The 2024 Edmonson County of Commerce Big Brownsville Bash is set to kick off on Thursday, May 30th with the Big Bash Baby Show, presented by the Edmonson County Homemakers.
The Bash is sponsored by Rafferty's, Patton Funeral Home, Alford's Pharmacy, Bank of Edmonson County, A Plus Family Healthcare, and the Edmonson County Tourism Commission. Click the ads to visit the BBB event page with a complete listing and breakdown of the entire festival.
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Local, State, and Federal Officials Meet At Lock and Dam No. 5 (L) Economic Development Director for Congressman Brett Guthrie's office Kylie Foushee speaks to (L-R) Kevin Shaw, General Manager for Edmonson Water District, Assistant Secretary Michael L. Conner, Head of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Division, and David Phemister, State Director of the Nature Conservancy at Lock and Dam No. 5. Darren Doyle, story: photo courtesy of U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie's Office:
On January 30th, U.S. Congressman Brett Guthrie questioned Assistant Secretary Michael L. Connor, the head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Division about the dam removal process in Edmonson County. During Guthrie's questioning, he invited AS Secretary Connor to visit Edmonson County and the Green River to take a look at the current situation. On April 30th AS Connor took Guthrie up on his offer and visited Lock & Dam 5 alongside the Commander of the Louisville Army Corps of Engineers, Congressman Guthrie’s staff, as well as local and state officials. According to Guthrie's office, the Assistant Secretary acknowledged the importance of prioritizing the project during the meeting. Rep. Guthrie said he was pleased that AS Connor recently visited to see the current situation at Lock and Dam No. 5. "It is crucial that he sees firsthand the impact dam removal has had on water levels on the Green River and the unintended consequences that have resulted from the dam removal," Guthrie said in a statement submitted to the Edmonson Voice. "Following his visit, I am pleased to hear this project has become a central priority for the Army Corps, and they will continue to work with federal, state, and local officials to address low water levels and the lack of reliable water supply these low water levels can cause. I will continue to work with Assistant Secretary Connor to continue finding long and short-term solutions to the water intake issue in Edmonson County,” said Congressman Guthrie. Also in attendance was State Representative Michael Meredith, Edmonson County Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey, David Phemister, State Director of the Nature Conservancy and Lee Andrews, Field Office Supervisor for KY Fish & Wildlife. Darren Doyle, story:
Officials from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District 3 attended the Edmonson County Fiscal Court meeting on Monday, May 13th to discuss funding allotments for state roads within the county for improvements. A total of $1,224,338.00 are available for local projects that include:
Work is expected to be completed sometime before winter. County Attorney Says KRS Requires County To Enforce Entertainment Permits Darren Doyle, story and photo: Several residents from the Lincoln community attended yesterday's Edmonson County Fiscal Court meeting in opposition to an event that's regularly held at Blue Holler ATV Park, called Redneck Rave. The hugely popular event brings thousands of people to the small community of Lincoln, and while event attendees have plenty of fun, the residents there say it isn't the same for the rest of the community. One of residents, Thomas Bratcher, spoke to the court last night about the problems he says the event brings to the county, and even said he is bringing a class action lawsuit against the park as a result of the issues Lincoln faces. County Attorney Adam Turner first spoke during the meeting and presented a Kentucky Revised Statute, (KRS) specifically 231, which provides all the guidelines for places of entertainment. The section of KY law outlines the instructions that counties must take in order to legally allow places of entertainment, something that Turner said the county has never done, mainly because no one was aware of the law. Turner said local officials met after the event at Blue Holler, which took place on the weekend of May 4th to discuss the "destruction and problems" the county saw from the event. A post from the Edmonson County Sheriff Facebook Page on May 9th regarding the Redneck Rave at Blue Holler stated the following occurred at the event: "1-Assault 3rd Police Officer/EMS Arrest 2-DUI Arrests 1-Public Intoxication Arrest A total of 10 side by sides, trucks and other all terrain vehicles were towed during the event. As far as the mayhem that followed, the condition the roadway was left in was unacceptable and shameful. We stayed until the last person was towed from the park to assure no property was damaged. There are many issues that must be addressed prior to ever allowing this type of event of happening again. We support the community and will not condone the lack of respect for our county." "We were just trying to proactively go forward and prevent that from happening again, because I think in the past, several promises have been made from the people who run the rave about cleanup and stuff like that, that haven't been met," Turner said. He turned to Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey and asked, "Is that fair?" to which Lindsey replied "Yes." Turner said the county does not want to target specific businesses, so they wanted to find a way to solve the issues while being fair to every similar type of business in the county. During his research, he said he discovered KRS 231, which focuses solely on places of entertainment. "In my legal opinion, we should have been requiring not only Blue Holler, but all other campgrounds, horse parks, and everything else to have a permit. Because if you're a place of entertainment, which includes a tourist camp or a place where you go for amusement, you're supposed to have a permit. (Actually) not supposed to, the statute says you 'shall' have a permit." He then summarized the statute that states: (.010) As used in this chapter, "place of entertainment" means a roadhouse, place offering intoxicating or nonintoxicating drinks for sale, tourist camp or place of public entertainment at which people assemble to eat, drink, dance, bathe, or engage in any game or amusement... He also then discussed the process that a place of entertainment must follow in order to obtain a permit from the county, which includes requesting an application from the County Clerk, it then being reviewed by the County Attorney, then the Judge/Executive would make the decision as to whether or not the business would be granted the permit. In addition, Turner also read from KRS 231.110, pertaining to required conduct that included the following: No person who has been granted a permit shall allow: (1) Drunken, disorderly, or boisterous persons, or persons of lewd or lascivious reputation to congregate in or about the premises; Turner also said the county could also revoke a permit if required conduct is not enforced, law enforcement would be allowed to visit to premises in the event of a violation within the permit, and that persons objecting a business to obtain a permit could oppose their request, if they could provide proof that the business or type of entertainment was unsuitable for operation as pertaining to the specific KRS. Other residents spoke of the noise, the mess, the traffic, and those who had property damaged as a result of the event, which took place in the midst of heavy rainfall, causing more issues than normal. Another resident said she felt like Blue Holler would be singled out specifically because of the issues that people don't like, but Turner said that wasn't the case, as the KRS requires the same for any place of entertainment. "If we're going to do this, we have to do it countywide, and we haven't been doing it so far," Turner said. The female resident spoke again and said, "I wasn't saying that you all wouldn't be neutral, it's the community that won't be neutral. People that nit-pick, and nit-pick, and nit-pick at one place, and that makes it unfair. That's where that comes in, because they're going to be sitting, and watching, and picking." Turner replied with "Ok, I understand that, but part of the application process for getting a permit, is you have to listen to the people that are affected by that venue. So, if everyone in Lincoln except the business owner says they're destroying our property or something, you have to listen to them. I'm not the one who makes the decision. I have to file a report, but I don't make the decision." During the meeting, Sheriff James Vincent announced that he had just received a text message from Blue Holler owner Kevin Nelson, who said the Redneck Rave would not return to Blue Holler. Mr. Bratcher spoke later in the meeting about the issues faced by residents when the event comes to the community, like big trucks and trailers running people off the road, driving through or parking in other private properties, and he referenced the arrests, indictments, and medical emergencies as a result of the events at the park. "To be honest, the safety hazards our community faces is not just during the rave for our community," Bratcher said. "I don't see how, well there's an argument that there's a financial benefit, but how do we measure, how do we quantify that? We can certainly quantify the damage done by Blue Holler Off Road Park, but I see no benefit, no financial benefit. We have two small business that potentially benefit from it, but I'd be willing to bet their annual revenue is not equal to the amount of damage that's done every year." Mr. Bratcher then told the audience that he was planning a class action lawsuit on behalf of the people of the community and invited anyone who wished to be part of it to contact him and he would provide the proper documentation. We spoke with Mr. Bratcher today and asked him about the planned lawsuit. "Nothing has been filed yet, but I feel there has been significant damages from Blue Holler Off Road Park in order to proceed." Bratcher said he is in talks with his attorneys but did not discuss much other than the damages he and the community have experienced as a result of the park. "People at the meeting reached out to me and said they want to be part of it, so we're in the process of defining the class and going from there." Resident Nelson Sanders also spoke of the mess and trespassing on his property that he said resulted in the forced removal of a truck and trailer by the Sheriff's Office, but he also said there was a way for both the park and residents to come to an agreement. "If that owner down there, Mr. Nelson, if he'll do and work with the community and things, there's not a reason that things couldn't survive and everybody be happy," he said. "But right now, it's all in his favor and the heck with the community." Turner said the Fiscal Court would continue exploring the proper process to ensure they were compliant with the KRS he referenced. Current Measure to Sell Alcohol in Lincoln is Incorrect, County Says Darren Doyle, story:
Edmonson County Attorney Adam Turner reported at this evening's Edmonson County Fiscal Court meeting that the Kentucky Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) has just informed him that no licenses will be granted to sell alcohol in the Lincoln District, even if the measure to make the precinct wet is passed in next week's upcoming vote. Turner said when an earlier attempt by some residents to petition for a countywide wet/dry vote failed, another attempt by local business owner Tony Mello to push for a precinct vote was then discussed. "I think I advised then, to the Fiscal Court that there were two different interpretations of the law, where you could do a straight up-down ballot measure for a precinct/territory, and the other interpretation was that you couldn't, unless it was for a golf course, a small farm winery, or distillery, or, like any other small, local option. At that point, we didn't get a whole lot of feedback, just repeating interpretations of the law, and so I advised just to put it on the ballot, so it got on the ballot." After signatures were gathered by those in favor of the measure in the precinct, the County Clerk's Office was tasked to verify the petition signatures. Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey's Office then presented it to County Attorney Adam Turner's Office, who also reviewed and determined it was legally acceptable. Following, Judge Lindsey's office then sent an order to the Clerk's Office for the option to be officially added to the ballot for the upcoming election, which states, "Are you in favor of the sale of alcoholic beverages in the Lincoln Precinct (E101) of Edmonson County, Kentucky?" Turner then said after it appeared on the ballot, the ABC contacted his office, which was last week, along with the Judge/Executive's Office and advised them that even if the vote passed, no licenses or permits would be issued to sell alcohol in the district. After the meeting, we spoke with County Attorney Turner and asked him for more details as to why the ABC made their decision. "These are passed by local options, not precincts," he told the Edmonson Voice. "After the countywide measure failed, Tony Mello wanted to just do one for Lincoln and that's when I started looking into whether or not we could just pass a flat one for a precinct." Turner said he spoke with an official from the Kentucky Association of Counties whose interpretation was for a precinct measure, but Turner's own interpretation was in alignment with the current ABC decision, which was specific to a local territory, such as a golf course, distillery, or winery. Other options also include an incorporated city within a dry county. He said he received no further guidance from any other state officials and decided to move forward with other local officials to allow the vote on the ballot. "When ABC found out it was on the ballot, they called me and said we can't do that and they would essentially not give anyone a permit or license to sell alcohol," he said. When asked what measures could local vendors take to obtain a permit in the event that the vote still goes wet, Turner said he was told ABC would send him information on the "process to do what we want to accomplish" under the correct circumstances, however, he said he had not currently received any further info. County Clerk Kevin Alexander told the audience tonight that it was important to understand that the measure will still be on the ballot and that Lincoln will still either remain dry or will turn wet, despite the fact no licenses will currently be issued, insinuating to the notion that something could come of it later, in the event the precinct becomes wet. "Whether you support it or oppose it, it will still be on the ballot, and you should still get out and vote your choice," Alexander said. The following indictments have been returned by and Edmonson County Grand Jury. An indictment is only a formal charge and is not an admission of guilt. All parties are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Coty Joe Patton, Theft by failure to make required disposition of property valued a t $10K or more. Persistent felony offender, first degree. Alexander Lee Church, Fleeing or evading police, first degree, Trafficking marijuana, less than 8oz, first offense. Operating motor vehicle while under the influence of intoxicants, first offense within 10 years. Possession of drug paraphernalia, Reckless driving, Speeding. Douglas Bennie Sanders, Possession of controlled substance, first degree. Possession of drug paraphernalia. Possession of marijuana. License to be in possession. Improper turning. Ronald Gussie Smith, Trafficking controlled substance first degree, first offense, >= 2 grams meth. Trafficking marijuana, less that 8oz, first offense. Trafficking controlled substance first degree, first offense (Fentanyl). Trafficking in legend drug. Possession of drug paraphernalia. Operating on suspended or revoked operator's license. Jessica Lauren Daugherty, Trafficking controlled substance first degree, first offense, >= 2 grams meth. Trafficking marijuana, less that 8oz, first offense. Trafficking controlled substance first degree, first offense (Fentanyl). Trafficking in legend drug. Possession of drug paraphernalia. Persistent felony offender, first degree. Richard Lee Russell III, Trafficking controlled substance first degree, first offense, >= 2 grams meth. Possession of drug paraphernalia. Persistent felony offender, first degree. Ponda Michelle Bennett, (2 counts) Trafficking controlled substance first degree, first offense, >= 2 grams meth. (2 counts) Tampering with physical evidence, (2 counts) Possession of drug paraphernalia. (2 counts), Possession of Marijuana. Persistent felony offender. Fleeing or evading police. Wanton endangerment. Resisting arrest. Leila Marie McCrady, Persistent felony offender, second degree. David Charles Euin, Burglary second degree. Persistent felony offender first degree. Ronald Dean Holland, Criminal attempt of assault first degree police officer, two counts. Assault third degree, two counts. Wanton endangerment first degree. Disarming a peace officer. Resisting arrest. Terroristic threatening, third degree. Harassing communications. Persistent felony offender first degree. Darren Doyle, story and photos: The Good Lord's handiwork was visible in a majestic way on Friday night, May 10, 2024 as the northern lights were visible in Edmonson County and parts of the U.S. where they are not normally seen, due to a solar phenomenon. According to the National and Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA), the lights are visible in much of the country due to a geomagnetic storm caused by solar flares, and the largest one since October of 2003. The above photos were taken in southern Edmonson County around 10PM on May 10th with an iPhone, which gives a better view than the naked eye. The best views were taken straight north.
A geomagnetic storm also means aurora borealis, which is the official term for the northern lights. They are said to be visible as far south as Alabama and stretch to Northern California. Darren Doyle, story and photos: The Edmonson County Water District held a town hall meeting on Thursday, May 9th at 5:30PM in the Edmonson County Community Center to address public concerns over the ongoing dam removal project on the Green River at Lock No. 5, along with current water supply and quality matters. Edmonson County Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey welcomed the crowd of about 30 people to the meeting as he introduced a panel of guests that included state representatives, state senators, local water officials, regional government officials, and reps from federal legislators Brett Guthrie and Mitch McConnell. District 19 State Representative Michael Meredith was the first to speak on the evening and gave a basic recap of the beginning of some of Edmonson County's water problem origins, that began in 2014 when the U.S. Corps of Engineers began discussing the possibilities of removing dams at Lock No. 6 in Brownsville and No. 5 in Roundhill. "At the time, I wrote a public comment letter on behalf of the citizens of Edmonson County asking that it not happen," Rep. Meredith told the audience. "I was concerned that there would be issues with our water system at the time. The Corps came back with estimates stating, expert engineers saying, that would not be the case. We saw during low water conditions after the dam removal was started, that those estimations were wrong. Barry Rich was instrumental at pooling a group together at that time to go down and meet with the Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish & Wildlife, the Water District, local officials, and our federal officials to start trying to find a remedy, or what we could do." Those estimations from the Corp were the basis of why Congress gave them the funding and authority to remove the dams, but despite the fact that they were wrong, the dam removal process is still ongoing for multiple reasons. One, they were no longer safe to be on the river due to their age and deterioration, and two, Congress passed a law that requires their removal. Undoing all of it is virtually impossible at this point, and the side effects affect all sides. Last night's meeting was to not only answer any questions from the public, but so local, state, and federal officials could speak to the plan to mitigate the effects, find solutions, and work together to see them through. Newly hired General Manager of the Edmonson County Water District Kevin Shaw was very optimistic and assured the audience that District would in fact, be able to provide clean drinking water to their customers, despite these challenges. On March 28th, Rep. Meredith announced $6.5M in funding available to Edmonson County for water improvement projects, thanks to the KY General Assembly, and gave an explanation of that process. Meredith broke down the funding into three areas: one, is $1M for the capability for northern Edmonson County to be able to connect to Grayson County's system when the system is under strain, two is a $3.5M round of funding that can be used as a portion of matching funds for a new intake system in Brownsville as a result of lower water levels. "Congressman Guthrie's Office went to work on that, from the time we got clarity on that from the Corps of Engineers to pursue federal funding for that project, but like almost any other kind of federal funding today, federal funding requires some sort of a local match requirement. That is a $14M intake structure on the Green River that would replace the current intake structure. Congressman Guthrie's Office is pursuing those funds, currently, through their process..." Meredith said. He added that he continues the work to ensure that any funds required to build the new intake system will not be placed on the Edmonson County Water District or local government. The final portion of the funding was a $2M round that will go to Edmonson County Fiscal Court, with the help of KY Senator David Givens, that can cover emergency infrastructure upgrades that are needed during this process. Kevin Shaw then addressed the crowd and said he felt like the most important route to take was to not talk too much about what has happened in the past, but look to where the entire community has to go for the future. He credited the staff of the Water District for their work and effort in the midst of adversity. "The elephant in the room is the Green River project and the things that are going on with the Corps of Engineers project," he said. "What I'm going to tell you is, don't worry about it. We're gonna be alright." Shaw didn't have exact details to present on where every penny will be spent or a precise scope of all the work to be done, and he also said he couldn't speak on matters of the Corps, who were invited to the meeting. They did not attend because the meeting wasn't specific to Corps-only project, and local officials determined that it wouldn't benefit them much to attend, since the project is already in stone and will be moving forward sometime toward the end of July, Shaw said. Shaw continued to explain that based on his 40 years of experience in utilities, he was confident that all the resources and tools are available to keep Edmonson County and other Water District customers supplied with safe water, period. A current worst case scenario would be after the dam is removed, that water levels are too low for the intake to bring water to the treatment plant. The Nature Conservancy has funded a $100K commercial grade, diesel pump that can pump the water anywhere along the river to the treatment facility. Shaw said it's enough to take care of the district needs for all their customers in the event a long term solution is not yet in place. Kylie Foushee, Economic Development Director from the office Congressman Guthrie, also discussed the timeline of how Guthrie's office has been involved in the process from the beginning, including temporarily halting the dam removal at Lock No. 5 until other solutions could be put in place.
"When we started hearing (Lock No.) 6 failed, and started hearing 'our water level is impacted,' Congressman Guthrie immediately said 'stop the removal, please stop the removal,' and the Corps of Engineers immediately did so and he strongly encouraged all partners not to move forward with any removal of dams until a solution has been identified, and we have been reassured that this interim solution that's continued to be mentioned, the diesel pump, will be a good interim solution," Foushee said. Several other questions were asked from the crowd pertaining to Green River Ferry, other Corps-related topics, and some that pertained to Fish and Wildlife, but local officials could not answer any of those, as the meeting was focused on Edmonson County Water District and their customers. Edmonson County Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey said he felt like the meeting went very well and he was glad to see all the state and federal legislators in attendance. "We've got a lot of support at the table right now that wants this to be successful," he said. "We're thankful that so many people are working together to find solutions. We're also glad for everyone else that attended. Those are the people we serve and that's why we're in office, to serve the communities of Edmonson County." General Manager Kevin Shaw agreed that the meeting was successful. "I thought it went really well," he said. "Glad for the questions that were asked and hopefully we provided the information that folks need. Like I said, in my heart of hearts, I believe we're gonna be alright." Darren Doyle, story: videos submitted: Flash flooding and high winds have been the story for last few days, especially yesterday afternoon and last night, but the majority of the county escaped serious storm damage after thunderstorms came through the area off and on all day and night. Local schools, county government, and businesses, and churches were either canceled or closed early yesterday, due to the forecast of severe weather with timing coming during heavy school, rush hour, or church times. However, the forecast changed repeatedly throughout the day. While one area of the county may have had no activity, other parts were getting plastered with heavy wind and rains that included hail. Corey Simmons, a Wingfield resident, submitted this video from a bedroom window in his home on Wingfield Church Road overlooking the Green River. This shelf cloud rolled in and brought plenty of wind and rain behind. Brandon Summers submitted the video below from Bee Spring, which shows the force of the thunderstorm in that area from around 3PM. You can see a large portion of a tree downed on a building. Several roads in the county are closed due to flooding, which include Grassland, Black Gold, and Cedar Grove Church Roads.
Local fire departments made several runs last night for downed limbs and trees across roadways. No injuries have been reported as of yet. A milder forecast is expected for the next few days. MAMMOTH CAVE, KY. – Mammoth Cave National Park visitor center, cave tours and all secondary roads will close at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 8th due to the possibility of tornadoes, very large hail, and damaging winds moving through the Mammoth Cave region. The Green River Ferry will remain open until 4 p.m. to accommodate local commuters. Park officials expect to reopen all operations, as normal, on Thursday, May 9th.
The Mammoth Cave Parkway, Cave City Road, and Brownsville Road will remain open, but drivers are advised to use caution while traveling on roadways and be aware of the possibility of downed trees. For the most up to date information about the status of park roads visit us on our website, www.nps.gov/maca, or follow us on Twitter @MCNPRoadsFerry. Darren Doyle, story and photo:
Today, Edmonson County Judge/Executive Scott Lindsey announced that the courthouse and all local government offices will close today at 1PM, due to the threat of severe weather. The following order was issued just a moment ago: "By Executive Order 24-19, the Edmonson County Courthouse and all Local Government Offices associated with the Courthouse will be closing at 1:00 p.m. CDT on May 8, 2024 due to the increased possibility of severe weather moving into our area. We apologize for any inconvenience, but feel it is in the best safety interest for our staff and the community." Darren Doyle, story and photo: Edmonson County School Superintendent Brian Alexander has announced that all local schools will dismiss class at 12:00 today, due to severe weather in the forecast. "We've been watching weather forecasts since about 3AM this morning and we feel this is the safest route for us to take," he said. "Our students' health and safety is our first concern and according to the current weather models, this should have all our bus routes completed by the time any potential severe weather comes to our area." According to WXorNotBG and Edmonson Voice meteorologist Landon Hampton, multiple rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms are expected today across the region, with a time period ranging from after lunch until predawn of Thursday.
Darren Doyle, story and photos: A building that has served multiple purposes over the years went up in flames during the overnight hours on Louisville Road on Tuesday, May 7th. Emergency personnel were paged to the 1600 block of Louisville Road, south of the HWY 259/31W crossroads around midnight, to the call of a storage building that was fully involved. Firefighters from all south side departments arrived to tackle the blaze of the metal building that was reportedly being used for storage-only, which was in the Rocky Hill VFD district. The fire seemed to be contained and personnel left the scene around 2:30AM, however, a rekindle occurred and firefighters were called back out at around 4AM, where the Chalybeate and Brownsville Fire Departments returned. During the second round of firefighting, an explosion occurred in the building that shook the property and had firefighters running for cover for a short time before returning to the building to continue their work. No injuries were reported during the incident and the building was a total loss.
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