Casey Northcutt

The Paducah Renaissance Alliance wants to expand its advisory board from nine to 15 members. Executive Director Lisa Thompson and Chairperson Darlene Mazzone lobbied for the increase at the Paducah City Commission meeting Tuesday, saying the move would bring more diversity to the board. Commissioner Sandra Wilson agreed.

“The PRA board would have more people to give them ideas, more people to submit suggestions about what could be done, so I think it’s a great idea to expand it,” Wilson said.

The majority of the McCracken County Clerk’s office attended the county’s Fiscal Court Meeting yesterday to present more than $20 million in budget requests.

Kentucky’s Lieutenant Governor says the Commonwealth has already cut $1.6 billion in government spending in the past five years, and without revenue growth and tax reform another $1 billion may need to be cut by 2020.

In a speech to the Paducah Rotary Club Wednesday the Lieutenant Governor explained the Blue Ribbon Commission on Tax Reform’s mission, and some of the recommendations. One of the commission’s proposed reforms suggests lowering the pension exemption rate from $41,000 to $30,000.

Newly-elected Paducah City Commissioner Sandra Wilson is also the new mayor pro tem.  New Mayor Gayle Kaler and the rest of the commission elected Wilson to the post at last night’s regular meeting.

In the 1800s, Eggner’s Ferry consisted of a small platform propelled by a blind mule hitched to a sweep pole. Now, in place of a ferry, a bridge stands, and it made headlines last year when a cargo ship crashed into it and collapsed one span. But, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet hopes to make the bridge into more than a cautionary tale. Casey Northcutt reports on the long process of constructing a new Eggner’s Ferry Bridge as well as a matching replacement for the Lawrence Memorial Bridge.

The heads of two of the Paducah groups working together to restore and reopen the downtown Columbia Theatre as a multipurpose facility updated Mayor Bill Paxton and city commissioners last night on their progress. The Paducah Renaissance Alliance and Maiden Alley Cinema have combined efforts to revitalize the historic building. PRA Executive Director Lisa Thompson says they hope to turn it into a space for local events such as performances, music, dance recitals, film showings and more.

In the 1970s, Dolly McNutt, Paducah’s first female mayor, was a frequent customer at The New Woman, a beauty salon owned by Gayle Kaler. Roughly 40 years later, Kaler has changed the name of her business to Chantillies and has added a new activity to her busy schedule—McNutt’s old job. But before Kaler takes office in January, Casey Northcutt reports on how she went from styling a mayor’s hair to becoming one.

Paducah city commissioners introduced ordinances for two major renovation projects at their Tuesday night meeting.  One continues the second phase of the Noble Park swimming pool renovation. It will include gutter and drain replacement, filtration, disinfection, pumping and other repairs. Bidding for the third phase starts in early 2013. The other authorizes the start of renovation on the Market House building and the River Discovery Center. Commissioner Gayle Kaler says she worked with the city manager and the city engineer-public works director for two years to get the buildings repaired.

Funds from the Kentucky Department of Energy and Environment will help pay for a United States Enrichment Corporation employee who will work with Paducah Economic Development officials to help save jobs at the city’s gaseous diffusion plant.  The McCracken County Fiscal Court voted last night to accept the $75,000 to pay travel and other expenses over the next year for USEC employee Charlie Martin.  McCracken County Judge-Executive Van Newberry says USEC will continue to pay Martin’s salary while he researches ways to keep local people working at the plant.

The Paducah-McCracken County Convention Center Corporation Board agreed to a $180,000 settlement from a local accounting firm and CPA connected to an embezzlement lawsuit. Former CCC executive director J. Patrick Kerr and his accomplice Susan Wilson pled guilty in March to embezzling more than $200,000.