News from April 24, 2003 issue

Old school renovation hits snag
STAFF REPORT
No one from the county showed up to hear a presentation for renovating the old Marion High School for use as a city/county building during Monday night's Marion City Council meeting.

It may have been just as well, as the cost for the project came close to $9 million.

The resulting monthly cost of more than $37,000 for 20 years came out to payments of $22,379 for the county and $15,035 for the city.

"This project would be a renovation," said Dennis Arthur, a consultant with CMW Inc., a firm that usually constructs, then leases, buildings. "With a renovation you can have surprises, and those can be costly."
In addition, said Arthur, the city would still have to pay for insurance, maintenance and utilities on the building.

"Based on sheer cost, this is not as good a route for us as designing a building and having it built," Arthur said. "I'm sorry it's not what you want to hear."

Mayor Mick Alexander said the city's next step is "to ask the county whether it's going to participate or not."
Some council members said they were told by county officials that the county couldn't justify participating "at this time."

"I think we've dragged this out far enough and I'd really like to see us revisit doing this just on our own," said Alexander.

The council will hear a proposal from Arthur at a May 7 meeting to examine the cost of renovating the building for the city alone.

Man tossed by turkey-spooked horse
A Marion man was injured in a horseback-riding accident Friday on his farm just east of Marion.
Family members say wild turkeys spooked the horse Raymond Crowell was riding, causing the horse to buck and throw Crowell. The horse stepped on Crowell and then kicked him in the back.

Two men fishing in Crowell's ponds saw the horse return to the barn and began yelling for Crowell.
He was taken by ambulance to Crittenden Hospital where he was flown to St. Mary's Hospital in Evansville.
He suffered injuries to his spleen and a broken rib. He was in good condition Wednesday morning.

Foul play ruled out in woman's death
GRAND RIVERS ­ A partially clothed woman found dead in the back seat of a car stopped at a police roadblock on Ky. 453 Friday night was not a victim of foul play, according to state police.

More tests, including a drug screen, will determine how Glenda Howard died. Howard, 32, of Paducah, appeared to have been dead for about three hours when police discovered her body under a blanket about 10 p.m. Friday in Livingston County.

The driver of the car, Angel Blakney, 26, of Calvert City, and his mother, Beverly Blakney, 51, of Benton, remain jailed on felony charges of abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence while an investigation continues, Kentucky State Police Trooper Barry Meadows said.

Angel Blakney is being held on $5,000 cash bond in the Livingston County Jail and Beverly Blakney was being held on $10,000 bond.

No drugs were found in the automobile or in a subsequent search of Beverly Blakney's home, Meadows said.

According to police, the Blakneys said they had picked up Howard hitchhiking earlier in the evening and were taking her to meet some friends at a campsite in nearby Land Between the Lakes, a 170,000-acre wilderness with campgrounds, trails and boat ramps.

They told police during they were unaware she was dead.

But police during their search found Howard's purse and some personal effects that led them to believe that Howard had been at Beverly Blakney's home before she died and may not have met the Blakneys hitchhiking, Meadows said.

Detectives also have been unable to obtain details from the Blakneys about what campsite they were going to visit and whom they were supposed to meet, Meadows said.

Officers who approached the Blakneys' car at the checkpoint noticed Howard's body under a blanket in the back seat. Police said she looked disheveled and was cold to the touch. Though emergency medical

Track team off to great start
Hill sets new 100-meter record
Three school records have fallen in the past week and Crittenden County's track and field program is out of the blocks at an incredible pace.

"It's been a very good start," said coach Angela Starnes, pointing to the boys' team which won its first four meets, including an impressive championship in Saturday's Trigg County Invitational.

Tim Hill has twice set new 100-meter marks this season, including a school and meet record Saturday. Hill's time at the Trigg Invitational was 10.83, which bested his 11-flat mark last week which was at the time a new school record.

Additionally, two boys' relay teams have set new school standards in the 400 and 800 meters. Both record-setting squads feature the same lineup, Hill, Sean Thompson, Shawn Steele and Shawnte Moss.
Winning first place in Saturday's invitational is a heck of a feather in Crittenden's cap. All of the First Region's top Class A teams were there, including Murray, Mayfield and Trigg.

So does that mean the boys' team is the new regional favorite?

"I think they realize now for sure that they have the potential to win regionals," Starnes said. "We beat most of the top teams in the region, but we still haven't seen Ballard yet."

At the Trigg Invitational, Crittenden scored 119 team points. Trigg was second with 110 points with Murray and Caldwell finishing a distant third and fourth. In fact, Crittenden has defeated Trigg County twice this year. The Rocket boys won their second meet of the season last week at home, beating Fulton and Trigg County. Crittenden totalled 87 points in that event while Trigg scored 69 and Fulton eight.

Hill initially set a new standard for the 100 meters last week in that meet against Trigg and Fulton, finishing the race in 11 seconds, which was slighter faster than his cousin Ronnie Moss ran in the late 1980s when he set the previous school best at 11.06. Moss was there to see the race and said he was proud that Hill broke it. In fact, Moss' nephew Shawntee finished second in the 100 meters at 11.84.

"Tim's just a sophomore so you know he's going to keep getting faster," said the older Moss.
Coach Starnes agrees.

"There's only one senior on the whole boys' team. Tim is still very young and he's going to keep getting better and could set that 100 record so low that nobody will ever catch it. Shawn Steele is really close to the hurdles record and we're scoring team points from everywhere.

"If the guys keep working hard, I think (a regional championship) is within reach," the coach said.
With the boys' team racking up new records and winning major meets, it's somewhat overshadowing a pretty darn good start for the girls' team, too.

"Looking down my time sheet from the Trigg Invitational, I see personal bests for several of our girls. And that's the main thing, to just keep getting better."