Casey Northcutt

The McCracken County Fiscal Court continued discussions last night about a resolution supporting nuclear power plant workers uncompensated for work-related health problems.  Commonwealth Environmental Services Vice President Gary Vander Boegh presented commissioners with a draft resolution on the workers’ behalf a month ago.  The commissioners had several questions about the wording and content, and Judge-Executive Van Newberry says the resolution would need revision before sending it to the U.S.

The Paducah-McCracken County Convention Center Corporation discussed a healthy budget during the Executive Committee meeting Tuesday. The committee mulled over the center’s current cash flow and expenses in preparation for future budget workshops with city and county representatives. The corporation will submit budget requests to both governments for funds to help cover upcoming costs.

The Eggners Ferry bridge has spanned the Tennessee River since 1932, but the ferry from which it acquired its name opened in the 1800s under the ownership of a calloused man named Milton. Phillip Egner, more commonly known as Dean, traced his ancestry to the ferry owner. Dean said Milton ran the ferry from the 1840s until 1878, when he sold the business to one or two of his children. Dean said he knew little about the man other than Milton’s business endeavors and his reputation.

The Paducah City Commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday supporting the reevaluation of western Kentucky's status on the National Seismic Hazard Map. The map currently rates the area's propensity for earthquakes as high as Los Angeles or San Francisco. However, Zhenming Wang and James Cobb of the University of Kentucky have been reviewing the methodology used to create the map. Their new methods could lower western Kentucky's seismic risk.

McCracken County's Joint Consolidation Study Commission held the last of its four scheduled public meetings Thursday to present its draft plan to merge Paducah and McCracken County governments. More than 175 people attended the event at Lone Oak Middle School. They voiced concerns over such issues as the number of representatives on the proposed government's council. Commission Vice Chairman Tom Garrett says they'll meet soon to discuss the public's concerns and possibly adjust the draft.

For the past several years, the building that once housed Draffen’s Department Store has sat vacant on a street corner in Calvert City. Boards cover its front windows and “Keep Out” signs warn people away from its unsteady walls, but at one time, the store operated as one of the city’s chief centers of commerce. Yet money counts more than memories in the preservation of buildings, and Saturday, Calvert City will lose another historical landmark to demolition. Casey Northcutt has more.

Paducah’s City Commissioners took another step toward revitalizing Fountain Avenue during their meeting Tuesday night. They approved a municipal order to apply for a Kentucky Housing Corporation HOME Grant of $308,000. The money will help fund the construction of seven new homes in the Fountain Avenue neighborhood. Mayor Bill Paxton said the neighborhood developed in the 1950’s and has since deteriorated.

A small band of nuclear power plant workers want the McCracken County Fiscal Court's support of a resolution for workers to receive federal compensation for occupation-related illnesses. Gary Vander Boegh, vice president of a company lobbying for the just treatment of power plant claimants, spoke on their behalf. He said those claimants, including some once employed by the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant, have not received compensation from the Department of Labor for work-related health problems. He also said they have filed legitimate claims.