Beech Tree News Network

Some rejoice at the thought.  Others recoil.

Either way, it’s “very, very likely” charter schools are coming to Kentucky, said Rep. John “Bam” Carney, the House Education Committee chair who on Friday filed a bill that would allow an unlimited number of charter schools throughout the state.

Carney thinks the change will be methodical – “I certainly don’t expect charters to pop up all over Kentucky overnight” – but it’s time to acknowledge, he said, that for some students, they’re stuck right now in schools that aren’t serving them well.

FRANKFORT - Kentucky legislators took the first step Tuesday in creating a new way of funding higher education that would funnel $1 billion to public universities and colleges based on their graduation rates and other performance measures.

The Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee voted 12-1 to pass Senate Bill 153, which has been under construction for months by university presidents, the Council on Postsecondary Education and Sen. David Givens, R-Greensburg.

Butler County Fiscal Court met in regular session on Monday, February 13, at the courthouse.  All magistrates were present.  The biggest discussion of night ended up being a topic not listed on the agenda.  When all items on the agenda had been discussed, Fourth District Magistrate David Whittinghill made a motion for Fiscal Court to take full control of 911 Dispatch, effective July 1st of

Repeal of provision would protect benefits for Kentucky Teachers

FRANKFORT, Ky. (February 16, 2017) – Today, the House passed House Concurrent Resolution 7 urging the United States Congress to amend Title II of the Social Security Act to repeal the Government Pension Offset Provision and protect benefits for Kentucky’s teachers. Introduced by Rep. Kenny Imes, R-Murray, This provision reduces public employees’ Social Security spousal or survival benefits by up to two-thirds of their public pension.  

The Butler County Board of Education met in regular session on Tuesday, February 14, at 6:30 PM at the Butler County Education Complex. All members of the Butler County Board of Education were present. Members currently include: Ryan Daugherty, Debbie Hammers, Amy Hood, Delbert Johnson, and Aimee Sanders. Newly appointed Board member Aimee Sanders was recognized and welcomed to the Board.

Butler County Sheriff's Deputy Chris Reneer is advising residents to be aware of a new scam that has been recentlyreported.  A Butler County resident was having issues with her computer and within days an individual going by the name of Kevin, speaking with an accent, called her claiming to be a representative from Microsoft and said he could walk her through the steps to fix her computer issue for a fee of $2.95.  The number he

Timmy West, former Butler County Road Supervisor, appeared in Butler County Circuit Court on Monday, Februay 13, with Special Judge Sam Potter presiding over the jury trial. West was found not guilty of operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol and/or other substances which impairs driving ability.  The incident stemmed from a 2015 incident in which West was arrested on various charges related to alcohol and controlled substances while operating a vehicle.  West was employed as the county road supervisor at the time of his arrest. 

The Morgantown City Council met for its regularly-scheduled meeting on Thursday, February 9th.  After approval of minutes and the meeting agenda, the council went to work listening to various board reports:

Planning & Zoning
Board member Jody Forgy discussed the need for the zoning map to be updated.  By law this is required to be done every five years.  The council is in the process of getting large working maps to use as reference in updating the  zoning process.

Beech Tree News provides courthouse statistics on a regular basis. Courthouse information provided in this article is a matter of public record. The following records are from the Butler County Clerk and Circuit Clerk’s offices and cover January 19th- February 7th.

Civil Cases:
Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance vs. John Bratcher
Discover Bank vs. Ashley Weathers
Midland Funding vs. Samantha Phelps
Personal Finance Company vs. Stephanie Warren
Citimortgage vs. Greg Carter