News from June 22, 2006 issue


Dr. Brandon dead at 84
One of Marion's pioneers of modern medicine died early Tuesday at Livingston Hospital.

Dr. Richard Brandon, 84, was known for his sympathetic nature and his caring heart which frequently took him on midnight housecalls and made him a favorite family physician for decades. Brandon had not practiced medicine for almost 20 years although he remained active in the community and as a member of the Farmers Bank Board of Directors. His personal health had deteriorated in recent months, and he died early Tuesday morning of natural causes.

As a general practitioner in Marion from 1956-1987, you wouldn't find Brandon in scrubs or a lab coat. Rather, he appeared very polished, dressed in a tie in his modest Main Street office, where nurses like Liz Hayes Freer arrived for work in pressed white nurses uniforms complete with the white hose, white shoes and white nurse's cap.

He was the last doctor of his era to take up a black medical bag and travel the short distance to the old Marion Hospital on Walker Street where he tended to hundreds of ill patients.

When his practice began in an office above the Dollar General Store, only two other doctors ­ Dr. Relda Elliot and Dr. James Nall ­ worked in Marion's medical community, serving patients through the Crittenden County Health Department. Before long, Brandon was the sole physician in town.

"Doc," as he was affectionately called, closed his Main Street office in the late 1980s, but not before he had delivered between 400 and 500 babies.

When he retired, office visits were still $6 and house calls were $10. He took appointments, but they were not necessary.

In a January 1987 Press article, Brandon said there were "too many outside factors that affect the practice," referring to governmental paperwork, guidelines and changes in Medicare and insurances procedures.

"It used to be a lot of fun," he said.

Freer, who was Brandon's office nurse and personal assistant for 14 years, remembers Brandon as very soft spoken and very calm. He was a doctor who went the distance for his patients, she said.

"One of his most admirable attributes is he recognized his limitations about being a general practitioner and he immediately wanted to refer a patient on if their condition was beyond his capabilities," Freer says.

She and others remember his gentle spirit which often prompted him to reduce the cost of an office visit to $2 and occasionally take that payment in the form of country eggs or vegetables.

Brandon was raised in Hopkinsville where his step-father was a doctor. He graduated in 1948 from Murray State University and taught math and chemistry for two years at Marion High School before entering medical school. He received his medical degree from the University of Louisville in 1954. He also served in the U.S. AIr Force from 1940-1945.

Brandon was active in various community organizations since moving to Marion. He was a 25-year member of the Farmers Bank Board of Directors, a Mason and a member of Marion United Methodist Church. See obituary page 5A.

County finalizes new jail deal
With a unanimous vote, the Crittenden County Fiscal Court passed the point of no return Tuesday in regard to building a new jail.

Despite a 35-percent increase in construction costs, magistrates pressed ahead with their plan to build a 129-bed, 26,077-square-foot detention center behind the current 20-inmate jail.

JKS Architects and Engineers president Keith Sharp and Ross Sinclair and Associates financial consultant Vince Gabbert were on hand during the more than one-hour discussion regarding the jail project.

Judge-Executive Fred Brown called it the biggest decision county leaders have made in many years just before all six magistrates signaled their final approval for the deal.
Estimates last fall by JKS figured the jail would cost $5.1 million, but when bids were opened about a month ago, BH Green and Sons of Paducah had the low price at $6,986,000. After architectural, bond fees and contingencies are added to the project, its final cost will be $7.7 million.

"It's come to the point that we're going to have to shut our jail down or build a new one," said Magistrate Greg West just before the final vote was taken. Until that point, the county could have opted out of its plan to build a new jail although it has spent or pledged about $300,000 already for land, initial site preparation and blueprints.
"No one knows what the future will bring," said Judge Brown. "I can't guarantee we can pay for it, but the bottom line is whether this county wants to have its own jail. If we start losing our infrastructure, pretty soon the whole community will be gone."
County Attorney Alan Stout and Jailer Rick Riley have both supported the plan and reiterated their reasoning based on value to the community and the county's ability to retire the bonds.

Because the actual cost of the jail will exceed the county's current bonding capacity of $6.9 million, some creative measures will be undertaken in order to finance the project. The county will secure low-interest short-term financing for $6.3 million and put it on interest at about 5.25-percent which will generate about $400,000 during the 18-month construction period.

The state has appropriated $225,000 toward the project and if necessary, the county could take a first mortgage on the completed building and bond up $500,000 based on equity it will already have in the project.

Once the detention center is complete, the county will sell 30-year general obligation bonds at an estimated 5.25 percent to finance the project.

Gabbert said such creative financing is not unusual for small counties working on large projects. Within seven years, the county should be able to rebuild its bonding capacity back to about $1 million in case it needs to finance other projects, Gabbert said. Until then, the county will be stretched to its limit of debt.

The total cost of the jail includes everything except unaffixed fixtures such as desks, copy machines, linens, inmate jumpsuits, cooking and eating utensils and other assorted items. Judge Brown said that some of those materials will come from the current jail. He estimated that another $50,000 would be needed to furnish the new jail.
Construction of the new jail, between West Carlisle and Depot streets, will begin in the next few weeks and should be completed by Christmas 2007.

Sharp, the architect, said the construction company, BH Green and Son comes highly recommended. Sharp said the company is doing some work on a jail in Todd County, but otherwise didn't think it had ever built a jail.

The county is hoping that once the jail is built, it will be able to put enough prisoners inside to pay for itself. The Commonwealth of Kentucky and other counties should pay Crittenden to keep prisoners once the new jail is built. Riley, the county jailer, said it will take a few months, perhaps a year to fill the jail to or near capacity, at which time it should generate enough revenue to pay the debt and operating costs. Right now Crittenden County spends about $280,000 annually on its 20-bed jail.

County leaders have said that the current jail is in jeopardy of being closed down by the state because of increasing compliance issues. If that were to happen, the county would have to spend about $300,000 annually to transport and house its inmates in other counties, Brown said.