Paducah Sun - 9.10.26

0:00Now we turn to the reading of the Paduka Sun for news from in and around Paduka and Macracken County. As a reminder, radio I is a reading service intended for people who are blind or who have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material. Your reader for today is Teresa. Today we will begin with the edition dated. Thursday, September 10, 2026. Our first article is caption document confirms safety of soil removal in Paduka. This is by Bryce Anglin of the Sun. There's excavating picture that begins the caption with an excavating equipment. The Department of Energy has formally released documents after Macracken County judge executive Craig climber requested confirmation pertaining to soil being removed from the Department of Energy Paduka site. The request followed recent community concerns about soil being moved by nuclear enrichment startup general matter.

1:00Since June, general matter has been transporting soil from the DOE site onto residential property. Community group protection community group protect Macracken County posted videos of the trucks moving the soil to a location on old highway 60 in Kevill. Climber said in a previous interview with the Sun that he wanted a document explicitly stating the soil was safe to move off the site. Eric Old's manager of the Portsmouth Paduka project office of environmental management sent that statement to Climber on Wednesday. The attached supplemental analysis which was shared with the EPA Region 4 in KDEP confirms that the soil is protective of human health and the environment. Old said the DOE has received messages from members of the community about the project. As development continues, he said he encourages people to reach out to the DOE if they have additional questions. Following the supplemental analysis, Old said the soil meets risk standards.

2:01General matter did notify DOE of its intent to move dirt from the lease area to a nearby privately owned offsite location and to support this DOE prepared an internal risk analysis. Old said to support knowing that dirt could be moved offsite, we did a supplemental analysis to confirm that soil met both residential and recreational risk standards. Old said the supplemental analysis was conducted to confirm moving the soil met risk standards. He said the risk analysis is completed by comparing findings to standards from the Environmental Protection Agency, DOE, or Nuclear Regulatory Commission based on the intention of the land. After Climber said he wanted additional information, Old said he understands the questions from the judge executive. It was a very fair request for the judge to request that information, looking for that documentation on the risk and the safety of that material, Old said. We're certainly happy to provide it.

3:02After waiting for the documents and statement confirming the soil was safe to remove, Climber said he was pleased with the information. He added that community members had valid concerns about the process, which is one reason he wanted additional information. It does not provide what I've been trying to get for maybe weeks, if not months, that the analysis shows that there is essentially no risk to the public or the community, Climber said. I have been frustrated that I couldn't find it, that I could find other material that did not answer the question. Upon receiving the analysis and confirmation from the supplemental study, Climber said that it provided formal authorization and proof he's been seeking. He highlighted the consistent concerns from the community, but is optimistic this information can offer some relief. He said he wants to assure the public that local leaders are working on gathering evidence to provide transparency. It seems like it answers the question, and people can stand back and not be so concerned now, Climber said.

4:02I think it's important for the community to know that we've been trying to gather this, the proof that it either is safe or is still questionable for quite some time. The next article, Judge Dismiss' grooming charges against former Graves teacher by Will Spencer. Graves County, at a preliminary hearing in the Graves County District Court, on Wednesday, Judge Scott Robbins dismissed the grooming charge against former Graves County middle school teacher, Sadie Flores. Flores has charged them from a relatively new Kentucky law that took effect on July 15, which makes grooming a minor a standalone offense. According to House Bill 4 and KRS 510.160, a person is guilty of grooming when a person over 18 years old engages in grooming behavior directed at a minor who is under 18 years old with the intent to either entice, coerce, solicit or induce the minor to engage in sexual conduct with a person or another person, or develop an intimate or secretive relationship with the minor.

5:05While she may have breached professional boundaries of a student teacher relationship, Judge Robbins said Evans did not prove that Flores had intentions of a future sexual relationship with their 14-year-old student. The sole testimony was from Graves County Sheriff Detective Tony Cornwell, who recited his investigation report on the case, the following summarizes key points from the Cornwell's extensive testimony. The Sheriff's Office was notified by Graves County School Superintendent Matthew Matting on August 6 about a possible inappropriate relationship between Flores, who was a special education teacher and her male student. Prior to investigators involvement, the family had taken possession of juvenile cell phone, Cornwell said, as a result of disciplinary action and reviewing the communication content on that phone. They located contact communications from various sources between the juvenile and Flores and identified regular text messages between them on social media.

6:05According to Cornwell, the minor stepmother obtained phone records identifying outgoing and incoming calls with Flores, including FaceTime from April to May this year. There were 33 calls total that ran for 481 minutes combined, some were placed as late as 10 pm. While the juvenile's parents signed a waiver on March 9 allowing communications outside traceable district platforms, some interactions reportedly predated the scope of authorization. Investigators also identified communications through TikTok, Snapchat and similar platforms that occurred outside the school's authorized communication arrangement. During a physical review of the juvenile's device, these communications appeared to convey a level of personal and emotional interaction that was inconsistent with the conventional teacher student teacher type relationship, Cornwell said. This appeared to be consistently demonstrating Flores expressing feelings of love, affection, admiration and emotional attachment toward the juvenile.

7:06Degraves County Sheriff's Office then arrested Flores on Friday, August 7, on the class D felony of grooming a minor. When she was interviewed by authorities, Flores described her relationship with the juvenile as supportive viewing herself as a trusted motherly and adult role model. Though the reason on communication waiver was left black, Flores reportedly said the agreement was associated with juvenile's emotional difficulties and need for a trusted adult with whom he could communicate with. Flores told investigators she initially worked with a student in a special education setting and became more involved because of his academic and emotional difficulties. She stated that he frequently contacted her when he lacked self confidence, believed he had failed an assignment or was experiencing emotional difficulties involving his family. Cornwell said Flores denied her intentions toward the juvenile were of any romantic or sexual nature and maintained that she was attempting to provide emotional support because of the juvenile's mental health struggles and lack of adequate support system at home.

8:13According to Cornwell, the juvenile also received a notebook from Flores containing 19 pages of handwritten notes and 300 index cards. Flores said she gave postcard style notes to many students, but the notebook was only given to this specific juvenile. Cornwell read one excerpt written by Flores in the juvenile's notebook. Selfishly, I need you here more and your existence matters in a way I cannot fully explain on paper. You've made an impact on my life just by being yourself and the world would be missing something real without you in it. Cornwell elaborated that Flores held concerns that the juvenile had exhibited suicidal tendencies and it made statements concerning self harm. However, she acknowledged uncertainty concerning the actual formal procedures for emergency mental health evaluations for reporting. Additionally, there's no record that Flores ever specifically filed reports with anyone, including law enforcement or the cabinet to be required for mandatory reporting, nor did she file any official reports concerning his mental health at the school.

9:17According to Cornwell, the juvenile's father confirmed that Flores contacted him once in late March, saying his son was struggling a lot with wanting to be alive. When the juvenile student was interviewed, he denied that he had expressed or communicated thoughts of suicide or self harm, according to Cornwell. The student did indicate that he struggled with depression. When I asked the student how often they communicated, they said they did have phone calls most every day, and those conversations were late in the evening, Cornwell said. The student indicated if they didn't answer the phone, Flores would seem to get irritated, easily upset. The student indicated that they did send selfies to Flores, and there were several expressions such as, I love you, that were communicated back and forth, Cornwell said. The student indicated none of the communication between the two of them was sexual in nature, but oftentimes when he was in a good mood, the student indicated he would like to hug the teacher. Other notable details from Cornwell's testimony include, first, a student witness claimed that Flores' relationship with the juvenile was unusually close with him routinely spending an extended periods of time alone with Miss Flores in a classroom, including during lunch and after school.

10:32According to student witnesses, Flores and the juvenile were often left alone in class, and the door was generally locked during their private conversation. Next, another student witness said that the juvenile in question oftentimes would be standing behind Flores with his arms draped over her shoulder and neck area while she was seated at her desk. When interviewed, the juvenile denied physical interactions like hugs or sexual in nature. Next, Flores and the student met once outside of school on July 23rd at a golf course close to her residence during a school-related activity. She told investigators that the student had asked for golf balls. One of the golf balls was later found in the juvenile's bedroom and allegedly contained handwritten love messages on it from Flores. Next, Flores once sent the juvenile selfie of herself alone in a church bathroom. She acknowledged in hindsight that sending this photograph was poor judgment and poor decision, but maintained the photograph was not intended to be romantic or sexual.

11:37Cornwell later clarified that Flores was not wearing clothing that was suggestive in the photo. Next, at the end of the semester in May, Flores allegedly told the juvenile that they should stop telecommunications since school was over. However, contact with the juvenile did not cease in the summer, Cornwell said. Records indicate attempted FaceTime calls and lengthy series of TikTok communications that occur between July 16th and July 27th and text messages that occur between July 18th and July 23rd. Graves County Attorney John Cunningham and Flores is attorney Angela Troutman, then thoroughly cross-examined Cornwell and his testimony. Troutman delivered her final argument, including the following excerpt. We understand this investigation is ongoing and the Commonwealth Attorney can still move forward and indict Miss Flores if he so chooses. However, as of today, from what detective Cornwell testified to, I have heard no evidence that Miss Flores was glaring this child as defined by the statute.

12:40And I will ask the court to take this into consideration that it sounds like a lot of this communication between these two happened before this law was in effect July 15th. We've heard no evidence that she was using manipulation or trust building to facilitate future acts of sexual content. She didn't state after three hours of questioning that she had any intention of sexual acts. The juvenile hasn't stated that she has asked for or attempted any sexual acts. No text showing anything sexual in nature whatsoever. No evidence that she was developing an intimate or secretive relationship with the juvenile. Cunningham's response included the following. I know the majority of these events occurred prior to the enacting of the statute on July 15th, but one element the Commonwealth needs to prove is that this is to facilitate future acts or to normalize or desensitize the minor to acts of sexual content. Anything prior to July 15, I believe, can be used to show intent of parties and I would hang my hat on the physical contact between the teacher and the student in the classroom.

13:45She allowed that contact to continue to happen and I would argue that was for the intent to desensitize this child for future acts of sexual conduct. Judge Robbins agreed that the current evidence does not fit the legal definition of sexual conduct to substantiate Flora's grooming charge. I have heard no testimony that this has occurred. There may be evidence that has occurred and there may be evidence that has not been disseminated yet. Judge Robbins said, but I can only go on what I have been presented today and from what I've been presented today, I've seen no evidence that any sexual conduct has occurred. No evidence really whatsoever of that and that is a requirement to fit the statute. So I'm not finding any probable cause for this offense. The charge will be dismissed. The next article on the front page, McCrack and Fiscal Court addresses DOE soil public comment changes by Ken O'Williams. At McCrack and County Fiscal Court meeting Wednesday, Judge Executive Craig Klimmer announced that he finally received documents regarding general matter soil removal.

14:51In addition to explaining the Department of Energy Supplemental Analysis, the court also discussed the future of taking public comments during meetings and held a public hearing for the consideration of cable franchise proposals. Moreover, it received an update on the Paduca Sports Park and briefly touched on Klimmer's growth plan. I've been trying for quite some time to find documentation regarding general matter removal of soil from a parcel of the DOE property known as parcel A, Klimmer said. Now four months later, at four o'clock came the document from DOE according to the report. Risk analysis that confirms that the soil is protective of human health and the environment. Some of the testing included checking cancer and non-cancer risks of both surface soil and subsurface soil. I'm not a nuclear scientist, but it seems that we now have documentation that I have been seeking for quite some time, Klimmer said. I'll take the time to try to go through that and confirm, but I think what's important in this is how important communication is.

15:54This whole thing could have been avoided with the revealing of this information. Commissioner Edwin Jones also pointed out that the DOE report stated that some calculated risks were higher than Kentucky's preferred screening levels, even though they remained within the federal comprehensive environmental response compensation and liability acts acceptable range. The reason they say they needed to remove the soil is that it contained too much natural debris, leaves, and sticks, plant material, so that they needed dirt that would compact to very dense material to build their project on Klimmer said. So they hauled this dirt off that was not acceptable for compaction and brought this other dirt on. Afterward, the court discussed public commentary at fiscal court meetings due to rising interest and speaking on topics such as the DOE site and data center investments, the court approved, creating a sign-up sheet that would allow three minutes per commenter. I also see that in the public forum, we are being characterized, frankly, as not caring with the public wants, and that's not the case, Klimmer said.

17:00I think the public input can be helpful, so I'm proposing that we go ahead and start doing that. A public hearing was also held Wednesday to consider implementing a permanent agreement with Wright Fiber, a cable and internet company that has already been operating under an interim construction agreement. According to a spokesperson for Wright Fiber, cable was already in the ground in Paduca and Lone Oak, and with enough interest, the company could expand further into the county. We already have everything that we need to serve your residents, said the representative. We just need to give you to give us the permanent agreement with the signature on this page. Later, the court approved a resolution and ordinance allowing Klimmer to sign a franchising agreement with Wright Fiber. The agreement will provide 5% of the company's gross revenue from cable only to Macrack and County. As for Klimmer's previously proposed growth plan, the court agreed that holding workshops with experts from various fields including land use, housing, hospitals,

18:03road schools and sewer services would help address infrastructure needs as the county grows. It's going to be a tremendous amount of work Klimmer said. It's going to be very complex to plan ahead, but I think with the hard work that we need and the good people that we have to work on that, we can certainly handle it and roll this out as it needs to be. Ahead of the Paduca Sports Parks Grant opening this Thursday, September 10, director of operations, Jeff Woodside along, side deputy judge executive Steve Irvin, updated the court on the parks progress. They shared that construction is almost entirely complete with the current checklist to set to tie up loose ends. Similarly, Lollia Biggs was appointed to the sports tourism commission for a term set to end August 26, 2029. Wednesday's court orders consisted of nine payments related to the sports complex project. Additionally, the execution of a rural secondary program between the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Macrack and County to perform by two minutes resurfacing was approved for $165,519.

19:13The August 2026 transient room tax totaling $466,932.50 was also approved to be dispersed. The Paduca Convention and Visitors Bureau will receive $136,722.72. The Convention Center will receive $93,713.23. The Sports Tourism Commission will receive $142,342,317.77 and will escrow fund where receive $94,874.78. Next article, Generations Adult Day Services works towards return after 25 fire by Ariana Allen. Murray. After a year, Generations Adult Day Services is in the final stretch of opening the doors to its new home. The Adult Day Service lost its last building after a fire in July 2025.

20:16The fire paused all services taking away adult care programs for those dealing with intellectual or physical disabilities in Murray. The organization offers services ranging from nursing and case management to daily care for its clients. Executive Director Kristi Gardner recalled the morning of the fire describing the incident as devastating. It was devastating. We had a lot of tears on the phone calls that we made that morning, Gardner said. She explained that the process to get the new building running took longer than expected. Part of reopening the doors is completing the needed renovations. The renovations that need to be done include adding two wheelchair ramps and closing the kitchen walls and reconstructing the building's deck. We have a general contractor who has volunteered his time to come on Saturdays and help us get this work done. And he's only charged us for the materials that are required for the build, which is an amazing blessing, said Gardner. Though the organization has the general contractor to complete the work, Gardner shared they need volunteers to help.

21:20We're looking for community volunteers to help him because he doesn't have a work crew because it's all volunteers said Gardner. So once we get that construction completed, then we need to finish the building plan review where Frankfurt comes and says, okay, you did the construction the way you said you were going to and they sign off. This isn't the first time the organization has had to relocate. The business moved to Murray after its original location was destroyed in the May tornado. The Mayfield tornado of December 2021. Gardner pointed to the tornado and the fire as learning experiences for her and the organization. With every hiccup comes a new lesson and those lessons are something that will help us in the future, Gardner said. And I'm incredibly grateful for every lesson that I've been taught. While the renovation continues, Gardner stressed that 17 clients are waiting to return to the program. Most everybody that's in our program, they don't. There's no other program out there for them in this local in this area, she said.

22:24I mean, there is a Paduka, adult daycare adult day health program that accepts Medicaid. But for a lot of people, that's a long drive, a long ride. She explained that returning these clients to the program is her top priority. The most important thing to me is to get everybody back here so that we can gather and be together again and do the things that were called to do, said Gardner. If I had to describe what we've been through in any words at all, it would be to the glory of God, honestly, because I'm going to tell you when he starts orchestrating things in the way that he does, you're going to be mind blown every single time. To volunteer to help with renovations, call generations, adult day services at 2702471311. Turning to page two, Market House Theater performance highlights 9-11 by Kenna Williams. Award-winning musical, come from away, was recently released for licensing outside of Broadway ahead of the 25th anniversary of the 9-11 attacks.

23:30And the Market House Theater is one of nearly 150 venues across the nation to embrace the tale of cultural clashes and community. Come from away is based on the true stories of people who were aboard various planes during the terrorist attack in New York City and Washington, DC on 9-11. After 7,000 passengers are diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, nearly doubling the small town's population of 9,000, new connections form and resilience and humanity emerge from the crisis. On Wednesday, Ben Grimes, Market House Theater managing artistic director and come from away actress Laura Grimes, shared how the musical has left a lasting impact on both themselves and the community. Additionally, they explain the significance of musical theater, International's release of the rights ahead of the 25th commemoration of 9-11. This play is about a really dark time in our history 9-11, but it's about a community that came together to support those in need.

24:35It's a really beautiful representation of generosity and community during a really dark time in our history said Ben. Reception has just really blown me away with how moved people are by the story and how joyful they are to come to see it. As one of the show's actresses Laura said that the crowd reaction to come from away has differed from other shows she has seen. Ben, when people see you after a show rather than wanting to say great job, you sang great or you danced really well, they want to tell you their story, she said. One of the beautiful things about come from away and the way that it's written based on real people's experience is that it allows other people to open up and remember their experience and search for the bright spots that came out of that really dark time. According to Laura, one of the most significant aspects of come from away is seeing how the community comes together to house, feed, clothes and comfort the passengers during a time of unimaginable loss and uncertainty. Every single bit of it is real. All of the characters that we play every line that is said in the show comes from an interview with someone who was part of this experience, someone who was on one of those planes or a resident of gander that rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to help all these people, she said.

25:50Some of these characters have actually been in communication with the Market House Theater, presenting conversations that Laura described as unlike anything else she's ever been part of in 37 years of acting. It's just so incredibly moving because it's a true story of the best of humanity, she said. Ben said seeing the performance in Paduca instead of on Broadway helps conversations flow. This is a small intimate performance space, she said. You get to see your neighbors perform these. The Italian Paduca is astronomical. You get to see a talent level that I would argue is as good as Broadway, but also they live right here in Paduca. Building on the sense of community, Ben and Laura shared that the theater intends to open the floor to the audience and encourage a conversation after the performance on 9-11. It's going to be a talk back, I will facilitate it Ben said. There will be cast members there, but it's really an opportunity for the community to share their own stories about 9-11, reflecting back on 25 years and what we've learned and how we can move forward from that awful day.

26:58For those on the fence about seeing the show, Laura said not to let unfamiliarity or the topic of 9-11 be a deterrent. I think it's refreshing because so much of what we remember about that time is so dark and heavy, she said. It's not really a 9-11 story, it's a 9-12 story. What I remember from that time and who we were as a nation was the way that we came together and the way that we supported each other. It's a real nice reminder that we have that in our nature and in our society. This concludes today's reading of the Paduca Sun. Your reader today has been Teresa. Thank you for joining me. Next, please stay tuned for continued and programming on radio.