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SMALl_TOWN NEWSPAPERS ~CO@6
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SEATTLE WA 98136-1208
Lyons wants Fiscal Court to control ambulance service
By George Lewis persons handling u vOile auditing firm that
News Reporter
~e@~~com
Lyons wants fiscal
court to control ambu-
lance service By George
Lewis The Bath County
Amhulance Board should
be disbanded and the
ambulance service placed
Under the control of fiscal
court, Judge Executive
Ronnie Lyons said last
week. Magistrates unan-
imously agreed.
In a prepared state-
merit read during last
week's fiscal court meet-
ing, Lyons said: "With the
fiscal court's approval, I
would like to direct the
Bath County attorney to
investigate what steps
legally the county needs
to take to reorganize the
Bath County Ambulance
Service to provide for
greater accountability of
III
funds for the Ambulance
Service. I feel that reor-
ganization is necessa
due to the findings of the
recent audit of the Am-
bulance Service that has
outlined numerous irreg-
ularities. I would like for
there to be reorganiza-
tion that would make the
Ambulance Service an
agency of county govern-
ment, if possible."
Lyons noted that other
counties have reorga-
nized control of their
ambulances in a similar
fashion.
"All we're after is just
to be more responsible
with taxpayers' dollars
and for the county to pro-
vide the good service that
the citizens deserve,"
Lyons said.
The recent audit that
Lyons referred to is still
under way by a Louis-
specializes in ferreting
out fraud. While some
findings of the audit have
been made known to
county officials, the full
report may not be made
public for quite some
time, ff at all, according
to comments made re-
cently by a source close
to the investigation who
discussed the audit only
on the condition of ano-
nymity. When completed
and vetted through the
accounting firm, the au-
dit findings will be turned
over to state police, who
will decide when and if to'
release them to the pub-
lic, the source said.
.
Fiscal court commis-
sioned the audit to de-
termine how more than
a $150,000 in taxpayer
money went missing
See Fiscal Court Page 13
I
g man
By Charles Mattox
News Editor
charles@ becarlislemercury.com
A Fleming County
man was pronounced
dead following a single-
vehicle accident on East
Fork Road, Owingsville,
on Monday afternoon.
According to Kentucky
State Police, Wes Land-
saw, 28, of the western
Fleming County com-
munity of Ewing, was
driving a 2003 Chevy
Suburban at approxi-
PIm~o by George Lew/s
Vearl Pennington played Taps at the conclusion of the Veteran's
Day ceremony on the courthouse lawn.
II I I
mately 2:45 p.m., when Landsaw appeared to
He suddenly veered off be suffering from a sud-
the road, which caused
the vehicle to turn onto
its side.
"Passengers in the ve-
hicle reported that just
before the accident, Mr.
er, 29; Chris Lengach- ceased at the scene
er, 29 and a juvenile shortly following the
den unknown medical male 14- ear-old, all of accident.
emergency," according Maysville, were unin- Kentucky State Police
to KSP. jured. Troopers Jeremy Harem
Three male passen- Bath County Coro- and Mike Armstrong
gers in the Landsaw ner Robert Powell pro-continue to investigate
vehicle: Victor Lengach- nounced Landsaw de- the accident.
I II I
III
l
.I
• l
By George Lewis
News Reporter
_ _ =4= z = . ~
Friday's bid opening for
construction of the first
phase of the Streetscape
Improvement Project in
Owingsville was similar
to the first bid opening
held for the project last
month -- the same com-
pany was the low bidder.
Whether that bid with-
stands analysis the sec-
ond time around remains
to be seen. The company's
bid was rejected in Oc-
tober after city officials
deemed it unbalanced,
which is to say some
items were bid unusually
high or low, in relation to
engineers' estimates.
The Harris Group of
Georgetown was the
low bidder Friday at
$195,623.25.
The Neal Co. of Lex-
ington submitted a bid
of $198,284.28, Freder-
ick and May Construc-
tion of West Liberty bid
$230,598, and in an ap-
parent gross miscalcula-
tion that left those in at-
tendance scratching their
heads in wonderment,
Larry W. Coffey Con-
struction of Berea sub-
mitted a bid of $449,000.
One possible reason
Coffey's bid was so out of
line with the other bids
could be the difficulty the
construction companies
"had receiving complete
information on the proj-
ect from Lynn Imag-
ing of Lexington, a firm
contracted to disburse
to retail construction
companies schematics
and other graphics on
projects such as Owings-
ville's. Reportedly, Lynn
Imaging had switched
to a new computer pro-
gram, which was not
working properly.
whatever the reason,
city officials are hopeful
that the information-
transfer snafu won't
scuttle the second bid
process and require the
project to be rebid
The city council has
scheduled a called meet-
ing for Monday, Nov. 22
at city hall to consider
the more recent round of
bids.
In the first round of
bidding last month, the
Harris Group, which
is said to be an upstart
company, submitted
the low bid of $188,000.
However, the council
awarded the contract to
the second-lowest bid-
der, Woodall Construc-
tion Co., of Lexington,
for a bid of $262,374
after disqualifying the
Harris Group bid. Wood-
all didn't rebid.
The council was ready
to go full speed ahead on
the project last month
after awarding the con-
tract to Woodall. How,
ever, an official at the
Procurement Division
of the state Department
of Transportation didn't
agree with the proce-
dure the city council fol-
lowed in rejecting the
Harris Group bid arid
ordered the project re-
bid. The DOT oversees
the $300,000 Transpor-
tation Enhancement
Grant the city received
for the project.
Rebidding delayed the
project about a month,
said Mayor Don Kin-
caid.
The project will in-
clude installation of
benches, sidewalks,
street lights, trash re-
ceptacles, brick pavers,
curbs and gutters, possi-
bly a bandstand, handi-
capped parking signs,
and two bike racks.
I
Photo by George Lew/s
The Rev. Alton Norman of the Owingsville
Church of Christ told a Veteran's Day crowd
we must believe in creationism in order to
honor military veterans.
I I I
Vet's Day message advances creationism
By George Lewis
News Reporter
george@ _ %. . - cola
What do Veteran's Day and
the Scopes Monkey Trial have
in common?
Nothing, said Betty Bailey
of Owi-gsville.
Bailey took issue with the
message delivered by the Rev.
Alton Norman Thursday dur-
ing the 2010 Veteran's Day
Ceremony on the courthouse
lawn in Owingsvffie.
Norman, who was asked to
speak on the topic ' Restoring
Honor to All Veterans," made
repeated references to the
theory of creation•sin and the
1925 Scopes Trial, in which
high school biology teacher
John Scopes was accused of
violating the state's Buffer
Act which made it tmlawful
to teach evolution.
was disappointed that he
didn't show more gratitude for
the bravery and courage of all
our veterans," Bailey said. '2
don't think references to the
Scopes Monkey Trial were
appropriate on a day honor-
mg our heroes, both fallen
and living. We needed a mes-
sage that was suitable to all
religious faiths and beliefs."
On Monday, Rev. Norman
defended his choice of words:
'WIy message was that if we
lose respect for God, and we
do in the evolution discus:
soon, then we can't respect
each other until we recognize
that we were created in the
image of God and that evolu-
tion takes that away."
Otherwise, the program
featured the following partic-
ipants: Tony Belcher, intro-
duction; John Hutchhson,
welcome; Robin Tolle, the
singing of the National An-
them and the Battle Hymn
of the Republic; Susannah
Taylor and the Bath County
High School Special Ensem-
ble, the playing of America
the Beautiful and the Armed
Forces March; John Hutchin-
sen, placement of wreaths
on memorials and closing
remarks; the Rev. Bob Ray,
benediction; Vearl Penning-
ton, the playing of Taps. Su-
san Thompson furnished the
sound system, Bath County
Florist provided the wreaths,
and Lowe's provided the
American flags.
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