Your Hometown Newspaper since 1949 Albany, KY 42602 - Single Copy 50¢ Thursday, March 8, 2012 Phone: 606-387-5144 - Email: [email protected] - USPS 118-480 One Section • 14 pages Between Lake Cumberland & Dale Hollow Lake Volume 62 • Number 21 Theft of City of Albany owned utility truck puts chain of events into motion Suspect arrested after high-speed pursuit, foot chase A county-wide man hunt ended peacefully Albany Police Department, Glover saw the stolen Sunday afternoon and led to the arrest of James, vehicle in the vicinity of the high school and called Easterly, 44, of Crossville, Tenn. it in to the local 911 dispatch center and began a According to Albany Police Chief Ernest pursuit. Guffey, Easterly had been passing through Albany The Clinton County Sheriff’s Department joined and could have been dropped off by another in the pursuit of the fl eeing vehicle and the suspect person. led offi cers on nearly an hour long chase that ended Unknown as to whether or not it is directly with a foot pursuit near the Teal Neathery Rd. close related, at about that same time, a report came in of to Grider Hill Dock. an attempted auto theft that had occurred at Save- A-Lot, but was unsuccessful. During the foot chase, Albany Police Offi cer Ricky Marcum came into contact with Easterly on “Someone tried to steal a vehicle at Save-A- a rock ledge near Lake Cumberland and held him Lot, but I don’t know whether it was him or not,” at gunpoint until Deputy Jim Guffey and Glover Guffey said. handcuffed the suspect. Shortly afterward, the suspect allegedly found Easterly was arrested and charged with criminal a vehicle on Donnie Ferguson St. a City of Albany mischief in the fi rst degree, fl eeing or evading owned utility truck. police in the fi rst degree in a motor vehicle, fl eeing The truck, a 2002 Chevrolet, was soon spotted or evading police in the fi rst degree on foot, theft by Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife by unlawful taking, operating a motor vehicle offi cer Wayne Glover around 2 p.m. Sunday. without a license and reckless driving. Guffey said the suspect found some spray paint in the tool box and used it to cover the City of Albany He is lodged in the Clinton County Jail and logo on both sides of the vehicle. Chief Guffey said more charges are pending. “He took the truck around 10:30 or 11 a.m.,” The truck sustained considerable damage Albany Police Chief Ernest Guffey surveys the damage that was caused when this City of Guffey said. “He tore it all to pieces.” during the chase, but an exact dollar amount of the Albany owned utility truck was stolen Sunday. Spray paint was used to cover the city logos on According to a press release issued by the damage wasn’t available at presstime. the truck doors. Fiscal court approves Last weekend’s weather serves as budgets for clerk, reminder of season’s potential dangers sheriff, still looking for More than 40 people lost their lives last weekend due to the series of violent storms that ripped through the states of Kentucky ways to trim expenses and Indiana. Clinton Fiscal Court fi nally passed budgets for the sheriff’s and Those storms were projected to hit the south central part of county court clerk’s offi ces, as well as making a tentative decision the state, but instead tornados touched down in West Liberty in on health insurance coverage for county employees at a call meeting Eastern Kentucky and several tornados hit in Southern Indiana. last Friday morning, March 2. All members were on hand for the While most residents in Clinton County are saying “we got approximate one hour meeting, in which other issues were also on lucky” that the storms didn’t hit in our area, the Clinton County the agenda. offi cials did take the necessary measures in order to prepare for After approving fund transfers presented by County Treasurer the worst. Dallas Sidwell, the court heard from insurance representative Grady At 11 a.m. Friday morning, the decision had been made to let Wilson, who presented court members with health insurance plans school out at an early releaase time of 1 p.m. and options for coverage, including plans that would reduce the Emergency Services Director Lonnie Scott said he went to county’s cost over an annual period. Superintendant Micky McFall’s offi ce to discuss possible actions. Wilson told the court that the Anthem renewal policy would “I went to the superintendant’s offi ce and he had (transportation increase by about 14 percent over last year’s rates and explained director) Larry Koger on speaker phone and we made the decision alternative options on deductible, co-pays, etc. to let school out,” Scott said. “That was the consensus of all the He also presented a plan from Bluegrass Family Company, which people there at the time. Due to the time frame that they were he noted was at an eight percent lower rate than the Anthem plan and giving us for Friday, which was a window of three p.m. to seven only about fi ve percent higher than the rates currently being paid by p.m. for us, would have been when it hit if it had held out. The the county. However, with various plans available, including higher thing the school had to take into consideration was making sure deductible and co-pay plans for employees who take the insurance, they didn’t have students on busses during that time frame.” Even though the storms passed above and below Clinton County, Scott said they didn’t know Clinton County was out of the See COURT, page 5 woods until around seven p.m. “We actually kept an eye on it until around seven o’clock that night,” Scott said. “We went back and looked at the national It’s time to ‘spring See SEASON, page 5 forward’ this weekend The offi cial start of spring is less than two weeks away, March Madness has begun and the days are getting longer and Safety measures the nights shorter. Beginning this Sunday morning, offi cially at 2 p.m. local prevailing time, those extended hours of daylight will get even for severe weather longer for the next few months, as Central “Daylight Sav- ing Time” returns to much of the country, including Clinton Spring doesn’t begin on the calendar until March 20 and this County. is the season that generally generates the most dangerous severe Although most people storm weather in our region. However, severe weather literally will lose an hour’s sleep this has already occurred unusually early in many parts of the country, weekend, most won’t mind including the Ohio Valley region and in Kentucky as well. in exchange for longer days The primary threat for severe weather is during the months of and more daylight hours. March, April and May, although severe storms and tornadoes have Although the severe storms that moved across this region Readers are reminded to and do occur throughout the year. set their watches, clocks, of the nation last weekend weren’t much of an issue for Because the threat of severe storms, especially tornadoes, phones and other devices residents of Albany and Clinton County, the system did have occur in this region in the spring months, the Clinton County that keep time ahead by one enough of a presence here to give offi cials cause for concern News annually publishes some basic, yet extremely important, hour either late Saturday for some time. safety measures that can and should be taken in the event of severe night or fi rst thing Sunday Clinton County EMS employee Mark Thrasher made this weather and tornados. morning, March 11, so you photograph of a storm cell that moved over his house Friday Tornadoes can produce winds greater than 300 mph, and can won’t be running an hour afternoon, and was beginning to show signs of rotation as he travel across the ground at up to 60 mph. They can develop any behind. was observing it. The cell eventually broke up before pro- time of day, any month of the year, but are most common in the CDST will remain in ef- ducing a funnel cloud in this area, but several tornados hit afternoon and evening, and in the spring and fall. Tornadoes are fect until the fi rst Sunday in other regions of Kentucky and Tennessee, causing more than most common across the Great Plains and Gulf States regions of November, when the time 40 deaths and millions of dollars in structural damage. reverts back to Standard Time. Photo by Mark Thrasher See SAFETY, page 9 Sports Inside Inside Weather Last Year February was mild, and Headlines from the Dawgs fall to Four Clinton Washington... front page one year ago: a little dryer than the Scotties in OT, students year before, according or bust! Wellness Center to host to Will Ed Lowhorn, who open house end season compete for Readers Write: reports that 4.38 inches with 24-7 Begley Forest of rain fell in February, Beams for new bridge on 2012, compared Albany Bypass cause record Scholarship Harvey with 5.21 inches traffi c jams as they are hauled through Albany See pages 7 See page 2 See page 10 in February, 2011. Page 2 Clinton County News Thursday, March 8, 2012 PEOPLE Kiss Them Goodbye Five generations Four Clinton County GREAT residents compete for SELECTION! Begley Scholarship Four Clinton County residents competed in Lindsey Wilson Beside Dicken’s Leather on Tennessee Rd.