Somerset — Local officials set out to impress the thousands of visitors who descended upon Somerset yesterday for the 15th annual Hot Rod Magazine Power Tour.
“We have all worked hard at putting our best foot forward for this event,” said Somerset-Pulaski Convention and Visitors Bureau Director Carolyn Mounce.
“Any time we can showcase our area, it’s a win-win situation.”
Apparently their efforts were successful.
Mounce said she had received plenty of positive feedback from Power Tour-goers who had wandered past her booth located inside The Center for Rural Development yesterday.
“They’re very impressed with our facilities,” she said.
“The guy from Hot Rod Magazine said this was the neatest venue they’d been at. ... Even when it rained hard, people came inside, and they were so glad that there was something other than hot dogs to eat and a place to sit down.”
The Power Tour brought some 3,000 hot rods and performance vehicles to the parking lot of The Center — and to surrounding parking lots at Somerset Community College, the Alton Blakely dealership, and more — as part of a seven-stop, eight-day tour across the country.
The rumbling caravan had come to Somerset from Dayton, Ohio. Today, drivers will depart for the tour’s final stop, Bristol, Tenn.
Mounce said she had been asked by Hot Rod officials to work on making sure the Power Tour could pass through Somerset again in the future.
She plans on doing just that.
In the meantime, Mounce was busy passing out tourism information for the entire Lake Cumberland area during yesterday’s event.
“I’ve talked to people from Canada, Oklahoma, Illinois, Wisconsin and Georgia — off the top of my head,” she said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get some of these people back to our area.”
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It sounds like a Buck Rogers fiction series, but it’s true. The city of Somerset is about to become the energy hub of Kentucky, maybe even regionally or nationally.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler, gas company manager Dan Henderson and city engineer Reggie Chaney discussed the grandiose energy network this week with a reporter for the Commonwealth Journal. It’s more than a vision. City officials say it’s about to become reality. -
Old districts are back ... for now
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Big Bang Theory
Pulaski County is not at war. The booming you may hear at dusk is mock cannon fire to scare away birds.
Stuart Spillman, environmental director for the Lake Cumberland Health Department, said at least three cannons are on loan from the department to residents who want to scare away swarms of starlings and blackbirds settling in to roost.
He said a cannon is being used by a resident on Laura Lane off Ky. 39; another is in the Oak Hill Road area and a third is on Ashurst Street in the eastern part of Somerset.
Spillman said a timer on each cannon allows it to “fire” at whatever frequency is desired. The cannons must be used as the birds circle before going to roost. “After they settle in, nothing will chase them out,” Spillman said.
The Health Department doesn’t operate the cannons unless there is a specific complaint in an area where there are lots of birds, Spillman noted. He said so far this year the birds are not as bad as in the past. -
Boil water advisory is lifted countywide
The water controversy that Pulaski County has been boiling over — so to speak — for the last week is finally over.
At 10 minutes after noon Wednesday, the “boil water” advisory for the Western Pulaski Water District was lifted — almost a full week after the problems began around 1 p.m. last Thursday.
Prior to that, the Somerset Water Service — along with the other water providers in its system, including Science Hill Water, Southeastern Water, and Eubank Water — lifted their advisories, with Somerset on Saturday afternoon and the last, Southeastern, by Monday morning. Western Pulaski was the last in the system to complete sample testing for potential contaminants, due to not being able to access its Pikeville-based testing lab until Monday.
Somerset Mayor Eddie Girdler thanked the public for its patience and understanding during the duration of the boil water advisory — put in place to keep citizens from drinking water that could have been contaminated after an accident last Thursday at the water plant site — and also thanked all the city employees for their hard work during this time.
“The boil water advisory went about as well as would be expected,” said Girdler.
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SCS to host Medal of Honor recipient
The message is clear: There are heroes. Even here in our own hometowns.
That’s the idea organizers hope to get across Saturday night at Somerset Christian School, when Congressional Medal of Honor winner Sgt. Dakota Meter speaks to all who choose to attend.
For further questions, ticket purchases, and sponsorship opportunities please contact Susan Adams at (606) 875-0255. -
Newspaper veteran name Publisher of Commonwealth Journal
SOMERSET — A fourth generation newspaperman has been named publisher of the Commonwealth Journal.
Rob McCullough, 50, who started working in a newspaper mailroom when he was 15, officially assumes his duties today. He succeeds Jack McNeely who has accepted a position with the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper, Alabama.
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Blakley receives worldwide honor
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