Vol. 11, No. 39 Thursday, August 1, 2013 12 pages

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Westlake files for bankruptcyMove allows for reorganization;

operations will continue

See page 2

The local hospital districtwill apply a rarely used legalremedy to protect itself fromcreditors as board memberscontinue efforts to save West-lake Regional Hospital.The hospital district board

voted Tuesday night to fileChapter 9 bankruptcy, a fed-eral action designed to allowtime for municipalities, suchas local governments and tax-ing districts, to reorganize andrestructure their debt.Lebanon attorney Elmer

George said the local taxingdistrict would file the federalbankruptcy in the KentuckyWestern District in BowlingGreen as early as Wednesday.Creditors would then be noti-

fied, including the FarmersNational Bank of Danville andSpectrum Health Partners,which have filed lawsuitsagainst the hospital district.

The hospital district boardwent into executive session foraround 20 minutes before re-turning to an open meetingand voting to file for Chapter9 reorganization. Board mem-bers also briefly convened asthe hospital district corpora-tion–a separate entity de-signed to allow the district toborrow funds–approving thesame action.Board chairman Craig Pyles

said the filing would help thedistrict address the $20 mil-lion “noose around our neck.”“We are not closing. We are

open for business. We will beopen for business. We’ve got a

‘We are open forbusiness. Wewill be open forbusiness. We’vegot a plan...’

Adair County Hospital DistrictBoard Chairman Craig Pyles

Lebanon attorney Elmer George and Louisville attorney David Cantor outlinewhat filing Chapter 9 reorganization means for the local hospital district andthe community during Tuesday night’s hospital board meeting.

Two sisters were found deadin two separate locations Fri-day morning, causing police toquestion if the cases are drug-related and if there may betainted drugs on the streets.EMS, police and the coro-

ner’s officer were called toHurt Street in the early morn-ing hours. Marilyn Eason, 52,was pronounced dead at 2:57a.m.Eason’s father, who lives on

Hutchison Loy Road, was con-tacted by a family memberabout her death and went totell another daughter, EuniceGail “Peaches” Gaskin, wholived with him.He found her unresponsive

on the floor and called 911.Gaskin, 48, was pronounceddead at 4:48 a.m.

Coroner Todd Akin said au-topsies were conducted andpreliminary reports said bothwomen suffered from pul-monary edema (fluid on thelungs) but the cause of deathis pending toxicology results.A toxicology report will takeseveral weeks, however.Deputy Sheriff Adam

Cravens said the sheriff’s de-partment and city police areworking together on the casewith concerns that the deathscould have resulted fromtainted drugs. City Police In-formation Officer Josh Brock-man later confirmed that thecity police opened a death in-vestigation into Eason’s death.Based on the sisters’ past

history and the way their bod-ies were found, Cravens said

he and city officer Gary Royare conducting an investiga-tion. The sisters were togetherat some point Thursday,Cravens said.Police cannot rule out that

the women took some “baddrugs,” Cravens said. They arefocusing on where any drugsmay have come from and ifthere are more on the streets.Brockman said they are also

looking into a possibility thatthe sisters had a suicide pact.They had reportedly been dis-traught over the loss of theirmother, Mary Houk, who diedJune 26.If anyone has any informa-

tion that will assist with thecase they are urged to calllocal law enforcement or 911.

Police investigate after twosisters die on same day

In 1996 Box Tops for Education was created to helpschools in need. Now, it is one of the nation’s largestschool fundraising programs. There are 240 productsthat support the school fundraising cause by adding thebox top cut out logo to their merchandise. This is an easyway for schools to receive cash for the things they need.Some schools save for playground equipment, booksandinteractive teaching materials.Local Principal Patty Jones and the Col. Wm. Casey

staff inspired their students to save box tops. Throughthis inspiration, Jones was able to provide the schoolwith iPads. Jones said the school bought iPads graduallyover the last couple of years and they have more thanfive iPads. Now that Col. Wm. Casey will be closed, thenew technology will pass to the use of the students at-tending the new school known as Adair County PrimaryCenter.Jones said the school has benefited from the program.

Some items redeemed from the program to benefit thechildren are physical education equipment, art supplies,cameras and scooters. Now box tops are providing tech-nology learning opportunities during a technologydriven society.“Schools would be crazy not to do the box top pro-

gram. It’s like turning trash into treasure, because it’s

Second indictment servedHOSPITAL INVESTIGATION

A second person has been arrestedas part of an ongoing investigation atWestlake Regional Hospital.Cindy Meyer, who served as admin-

istrative assistant during part of RustyTungate’s tenure as hospital CEO, wasarrested Tuesday on eight counts ofcomplicity of theft by unlawful taking,over $500.An Adair County grand jury handed

down a sealed indictment for Meyeron Tuesday, July 23. The indictmentwas unsealed this past Tuesday uponher arrest.Meyer is accused of either assisting

with or having a legal obligation tostop a crime. The accusation stemsfrom charges against Betsy Dudgeon,who was arrested last week and ac-cused of drawing a paycheck at West-lake Regional Hospital while alsodrawing worker’s compensation pay-ments. Meyer was director of human re-

sources and in charge of payroll whenthe alleged crimes took place. Dudg-eon is Tungate’s sister. She was em-ployed as an executive assistant andboth women were part of a manage-

ment team that left Westlake whenTungate resigned as CEO in 2011.Dudgeon was injured in 2005 and

received worker’s compensation whileoff work. She is accused of also receiv-ing eight different checks totalingmore than $11,400 from Westlake Re-gional Hospital for work, sick time orvacation during the same time begin-ning in December 2005 through June2006.Meyer was taken to the Adair

County Regional Jail where she wasreleased on a $10,000 bond.The indictments stem from an ongo-

ing investigation into the finances ofWestlake Regional Hospital and theAdair County Hospital District, whichstarted more than a year and a halfago. Kentucky State Police DESI unit(Drug Enforcement, Special Investiga-tions) Det. Scott Hammond is con-ducting the state-level investigationthat led to the two arrests. The inves-tigation is part of a joint effort betweenDESI and federal officers. Accordingto sources, the FBI is involved in thejoint investigation.By Sharon Burton

Box Tops mean bigbucks for schools

Principal Alma Rich goes online to look at theendless possibilities with the Box Tops for Edu-cation program.

The 4th Annual South Cen-tral Kentucky Outdoor Expois offering a family friendlyevent that is a dream for alloutdoors enthusiasts.The expo offers profes-

sional and informationalseminars, a wide variety ofchampionships/contests andvendors with plenty of good-ies to sell.This outdoor expo began as

an outreach from JonesChapel United MethodistChurch. “The purpose is to deliver a

message about Christ. Somany people in our area loveto hunt and fish–this just feltlike the natural thing to do,”said co-host Terry Partin.There are four scheduled

seminars during the expo.Gordon Whittington, fromGeorgia, is a recognizablehunter through both maga-zines and television. Whit-tington is editor-in-chief ofthe North American WhitetailMagazine and co-host ofNorth American Whitetail tel-evision. He is a popular semi-

nar speaker with 50 years ofhunting experience and haspublished books on a varietyof deer hunting and manage-ment topics.“Gordon is a wonderful per-

son and very knowledgeableabout deer and deer hunting.He will be doing two seminarsfor the expo,” said Partin.Jimmy Rodgers, owner of

Mallard Run Kennels, isknown for working his magicwith the basics of training re-triever dogs. He uses differentmethods in training to makefor a great hunting compan-ion.“He is a dog trainer, re-

triever trainer especially. Heis going to be utilizing dogs toshow how he trains. He willexplain how he starts outyoung dogs, training sheddogs, and how he trains withelectronic collars,” saidPartin.Rex Holmes, Jr., CEO/

founder of Vapor Trail ScentsLLC from Mississippi, will

Outdoor expo returns for fourth year

See Westlake, next page

See Box Tops, page 10 See Outdoor, page 10

ADULTED

Page 2 August 1, 2013 Adair County Community Voice

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plan, we’ve just got a $20million debt, a noosearound our neck with a biganchor that is pulling us,”he said. Pyles said the current

board first focused on themonthly losses the hospitaldistrict continued to expe-rience. “Our goal when we first

got here was to stop thebleeding, stop the waste,stop the money pouringout of this thing and we aregetting closer,” he said.“We are getting so closethat we started having con-versations about what arewe going to do about this$20 million in debt. Wedon’t know. That’s why weare filing the Chapter 9.”The Chapter 9 filing will

allow the hospital districtto reorganize by extendingthe timeline to repay debt,refinance debt, or reducedebt by different means. Itdoes not liquidate the tax-ing district nor does it closedown operations.David Cantor, an attor-

ney with Seiller WatermanLLC in Louisville, will rep-resent the hospital in thecase. George has beenworking with the districtfor several months andbrought Cantor in when itappeared bankruptcymight be the best option.

“The board has struggledwith this decision. This is alast resort. We have beentalking about this for a longtime and we have looked atevery other avenue. This isan absolute last resort andwere at the point wherewe’ve got to do something,”Cantor said. “We’ve gotthese lawsuits pending.We’ve got these banks say-ing, ‘You owe us millions ofdollars, what are you goingto do about it?’ Well here’swhat we are going to doabout it. We are going totry to reorganize and getyou some money.”

CASE IS UNUSUALCantor said the filing is

“incredibly rare.”“We cannot find any

published cases of a Chap-ter 9 in the commonwealthof Kentucky,” Cantor said. Detroit made national

headlines two weeks agowhen the city filed Chapter9 bankruptcy, the largestcity to ever do so. Accord-ing to USA Today, since2010 three municipalitiesin California and one inIdaho, Alabama, Pennsyl-vania and Rhode Islandhave filed Chapter 9 bank-ruptcy.“We intend that this hos-

pital stay open. It’s criticalto your community,”George said.

VENDORS, LAW-SUITSGeorge said lawsuits now

pending in circuit courtwould not be able to pro-ceed because of the filing.The hospital district is cur-rently facing two lawsuits:one by Spectrum HealthPartners, a Tennesseecompany that managed thehospital and organized afailed sale attempt; and an-other by Farmers NationalBank of Danville, which isasking the court to compelthe hospital district boardto set a local property taxto pay its debt.The federal court will,

however, now likely decidethe local taxation issue.The hospital board voted toestablish a tax but it isstalled until at least the2014 general election aftera group of citizens success-fully filed a recall petition.“That issue will now be

before the federal judge.It’s kind of a gray areawhether the federal judgecan take total jurisdictionof the case and determinethe tax rate.” George said.“It’s a gray area whether itcan be done in federalcourt or be kicked back tostate court.”Spectrum and the bank

will now likely becomecreditors to file a claimwith the federal bank-ruptcy court.

The county government,which has loaned the hos-pital district $1.7 million,will also be a creditor listedon the bankruptcy filing.Even so, County Judge Ex-ecutive Ann Melton andtwo magistrates were com-plimentary of the board’sactions.Melton thanked George

for everything he is doingto help the community andmagistrate Sammy Bakertold board members he ad-mires them. MagistrateHarold Burton said peopletell him, “Whatever you do,keep the hospital.” When asked how the fil-

ing will affect resources forthe hospital district and itscurrent vendors, Pyles saidthe hospital is already on acash basis with vendors.“We spend a good

$200,000 every week ortwo writing checks to ven-dors,” he said. Pyles emphasized that

the hospital will continueto operate.“We’ve got a payroll in

the bank ready to make.We’ve got cash; we’ve gotsome cash to pay somebills,” he said. “If you havea surgery planned tomor-row, come on in. You willbe taken care of.”

By Sharon Burtonsnburton@duo-

county.com

Angela Parnell completedher GED in 2012 and re-turned to the Adult Educa-tion program to enroll in theCollege Prep class. During this time Angela

made the decision to applyto Campbellsville Universityand study nursing. “Nursing is a dream that I

want to make come true.Being a single mom withthree kids I have all the mo-tivation that I need to makethis dream a reality,” shesaid. Upon completion of the

College Prep class Angelaapplied to Campbellsville

University and has been ac-cepted into the fall of 2013nursing program.

Angela’s advice for anyonewho has been thinking aboutgoing back to school but ishesitant to do so isthis,“Anybody can pursuetheir dreams if they havecourage and people to standbehind them. If you havekids you can do it for them,and if you want it badenough nothing will stand ityour way. Love and determi-nation can make anythinghappen. If I can do it thenyou can do it too.”

The Adair County AdultEducation Center would liketo announce the launch ofthe first Adult Education On-Line GED classes. Classes are faster paced

than traditional in-personsessions, can be completedmostly at a person’s ownpace, require only periodicalcheck-ins with the center,and minimal computer skillsrequired.

Classes are instructed bythe same friendly staff of theAdult Education Center. On-line and in-person tutoring isavailable to all registeredstudents. Registration forthese classes is due by Aug.14.To register for these

classes or other programs atthe center, call 384-7475 orstop in at 108 Lindsey Wil-son St.

Adult Education Spotlight

Angela and her children, Jacob, 10, Alexia, 7, andLucas,19 months.

Angela Parnell

New online class now offered

Westlake files Chapter 9 Continued from front page

Hospital board members discuss plans to file Chapter 9 reorganization. From left are Bruce White, RichardGrant, Brad Keltner, Craig Pyles, Neal Gold and administrative assistant Cheryl Wall.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!August 12

Glydus Bailey, 100Amanda Taylor

Billy Bell, 5August 14Alma RichAugust 19Tony JessieAugust 23Thomas HillAugust 24

Marlene ShultzAugust 25

Floyd ClaywellEarline Hill

Curtis Bell, 10August 26

Tammy DurstAugust 28

Alexis ClaywellVirginia NixAugust 30

Macy Yarberry, 5Don Goodin

July 30Taylor Joe Brown

July 31Craig Feese, 35

Andrew B. WilsonAugust 1

Jennifer Brock, 35Randy ParnellCoy Bennett

Brenda AlexanderLori Froedge

Mark HillAugust 2

Jada Coomer, 38August 4

Pauline Grant, 85August 5

Valarie LobbTonya GrantAlma FurkinAugust 6

Darren BradshawTori DavisAugust 11

Jordy Marr, 1

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A lawsuit by the FarmersNational Bank of Danvilleagainst the local hospitaldistrict has faced several de-lays recently and now ap-pears to be on its way tofederal court.The suit was scheduled

for last Friday in RockcastleCounty but was canceledand rescheduled for todayin Adair Circuit Court. The lawsuit, filed last year

by the Farmers NationalBank of Danville, begins thedebate to decide who hasthe authority to establish a

property tax for a taxing dis-trict that set its tax rate atzero since 1998.Judge David A. Tapp was

appointed to preside overthe case and moved a hear-ing to his area but thenrescheduled with plans tomove the case back intoAdair County.With the hospital district

filing Chapter 9 reorganiza-tion, attorney Elmer Georgesaid the case would now be-come part of the federalbankruptcy court.

Hospital lawsuit affected

going to be thrown awayanyway. Why not use thissource for things needed tobetter our children’s educa-tion?” said Jones.More schools are hearing

the advantages of this pro-gram and want to use thesource to develop more op-portunities for their stu-dents. The Adair CountyMiddle School’s site basedecision making councilmet last week. During themeeting principal AlmaRich and council memberssaid they support the idea ofusing the Box Top programto purchase more iPads orNetbooks for the middleschool. There may be thepossibility of making it aschool-wide fundraiser. Rich acknowledges Wen-

dell Froedge as being thefirst to make use of the boxtop program in the middleschool starting several yearsago. Froedge started by en-couraging seventh grade tocollect box tops. He also al-lowed the students in theBETA program to receivecommunity service hours byacquiring box tops for theschool. The funds created bythe seventh grade previ-ously were used to purchaserewarding items and to pro-vide for field trips.The middle school already

possesses 16 iPads through

other school funding. How-ever, if the school buys moreiPads or Netbooks then theywould provide the studentswith technology-learningdevices.Rich said the goal is to

provide each school with 30iPads or Netbooks, so thatteachers can check out thetablets in their school li-brary as they need themwith their lessons. “Box tops offer more tech-

nology for our students andour building. Ten cents addsup,” said Rich.Like Rich said, one box

top is worth 10 cents. It willtake 126,882 box tops tocomplete one-fourth ofRich’s goal. For all fourAdair County schools tohave a checkout system of30 tablets it would take$50,752.80, which is507,528 box tops.Students are encouraged

to participate in the pro-gram. Each student who as-sists in reaching the goalwill have a chance to receivespecial prize incentives forsupporting the purchase ofthe tablets.The Adair County Middle

School Site Base DecisionCouncil changed their meet-ing times to the third Tues-day of each month at 3:30p.m. The next scheduledmeeting is Aug. 20.

By Danielle Bennettdanielleb@adairvoice.com

also assist during the semi-nar portion of the expo. Heis known as the world’sgreatest authority on un-derstanding and makingpractical use of scents.“He is knowledgeable

and fascinating to listen to.He is actual and factualabove what we read andhear,” said Partin.Mark Menendez, from

Paducah, is also a speakerfor the event. Menendez isa Bassmaster in the EliteSeries pro. He is also a pro-fessional angler, ranking17th in the world. He has 17years of experience andthrives in the competitionsetting.“He is going to talk about

strategies for summertimefishing and using crankbaits. Bass fishermen willfind this very interesting,”said Partin.The community is wel-

come to attend all the sem-inars. Several championship

contests are now partneredwith the Outdoor Expo.The Kentucky National

Wild Turkey Federationoffers two state champi-onship tournaments, theTurkey Calling Champi-onship and the Still TargetChampionship.In the Turkey Calling

Championship, partici-pants have the opportunityto win cash prizes and thehonor to participate at the2014 Grand National Call-ing Championship held in

Nashville, Tenn.In the Still Target Cham-

pionship, participants willcompete for a chance to bea part of the World WildTurkey Still Target Cham-pionships. The champi-onships are held in Octoberin Edgefield, S.C. The StillTarget Championship willbe held at the Adair CountySportsmen’s Club.Vendors from various

states will set up at theexpo. “We have around 100

vendor spaces that will beutilized by nine differentstates this year,” saidPartin. Vendors are comingfrom Michigan, Indiana,Ohio, Tennessee, Missis-sippi, Arkansas, Kansas,North Carolina andthroughout Kentucky.

The South Central Ken-tucky Outdoor Expo is Sat-urday, Aug. 17 at the AdairCounty High School from 9a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is$5. Children 12 and underget in free. Everyone who buys an

admission ticket will get achance to win a John DeereGator. Additional ticketscan be bought to betteryour chances at winningthe gator. Tickets are $5each.

The Outdoor Expo isheld by Jones ChapelUnited Methodist Church.For more information, visitsckyoutdoorexpo.com orcall Partin at 378-1301 orJones at 634-2675.

A public hearing regard-ing the Heartland Parkwayin Taylor and Adair countieswill be held in Columbia onTuesday, Aug. 6The hearing will be held at

the Adair County HighSchool cafeteria from 5 p.m.until 7 p.m. The meeting is designed

to present the findings ofthe environmental assess-

ment, which presents thedevelopment of various al-ternatives and identifies apreferred alternative route,based on engineering, costs,property, environmentalimpact and public input.The comment period will

remain open until Aug. 23.A project summary will

begin at 5:45 p.m.

A public hearing will beheld concerning the RussellCreek Flood Study by theColumbia/Adair UtilitiesDistrict.The hearing will be held

on Thursday, Aug. 8 at 5p.m. at the Adair Countyannex basement.

The proposed projectconsists of repairing theshoreline of Russell Creekthat was damaged due toflooding in May 2010. The results of the flood

study outline the impacts toRussell Creek. The public isinvited to attend

Health fair returns full forceThe Westlake Regional

Hospital Health Fair will re-turn full force this Octoberwith health screenings anda trade show.

The hospital will provideover $500 in health screen-ing for only $12. Blooddraws will begin Oct. 1 andthe event will culminate

with the Health Fair on Sat-urday, Oct. 19 from 6:30a.m. until noon.Businesses and organiza-

tions that have set up

booths in the past are en-couraged to make plansnow. The public is encour-aged to mark your calen-dars for Oct. 19!

Outdoor expo returns for fourth year

Continued from front page

Continued from front page

Box Tops mean big bucks

Nissley clarificationIn last week’s indict-

ments, Vernon Nissley wascharged with rape, 1st de-gree and sodomy, 1st. The Nissley accused in

this case is 30 years old andhis address is listed at

Gradyville Club Road.This is not the Vernon

Nissley, 50, of Arlis HaleRoad, Russell Springs, whois owner of Nissley Excavat-ing.

Hearing set for Russell CreekFlood Study

Heartland Parkway hearingset for Aug. 6