News from April 16, 2009 issue

Local News
The Crittenden Press Full Version (PDF)
Volunteers building home for veteran
If things go well, Chase Matthews could be holding his newborn baby and watching football in the living room of his new home after a hearty Thanksgiving meal. But that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll get out of doing the dishes.
Things are looking up for Matthews, the Dycusburg native who lost both of his legs and mobility in his left arm and hand after an ambush on his military convoy two years ago in Iraq. A great deal of his physical rehabilitation is now behind him, his prosthetics are becoming more comfortable, and he’s settling into life as a husband and soon-to-be father of his first child. And before the year is out, he should have the keys to a new, four-bedroom house built to accommodate his specific needs.
“Chase, I’m telling you, your honey-do list is about to get a little longer,” Larry Gill said Monday to the former sergeant with Marion’s Kentucky Army National Guard unit.
Gill, himself a disabled veteran from combat in Iraq, is a veterans’ liaison for Homes for Our Troops, an organization that has mounted a nationwide effort to have homes built for severy-injured veterans, accommodating their war-born disabilities. A video depicting the intricacies of the specially-adapted homes was shown to a crowd gathered at a Paducah conference room for the official launch of the campaign to give Matthews a home. After the film, Gill urged the new husband to be ready for his wife’s list of chores.
“There are no excuses, buddy,” a burly Gill joked to Matthews and his new family.
Homes for troops
Homes for Our Troops broke ground on its first home in 2004 as a way for founder John Gonsalves to give back to an injured veteran from his home state of Massachusetts. Since that time, it has grown into a coast-to-coast organization, having completed 39 homes for injured soldiers struggling to cope in homes unfriendly to their disabilities. Seventeen more are in the process of being built.
After screening and vetting of applicants by the Homes program, Matthews was chosen to have the first Homes for our Troops residence built in Kentucky.
While his gratitude is evident, Matthews is not much on attention or public speaking. He uttered a quiet “thank you” to prospective volunteers gathered Monday intent on getting as information to help a soldier who nearly gave his life in the March 2007 ambush.
As usual throughout the long recovery, Rudy Matthews was by his son’s side Monday, giving all the credit he could to the determination and strength of his only child.
“He did this all himself,” Rudy said of Chase’s prograss as he glanced across the room at his son, who joined by his new bride Jennifer and her six-year-old daughter Sarah.
Chase seems to have eased comfortably into family life since getting married in October. He and Jennifer were married after just a couple of months of dating and an admittedly brief engagement.
“We got engaged on a Tuesday and were married by Sunday,” she said.
The two just couldn’t wait to get started on their new life.
“I said after the first time I met him, ‘I’m going to marry that man’,” Jennifer added.
The couple are now expecting their first child together in November. Off the record, Chase is hoping for a boy. If it happens to be a girl, that’s okay, too.
“I’d like to maybe adopt a boy if it’s a girl,” he said.
While the land for the family’s future home has yet to be purchased, a couple of sites have been picked out in Lyon County. The Matthews intend to live in Eddyville, where they currently reside, but will remain five miles or so from Chase’s family in Dycusburg.
Gill expects a lot of support – either financially or through volunteer efforts – from Chase’s own community. Besides the soldier being a native of Crittenden County where his family still lives, his father-in-law, Roger Waters, is pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Crayne, and his mother-in-law, Cindy (Rushing), is also a native of Crittenden County. Chase, Jennifer and Sarah also attend church at Calvary.
“No one deserves this more,” Gill said of Chase and his family. “We couldn’t have picked a better person.”
While funding is in place to ensure the home will be built tailored to the specific needs requried by Matthews’ amputations and affected left arm, local contributions free up funding for the next soldier’s home to be built. And, an entirely local project gives a community pride and ownership in the soldier’s new life, said Rick Goyette, project manager for Matthews’ home.
“We never turn anyone away,” Goyette said of volunteer efforts.
The smallest of donation can often mean the most, he added. Only seven percent of donations go to overhead.
Donations can be made online at www.HomesForOur
Troops.org/matthews. The site also provides for tracking of the project needs and its progress. Information brochures and contribution forms can be obtained at The Crittenden Press. Further information can also be obtained by calling 1-866-7-TROOPS, or for a local contact, Marty Kares, executive director of Three Rivers Homebuilders , a volunteer partner in the project, can be reached at 871-1145.

Quilters preparing to descend on area
Among the many jobs outsourced to China, June Culvey includes quilting. Maybe not the artistic patchwork comforters for which she has been recognized, but the spreads painstakingly sewn by so many seniors who depend on the sale of their toils for income.
“Who’s gonna pay $150 or $200 when they can get one made in China for $39.99,” she said, with a hint of irritation in her voice.
Culvey, though, has never sold a quilt she’s made, primarily because she quilts for art, not necessity like the patchwork quilts made famous by homemakers during the Great Depression. Since taking up the hobby in the 1980s, she’s hand-sewn all 25 or so of her quilts. She’s serious about the art, spending a year or two on each piece. She’s also very passionate about the uniquely-American tradition of patchwork quilting.
“It’s like having a baby,” she said of the time an effort put into each quilt, whether for show or utility. “We’re very protective of our trade.”
Her passion has even rubbed off on her husband Dan, who helps with patterns and framings for quilts. He’s quite adept at the quilting lingo, too.
The Culveys, who live at the end of Fords Ferry Road in northern Crittenden County after moving here from northern Illinois a couple of years ago, know quilts. June joyfully recalls her first quilt, made when she was only 11 at the side of her grandmother. But today, she’s a master of quilting – literally.
“That’s what they tell me,” she joked, pointing to a list of caveats that determine the title.
In 1991, she was recognized as a Master Quilter by the National Quilting Association. She earned the title with Tranquilt Violets, the name of the exquisitely-detailed coverlet that made her one of less than 20 such Master Quilters in the world. However, her other quilts are just as impressive, comprised of the finest of materials and intricate stitching.
Several of those quilts are based on designs found in Hallmark cards, which has earned her recognition and high praise from the greeting card company. Others are from sun-catchers or other designs that caught her eye and stuck in her head. But she never knows what a quilt is going to look like until she is done.
“It sort of develops as you go,” she said.
This is Culvey’s favorite time of year – a time when quilters the world over converge on Paducah for the annual American Quilter’s Society show and contest. She will be there, like the 24 years before, participating in the judging and talking shop with other quilters.
The quilt show runs next week and the Backroads Festival in Crittenden County is held in conjunction with the show. For more details , visit www.marionkentucky.us.

Grand Jury indicts 20 in 21 cases
A Crittenden County Grand Jury indicted 20 people in regard to 21 criminal cases that came before jurors last Thursday in Crittenden County Circuit Court. It was one of the heaviest dockets in some time.
A grand jury does not determine guilt or innocence. It simply determines whether enough evidence exists to continue prosecution of a case in Circuit Court.
Indicted last week were 18 men and two women, most of them Crittenden County residents. Indicted on felony charges were:
Rodney Barnett, 38, of Fredonia was indicted on a charge of first-degree promoting contraband at the Crittenden County Detention Center. According to court records, Barnett allegedly tried to sneak pills of Mertazapine into the jail in the soles of his shoes. He was an inmate there serving time for an unrelated case. The incident happened on Jan. 9.
Tina Louise Belt, 25, of Maxwell Street in Marion was indicted on charges of second-degree forgery and sell/transfer of firearm to a convicted felon. Belt is alleged to have falsely completed a Federal Firearms License application at Hodge's Sports and Apparel on March 14. Court records say that she allegedly falsified her answer on questions 11A and 11E.
Records say that once she purchased a handgun, it was then given or sold to Robert M. Church, a convicted felon living in Marion.
Robert M. Church, 21, of Guy Hodge Road in Marion was indicted for being in possession of a handgun as a convicted felon. (See above case). He was also indicted for being a persistent felony offender.
Christopher Dale Braden, 26, of Rochester Avenue in Marion was indicted on a charge of second-offense use or possession of drug paraphernalia and for being a second-degree persistent felony offender. According to court records, police were assisting probation and parole officials when they went to Braden's home. There, officers found a glass pipe.
Tab Preston Delancey, 44, and Melissa Katherine Tipton, 39, both of Paducah and Charles C. Stewart, 27, of Little Rock, Ark., were indicted for their roles in the alleged break-in at Liberty Fuels on Aug. 6, 2008. A surveillance video caught the two men coming through the front door then leaving abruptly when an alarm sounded. Court records say they broke into the convenience store by using a crowbar. Nothing was taken from the store, but the trio face other burglary charges in Princeton and Possum Trot.
Tipton was indicted for third-degree burglary and being a first-degree persistent felony offender. Stewart was indicted for third-degree burglary by complicity and criminal mischief by complicity. Delancey was indicted for third-degree burglary by complicity, criminal mischief by complicity and for being a first-degree persistent felony offender.
Michael Ryan Fraliex, 35, of Fredonia was indicted on three counts of attempting or obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. A former Caldwell County High School basketball coach, Fraliex allegedly obtained a large amount of prescription Hydrocodone through a practice known as "doctor shopping" between October 2007 and October 2008.
Court records allege that on Oct. 12, 2007 Fraliex obtained 20 Hydrocodone 7.5 mg units from Physicians Assistant Robert Jones at the Crittenden Hospital Emergency Room after having received a prescription for 30 tablets of Hydrocodone, a 10-day supply, from Dr. Michael Gavin three days earlier.
Court records allege that on Sept. 2, 2008 Fraliex obtained 30 Hydrocodone units from Physicians Assistant Jones at the Crittenden Hospital Emergency Room after having received a prescription for 60 tablets of Hydrocodone, a 30-day supply, from Dr. Gavin 19 days earlier.
Court records also say that a state police investigator has accused Fraliex of obtaining on Oct. 7, 2008 from Dr. Rajendra Bharne at the Crittenden Hospital Emergency Room 20 units of Hydrocodone after having received a prescription for 60 tablets of Hydrocodone, a 30-day supply, from Dr. Terry Calhoun 19 days earlier.
James Ray Guess, 41, of Paducah was indicted for flagrant non-support. He is alleged to be behind on child support in the amount of $10,716.98.
Neal H. Hall, 49, of U.S. 60 East in Marion was indicted on a charge of theft by unlawful taking (over $300). According to court records, Jall is alleged to have taken from Jerry Stone's property on West Gum Street a 1973 Chevrolet half-ton pickup, a 1988 Ford Econovan and several steel wheels. The items were allegedly found by police at a recycling center in Wheatcroft after they went missing on June 23, 2008.
Jim E. Haun, 39, of Oak Grove, Ky., was indicted on a charge of flagrant non-support. He is alleged to be behind on child support in the sum of $2,536.
Michael Hawkins, 25, of Nipper Road in Marion was indicted on a charge of first-degree wanton endangerment and second-degree arson. The charges stem from Hawkins' alleged involvement in deliberately setting a fire that destroyed a home owned by Lori Fernandez on Nipper Road. The residence and belongings inside were a total loss. The wanton endangerment charge stems from local firefighters being in harm's way while fighting the fire.
Jonathan L. Hubbard, 29, of Rochester Avenue in Marion was indicted for receiving stolen property (over $300). According to police and court records, Hubbard took a generator during last winter's ice storm from a home on North Clay Street. Police records say that Hubbard was found on Feb. 5, 2009 with the generator in his possession. The police report said he was pouring gas into the device and cords were run from the generator into his bedroom.
Shaun Eugene Hunter, 25, of U.S. 60 East in Salem was indicted for second-degree assault stemming from an incident that happened in October 2008. According to court records, Hunter is alleged to have struck Jacob Randall Armstrong in the face with a blunt object, breaking four bones in Armstrong's face. Hunter was arrested Jan. 19 in Calvert City, Ky., on the Crittenden County warrant.
Ryan Knight, 20, of Princeton was indicted on charges of first-degree burglary and theft by unlawful taking (over $300). According to court documents and sheriff's department records, Knight is believed to have been involved in a burglary at Steve Jones' pawn shop on U.S. 641 South. Intruders broke into the shop on June 5, 2008 and stole a .410 shotgun, two ATVs, ATV tires and wheels, a skill saw, trash can, two men's gold rings, two women's gold rings and other items.
According to sheriff's department records, an anonymous tip led them to Knight as a suspect. Knight was questioned while being held in the Crittenden County Detention Center on an unrelated charge. Sheriff Wayne Agent said some items Knight had in his possession at the jail were traced back to the burglary.
Gerald C. McNeely, 44, of Gosche Hollow Road in Fredonia was indicted on charges of reckless driving, first-offense DUI, first-degree possession of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance not in its original container.
According to police records, Marion Police Officer Bobby West observed McNeely driving a truck within the city limits of Marion just before midnight on March 6. Records say McNeely's vehicle was swerving, moving at a slow rate of speed and crossed the center line three times. West stopped the vehicle and arrested McNeely after he allegedly failed some field sobriety tests.
Court records also say that McNeely had two and one-half pills of Oxycodone in his pant's pocket.
John Pete Potter, 32, of Poplar Street in Marion was indicted on a charge of theft of a controlled substance (under $300). According to court records, Potter is alleged to have taken a bottle of Hydrocodone from a home on Highland Circle in Marion.
Christopher Dallas Stump, 19, of Ky. 120 in Marion, was indicted on a charge of theft of a controlled substance. Court records allege that Stump used someone else's prescription on Feb. 13 to get 120 Lortabs from CVS Pharmacy.
Gary Justin Tabor, 24, of Deer Creek Church Road in Marion was indicted in two separate cases. He faces a charge of receiving stolen property (over $300) for his alleged involvement in a break-in at Deer Creek Church on Dec. 12, 2008. A projector stolen from the church was found at an Evansville pawn shop. Records at the shop indicated that Tabor had pawned the projector, valued at $1,600.
He is also charged with being a second-degree persistent felony offender.
In another case, he was indicted on a charge of promoting contraband in the Crittenden County Detention Center. While being held on the burglary charge, jail authorities allege that Tabor used fruit cocktail to make "homemade hooch," an alcoholic beverage, in his jail cell.