The Rockcastle County Road Department works diligently in order to keep our county roads clear of snow and ice.  Each driver is assigned a schedule of roads to cover and work continues until all county roads have been maintained.    

VFW honored community members who helped further the efforts of the program in 2020.

The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP) is a joint venture between the United States Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist state and local governments to improve emergency planning and preparedness in communities near the two remaining chemical weapons storage sites in the United States. Even though an accidental chemical agent release is highly unlikely, this planning process is important because it requires coordination of local military and civilian efforts and ensures that decisions will be made and carried out effectively in a crisis. In Kentucky, this partnership has brought together the Madison County Emergency Management Agency, Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, Blue Grass Chemical Activity, and Emergency Management agencies in Clark, Estill, Fayette, Jessamine, Garrard, Jackson, Laurel, Powell, and Rockcastle counties.

In Rockcastle County, seven volunteer fire departments (Mt. Vernon, Brodhead, Livingston, Pongo, Brindle Ridge, Climax, and Western Rockcastle) along with Rockcastle EMS, and Rockcastle Emergency Management come together to provide support for the CSEPP program. Each year these groups come together and participate in a decontamination exercise to test the skills of the individuals along with the equipment. This is to ensure both fire department volunteers as well as the equipment needed are ready at all times. Additional partners to the CSEPP program here in Rockcastle County are Rockcastle County Schools, Rockcastle Regional Hospital, Rockcastle Health Department, R-Tech, and Christian Appalachian Project (CAP).

County Judge Exec. Howell Holbrook and the Rockcastle County Road Department have been out since early morning clearing trees, salting and grading the county roads in Rockcastle, after our first snowfall of the season.

Author\Artist Flossie Christine Harper McKinney was awarded Rockcastle County Honorary High School Diploma!

Mrs. McKinney is an accomplished author as well as a well known artist. Mrs. Carrie Ballinger, Rockcastle County Schools Superintendent presented Mrs. McKinney with the honorary diploma for her 94 years of accomplishments. 

It was an honor to be in attendance and to help Mrs. McKinney celebrate her well deserved award.

Left to Right:  Carrie Ballinger; RCS Superintendent, Flossie Christine Harper McKinney; Author\Artist, Michael Bryant; Mt. Vernon Mayor, Howell Holbrook; Rockcastle County Judge Executive and Travis Brenda; State Representative.

Congressman Rogers Announces $5 Million in High-Speed Broadband in Rural Kentucky ReConnect Funding to Connect 642 Rural Households to High-Speed Internet e-Connectivity SOMERSET, Ky.

– Congressman Hal Rogers announced that the Trump Administration’s United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investing $5 million to provide broadband service in unserved and underserved rural areas in Eastern Kentucky. “This project will connect nearly 650 households in Beattyville, Buckhorn, Livingston and surrounding communities to gigabit service,” said Congressman Rogers. “We are diligently working to get broadband to every family and every student in our region. It takes a lot of time and money, and this investment from USDA allows Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative to continue extending high-performance fiber into some of our smallest, mountainous communities in Kentucky’s Appalachian region.” This investment is part of the $550 million Congress allocated to the second round of the ReConnect Program. “Broadband is a cornerstone to prosperity in Kentucky’s rural communities because it is essential to economic development, as well as access to health care, educational opportunities and connections to people and services,” USDA Kentucky State Director for Rural Development Hilda Legg said. “Under the leadership of President Trump and Agriculture Secretary Perdue, USDA is committed to being a strong partner in deploying this critical infrastructure in Kentucky and across all of America’s rural communities, because we know when rural America thrives, all of America thrives.” Peoples Telecom LLC will use a $2.4 million ReConnect grant and a $2.4 million ReConnect loan to deploy a fiber-to-the-premises network. This network will connect 1,618 people, 25 businesses, two farms, a public school, a post office and a fire station to high-speed broadband internet in Rockcastle, Perry and Lee counties in Kentucky.

Chapin International has made their presence a little more permanent this week.  The new sign was set for the new business to make the first of many changes that will take place in the following weeks.  We are so proud to welcome Chapin International to our county and look forward to working with them for many years to come.

The County Judge Executive, alongside several other county leaders and community members participated in Hunger Awareness Month by getting in on the act of taking part in the Hunger Awareness walk.   The Hunger Awareness walk is a good reminder to us all that hunger is an ongoing problem we should join together and make an effort to contribute to solving each day.