News from November 24, 2005 issue



Sgt. Brad Jenkins of Owensboro visits with his wife Shelby and seven-month-old son Wyatt Wednesday at Marion's Carson Davidson National Guard Armory. Family members of guardsmen were in town to have photo badges made and to get information from military officials regarding benefits and support opportunities. Jenkins is a Union County native and former Marion resident.


Guard marching to duty Sunday
Kentucky National Guardsmen attached to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 123rd Armor based in Marion have been finalizing details of their departure for active duty in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The local unit and families spent Wednesday morning at Fohs Hall filling out paperwork and listening to briefings from military superiors about things they can expect while soldiers are deployed.

This is the second time in four years that the local unit has seen active duty. Shortly after the terrorist bombings in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, the unit was deployed to Germany in a force protection mission. It left Marion in January 2002 and returned in October of that year. This will be the fifth time in history that the local unit has been deployed to active duty.
There will be an official sendoff ceremony in Marion Sunday morning before the unit leaves on buses for Camp Shelby, Miss. The soldiers will train for a period of time before moving out to their mission which is expected to be in Iraq.

About a half dozen of the 40 or so men who will be activated with Bravo Company are from Crittenden County or the immediate surrounding area. The rest are from regional cities such as Madisonville and Benton.

The military will not officially disclose the names of soldiers being deployed, but The Press has been able to independently confirm the following local men are among those being activated: Sgt. Jonathan McMackin, SSgt. Brandon Wilson, Sgt. Sean Pace, Spc. Kyle Craig, Spc. Chase Matthews, Pfc. Mark Wilson, Spc. Jim Young and Spc. Josh Jackson. The Wilson brothers are from Sturgis and Pace is from Salem. The others are Crittenden Countian residents or natives of this county.


County still looking at gas leases
Crittenden County's Fiscal Court is no closer to awarding a contract for oil and gas exploration on publicly-owned property despite opening three sealed bids during Tuesday's regular meeting.

The county has advertised for price proposals from companies interested in exploring for oil and gas on county-owned real estate and property under the Ohio River. Magistrates reviewed three bids submitted by area companies, but so far they haven't decided what to do.

There was great disparity in the prices offered for leasing county owned property, including road right-of-ways, Dam 50, the Ohio River and other areas which might equal more than 2,000 acres. It remains unclear exactly how many acres are at issue because there is no precise record at this point of how much of the Ohio River the county owns. Private landowners on the Kentucky shore hold title to the center of the stream, but the county owns from the middle to the opposite shore, a point established by federal law.

Bids for leasing the county property ranged from $26 per acre to $37.50 with a variety of options and renewal provisions. Royalties were generally proposed at one-eighth of whatever might be produced from a gas or oil well. One company wrote in its bid that it would pay $1 per acre higher than any other company, not to exceed $60 per acre. The terms of the proposed leases also varied widely, from three to eight years.

Crittenden County Judge-Executive Fred Brown said the issue is so complex that he would like to seek advice from a professional consultant who deals in oil and gas exploration.

"I have talked to some landowners in the northern part of the county who are getting $60 per acre," Brown said. "I don't think anyone in this county is really qualified to advise us in regard to this issue so I think we need to take all of these bids under advisement.

"We need to see if you can get someone in here to help guide us through this process," Brown added.

"I agree," said Magistrate Percy Cook. "We need to get some additional information on this."
County Attorney Alan Stout agreed and suggested that the fiscal court might decide to reject all bids and enter into price negotiations with each of the companies.

A handful of companies have been leasing thousands of acres of Crittenden County property over the past few months. Those who have kept a close watch on the process say that there is a good likelihood that natural gas will be found here. Because prices have skyrocketed in recent years for natural gas, it has made exploration in areas such as this more attractive.

Representatives from the gas companies say naturally occurring geographical information indicates a great chance for natural gas to be found in Crittenden County. The only question is whether there will be sufficient volume to harvest it from the earth's subsurface.

Another big question facing the fiscal court is whether it will relinquish rights for companies to build a distribution line along county right-of-ways. The fiscal court did not include proposals for distribution line construction in its recent request for bids. Instead, it will negotiate separately right-of-way leases for distribution lines.

There is a large natural gas pipeline that runs near Fredonia. The line, owned by Texas Gas Transmission, runs from Ohio to the Gulf of Mexico. Any smaller transmission lines built in Crittenden County would likely be connected to that distribution line in Caldwell County.

City buys 8 Tasers for MPD
The gavel came down on the first official meeting in the Marion City Council's new chambers Monday night.

Despite temporary seating arrangements that were less than adequate for those attending, the meeting provided a suitable maiden voyage for the new $1.2 million city hall.
Mayor Mickey Alexander and the six council members handled a variety of routine business and also approved a couple of expenditures at the request of the rescue squad and police department.

Additionally, the council received a good report from the city's annual audit. Certified Public Accountant Jeff Walker said, "the city is very sound financially."

Walker said the council spent more money last year than ever in the city's history as it began construction on the new city hall, renovated the sewer system and completed various other street and parks projects.

"But it did that with a lot of help from grants," Walker said. "Actually, the city's equity grew last year and that's a sign of its strong financial condition."

The council approved the purchase of a mobile, emergency tower at the request of rescue squad chief Donnie Arflack.

The 100-foot tower will cost $2,500 and the city will split the cost with the county. It will be used in case the communication tower on top of Wilson Hill is damaged during a storm or earthquake.
The council spent several minutes discussing the community's preparedness during times of disaster.

Councilman Allen Lynn said he wanted the city to look further into a way to warn citizens of imminent danger, such as during tornado warnings. He said the fire siren at the old city hall is not loud enough to adequately warn the entire city.

City Administrator Garry Barber said a community plan has been worked on by various emergency response agencies and that plan has been sent to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for approval.

Marion Police Department was granted $3,900 to purchase Taser guns for each officer. The non-lethal weapons are becoming very popular among police agencies across the country.
Police Chief Kenneth Winn cited several incidents over the past 12 to 18 months when a Taser might have prevented bodily injury to officers or suspects, and damage to public and private property.

Winn said that three times in the past year an unruly suspect has damaged police cruisers and on one police call, an officer broke his ankle scuffling with a suspect. The worst case involved a shooting last year, Winn said, that might have been avoided if police had been armed with a Taser.

"We borrowed the sheriff's department's Taser gun during a domestic violence call last week," Winn said. "The suspect told officers that someone was going to get hurt."
Winn said that Officer Ray O'Neal is already certified to use a Taser gun. O'Neal was dispatched with the sheriff's Taser to the domestic dispute and with one shot, the suspect became very cooperative.

Barber, the city administrator, said the Taser guns are well worth the expense.
"Based on the money we've spent this year because of damages and injuries, I think this is the best investment I've seen," he said.

The council approved the purchase. The police department will use $2,500 from its own funds, coupled with $3,900 from the city, to buy eight Tasers at a cost of $800 apiece. The entire department will be certified to use the weapons during a one-day training course that costs $100.