Adair County Community Voice

Thoughtful, Thorough, and Truthful News Coverage in Columbia, Kentucky

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Local group is collecting new shoes for students

The new school year begins on Aug. 8 and one community group is making sure that at least 200 school kids will go to school with new shoes.

With the economy the way it is, it’s harder for parents to buy new shoes especially if they have more than one child, said co-founder Cricket McCloud.

Four years ago McCloud, Mindy Smith, Jennifer Richard, Columbia Christian Church Youth and Family Minister Adam Shepard, and family resource and youth center representatives got together and came up with the Kids Needs Kicks Ministry.

They wanted to do something similar to the angel tree program during Christmas. Church groups, businesses and individuals can donate a pair of new shoes. KNK will work with the youth service and family resource centers to match up a student with a pair of shoes.

“Kids feel better about themselves when they have a new pair of shoes,” McCloud said. “The kids are just tickled to death if they get something name brand. They just light up.”

Those looking to donate can either choose a shoe card with a shoe size and gender or make a donation on their own. The deadline to return shoes with the “Shoe Box” program will be July 24 or as near to that deadline as possible.

Shoes can be dropped off at Columbia Christian Church, First and Farmers National Bank on the square and at the Community Voice office.

For more information regarding the ministry or donations, Kids Need Kicks Ministry Committee Members may be contacted as follows: Cricket McCloud at 385-9633; Mindy Smith at 250-6060, Adam Shepard at 384-2612 or Paula Garrison at 384-9752.

Nine indicted on drug charges

Nine people were indicted in Adair Circuit Court this week on various drug charges.

Eight of those who were indicted were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine.

• Cheyenne Dial, 36, manufacturing methamphetamine; possession of a controlled substance—methamphetamine, 1st degree, 1st offense; possession of drug paraphernalia. Arraignment is July 24 at 1 p.m. Bail is $25,000.

• Robin Lynn Morrison, aka Robin Lynn Nuszbaum, 30, manufacturing methamphetamine; possession of a controlled substance—methamphetamine, 1st degree, 1st offense; possession of drug paraphernalia. Arraignment is July 24 at 1 p.m. Bail is $25,000.

• Pamela McKinney Mosby Greer, 40, manufacturing methamphetamine, 2nd or greater offense; persistent felony offender, 2nd degree; possession of a controlled substance—methamphetamine, 3rd or greater offense; possession of marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia. Arraignment is Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. Bail is $25,000.

• Aaron Dale McKinney, 36, manufacturing methamphetamine, 2nd or greater offense; two counts of persistent felony offender, 1st degree; possession of a controlled substance—methamphetamine, 1st degree, 3rd or greater offense; possession of marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia; tampering with physical evidence. Arraignment is Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. Bail is $25,000.

• Selisa Nichole McKinney, 31, manufacturing methamphetamine, 1st offense; persistent felony offender, 2nd degree; possession of a controlled substance—methamphetamine, 1st degree, 1st offense; possession of marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia. Arraignment is Aug. 14 at 1 p.m. Bail is set at $25,000.

• Zackary Paul Morgan, 19, manufacturing methamphetamine, 1st offense; possession of a controlled substance—methamphetamine, 1st degree, 1st offense; possession of marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia; tampering with physical evidence. Arraignment is Aug. 14. Bail is set at $25,000.

• Jamie M. Benham, 23, manufacturing methamphetamine. Arraignment is Aug. 21 at 9 a.m. Bail is set at $25,000.

• Christopher P. Benham, 32, manufacturing methamphetamine; persistent felony offender, 1st degree. Arraignment is Aug. 21 at 9 a.m. Bail is set at $25,000 cash.

One person was indicted for trafficking in cocaine.

Gary Wayne Carter, Jr., 32, three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance—cocaine, 1st degree, 1st offense; three counts of persistent felony offender, 1st degree; possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; possession of a handgun by a convicted felon. Arraignment is Aug. 21 at 9 a.m. Bail is set at $100,000.

KACO ATTORNEY: Hospital tax subject to recall

While others are trying to clarify how to properly establish a tax after 15 years, the hospital district board apparently plans to move forward with a vote on the issue Friday.

Judge Executive Ann Melton said Tuesday that an opinion from the Attorney General’s office might not be final by the time the hospital board votes Friday.

The hospital board set the wheels in motion on June 26 to initiate a 3.7 cents tax per $100 assessment, the first time the hospital district attempted to impose a tax since 1997.

Hospital officials said they believe the board has the authority to “reinstate” the tax from 15 years ago without being subject to recall, but admitted the move is unprecedented and the process unclear.

Melton requested the AG opinion and her request was supported unanimously by members of the fiscal court.

Melton said she spoke last week to an attorney with the Kentucky Association of Counties who said he believes the tax will be subject to recall.

To read more on this story, see the July 19 issue of the Community Voice.

LWC math professor wins national white-water conoeing award

COLUMBIA, Ky. — Scott Dillery’s interest in white-water canoeing recently led to a national achievement.

Dillery — a Campbellsville, Ky., resident who is a Lindsey Wilson College associate professor of mathematics — won a national championship at the White Water Open Canoe Downriver Nationals, held in June on the Nantahala River in near Wesser, N.C.

Dillery and and his partner, Zaak Havens of Michigan, completed an eight-mile course on the Nantahala River in just under 56 minutes to become national champions in the men’s 18-39 OC-2 F16 class. Although Dillery is 51 years old, the duo competed in the 18-39 age group because Havens is 24.

Havens and Dillery also competed in the sprint course, covering it 7:30.9 for the silver, 6.9 seconds behind the first-place team; and Dillery competed individually at the event, earning a fifth-place finish in the sprint and a fourth-place finish in the long course.

It was the fifth time Dillery has competed in the national event, and this year was his best showing.

“It’s just a lot of fun,” Dillery said. “I like the people involved with the event. They are really fun people to be with.”

When Dillery first competed in the national event in the late-1990s, “I didn’t do very well, but I had a really good time.”

Dillery said that one of the appeals of competing in a canoe race on a white-water river is the thrill the sport gives participants.

“It’s one of those things that, while you are doing it, it gets your adrenalin going because of the excitement,” he said. “But at the same time, you know that if you follow all of the safety rules, it’s a pretty safe sport.”

Dillery equates riding a river’s white-water rapids to “like getting on a roller coaster.”

“You know you’re going to be OK, but the whole time you’re heading down that first hill it does feel a little risky,” he said.

Lindsey Wilson College Associate Professor of Mathematics Scott Dillery, right, and teammate Zaak Havens head into the stretch of the men’s 18-39 OC-2 F16 class of the 2012 White Water Open Canoe Downriver Nationals, held in June on the Nantahala River in near Wesser, N.C.