-News from November 5, 2009 issue

Local News
The Crittenden Press Full Version (PDF)

Vandalism tied to cemetery interest
Vandalism believed to be linked to interest in Pilot Knob Cemetery
The property owner next to Pilot Knob Cemetery says continued vandalism on his farm has prompted him to offer a reward for the arrest of those responsible for damage there Halloween night.
Philip Sharp, a biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, owns land on either side of the cemetery. Erroneous reports claim that there is a witch buried there, which creates a great deal of traffic to the rural cemetery off Fords Ferry Road. Most of the visitors leave trash and often times they have destroyed cemetery markers and other nearby property.
Saturday was not the first time Sharp says his hunting cabin near the cemetery has been vandalized.
“There’s nothing inside it of any value,” Sharp said. But vandals continue to break out windows and smash the door trying to gain access.
“It’s very frustrating,” he added. “Now, when they break out a window, I just board it up.”
Sheriff Wayne Agent gathered evidence at the scene Monday morning. He said there used to be a great deal more trouble at the cemetery, but now it comes in spurts.
The vandals turned into burglars on Halloween, stealing some items from the cabin. Sharp is offering a reward for information leading to an arrest. Call the sheriff at 965-3400 if you know anything about this crime.
That was the only incident reported in the county; however, city police arrested one juvenile for violating the curfew law. As an officer approached two juveniles after midnight on Halloween, one of the boys took off running. Police found him about an hour later and charged him with fleeing and violating the curfew law. The boy who did not run was released without being cited.
City Police Chief Ray O’Neal said a couple of cars were egged in town, but otherwise everything was quiet.

Academic team getting it right
Crittenden County High School’s academic team is coming off of perhaps its best performance in years.
Crittenden scored 26 points to beat Reidland and then dispatched Lyon County in the same meet last week at home.
“It was probably the most points we have ever scored in a match,” said academic team coach Kathleen Guess.
“We lost four seniors last year,” Guess added, “and three were girls.”
This season, the varsity team is made up of boys.
“We have some good freshmen, too,” Guess said, regarding the junior varsity members.
The club competes against teams in the district and region for eight weeks. There is no tournament for league play, but in January and February there is the Governor's Cup Statewide competition, which includes both individual and team competition.
“If we keep this up, we might make it past district in the quick recall team competition,” Guess said.
Crittenden defeated Caldwell County two weeks ago – the first win over that neighboring county’s team in many years.
Crittenden lost a match to Livingston Central, but Guess says her squad is poised for avenging that defeat later this week when it plays Livingston in a meet at Todd Central. Crittenden goes head to head against Livingston two more times later in the season.
Guess says each varsity player brings a unique set of skills and knowledge to the team. The format for answering questions is much like Jeopardy! but with a panel of four competitors facing off against a like team.
Varsity members are seniors Logan Owen and Chase Adams, juniors Roy Givens and Levi Palmer and sophomore Jeremiah Markham.
“Jeremiah and Levi are our math and science guys,” Guess said. “Logan has a great deal of general knowledge and Roy and Chase are our floaters. They come up with answers out of nowhere.
The squad practices each Wednesday for about an hour after school. Guess is in her fourth season as coach. Meets are generally on Tuesdays or Thursdays.
The next home meet is Tuesday at the school library right after school. That match against Christian Fellowship starts at around 4:30 p.m. Admission is free and the event is open to the public.

Former Rocket adjusting to collegiate football
Former Rocket linebacker Gaige Courtney, who had a tremendous high school football career setting the school-record with 345 tackles, is already making great strides in his freshman season at Kentucky State University.
Courtney has started four games for the Thoroughbreds as an inside linebacker and received playing time in all 10 games this fall. He has also played on every special team unit this season.
While not sure of what to expect when he started preseason practice last summer, the freshman has recorded 32 tackles and has been either one or two on the depth chart much of the year.
“It feels good. I'm still just trying to get better,” said Courtney about receiving an abundance of playing time in his rookie year at the collegiate level.
Courtney said the Thoroughbred defensive unit employs a nickel package and also plays some 5-3 against teams whose strength is running the ball.
Playing in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference – which Courtney described as a conference with a lot of speed – Kentucky State also uses several blitz packages.
“We bring a lot of pressure,” said the freshman.
He said the biggest adjustment for him between college and high school football has been the increased speed and strength of the players.
“Everybody is fast and everybody is strong,” he said.
Currently standing at 5-5 on the season, Courtney and his teammates will try to clinch a winning season this Saturday with a win in the season finale.
It has been three years since the program has experienced a winning season and the former Rocket said the coaching staff has been stressing the importance of compiling a winning record this fall.
Besides being defeated 45-0 by Albany, Ga., the Thoroughbreds have been competitive in every contest with the four other setbacks coming by two touchdowns or less.
Courtney said his favorite part of his young college career has simply been fulfilling the dream of playing at that level.
“I've always had the goal to play football as long as I can,” he said.
Conversely, his least favorite part of his freshman campaign has been how time consuming the sport can be for a college student.
According to Courtney, a typical day involves having 5:30 a.m., workouts, watching film and lifting weights, followed by practice in the afternoon. Afterwards, the team comes back to watch more film at night and also has a team meeting.
But the inside linebacker, who recorded 24 tackles for loss during his high school career at Crittenden, seems to have adjusted quite nicely.