New rendering plant promises high paying jobs at 4 Star Park

by MATT HUGHES
J-E Editor
More than a decade after the last new industry opened it’s doors in 4 Star Park, north of Sebree on US 41, the industrial park looks to soon be the home to a new employer.
AgRenew Partners LLC, which was incorporated earlier this year, plans a 15,000-square-foot, $4.5 million dollar animal byproduct processing facility. The plant will turn these byproducts into a bone meal product for use in the pet food industry and oil for oleochemicals.

Robards Mayor David Sellers visited with the Webster County Fiscal Court on Monday to express the concern of his constituent who live just across the county line in Henderson County.

County to reallocate money for 911 tower

by MATT HUGHES
J-E Editor
Webster County Fiscal Court is beginning to feel the crunch of an already tight 2015-16 budget. On Monday, when presented with bids for a proposed 911 radio tower, magistrates found themselves approximately $55,000 short of the funds needed to complete the project. Due to the importance of the project, however, the decision was made to use funds that had already been earmarked for road improvements.

“I think more people would benefit from using the money for the tower than would if we used it somewhere else,” said Magistrate Jerry ‘Poogie’ Brown.

Portrait of former legislator to be unveiled at court house

by MATT HUGHES
J-E Editor
The Webster County Bar Association and Webster County Historical and Genealogical Association will sponsor an event on Monday, October 26, 2015 to honor Garrett L. Withers, the only Webster County native to serve in both the U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate.

Withers was born on his family’s farm in Webster County on June 21, 1884. He attended the Providence M. and F. Academy, before moving on to the Southern Normal School in Bowling Green, where he pursued legal training. In 1908 he was admitted to the bar and practicing law in Webster County from 1911 until his death in 1953.

Clay Council members approves $30,000 street paving project

Project won't touch what officials call the “worst street in town”

by MATT HUGHES
J-E Editor
Last Tuesday, Clay Council members voted to proceed with a paving project, but tight funding and needs in other areas resulted the approval of fewer improvements than they were originally seeking.

Ware Trucking of Providence will handle the approximately $30,000 project, which will West Short Street and roughly half of Nall Street resurfaced. The original job bid called for all of Nall Street to be repaved, along with West Short and First Street, but that was going to cost the city in excess of $80,000.
City employee Frank Rienhart told the council that First Street was ‘the worst street in town’, but council members were worried about water lines in that area.
“We have a lot of water line breakages on First Street,” said councilman Paul Cowan. “If we put blacktop down, we’ll continue to have breaks and within two or three years we will be back where we are now.”

MCC team with two Webster residents wins state competition

by MATT HUGHES
J-E Editor
A team of Respiratory Care students from Madisonville Community College recently earned the title of ‘State Champions’ while participating in the State Sputum Bowl on October 8, 2015, hosted by the Kentucky Society for Respiratory Care (KSRC) in Lexington, Kentucky. The four member quick recall team included two Webster County residents, Sarah Glazebrook of Providence and Amanda Tomkins of Slaughters.

Internet troubles worry county officials

by MATT HUGHES
J-E Editor
Recently the Webster County government chose to switch internet and phone services from AT&T to Time Warner, a move that was promised to be both smooth and much more cost efficient for the county, but some elected officials aren’t happy with the result. In fact, jailer Terry Elder is afraid problems with internet services at the jail will result in some major and possibly costly issues for the county, which is already operating on a tight budget.

“Our internet goes down constantly,” he told the court on Monday morning. “We’ve called them and they’ve tried hard to fix our problem, but I don’t see anything else to do but switch back to AT&T.”

The two main problems Elder says the jail has experienced are losing contact with the Kentuckty Department of Corrections, which communicates information on inmates, and VINELink. VINELink is the official website for Victim Information and Notification Everyday (VINE), the company that notifies victims when an inmate charged in their crime is released from jail.