PRIDE Coordinators prepare for Harlan/Letcher County Spring Cleanup in April

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

Harlan, KY — The long winter is finally over, and you can make plans to enjoy the great outdoors during PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month in April.

Local cleanup activities are now being organized by Harlan County PRIDE Coordinator Lonnie Saylor, City of Harlan PRIDE Coordinator Elizabeth Powell, Evarts PRIDE Coordinator Kristi Lamb, Loyall PRIDE Coordinator Margaret Yost, and Bobbie Gothard, who is the PRIDE Coordinator for Benham, Cumberland, and Lynch.  “The more volunteers who work with us, the better success we will have,” said Bobbie Gothard, who also serves as the Director of Tri-Cities Heritage Development and President of the Tri-City Chamber of Commerce.

Local cleanup activities are now being organized by Letcher County PRIDE Coordinator Gary Cornett, Whitesburg PRIDE Coordinator Sandy Hammock, Jenkins PRIDE Coordinator Sarah Tackett Brown, Fleming-Neon PRIDE Coordinator James Collins, and McRoberts PRIDE Coordinator Jim Scott.

“Team PRIDE starts with you,” said PRIDE’s Karen Engle. “That’s our theme for the 2010 Spring Cleanup. If you volunteer and invite others to join the team with you, then your community will be a cleaner, healthier place to live and visit. Please, call your PRIDE Coordinator now to plan a Spring Cleanup project with your friends, neighbors, coworkers, church family, or club.”

PRIDE Coordinators are volunteers who play a vital role in building PRIDE in their communities. They work with the PRIDE staff to organize cleanup activities, recruit volunteers, and track cleanup results. They assist local officials with the programs of PRIDE, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental cleanup and education in 38 counties. 

PRIDE Coordinators now are planning each community’s Spring Cleanup activities. Throughout April, volunteers will pick up roadside litter. PRIDE will provide volunteer T-shirts and cleanup supplies. PRIDE also will help local governments pay for disposing of roadside litter, removing illegal dumps, and offering free drop-off events for the community.

Local volunteers can help PRIDE kick-off the annual Spring Cleanup at Cumberland Falls State Resort Park on Saturday, March 27. Volunteers will pick up trash along Hwy. 90 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. All volunteers will receive a free T-shirt, lunch, and chance at door prizes. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. at the gift shop beside Cumberland Falls.

To volunteer for the Spring Cleanup in Harlan County, please call Lonnie Saylor at 573-3219, extension 13. In the City of Harlan, please call Elizabeth Powell at 573-7698. Benham, Cumberland, and Lynch residents should contact Bobbie Gothard at 589-5151 or tcmainstreet@windstream.net. In Evarts, please call Kristi Lamb at 837-2477. In Loyall, call Margaret Yost at 573-6396.

To volunteer for the Spring Cleanup in Letcher County, please call Gary Cornett at 633-9461. In Whitesburg, please call Sandy Hammock at 633-3703. Jenkins residents should call Sarah Tackett Brown at 832-3158. In Fleming-Neon, call James Collins at 855-9026. McRoberts residents should contact Jim Scott at 832-4789.

After April 1, a list of local Spring Cleanup events will be available by clicking on either Harlan County or Letcher County on the map at www.kypride.org.

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Benham and Lynch win Roadside PRIDE Awards

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

SOMERSET, KY — While preparing to give the area a spring cleaning, Benham and Lynch brought home trophies for their fall cleanup campaigns. The cities’ Roadside PRIDE Awards were presented during a regional planning workshop for PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month.

The Roadside PRIDE Awards were presented to the cities and counties that recruited the most volunteers and collected the most trash last October, which was Roadside PRIDE Month in 38 counties of southern and eastern Kentucky.

Benham won the 1st Place trophy in Class 2, which included cities with populations between 500 and 1,500. Benham recruited 12 volunteers during Roadside PRIDE Month. The city removed 22 bags of trash from the ditches, just as tourists arrived to see the area’s colorful fall foliage.

Lynch was the 1st Runner Up in Class 2. The city recruited four volunteers and collected 20 bags of trash.

“I congratulate you on your winning effort in October, and I encourage you to take your game to the next level during April’s Spring Cleanup,” said Karen Engle, who heads PRIDE, the sponsor of Roadside PRIDE Month and PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month.

“You can win another trophy for a successful Spring Cleanup,” Engle added. “But, more importantly, you can create a clean, healthy environment for your residents and tourists to enjoy.”

Roadside PRIDE Month is an annual anti-litter campaign that features a friendly competition among communities of similar size. PRIDE, which is the region’s environmental cleanup and education initiative, provides cleanup supplies to volunteers and reimburses local governments for their trash disposal expenses.

During PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month in April, local PRIDE Coordinators recruit volunteers to pick up roadside litter. PRIDE will provide free T-shirts, trash bags, and gloves for the volunteers, as well as funding for local governments to dispose of litter, remove dumps, and offer free trash drop-off events.

To volunteer for the Spring Cleanup, please contact your local PRIDE Coordinator. In Harlan County, please call Lonnie Saylor at 573-3219, extension 13. In the City of Harlan, please call Elizabeth Powell at 573-7698. Benham, Cumberland, and Lynch residents should contact Bobbie Gothard at 589-5151 or tcmainstreet@windstream.net. In Evarts, please call Kristi Lamb at 837-2477. In Loyall, call Margaret Yost at 573-6396.

To learn more about Roadside PRIDE and PRIDE Spring Cleanup Month, please visit www.kypride.org.

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Campaign signs will be removed from state right of way

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

FRANKFORT, Ky. (March 10, 2010) — As the political campaign season heats up, Kentucky Department of Highways crews face an increasing number of campaign signs on the state highway right of way — signs that must be removed for safety purposes.

Acting State Highway Engineer Steve Waddle said state highway workers are required to remove and discard hundreds of signs during each election cycle. The signs can pose hazards for drivers and for maintenance crews.

“Signs on the right of way often restrict sight distance near intersections and create a hazard in the ‘clear zone,’ which is the recovery area for motorists who run off the road,” Waddle said. “They also interfere with maintenance activities such as roadside mowing, which will be starting soon.”

 Kentucky law and Transportation Cabinet policy prohibit the placement of political or other advertising signs on state right of way, including signs attached to utility poles within the state right of way.

 Illegal signs will be moved to the state highway garage in each county and kept for two weeks. Owners may claim them by showing identification and completing a claim form. Unclaimed signs will be discarded.

“Employees who are removing signs are acting in the best interest of all motorists and of maintenance crews,” Waddle said. “We appreciate the public’s cooperation and understanding.”

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Scotia Coal Ceremony

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, there was a commemoration / dedication ceremony in honor of the 26 men that died during the Scotia Coal Mining disaster on March 9 & 11, 1976.  The ceremony began at 10 am at the Scotia Employees Association building on Hwy 119 at Ovenfork (approximately 12 miles north of Cumberland).  During this event, a historical marker was placed at this site adjacent to the former Scotia Coal Company property. Approximately 300 people attented. 

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