Trees

An inmate at the Jessamine County Detention Center was killed Monday while working off River Road with the State Highway Department. John Michael Hager, 35, of Nicholasville, was cutting down trees in southern Jessamine County when one of the trees he was working on fell on him. He died form his injuries. "It's a tragic accident," Jessamine County Chief Deputy Allen "Doodle" Peel said. Hager was a Class D, or non-violent, inmate at the jail. The Kentucky State Highway Department uses some inmates to do labor around the state's roads such as maintenance and picking up litter.

A swift-moving line of storms delivered a quick hit to Central Kentucky Monday afternoon, toppling trees and knocking out power but causing no major damage. Meteorologist Chris Smallcomb of the National Weather Service in Louisville described the system as "quite intense" as whipped up straight-line winds between 70 and 80 mph brought down trees throughout Central and Eastern Kentucky. The storm blew through Danville about 5 p.m., said Capt. James Monroe of the Danville Police Department.

Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival committee member Bobby Bailey worked above College Park Thursday morning hanging and wiring six speakers in trees throughout the park. Bailey was one of several workers from different city and county agencies that have been preparing for the annual Daniel Boone Pioneer Festival this weekend.

Dear Editor: The National College of Business and Technology is breaking our hearts on Lexington Avenue. The college plans to construct an unsightly 46-car parking lot right out front on our beautiful residential street. This plan threatens our lovely historic district. Don't let it happen! The business college has already destroyed six or more 100-year-old trees: oak, gingko, pine. Most of these trees were not near the proposed parking lot areas and would not drop their aged limbs on parked cars.

Department of highways personnel plan to conduct the following maintenance activities in Lincoln County for the week of Oct. 8-12: Monday, Oct. 8: â?¢Install entrance tile on Ky. 643 at MP 10-11 â?¢Mowing on Ky. 590 at MP 0-7 Tuesday, Oct. 9: â?¢Repair shoulder on Ky. 643 at MP 7-8 â?¢Mowing on Ky. 1150 and 3248 at MP 0-2 Wednesday, Oct. 10: â?¢Repair shoulder on Ky. 1781 at MP 9-10 â?¢Mowing on Ky. 698 at MP 0-12 Thursday, Oct. 11: â?

A Clay City man was killed and another was injured in Clark County Saturday when a truck slid off the Mountain Parkway and smashed into two trees. Passenger Anthony Goodwin, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene, while the driver, Edward Pence, 62, was airlifted to the University of Kentucky Medical Center with multiple injuries. According to the Clark County Sheriff's Office, the two men were traveling westbound around 9:15 p.m. 10 miles east of Winchester. The driver attempted to change lanes when he lost control of the vehicle.

A historic home on 130 W. Lexington Ave., owned by Sam Ratliff, was recently restored by Ferguson Construction and Odd Jobs. While the exact date that the house was built is not known, it was definitely completed before 1877, said Ratliff, because it is then visible on city maps. "We traced it back to 1870," he said, but he believes the house was probably built earlier, around 1850. Before the restoration, top photo, the house was not visible from the road because of trees blocking the front.

Something needs to be done about visibility on Glass Mill Road I'm writing in regard to the one-lane bridges that have curves right before them on both sides on Glass Mill Road, the creekside stretch of 1268. The vegetation and trees are so grown up that visibility is basically nonexistant. I have come very close to head-on collisions due to not being able to see an oncoming vehicle due to the vegetation overgrowth. The one long bridge with stone walls has two evergreen trees that greatly need removing because visibility to the other side is basically impossible until a motorist is already on the bridge way too late.

To Larry Moss removing the falling leaves at College Park may seem a never-ending job. Moss, an employee of the Winchester-Clark County Parks and Recreation Department, has been over the park more than six times this fall, removing leaves covering the ground. His task will soon come to an end as more trees in the park become barren of leaves.