Corbin karaoke club owners press fiscal court on status of entertainment permit

It will be a little while longer before Whitley County Attorney Paul Winchester makes a recommendation as to whether Karaoke-Tyme in Corbin should receive an entertainment permit so it can operate.

In mid-March, the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department conducted a raid of the Cherokee Club, which was located at the Frazier Building just outside the Corbin city limits where Karaoke-Tyme also operated.

During the raid, deputies seized several bottles and cans of alcohol, and arrested three people affiliated with the Cherokee Club.
Jack Frazier, owner of the Karaoke-Tyme, told the Whitley County Fiscal Court during its monthly meeting Tuesday that he has applied for an entertainment permit to resume operation of Karaoke-Tyme.

"I run a family business for family karaoke," Frazier said. "I rented it out to some folks and it turned out to be one big mess. I took it back, and want it to be a family type establishment.

"That situation before with bootlegging was a bad mistake. We will never rent it out like that again."

Winchester noted that the criminal case against the Cherokee Club was expected to be resolved last week, but got continued.

Winchester said he is still investigating the Frazier’s application for an entertainment permit for Karaoke-Tyme, and expects to make a recommendation to the fiscal court soon.

"We do have to do a thorough investigation, especially with those charges being out there," said Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr.

"The investigation is moving forward. We will have an answer for you shortly."

He added that receiving an entertainment permit is a privilege, and that if another incident of that nature happened again then it is doubtful there would be another entertainment permit issued.

In other business Tuesday, the fiscal court:

• Agreed to donate $1,000 to the Sally Gap Bluegrass Festival that will be held June 5-7.
Vicki Cooper, a representative with the festival, thanked the fiscal court for its support of a $1,000 donation last year.

"We lost a lot of money, but we expected to the first year," she noted. "We were really pleased with our attendance. We had around 900 people, and we thought that was really good for a first year festival."

Cooper said that this year the festival has expanded advertising quite a bit, and is receiving help with advertising from Whayne Supply.

"We have already had tickets purchased from people in the Netherlands, Arizona, Missouri, West Virginia, I can’t remember all the places," Cooper said.

"We expect the festival to grow this year. We have one of the hottest acts going right now. They won every award you could think of last year."

Cooper said the festival hopes to get to the point where it is self-sufficient, which she hopes is next year.

"If we continue to help the Sally Gap Bluegrass Festival for a few years, I think it can really grow into something that will make a lot of people in Whitley County proud," White noted. "I think it is a worthy effort to grow tourism in Whitley County."

• Accepted and approved 2009-2010 fiscal year budgets for the Whitley County Cooperative Extension Service, and Whitley County Health Department Public Health Taxing District, but tabled approval of the Whitley County Public Library budget until next meeting.

The move came after Magistrate David Myers, who represents the Corbin area, inquired about why appropriations were up throughout the budget, but not for the Corbin Public Library, which is getting ready to move into a new building.
White noted that the allotment to the Corbin Public Library grew about $7,000 last year, but that the growth was flat this year.

The fiscal court tabled approval of the budget until they could meet with the Whitley County Public Library Board of Directors to explore the matter.

• Approved a resolution to apply for a Commercial Mobile Radio Service Emergency Telecommunication Board Grant.
Tracy West, Whitley County Projects Director, said there is $2 million available for grants to upgrade 911 equipment, and that the county is applying for $75,000 to upgrade the mapping software that provides dispatchers with directions to pass onto emergency service workers.

• Authorized the judge-executive to sign a memorandum of agreement so the county can receive $10,169.49 in grant funds to upgrade two ambulance with winches and ramps to help lift heavy patients.

Whitley County EMS currently transports three patients that weigh 400 pounds on a regular basis in addition to two 500-pound patients and one 700-pound patient, West said.

White noted that ambulance crews, which normally include two people, usually have to get assistance in lifting exceptionally heavy patients.

• Approved the first reading of a budget ordinance to add $106,000 to the Whitley County EMS budget. White said that the addition of a second station in Corbin has increased expenses, which was expected. Myers noted that the people in his district are appreciative of the additional service.

• Announced that the county has made the last payment on a project done in 1995 to blacktop county roads. This leaves the county with only two long term debts. One is to payoff construction of the Whitley County Detention Center.

The other deals with money the fiscal court received several years ago to renovate the old post office for use as a district courtroom.

Although the renovation never occurred, White said the county hasn’t been permitted to pay the debt back early because the state government is collecting more interest from the county now than it would if the debt were repaid early.

• Issued an invitation to the public to attend the Whitley County Judicial Center groundbreaking ceremony at noon Friday at the Merry Jeffries Center.

Dignitaries that are scheduled to speak at the ceremony include Senate President David Williams and Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton.