Charles Edward Smith

Charles Edward Smith, age 74, of Williamsburg, KY, passed away Tuesday, September 5, 2023 at Baptist Health Corbin.
He was born March 8, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio to the late Carl and Marguerite Effinger Smith.
He is survived by five children, Madelyne Wetmore (Robert) of Williamsburg, Ky., Bonnie Burt (Mike) of Kansas City, MO, Benjamin Smith (Penny) of Williamsburg, KY, Nicholas Smith of Williamsburg, KY, and Sarah Smith of Richmond, KY; eight grandchildren, Christian Decker, Katherine Moses, Lydian Decker, Timothy Hall, Juliana Smith, Benjamin Smith, Riley Burt, and Agatha Gatliff; one great grandchild, Kaysen Moses; one sister, Janice Musick of Williamsburg, KY; two nieces, Sadie Musick and Kelsey Smith; and a host of relatives and friends to mourn his passing.
A memorial visitation service will be from 2:00 pm until 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 14, at the Merry Jeffries Center on South Second Street in Williamsburg, KY.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.ellisonfh.com.
Ellison Funeral Home in charge of arrangements.

Child dies Thursday morning after being shot in Corbin

UPDATE: Late Thursday evening, the Whitley County Sheriff’s office shared the following information regarding a shooting in Corbin that resulted in the death of a two-year-old child: (more…)

Farm Field Day event held at Whitley Co. Fairgrounds

Photos by TIMOTHY WYATT

Dozens flocked to the Whitley County Fairgrounds last Friday for this year’s Farm Field Day, where there were a variety of vendors and activities. Local first responders also worked with Whitley County FFA and Williamsburg Independent FFA to perform a mock emergency scenario.

Walmart celebrates grand reopening

Photos by TIMOTHY WYATT

A grand reopening and ribbon cutting was held last Friday morning at the Williamsburg Walmart to celebrate the completion of the store’s recent remodel. Store personnel gathered with Walmart executives, Mayor Roddy Harrison and members of the public for the event.

W’burg looking for new recycling partner after Cedaridge Ministries closure

The City of Williamsburg is looking for a new recycling partner following the apparent closure of Cedaridge Ministries.

Stivers serves as ‘principal for a day’ at WCHS; discusses possible teacher pay raises

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers got to be “principal for a day” at Whitley County High School Friday, and spent several hours talking with school administrators and others about various education-related issues, such as how to attract new teachers to the profession in Kentucky as surrounding states are raising starting pay for educators.

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers served as ‘principal for a day’ at Whitley County High School, Friday, and spent part of the day discussing a possible increase in starting pay for teachers. Also pictured are Kentucky Association of School Administrators Chief Executive Officer Dr. Rhonda Caldwell (left,) and WCHS Principal Julie Osborne (right).

“As I have said before, most of my group has been kind of characterized as anti-public education and that is totally untrue. We are looking for solutions and better public education,” Stivers said.

He added that many people are equating what the legislature is trying to do to remedy things with Louisville’s education system as something they are trying to apply statewide, which isn’t true.

“We have a very good rural type of school systems and I am out here today to visit with them to see,” Stivers said.

Whitley County Superintendent John Siler noted that it is getting more difficult each year to get good teachers, especially when some states bordering Kentucky are paying educators a few thousand dollars more that what Kentucky does.

“We are in a great spot with the University of the Cumberlands and the EKU (Eastern Kentucky University) branch in Corbin and Union College. They all have education programs. We are very fortunate here in the Tri-County area. I think you are seeing more struggle across the state in other areas. We have been fortunate. We have great partnerships with those colleges and universities,” he said adding that there are fields, such as high school and middle school science and math where finding teachers is getting more difficult.

“There are areas that we are looking at and getting creative. We are just lucky that our senator is willing to come and spend the day and discuss this with us,” Siler said.

Stivers said that legislators understand economic dynamics have changed over the last few years in education, and there is a need to create competitive salary schedules.

“We have to not just be competitive with districts in our state, but we have to be competitive with other states. There is quite an extensive discussion going on about how we modify the SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) formula and other things that determine how teachers get paid in the state of Kentucky,” Stivers said.

The SEEK funding program is a formula driven allocation of state provided funds to local school districts. The formula includes funding for transportation costs and special needs students, according to the Kentucky Department of Education’s website.

Siler said that Friday’s visit was the first of what will hopefully be many conversations between legislators and local school officials about the issue of raising teacher salaries.

“We are pleased that the Kentucky Association of School Administrators and their Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Rhonda Caldwell, were with us today and that Senator Stivers took the time out of his schedule. It is an important conversation to have and we want to continue to be able to recruit and be able to retain excellent teachers here in Whitley County across our great state,” Siler said.

“Legislation and funding has to start somewhere. By Senator Stivers and other legislators participating in the principal for a day, they see the leadership and all of the great things happening in schools. It also allows them to see the challenges that our school districts are facing and what they can do with a funding mechanism to help us overcome those, and continue to have great teachers in place,” Siler added.

“Any superintendent across the state will tell you that to have a great school district, you have to have great teachers. Salaries and wages do play a big part in recruiting and attracting those people to that field of teaching. It is very important that we have these discussions about funding teacher pay and increasing those salaries.”

Williamsburg City Council approves ordinance amending minimum lot size

An ordinance amending the City of Williamsburg’s minimum lot sizes was approved via second reading last week, which is expected to allow for expedited construction of new homes within the city limits.

The Williamsburg City Council met for a special-called meeting Wednesday, Aug. 30, for the ordinance’s second reading. A first reading was held during the council’s regular monthly meeting the Monday prior, but did not require a vote. Council members in attendance voted reluctantly, but unanimously, in favor of the change.

According to the ordinance, the minimum lot required for a single-family home will be reduced from 6,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet and the width of the minimum lot size for a single-family home will be reduced from 60 feet to 50 feet. Additionally, the minimum lot size for a duplex will be reduced from 10,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet and the width of the minimum lot size for a duplex would be reduced from 100 feet to 50 feet.

The ordinance only pertains to areas that are within the R2 residential zoning districts and only affects future builds.

Mayor Roddy Harrison stressed that the change is strictly for the minimum a lot can be. Lots can be bigger than the listed dimensions, but must at least meet that threshold. Additionally, the amendment does not impact current setback requirements, parking requirements, etc.

While not written into the amended ordinance, Harrison said that he expects to present the council with a resolution during next month’s meeting to require the Williamsburg Planning and Zoning Commission to reevaluate the issue by August 30, 2025.

“That gives a time for some building to occur, for us to look at the effects of it and let them revisit it at that time,” said Harrison.

Harrison noted that he expects an influx of construction, as there have been individuals waiting for the lot requirement to be reduced so they could start building.

“The biggest benefit, right now, is the fact that most of the lots that we’ve looked into are 50 feet wide lots. For some reason—and I’m not sure why because I wasn’t around at that time—back in the early ‘90s, the lot size was at 50 feet and it was changed to 60 feet,” said Harrison. “Most of the lots that people are wanting to develop on are 50 feet, and so we were kind of hamstringing builders because they couldn’t meet the lot requirements. They needed 10 more feet.”

Council member Richard Foley made the initial motion to approve the ordinance, with council member Laurel West seconding it. Council members Loren Connell and Mary Ann Stanfill were not present for the meeting.

According to Harrison, approximately 53 percent of Williamsburg is zoned within R2 residential districts.

Anyone living within an R2 district who would like to prevent duplexes or other apartments from being built in their neighborhood, they can petition for the area to be designated as an R1 district, which doesn’t allow such structures.

Chivers could once again be allowed to represent himself in triple homicide case

One of the three Indianapolis men charged in connection with a 2017 Whitley County triple homicide could potentially once again be permitted to represent himself in his case.

W’burg woman accused of spitting on school bus driver

A Williamsburg woman is facing a felony assault charge for allegedly spitting on a school bus driver during an incident late last month.

Felicia Schultz

Trio accused of vandalizing Briar Creek Park, causing $1,128 in damage

A pair of Williamsburg residents and a Corbin man have been arrested in connection to Aug. 30 vandalism at Briar Creek Park.