Local News
Chandler, McConnell protect depot funding
U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Sixth District, and U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell have managed to protect or increase funding for the destruction of chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot, according to Craig Williams, co-chair of the Chemical Destruction Community Advisory Board.
At the quarterly CDCAB meeting Tuesday at Eastern Kentucky University, Williams said McConnell had secured an additional $5 million for the Senate bill to fund the Assembled Chemical Weapons Alternatives program.
The Senate proposal would appropriate $547 million for the effort.
ACWA is in charge of using chemical neutralization to destroy the 100,000 rounds of chemical weapons stored at the depot south of Richmond, as well as other chemical munitions at a Colorado depot.
In the House of Representatives, Williams said Chandler had thwarted an attempt to reduce by $50 million that chamber’s appropriations proposal, which stands at $542 million.
ACWA Program Manager Kevin Flamm had “gone to the mat” to defend and promote the program within the Defense Department, Williams said.
“We have a good team of people at multiple levels working to get (chemical weapons destruction) done,” Williams said. “I’ve never felt more optimistic about this.”
While such confidence has proved short-lived in the past, he said the program has never enjoyed such momentum.
Flamm deflected Williams’ praise.
“I haven’t had to go to the mat for anything,” Flamm said.
The Defense Department and the entire Obama administration have “a sincere desire to get rid” of the nation’s remaining stockpile of obsolete chemical weapons “as quickly as possible,” he said.
Flamm said he merely had “championed the good work done by people here at (the) Blue Grass (Army Depot’s) destruction project and at Pueblo (Colo.),” where the other remaining stockpile is stored.
Those efforts have inspired confidence among Pentagon officials and won Defense Department backing for the increased funding, he said.
In June, ACWA officials put 2021 as the likely date for destruction of the last chemical weapons stored in Kentucky.
One technical hurdle for the project has been overcome with the Pentagon Explosives Safety Board’s approval of the contractor’s design for walls in a blast containment structure within the destruction plant.
Mark Seely, project manager for Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, included the approval in his update of the plant’s construction.
The ESB’s rejection of an earlier containment wall design delayed the project by about five months and added about $2 million to its cost, officials said at previous CDCAB meetings.
Dr. John Barton, chief scientist for Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass, summarized the chemistry of nerve- and mustard-agent neutralization, as well as the super-critical water oxidation (SCWO) that will be used to treat the hazardous wastes that will result after the agents’ neutralization.
Water for both neutralization and SCWO will be collected and stored on the depot, Barton said. About 70 percent of the water used for neutralization will be recycled into the process, he said.
Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 624-6622.
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Berea men arrested for robbery
Berea police arrested two men in connection with a March 8 robbery at a check-cashing business, a spokesman said Monday.
Shawn Burns, 32, was charged with first-degree robbery and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, while Bradley Lamb, 21, was charged with complicity to first-degree robbery and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, said Capt. Ken Clark, Berea Police Department spokesman. -
City seeks proposals for Gibson Bay Cafe
The operation lease for Gibson Bay Cafe expires at the end of May, and the City of Richmond will be accepting bids for the operation of the restaurant from the public until Friday, March 26.
Gibson Bay Cafe, which is located at Lake Reba Recreational Complex on the Gibson Bay Golf Course, is owned by city commissioner Bill Strong and his wife Jeanie Strong. -
Reports of home burglaries keep Richmond police busy
The new owner of a mobile home on Bradbury Pointe reported to Richmond police Friday that appliances had been stolen from the home.
A stainless steel refrigerator, a white stove, a white microwave and a three-ton Trane heating and air conditioning unit were discovered to be missing from the home on March 7, said Chief Larry Brock. -
Parents upset about test scores, deficiencies
The frustration was evident in the voices of a number of Berea Community School parents who spent more than an hour Monday night addressing the Berea Independent Board of Education.
The parents spent most of the evening talking directly to middle school/high school principal John Masters about a lack of communication with school personnel and asking for answers about how the district intends to correct a number of deficiencies identified by the state in a December audit. -
Time to stand up, be counted
Madison County households will be receiving questionnaires in the mail today through Wednesday from the U.S. Census Bureau which is carrying out it constitutional mandate to count all U.S. citizens every 10 years.
Letters were mailed last week advising household to be watching for the census questionnaire, according to J.C. Barbour, the bureau’s media specialist for Kentucky. -
‘Sunshine Boys’ dedicated to Kerby’s memory
The late Dr. Clifford Kerby, former mayor of Berea, was a longtime supporter and often an actor in community theater.
One of his favorite plays, in which he played one of the two lead roles for the old Berea Community Theater back in 1977, was “The Sunshine Boys,” said his wife Diane. -
Two chances to meet, hear candidates
“You can’t tell the players without a program,” vendors at old minor league baseball games used to yell.
With so many local candidates in the running for election this year, voters may know too little about them to make an informed choice, some observers have remarked.
However, two Madison County organizations have scheduled events for Thursday evening to help clarify who the candidates are and what they stand for. -
Local group to meet on skate park on Tuesday
A local group seeking to build a public skateboard park in Richmond will conduct a public meeting next week in downtown Richmond.
Skate Richmond, KY is a non-profit group founded in 2007, according to group member and local attorney Wesley Browne, and is interested in constructing a public skateboard park in downtown Richmond. -
Lots of ‘energy’ at expo Saturday
Gloomy weather and college basketball did not keep people away from Saturday’s Madison County Home Energy Expo at the Perkins Building on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus.
The second-annual event, hosted by Madison County’s University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension office, moved to the EKU campus this year after last year’s event was conducted at Glenn Marshall Elementary School. -
Kentucky Blood Center collection Tuesday in Berea
Kentucky Blood Center will conduct a blood drive on Tuesday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Union Church in the Community Room, 200 Prospect St., Berea.
Every volunteer who presents to donate blood with the Kentucky Blood Center (KBC) will have a chance to win a trip to the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four games. One winner will receive a package for two that includes hotel stay April 2-6 and tickets to the Final Four (April 3) and Championship Games (April 5) in Indianapolis. The drawing will be conducted on April 1. - More Local News Headlines
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Berea men arrested for robbery
