South Kentucky RECC worked through the night on outages caused by the storm that swept through SKRECC’s service territory around 4 p.m. yesterday afternoon. At peak, approximately 7,000 members were without power.

Outages were widespread throughout the South Kentucky RECC system in Clinton, McCreary, Pulaski, Russell, and Wayne Counties. The winds that accompanied this storm wreaked havoc on power poles and lines and caused trees to fall on the lines.

SKRECC V-P of Engineering Dennis Holt says restoration was handled as quickly as possible.

“The outages we had were widespread, mostly because of the wind. Crews worked until everyone was restored. We appreciate the patience and kindness our members have shown to us during this outage situation.”

Holt added that an issue in Russell County, which left about 850 without power in the middle of the night was the result of a car accident, which broke a three-phase pole.

Holt said he truly appreciates the work and the safety of the South Kentucky RECC employees.

With graduation, and the end of the school year complete, last night saw the final athletic events in the 109 year history of Monticello High School.
The Monticello Baseball and Softball teams lost in the opening round of District play yesterday evening bringing an end to one of the most storied athletic programs in the Kentucky High Athletic Association.

Most of the Trojans success was in Basketball, with 11 Boys Regional championships, including the 1960 state runner-up and 3 Girls Regional championships. The last Regional Championship for the boys team was 1987, the last Girls Regional Championship was in 1992. The Monticello Boys Basketball program ends its run as the eight all time winningest program in Kentucky High School history.

As Monticello Schools merge with Wayne County next year, many of the players from both schools are already attending pre-season summer workouts as the two schools get ready to join together for the new year.

On Saturday afternoon the Wayne County Coroner’s Office was asked to respond to the Point Drive area on Lake Cumberland. A minivan had been found parked close to the water at the end of Point Drive and a white male occupant was apparently deceased.

Anthony J. Marcum, age 38, of Monticello, was pronounced dead at approximately 7:15 PM by Wayne County Coroner Forrest Hicks. His death appeared to be the result of a single gunshot wound. Wayne County EMS had responded to the call, and Kentucky State Police and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department were also on the scene.

A death investigation continues into the circumstances surrounding the death of Mr. Marcum.

As the summer travel and tourism season is fast approaching, Wayne County received some great news earlier this week, as Kentucky’s Travel and Tourism Industry released their economic impact numbers for the past year. Wayne County, a member of the KY’s Southern Shoreline Region, increased travel direct expenditures from $20,508,364.00 in 2011, to $21,431,240.00 in 2012, while total travel expenditures also increased to $33,689,909.00, after totaling $32,239,148.00 the previous year.

Click here to READ THE FULL STORY

After receiving around two and half inches of rainfall this weekend , the level of Lake Cumberland is on the rise. As of noon today, the lake level is 708.30 feet above sea level and continuing to rise.

The level of the lake could continue to rise as there is at least a mention of rain each day through Sunday in the forecast.

The official measurement of rain from Saturday to Monday morning at 8AM was 2.44 inches at the national Weather Service reporting station at the Monticello Wayne County Airport.

Robert Milton Huffaker, a native of Wayne County, was selected to receive honorary doctorate degrees at the University of Kentucky's Commencement yesterday. Huffaker has an over 50-year career as a distinguished physicist, company founder and CEO, and philanthropist.

After earning a Bachelor of Science in physics and pursuing graduate studies at UK, Huffaker worked at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center for 15 years. Among his many accomplishments there was initiating and directing the development of laser Doppler systems for aerodynamic applications. He moved on to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and later founded Coherent Technologies, Inc. (CTI), in 1984 to develop Doppler laser radar technology and systems for meteorological and military applications.

As a philanthropist, Huffaker has founded or co-founded three organizations that support and assist families and children. He also has donated well over $3 million to these and other nonprofit agencies. Huffaker received an Honorary Doctorate of Science.

According to a news release from Wayne County Coroner Forrest Hicks
... a Coopersville community resident died following an ATV accident on Thursday afternoon.

Units from Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and Wayne County EMS were called to the Canada Creek Road where a man was reported to have run off the road while riding an ATV. Upon their arrival it was determined that the man was deceased and the Coroner’s Office was asked to respond.

Alvin Brown, age 65, of East KY 92 was pronounce dead at app. 3:40 PM by Wayne County Coroner Forrest Hicks. Mr. Brown had apparently gone off the side of the gravel portion of the road, with the vehicle overturning and coming to rest on him. During an examination of Mr. Brown it was discovered that he had suffered a head injury and skull fracture during the accident that took his life.

It was determined that an autopsy would not be necessary in this case.

The Monticello and Wayne County School Boards will be meeting tonight in regular monthly session. The Monticello Board meets at 5PM, and among the items on the agenda, Board members will hear the merger proposal for Monticello and Wayne County Schools.

At 6 this evening, the Wayne County Board of Education will meet, and discuss the merger proposal as well. The Wayne County Board meeting will be held in the Wayne County High School Auditorium.

Monticello School Manager James Hamm and Wayne County School Supt. John Dalton appeared at the Monticello Kiwanis Club meeting Friday and spoke at length about the merger proposal. Both Hamm and Dalton said they have spoken frequently as the two Schools move closer to merger for the start of the next school year. The merger proposal was delivered to

Wayne County School Friday. Details of the merger proposal are expected to be announced at both meetings tonight.( WFLW and) WKYM will cover both meetings. You can follow the live action by following WKYM on Twitter or Facebook, using keyword WKYM.

According to information given at the Kentucky State School Board meeting earlier this week, Monticello School is expected to give a merger proposal to Wayne County School today.

The Wayne County School Board will meet Monday in regular session. The specifics of the merger proposal were not given at the State Board meeting .

At an earlier meeting of the Monticello School Board it was noted that any merger proposal presented to Wayne County would be prepared by Monticello School’s State Manager James Hamm with approval of the State Education Commissioner Terry Holiday. The proposal is first formal merger presentation presented to Wayne County since the merger talks began in December.

The State School Board discussed the Monticello-Wayne County merger at length Wednesday, at which time it was explained by the State’s legal Counsel, after a merger agreement was signed, a ten member Board of Education comprised of the five current board members from each school would run the newly merged School. The new Board would be in office until new School Board Districts would be aligned and elections for the new seats to be held in 2014 and 2016.

We are experiencing problems with our newscenter. You can get updated news on our main page at wkym.com or follow us on Twitter:https://twitter.com/wkym1017