Beech Tree News Network

The questions have been debated in Kentucky for years:

Should public schools start in early August or after Labor Day?

Should the school year end by Memorial Day or in mid-June?

School districts in some states start after Labor Day, but Kentucky districts, over time, have started the year earlier and earlier.

The search for a missing man on Green River ended Monday morning with the recovery of his body.

Search and rescue teams located the body of Phillip Leedy, 42, of Bowling Green, Monday morning after he had gone missing on Friday while canoeing the Green River.

According to the Warren County Rescue Department, Leedy's body was located shortly after 11 a.m. on Sunday.

The Butler County Fiscal Court held a special session on Monday night. All magistrates were present.

Outgoing Emergency Management Director Terry Hunt was scheduled to appear before the Court. However, Hunt was unable to attend. Fifth District Magistrate Bobby Moore reported to the Court that the county will receive "a little over $41,000" in aid from FEMA for the two late-winter snow storms that struck the region.

On Friday afternoon Butler County Judge Executive David Fields and Morgantown Mayor Billy Phelps signed a proclamation declaring August Purple Heart Month in the County and City, encouraging Butler County residents to show their appreciation for the sacrifices Purple Heart recipients have made in defending our freedoms, to acknowledge their courage and to show them the honor and support they have earned. They were joined by V.F.W. Post 5837 Ladies Auxiliary President Lynda Knight, V.F.W Post 5837 Ladies Auxiliary Americanism Chairman, and Veteran Sharone Nash , Purple Heart Recipient.

School starts in Butler County on Thursday, August 6th, and thanks to some help from D93’s Tony Rose, some of the returning students will have free school supplies.
Rose annually conducts the Stuff the Bus promotion to gather supplies for area students. Rose’s stuffed bus dropped off pencils, pencil boxes, note books, folders, and other supplies at the studios of WLBQ 101.5FM in Morgantown on Thursday, and those supplies will be distributed to local students.

At its 2015 Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference, Greg Drake II was recognized by the National Association of County Agriculture Agents.  The NACAA communication awards program recognizes Extension educators that excel in communicating with the public about agriculture issues and Cooperative Extension programs.  Drake was recognized in the “Radio Program” award division for a segment of “Butler County Ag.

More Than 1,200 Volunteers Participate in United Way of Southern Kentucky’s Seventh Annual Day of Caring

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 July 9- 26.
Civil Cases:
Ensafe Inc. vs. Kentucky Copper, Inc.
Friendly Finance Corporation vs. Randall Maxfield
Melissa Mercer vs. Kenneth Belcher
City of Rochester vs. Jack Riley Mae Sr. and Gary Embry
Family Court
Dione M. Bowman vs. Leroy M. Bowman

With over 23 years of banking experience, Jennifer Hammer has been named the new Market President at PBI Bank in Morgantown.  The announcement was made internally early this month and Hammer is already settling into her new position.  She replaces Jarod Amos, who is now the Market President at PBI Bank Northside in Beaver Dam.  Hammer has been with PBI for over three and a half years and has worked primarily as a business development officer (loan officer).

Elizabethtown, KY (July 28, 2015) – More residents in Butler County now have access to 4G LTE, the most-advanced 4G network, on their Bluegrass Cellular mobile devices. Today, Bluegrass announced that it has expanded its 4G LTE network into the community of Round Hill.

The expansion means that customers in and around these areas will experience download speeds of up to 10 times faster than 3G, which affects everything from data speeds (i.e., streaming YouTube videos and posting Instagram pictures) to picture messaging.