was shocked when I saw the their jobs after businesses closed during the state’s Healthy at Home amount of need and food insecure people in the county.” phase. County officials help the pantry Regardless of the circumstances, the Ohio County Food Pantry stood by providing a tractor-trailer to transport food from a supplier ready to serve. to the pantry, which saves the Barnetts Creek Baptist Church nonprofit from paying shipping started the pantry in 2007. costs. For several years, Boone’s “If you come by there on a husband, Jimmy Boone, served as the director, and she was the secre- Wednesday evening when they distribute food, you cannot imagine tary-treasurer. the amount of cars that line up for The couple attended Barnetts it,” Johnston said. “(The pantry) is Creek. At the time, the church’s pastor wanted to start a food pantry. very important and fills a need for our county.” Patti Boone remembers Along with serving 500 families its humble beginnings in the classroom of an old school building. per month, the pantry also helps residents who experience “It was small. It was tiny,” she emergencies. If someone’s freezer said.

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goes kaput, a home burns or grandparents end up raising a house full of grandchildren, the Ohio County Food Pantry comes to the rescue. “We get a lot of calls for emergency help,” Patti Boone said. Parts of Ohio County are considered a food desert. The county has a large land mass but few grocery stores. Many elderly have difficulty driving to Owensboro or other counties to purchase food, and lack of transportation is a barrier for some younger families. “We are a reliable source of food for any family that needs it,” Patti Boone said. “We are consistent and reliable, and we have the means to help.” The pantry runs on volunteer help. For example, Patti Boone’s three sisters and their husbands work there. Many local churches and businesses assist. Patti Boone said 35 volunteers work at the nonprofit on a regular basis. Others pitch in as needed. In all, she estimates about 60 people keep the place humming. “Some are little kids,” she said. “Some are high school kids, senior citizens, all ages.” That community spirit has kept the food pantry open and serving families throughout COVID-19. Besides the $18,000 fundraiser, other donations have poured in. Prairie Farms has donated dairy products, and an Owensboro

bakery has provided bread. Also, a tractor-trailer recently delivered a load of Florida produce. “We’ve had a lot of good stuff donated in the last few months,” Patti Boone said. She thinks community residents donate because they know the pantry has no paid staff, and administrative fees come out of gifts. When it comes to renovating the building, pantry officials made two promises, she said: They would never go into debt to improve the building, and they would not use donations meant for food. They’ve always lived up to those vows. “We’ve built a reputation of being fair and honest,” Patti Boone said. The Ohio County Food Pantry has been a passion of hers since the beginning. “It just feels right,” she said. “When you know you are helping hungry kids and seniors on fixed incomes, it’s a blessing.”

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