Meeting last Monday in the second recessed session of November the Lewis County Fiscal Court came to a tie vote on the selection of property liability and workers compensation insurance for the county.

County Judge Executive Steve Applegate moved to accept the offer from KACo based on the $34,507.75 lower cost for total coverage.

St. Paul Insurance Company represented by Ron LeMaster Insurance and KACo with representative Sue Porter from Lexington are competing for the business.

After the deadlock both companies agreed to continue the current coverage until the court can resolve the issue. At present St. Paul provides the property liability insurance and KACo the workers comp coverage.

County Attorney Clayton "Buddy" Lykins Jr. told the court that his job was to make sure the county has insurance, and if the court can't come to some agreement to provide coverage he would have to take non-adversarial action by filing a declaratory action lawsuit in Circuit Court. He wasn't sure what kind of ruling the Circuit Court Judge would make.

Chapman said, "If the Insurance Commission of the state of Kentucky was regulating KACo they wouldn't even allow them to do business in Kentucky."

Ruckel, who has been in the insurance business for 12 years, added that the definition of insurance is "the transfer of risk", and KACo has no rating whatsoever.

He added that when he listed the pros and cons of each company the only pro for KACo was that it is less expensive. The other company had a list of about 10 pros.

Stanfield sided with the Judge Executive on the lower cost. He said, "I feel if KACo is good enough for 110 or 112 counties it would be good enough for Lewis County."

Applegate said, "I just think we need to save money any way we can." He also stated that Lewis County is surrounded by counties using KACo for their insurance coverage.

Within the last couple of years LCPCC has teamed up with several outstanding medical providers throughout the Northeastern Kentucky region to bring new services close to home. Some of these specialties include MRI, mammography, pediatric care, physical therapy, a dietician, a cardiologist, a psychologist, just recently an endocrinologist, and now an optometrist.

Because of a strong working relationship with Dr. Bryan Prater with the Eyecare Network in Maysville, LCPCC able to jointly continue with a mission of providing qualitative and affordable services for this area. As a result, Austin Lifferth, OD, will be providing eye care services to Lewis County Family Health Center on Fridays in building C of the LCPCC campus.

"It is with great excitement that once again we are able to provide Lewis Countians with a needed service close to home. Dr. Bryan Prater, Dr. Austin Lifferth, and the staff of the Eyecare Network represent superior service and it is a privilege to have them work with us to provide quality eye care," stated Jerry Ugrin, CEO of LCPCC.

Dr. Lifferth is a 1999 graduate of Indiana University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in optometry. After the completion of his degree he continued his studies at the Indiana University School of Optometry, which he graduated from in 2003. With a successful future ahead of him, the graduate completed an intensive ocular disease residency at the VA Hospital in Huntington, West Virginia. During this year-long residency he focused on diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and cataracts.

Dr. Prater, owner of the Eyecare Network, comments that, "Dr. Lifferth is an intelligent, vibrant individual who is well received by patients -- it is wonderful to have him on our staff as well as be able to share his talent and services with Lewis County.

"It is our goal to help meet the eye care needs of this community," explains Dr. Prater.

Through this joint venture, Dr. Lifferth will be offering routine eye exams at LCPCC for all ages, but also wants to place a focus on medical eye problems like glaucoma, cataracts, and diabetes, which is one of the most prevalent diseases in our area. Did you know that is recommended that diabetics should have an eye exam at least once a year?

A standing room only crowd was on hand Sunday morning at Mason County Middle School to support members of the Kentucky National Guard's 301st Chemical Smoke/Decon unit, based in Maysville, as they are deployed to the Middle East.

The 301st is attached to the 940th Military Police and will provide security and protection for military personnel in Iraq. Lewis County members of the 301st who deployed Sunday morning were Staff Sergeant Carlos Farler, Spec 4 John Hardymon, Spec 4 Michael Moran and Spec 4 Kelly Stone.

The four Guardsmen will join other Lewis County soldiers, airmen and Marines currently serving in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world.

Paula Franke/Lewis County Herald

In October 2004, three counties had jobless rates at or above 10 percent, and 10 counties recorded double-digit rates in October 2003. Woodford County's 2.5 percent jobless rate was the lowest in the commonwealth.