Vol. 104, No. 11 Liberty, Kentucky, Wednesday, March 14, 2012 16 Pages–75¢

CASEYASEY COUNTYOUNTY NEWSEWSCCASEYASEY CCOUNTYOUNTY NNEWSEWSTHETHETHETHE www.caseynews.net

Charlene Jo Ellis Bolt, 81David “D.G.” Elliott, 85

Leemon Goodin, 83Opal M. Pelley, 93

James A. Salyers, 77Gary Whited, 52

Obituaries on page 4

Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Around the Area. . . . . . . . . . . .5Public Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Church . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Out of the Past . . . . . . . . . . . 12Police News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-10Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Crossword Puzzle . . . . . . . . . 12

INDEXINDEX

OBITUARIESOBITUARIES

“ “This is the 15th anniversary of PRIDE and we can celebrate a visible difference in our region. –Tammie Wilson

PRIDE Coordinator

■ See WILD/13

BRIEFSBRIEFS

Taming the Taming the wild westwild west

photo/LARRY ROWELLKathleen Walls builds trust with the yearling Mustang that she and her husband, Epp, adopted in early March at a wild horse adoption event held at the Central Kentucky AG/EXPO Center.

Wild horses from out west adopted locallyBy Larry Rowell

Staff Writer

Mustangs born to run wild on the plains in the western part of the United States have found new homes in Casey County, thanks to a program sponsored by a bureau of the federal government.

Called a “wild horse adoption” and spon-sored by the Bureau of Land Management, the program allows residents in other parts of the United States to adopt mustangs culled from a wild herd out west.

According to Emma Rinehart, a wild horse specialist with the BLM in Jackson, Miss., 75 horses were put up for adoption at the Central Kentucky AG/EXPO Center on March 2-4.

Rinehart said that the BLM captures most of the horses in Nevada, Oregon, Wyoming and California.

“We hold about 12 to 15 adoptions a year

nationwide,” she said, adding that between 500 and 700 horses were adopted last year.

In Liberty, there were plenty of horses and burrows for people to look at.

“We came in with 75 horses and left with 16,” she said, adding that she was very pleased with the response from those who adopted the horses and the quality of the ag center.

Locally, 11 Casey Countians took home 14 of the horses up for adoption, Rinehart said.

Kathleen Walls said she took her time during the three day event to choose the right horse.

Walls and her husband, Epp, have nine horses on a 130-acre farm in the Clementsville area.

“I spent three hours watching the horses in the herd. There’s a pecking order and I watched how horses reacted to each other,” Walls said.

The experienced equestrian from Louisiana fi nally settled on a yearling bay roan she would name “Nevada.”

Annual PRIDE cleanup effort begins April 1By Larry Rowell

Staff Writer

Spring cleaning in a home is a ritual that many people practice after a long winter. And each spring the call goes out for the com-munity to rally together to clean up trash and debris along the roads, creeks and lakes in Liberty and Casey County.

PRIDE (Personal Re-sponsibility in a Desirable Environment) spring clean-ing begins April 1 and runs throughout the month.

“Saving Our World, One Cleanup at a Time” is the 2012 PRIDE theme.

The program was fi rst implemented in 1997 by Congressman Hal Rogers and the late Gen. James

Bickford, former secretary of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection.

PRIDE serves 38 coun-ties in southern and eastern Kentucky, which clean wa-terways, roadside trash and illegal dump sites. Casey

County will receive $6,000 this year to fund the clean-up effort. The city of Lib-erty will receive $250.

“Disposing of the trash volunteers collect costs money, and that’s where the Spring Cleanup Funds come in,” said PRIDE Coordina-tor Tammie Wilson. “The funds also help local gov-ernments pay contractors to remove dumps that are too big or dangerous for volun-teers.”

“This is the 15th anniver-sary of PRIDE, and we can celebrate a visible differ-ence in our region,” Wilson added. “PRIDE volunteers have picked up 699,442 bags of trash since 1997, and 2,869 illegal dumps have been eliminated from our landscape.”

According to Judy Al-len, Casey County Deputy Judge/Executive, and this year’s PRIDE coordina-tor for the county, several church and civic groups have already signed up.

“A group can sign up with me at the county judge/executive’s offi ce where I work,” she said. “When they sign up, they get free T-shirts, trash bags, vests and gloves.”

Allen said a group, with any number of people, can designate a place to clean or she can suggest sites around the county.

When the work is com-pleted, Allen said, she would like to know how many bags of trash were collected and the number of hours the group worked.

Robert Holton, solid waste coordinator for the county, will pick up the bags of trash the groups collect.

Even though the inmates at the Casey County Deten-tion Center pick up most of the roadside trash during the year, they cannot collect it all, Allen said, referring to the various dumps that people create along creeks, lakes and in cemeteries.

Bridgett Blake is coor-dinating the PRIDE effort for the city of Liberty. Any groups willing to work in the city limits are asked to con-tact her at City Hall for trash bags, gloves and vests.

Blake can also suggest sites if a group needs one.

For more information, contact Allen at 787-6154 or Blake at 787-9973.

Tentative CCHSgraduation

date is May 12By Larry Rowell

Staff Writer

The Casey County Board of Education has tentatively setSaturday, May 12 as the graduation date for Casey CountyHigh School.

At question during Monday night’s meeting was the timeof graduation.

CCHS Principal Barry Lee offered the BOE two options— 2 p.m. or 7 p.m.

“If we have graduation at 7 then there’s the question aboutProject Graduation and getting the kids home in time to goto church the next morning,” Lee said.

In years past, graduation has typically been held on Fridaynight and following the ceremony, students attended ProjectGraduation, an event designed to keep the students off theroads by offering them fun activities, food and a chance towin prizes.

The last day of school for students was also set for Friday.May 11.

Nicki Tarter, representing the Casey County Relay forLife Committee, told the board that the annual 6 p.m. to6 a.m. event which raises money for cancer research is onMay 11 and would confl ict with graduation if it was held onFriday night.

But all the discussion about the last day of school andgraduation is contingent upon students not having to missclasses for any weather or other related issues, said Super-intendent Linda Hatter.

In other business, the board: Heard Director of Pupil Personnel Kevin Stephens say

that Liberty Elementary had won the seven month atten-dance award with a 96.88. LES leads the four other schoolsin the district with an average 96.59 yearly attendance rate.The district’s overall average attendance stands at 95.29, upslightly from last year’s rate of 95.17.

Heard Hatter say that the fi nal payment of $19,897 hadbeen made to Hinkle Contracting for the completion of the$198,969 contract to expand the parking lots at Jones Parkand Walnut Hill elementary schools.

The board also accepted Hatter’s recommendation for the2012-13 school calendar. Opening day is set for Aug. 7 withstudents’ fi rst day on Aug. 8. Fall break is set for Oct. 11-12and Christmas break is on Dec. 20-31. Spring break is April1-5 while the last day of school for students is set for May21.

In addition, Hatter recommended that the board accept thelow bid of $335 from C & T Lawn Service for grass mow-ing at JPE and WHE. Mike Fair and Cutting Edge Lawn andTree Service both bid $425 and Kelly’s Mowing Servicewas the highest at $550.

Heard Deena Randolph, manager of district wide ser-vices, say that the general fund had $5.3 million in cash,with total cash at $9.3 million.

Heard Hatter report on the following personnel action:Sarah Lucas was employed as a payroll clerk.Margaret Brown was employed as a substitute teacher’s

aide, cook, and janitor while Sharon Brown was hired as asubstitute cook and janitor.

The board also accepted resignations from Gwen Mar-cum, school health coordinator; Andy Hall as AFJROTCInstructor; and Vivian Lane, occupational therapist, con-tractual services.

Spring sports prepare for 2012 season — pages 8 & 9

Last day for students is May 11

CommoditiesCommodities will be distributed to income-eligible residents from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today, Wednesday, March 14, at the Casey County Recycling Center. Recipients are asked to bring their own containers.

City CouncilLiberty City Council will meet in regular session at 5 p.m. today, Wednesday March 14, at City Hall.

Fiscal CourtThe Casey Council Fiscal Court will meet in regular session Monday, March 19 at 5 p.m. upstairs in the old Courthouse.

Blood DriveKentucky Blood Center will host a blood drive Thursday, March 15 from 12 noon to 6 p.m. at the Casey County Extension Office.