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SubscribeNominations of 14 sites to the National Register of Historical Places, and a research project documenting a new statewide context to evaluate future submissions, were recommended for approval by the Kentucky Historic Preservation Review Board during a meeting Monday in Frankfort. Approved submissions will now be forwarded to the National Park Service (NPS) for final determination of eligibility, a process that generally takes 60 to 90 days.
The review board is charged with evaluating National Register nominations from Kentucky prior to their submission to NPS. The Kentucky Heritage Council/State Historic Preservation Office (KHC) administers the National Register program in Kentucky and provides administrative support to the board.
Nominations approved Monday are Columbia Commercial District; the Bold House, Foster; Doyle Country Club, near Dayton; the V.W. Bush Warehouse/Sphar Building, Winchester; Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church, Haury Motor Company Garage and Whiskey Row Historic District (additional documentation), Metro Louisville; Waveland, near Nicholasville; the Kentucky Hydroelectric Project, Grand Rivers; Paducah City Hall; Rowan County Courthouse; the Scearce-Roush House, Simpsonville; the J.D. Dodson House, Bowling Green; and Old Taylor Historic District, Millville. (See photos, l-r, above.)
Additionally, a research project establishing a historic context for evaluating future National Register submissions within the “Kentucky LGBTQ Historic Context Narrative” will be submitted for approval.
Listings that have been added to the National Register from Kentucky since the last review board meeting in May are Harlan Hubbard Studio, Fort Thomas; Edgewood, Fayette County; New Castle Historic District; Shawnee Steam Plant, Paducah; Johnson’s Landing House & Farm, and Woodland, Oldham County; Elks Athletic Club (additional documentation), Wood F. Afton Hall at Simmons University, E.L. Hughes Company Building and Seventh Street School, Metro Louisville; the Jonathan Bush House, and Jonathan Bush Mill, along Lower Howard’s Creek near Winchester; and a Multiple Property Nomination for “Kentucky State Tuberculosis Hospitals, 1946-1950” along with individual nominations for the London and Madisonville tuberculosis hospitals.
The National Register is the nation’s official list of historic and archaeological resources deemed worthy of preservation. Kentucky has the fourth-highest number of listings among states, with more than 3,400. Listing can be applied to buildings, objects, structures, districts and archaeological sites, and proposed sites must be significant in architecture, engineering, American history or culture.
Owners of National Register properties may qualify for state and/or federal tax credits for rehabilitation of these properties to standards set forth by the Secretary of the Interior, as certified by the Kentucky Heritage Council, or for making a charitable contribution of a preservation easement. National Register status does not affect property ownership rights, but does provide a measure of protection against adverse impacts from federally funded projects.
A meeting agenda and detailed nominations with high-resolution photos of all the proposed and recently listed sites are available at www.heritage.ky.gov/natreg/. The next review board meeting will take place in May 2017.
The State Board of Elections on Tuesday, Nov. 22, certified vote totals from the Nov. 8 general election and issued certificates of election to candidates who received the highest number of votes, completing the official administration process of the statewide election. Detailed official results are available at GoVoteKY.com.
Approximately 1.95 million Kentuckians, 59% percent of registered voters, cast ballots in the general election, said Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s chief election official.
“Our election administrators – more than 15,000 across Kentucky, including the State Board of Elections, county boards of elections, county clerks, and precinct election officers – are the backbone of this process, and again, they led a successful election,” said Grimes. “I am deeply grateful for their hard work and dedication to ensuring our elections run efficiently and fairly.”
Grimes announced that the Meeting of Presidential Electors will be held on Dec. 19 at 11:30 a.m. at the Supreme Court Room in Frankfort. The electors cast the official votes of Kentucky for President and Vice President of the United States.
The Kentucky Election Integrity Task Force also met Tuesday to review the administration of the election. The members, which include U.S. Attorney’s offices, the FBI, the Kentucky Attorney General’s office, and Kentucky State Police, said the high-profile election was largely free from issue or problems. Law enforcement officials are currently reviewing election complaints they have received to determine which may merit further investigation. Grimes chairs the task force, which she brought together for the first time in 2012.
Pursuant to Kentucky law, the Office of the Attorney General will randomly select six counties in which it will conduct a post-election audit. The drawing was scheduled for last Tuesday.
The State Board of Elections led a post-election meeting of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) Advisory Committee to assess current voting processes and discuss possible improvements. Kentucky is one of the few states in the nation which conducts regular meetings in accordance with the federal voting law passed in 2002.
“I have been a committed advocate for making sure every Kentuckian – especially those with disabilities – are able to cast their ballots independently and in private,” said Grimes. “Voting is a cherished right, and I’m proud to help preserve it for all citizens.”
Grimes continues to push for legislation that would make it easier for persons who qualify by age, disability, and illness to vote absentee in-person. The proposal enjoys the support of disability advocates and has the recommendation of the HAVA Advisory Committee.
Hunters who illegally transport deer or elk carcasses into Kentucky from states infected with chronic wasting disease (CWD) risk prosecution.
Hunters must not bring whole deer or elk carcasses from infected states to taxidermists or processing operations in Kentucky.
CWD is a contagious and fatal neurological disease that affects deer, elk and other cervids native to North America. Currently, there is no evidence that CWD can be transmitted to humans.
Chronic wasting disease has been detected in 24 states, including Ohio, Arkansas, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, West Virginia, Virginia and Pennsylvania. The disease has also been found in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Kentucky, which does not have the disease in its animals, prohibits the importation of whole carcasses or high-risk cervid parts such as the brain, spinal cord, eyes, lymphoid tissue from deer or elk killed in CWD–infected states and provinces.
Hunters may bring back deboned meat, hindquarters, antlers attached to a clean skull plate, a clean skull, clean teeth, hides and finished taxidermy products. To help prevent the entry of CWD into the state, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources discourages hunters from bringing back high-risk parts of deer or elk taken in any state, regardless of CWD status.
Several proactive steps have been taken by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and captive cervid owners to prevent the introduction of the disease into the state.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife monitors wild deer and elk herds while the Kentucky Department of Agriculture monitors the captive herds. Since 2002, Kentucky has tested more than 26,000 deer and elk for the presence of the disease. All results have been negative.
Regulations enacted to reduce the likelihood of CWD in Kentucky have included a ban on importation of live cervids from CWD-positive states, mandatory CWD monitoring of captive herds and prohibiting the importation of high-risk carcass parts from CWD-positive states into Kentucky.
This disease can persist in the environment and may be contracted from contaminated soil or vegetation or through contact with infected cervid parts. The movement of live animals, either through the captive deer trade or natural migration, is one of the greatest risk factors in spreading the disease to new areas.
Today, Gov. Matt Bevin’s executive order reorganizing the former seven-person Workers’ Compensation Nominating Commission, which resulted in a five-member board with all new members, was upheld by the Franklin Circuit Court. This decision further supports that the Governor has the legal authority to reorganize executive boards.
“Today’s court order is welcome news, as Kentuckians were really beginning to feel the pain of not being able to move forward with their workers’ comp claims,” said Communications Director Amanda Stamper. “This order will allow the newly formed Workers’ Compensation Nominating Committee to proceed to meet and make its nominations so Gov. Bevin may begin appointing administrative law judges to fill positions that have been vacant for far too long.”
In June, the Governor’s Office determined that greater efficiency and improved administration would be achieved by streamlining and condensing the organizational structure of the Workers’ Compensation Nominating Commission.
Kentucky is participating in a three-state effort to test white-tailed deer for the presence of bovine tuberculosis.
While bovine tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that primarily affects cattle, it also can infect deer. The disease has not been detected in Kentucky’s deer herd.
Wildlife officials in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio recently launched a joint monitoring effort for the disease after an infected deer was discovered in southeastern Indiana. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources will operate a check station in Boone County during the first two weekends of modern gun season for deer, Nov. 12-13 and Nov. 19-20, as part of that monitoring.
The department also will operate check stations in Bath, Nicholas and Fleming counties on those same weekends in a monitoring follow-up after the discovery of an infected cow in that area in 2010. Hunters will be asked to bring their deer by the check station so biologists can take tissue samples for testing.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Veterinarian Iga Stasiak said the state agencies intend to stop the disease from spreading further. “These efforts will help us determine whether or not bovine tuberculosis is present in our deer,” she said. “Participation in this effort may help ensure the long-term health and stability of wild deer populations in Kentucky.”
Testing will consist of collecting a few lymph nodes from the deer’s head. Hunters who wish to have their deer mounted can provide the name of the taxidermist so that arrangements can be made to collect samples from that location. The voluntary testing, which is designed to obtain samples from 500 deer from each of the two regions, is part of a joint monitoring effort by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
Kentucky’s check stations will be open from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (Eastern) Nov 12-13, and during the same hours Nov 19-20. Locations include:
- Boone County: Boone County Cooperative Extension office, 6028 Camp Ernst Road, Burlington, Ky.
- Bath County: Bath County Cooperative Extension office, 2914 East U.S. 60, Owingsville, Ky.
- Nicholas County: Nicholas County Cooperative Extension office, 268 East Main St., Carlisle, Ky.
- Fleming County: Fleming County Cooperative Extension office, 1384 Elizaville Road, Flemingsburg, Ky.
Hunters outside of these areas can assist with the monitoring project as well. Hunters who see swollen lymph nodes, nodules in the lungs or chest cavity in any deer they are field dressing should report this to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife as soon as possible by calling 1-800-858-1549.
For more information, visit the bovine tuberculosis surveillance online site at http://fw.ky.gov/Wildlife/Pages/Bovine-Tuberculosis.aspx.
The Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) will dedicate two new historical markers in November. One, in Jefferson County, marks the Kentucky Soldiers’ Home site. The other, in Paducah, recognizes a Boy Scout troop founded in 1910.
The Kentucky Soldiers’ Home was the only institution in Kentucky established for Union Civil War veterans. Its purpose was to provide a home for those who were aged, infirm and unable to support themselves. J.T. Boyle Post No. 109 of the Grand Army of the Republic proposed the home. It was chartered in 1890 and opened in 1891.
Former Union Gen.Speed S. Fry served as the home’s first superintendent and director. He died in 1892. Catherine E. Hirst of the Ladies’ Aid Society headed the facility until it closed several years later. During its brief time in operation, it housed 35 veterans. Five of them died at the home.
The Kentucky Soldiers’ Home marker dedication will be at 11 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 12, at 6319 Upper River Road, Harrods Creek.
In 1910, Rev. Clinton S. Quin, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Paducah, organized Boy Scout Troop 1. The Boy Scouts of America was incorporated on Feb. 8 of that year. Troop 1 is the seventh-oldest troop in the United States. Grace Episcopal Church continues to sponsor the troop, providing meeting facilities and volunteer leadership. The troop is a member of the Lincoln Heritage Council, one of the older local councils serving both urban and rural areas in the nation.
The Boy Scout Troop 1 marker dedication will be at 11:30 a.m. (CST), Sunday, Nov. 13, at 820 Broadway, Paducah.
More than 2,400 historical markers statewide tell Kentucky’s history. More information about the marker application process and a database of markers and their text is available at history.ky.gov/markers. Also available on the site is the Explore Kentucky History app, a source of supplemental information about marker topics and virtual tours of markers by theme. KHS administers the Kentucky Historical Marker Program in cooperation with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
State and federal agencies, working in cooperation with volunteers, commercial anglers and fish processors, are launching a “Carp Blitz” on Nov. 8-10 to help gauge the population of invasive Asian carp in Kentucky and Barkley lakes.
At least a dozen sampling crews will be netting, electrofishing and working with licensed commercial anglers to collect as many Asian carp as possible during this three-day period.
“This very large effort is primarily a sampling or data collection exercise which, if deemed successful, will be repeated annually in order to provide relative abundance and population demographics of Asian carp in Kentucky and Barkley Lakes,” said Ron Brooks, fisheries director for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
Other participating agencies will include the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
In 2013, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife sponsored Carp Madness, a first of its kind tournament for commercial anglers whose primarily goal was the thin the Asian carp population in the two western Kentucky lakes. It proved successful, as a handful of participants collected more than 83,000 pounds of Asian carp during the two-day tournament.
Brooks believes if weather conditions are good, the Carp Blitz effort will easily eclipse the Carp Madness tournament. State and federal fisheries crew will use electrofishing equipment to drive the wary Asian carp into the waiting nets of the commercial anglers.
“All Asian carp harvested will be donated to the commercial anglers assisting with this effort,” Brooks said. “Kentucky’s fish processing businesses will purchase all fish harvested.”
As part of the effort, researchers with Murray State University are working with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife to tag fish with telemetry markers. This will allow researchers to discover the movement patterns and habitat use of Asian carp in Kentucky and Barkley lakes.
