Ice Storm

LANCASTER - A grand jury will review today the case of a man, who allegedly entered a Lancaster woman's house and harassed her and her daughter, after another grand jury failed to indict him earlier this month. Jeffrey McCoy, 23, of Haselden Heights in Lancaster, was scheduled to have his case reviewed by a Garrard County grand jury earlier this month on charges of second-degree burglary, first-degree criminal trespassing and menacing. But the grand jury failed to indict McCoy on the charges.

If you're like me, after the loooong and trying winter we had cleaning up tree limbs and other mess made by the ice storm, gardening this spring wasn't at the top of my priorities list. But I won't miss it much this year - I have a back-up plan for my summer food-fest. The farmers markets are in full swing, and I plan to visit as many of them as my refrigerator can bear. Visiting farmer's markets is a summer treat. Families can find a surprising variety of items for sale and they can experience the added bonus of meeting the people who grow, make or sell them.

STANFORD - Pat Rice looked forward to his retirement for years, but once he finally retired, he found his golden years to be made out of tin. "I had spent 30-plus years working in a factory and was anxious to enjoy an easier lifestyle," said Rice. "But I found retirement was not all it was cracked up to be. " The main thing he missed about work was that it kept him busy and it provided him structure, not to mention some income and benefits beyond what he was getting in retirement pay. So about three years ago, he applied for a job with Stanford's Department of Public Works and today serves as its director.

Somewhere in the FEMA pipeline, there's nearly $2.5 million destined to be delivered to area governments as payback for the money they spent dealing with January's ice storm. When all of those reimbursement funds will find their way into local coffers is not known - it could take another year or more - but the first trickle of that FEMA money should be flowing into the area in the form of electronic deposits any day now. "Projects that have had their final reviews should be receiving money within the next two to three weeks," said Stephanie Robey, an internal policy analyst for Kentucky Emergency Management, which is doling out the FEMA funds to local governments.

Victor Nunez represents a striking exception to the pay-it-forward model of charitable giving. In fact, Nunez, who was a recipient of aid from the food bank at the First Baptist Church, Second and Walnut streets, didn't waste any time in paying it back once he reached financial stability. "Victor was coming for a period of a few months while he was unable to readily find employment," said Tom Butler who oversees the food bank at the church. "Not long after he was able to find a job, he made a very substantial contribution.

Many residents of Nicholasville and Wilmore were left in the dark for several hours Monday night after a guy line wire knocked out several substations around 9 p.m. Robert Blackford, of Nicholasville Utilities said the problem originated with a Kentucky Utilities line near Edgewood Drive and affected customers of both Kentucky Utilities and Nicholasville Utilities. "We had a guy line at a substation that rotted out at the ground and fell on a transmission line and knocked out the substations," Blackford said.

The Kentucky Service Commission wants to know how utility companies performed during the ice storm which left as many as 700,000 homes and businesses with out power in February. The commission is seeking feedback from utility customers affected by the ice storm, which along with wind damage from Hurricane Ike, caused the two worst power outages in Kentucky's history. There are several ways to provide the feedback. An online survey is available on the PSC Web site at psc.ky.

Dear Editor, My husband and I moved to his home state of Kentucky four years ago. We purchased a home on Tanner Circle, a new "development. " If you have never heard of Tanner Circle, I am not surprised. After almost five years there is still not a road sign designating our street. The blame for this keeps getting put back on the builder for failure to dedicate the road to Lincoln County. Tanner Circle is off of Crawford Lane, one street past Sloan and to the left. With the addition of Tanner Circle, Crawford Lane has become very busy.

When a motorist hits a pothole in Danville, Ronnie Yates imagines what some of the words in the driver's expletives likely will be. "Dang that public works department," says Yates, assistant director. "They can't even fix a darn pothole. " But he then adds with a chuckle, "I don't think they would say 'dang' or 'darn.'" Yates realizes the importance of filling potholes. "The residents of this town expect their streets to be in driveable condition, and making them that way is one of our goals every day," he says.

Mr. Broihier, In your editorial of May 28, 2009 you quoted Jonathan Swift in an apparent attempt to inject a bit of "intellect" into your article. However, upon examination, your editorial seems to exhibit a much greater "emotional" opinion than an intellectual one. It seems that you are personally attached to this particular action of the members of the Fiscal Court. You make several points we would like to address. A. You "incorrectly" state that the EM position has been empty for three and one-half months.