Web Only

Last week, the US Department of Agriculture held a roundtable meeting with community leaders across eastern Kentucky to discuss the launch of the new Rural Partners Network, which the USDA describes as “an alliance of federal agencies and civic partners working to expand rural prosperity through job creation, infrastructure development, and community improvement.” The roundtable was hosted by the Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation in London, and in attendance to talk about the benefits of this new initiative was Under Secretary for Rural Development, Xochitl Torres Small. “A really great questions is, ‘What can we provide when it comes to real partnerships with communities,’” Small said. “We see a real opportunity to...

Geoff Marietta, owner and operator of the 2nd & Main event space in downtown Corbin, proudly announced to his followers on social media recently that the business will now run partly on solar power. After nearly five years of planning, Marietta’s goal of installing solar panels on top of 2nd & Main is finally a reality, and he is very excited about all of the potential economic and environmental benefits of the new upgrade. “The electric bills during our first year of operation were pretty high,” Marietta said. “I knew that we would need to move to solar more quickly, so we worked with Corbin Utilities to determine what size panels would...

Students at Corbin Elementary School had the opportunity to let their creativity take center stage during the school’s Halloween themed contests last week. More than 70 pumpkins were submitted for the library’s character pumpkin contest. Corbin Elementary School’s librarian Emily Lewallen said, “This is my first year being a librarian, and we wanted to do something fun and festive for the holiday.” The stipulations for the contest stated it had to be a book character and they couldn’t puncture or carve the pumpkin; it could only be decorated. The pumpkins were decorated outside of the classroom, though students who needed a pumpkin could request one from the school. The school provided approximately 15...

The Whitley County Public Library’s 100 Days of Reading officially kicked off on Tuesday. Children are encouraged to read 20 minutes a day for 100 days during the program. The library provides logs for children to record their hours. Children who spend 20 minutes a day reading and return their logs to the library each month will be eligible to receive prizes, said Shonna Brown, the children’s librarian at the Whitley County Public Library. Children can read any type of literature – hard copy books, e-books, magazines, newspapers. Young children can also be read too. The Whitley County Public Library received funding from Save the Children to help support the program. “I know it...

Approximately 30 people gathered for a candlelight vigil, hosted by the Sunup Initiative, in Corbin Tuesday evening. The vigil was to honor the lives lost to racial violence throughout the United States. “It seemed fitting to hold this vigil on the anniversary of George’s death especially after the jury verdict that held the officer accountable for his murder,” stated Lisa Garrison, a member of the Sunup Initiative, in a press release. “While there have been many conversations over the past year about race, equity, violence and policing, there is still much work to be done. With the escalation of violence against people of color, it is clear that we need to...

The National Federation of State High School Associations, which is the parent organization of the KHSAA, has authorized the member organizations to approved a shot clock in high school basketball beginning in the 2022-23 season. Following the meeting of the organization’s Basketball Rules Committee, which was held virtually in late April, the NFHS followed the committee’s recommendation to permit the state high school athletic associations to adopt a 35-second shot clock. KHSAA Commissioner Julian Tackett said the Board of Control has approved a survey of officials from the participating schools in Kentucky to gauge interest in instituting the rule in 2022-23. “We expect significant work with our schools, coaches association, athletic director...

Corbin Elementary School students performed Cinderella on Friday. The elementary school is comprised of fourth and fifth grade students.  

The Corbin Tourism Commission is set to unveil a life-size, chainsaw carved statue of Corbin most famous citizen – Colonel Harland Sanders – on May 5 at the Corbin Welcome Center. The statue was created by local chainsaw carving couple J&K Carvers. The duo also created all of the pieces for the Christmas Village at the ice-skating rink during the winter. Director of Tourism Maggy Kriebel said that she met J&K Carvers, Jerry and Kim Eaton, at Octoberfest after seeing their work. “Their work was so amazing,” said Kriebel. “I kept in touch with them and they ended up doing Christmas open house as well.” The idea for the Sanders Statue came from...

Local New York Times bestselling author Silas House talked about his first novel “Clay’s Quilt” Thursday with fellow author Angela Correll. The event, which was hosted by the Kentucky Book Festival, took place virtually via zoom and Facebook. During the event, House reflected on writing “Clay’s Quilt” and his other novels. House shared, with Correll and the audience, some of the inspirations for his books, including the stories he asked to hear from older family members when he was young and the community of Lily where he grew up. House grew up around people with a natural ability for oral tradition. His version of storytelling came in written form. “Since I was often...

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) District 11 Office is advising motorists that a bridge construction project in Whitley County starts on Monday, March 29. This project will replace the Imperial Hollow Road bridge over Colonel Creek. The bridge will be closed for up to 90 days with an expected open to traffic date of Wednesday, June 30. An onsite diversion is in place, so no detour is necessary. This bridge is part of the Bridging Kentucky program’s Eastern Kentucky Design-Build Project No.1. The project is being delivered by a design-build team led by Central Bridge Co., LLC J/V Bizzack Construction LLC and HDR Engineering, Inc. Bridging Kentucky is a program to improve the...