Image 1 of Citizen Voice & Times February 23, 2012

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012 Citizen Voice & Times 50¢ Proudly serving Irvine, Ravenna and Estill County Copyright © 2012 Citizen Voice, Inc. Vol. 93 No. 4 WWW.CVT-NEWS.COM 16 Pages ECHS Academic Team, Future Problem Solvers, Quick Recall take first place at regional competition Several individual students also placed and advance to state along with teams By Rhonda Smyth CV&T News Editor The Estill County High School Academics Team brought home the 14th region championship for the second straight year, last Saturday after competition at Powell County High School. Estill scored a total of 47 points overall. No other team came close. Letcher County was second, Jackson Independent was third and Knott County Central was fourth. Estill’s Future Problem Solvers, placed first for the fifth straight year. The Quick Recall Team also took top honors for the second year in a row. In addition to doing well as a whole, there were several students who placed individually. They are, math, first place, Aaron Burgher; math, second place, Corey Thomas; social studies, second place, Devin Miller; composition, first place, Erin Combs; composition, fifth place, Andrew Abernathy; language arts, first place, Natascha Richardson; language arts, fourth place, Erin Combs; arts and humanities, first place, Devin Miller. The team will now participate in Kentucky State Governor’s Cup competition in Lexington in March. Photo submitted The Estill County High School Academic Team members are first row from left, Erin Combs, Natascha Richardson, Christian Tipton, Sydney Richardson, Kayla Wolpert, Aaron Berger, coach Greg Horn; back row, Tanner Chaney, Corey Thomas, Dakota Halbert, Devin Miller (Captain), Andrew Abernathy, Jay Winkler. News Briefs Drake arrested Estill Deputy Sheriff Randy Farthing arrested Melissa Drake on an electronically generated district court warrant on Feb. 18 obtained by Irvine Division of Police Chief Brad Smith. The warrant states that on Dec. 8, 2011, Drake yelled obscenities at James Philip Cahal while he was in his truck, parked on Main Streeet. It also states Drake used a knife to scrape the side of his truck from the back to the side mirrors doing $1,272 worth of damage. The victim reported a similar incident that occurred three weeks prior whereby she cut the valve stems off Cahal’s truck tires. Drake was taken to the Estill County Jail and charged with first degree criminal mischief which is a Class D felony. Bail was set at $1,000 surety and she was released when JoAnn Drake signed her bond. She was required to sign up for monitored conditional release and ordered by District Judge Bo Leach to be randomly drug tested and have no contact with Cahal. She is expected to appear in court on March 21. Dotson charged with promoting contraband Deputy Russell “Doc” Morris arrested Amy R. Stotts Dotson, 33, of Jacqueline Court on Feb. 18 after she allegedly tried to sneak a marijuana cigarette into the Estill County Jail. Morris’ report states that Amy Dotson dropped off a can of Skoal brand snuff at the jail, for an inmate, Tommy Dotson. There was a half-smoked marijuana cigarette hidden in the can. She was released on $1,000 surety bond signed by Larry Dotson. She was ordered to appear in Estill District Court on March 21 and must report to pre-trial services, submit to random drug testing and have no contact with Tommy Stotts. Stolen pistol recovered, 2 arrested Morris recovered a stolen pistol and arrested two men who allegedly sold it. Christopher Burton, 20, of Ravenna and Zackery Jones, 27, of Scott Court were lodged in the Estill County Jail on Feb. 15, charged with receiving stolen property. According to Morris' report, the two men were together when they sold a pistol that was stolen from the home of Harold Hunt on White Oak Road, to a Ballard man. The gun was recovered on Feb. 10. Jones' bail was set at $5,000 cash and Burton's was set at $2,500 cash or $5,000 property. ‘Dancer’ ran away from Drip Rock, found on Red Lick By Lisa Bicknell CV&T Staff Writer Snow fell everywhere but here! CV&T photo by Lisa Bicknell Snow fell and school was called off in all but eleven Kentucky counties Monday. Even mountain roads like this one on Drip Rock were not snow-covered enough to call off school in Estill County, much to the disappointment of school children and their teachers. On February 3, Charlie Peek of Lynch Road on Drip Rock took his Saluki puppy out for a walk. He said she slipped her leash, darted under the fence and took off into the surrounding woods near his mountain home. Dancer didn´t come back that day… or the next. Knowing the distractible nature of the breed and their love for chasing rabbits and birds, Peek moved quickly to spread the word about his missing nine-month old puppy. He placed a notice in local newspapers and drove around surrounding neighborhoods, stuffing flyers in mailboxes. His Saluki is one of a very unique breed, reserved in nature, with a sleek body type that resembles a greyhound. The dogs are sometimes called Persian Greyhounds, desert hounds or gazelle hounds. Built for speed with a narrow waist and long graceful legs, the Saluki has an interesting gait. When in full stride, all four feet are off the ground at the same time, so that the dog appears to barely skim the earth. “These dogs typically only bond to one owner or one family,” Peek said. This particular puppy is the fourth generation in a line of champion Salukis that Peek has owned. He said that Dancer´s great-grandfather was the top dog in the country in 1999 at the National Specialty show. Salukis, though uncommon in these parts, are thought to be the oldest domestic breed of dog known to man. They are particularly highly prized in the countries of Iran, Iraq, Israel, and Egypt. Used as hunting dogs, they have helped put food on the table for centuries in desert areas. For this reason, the dogs are highly regarded in Middle Eastern cultures and are the only breed of dog that Muslims do not consider unclean. Peek said that Bedouin chiefs go out hunting on horseback, armed with a falcon and a Saluki, which sometimes rides on the horse behind its owner. Feuding Bedouin families will attempt to kill one another´s Salukis, because they play such an important part in their enemies’ food supply. After nearly two weeks of searching for Dancer, someone finally called Peek and said they’d seen her crossing the bridge on Murphy Ford Road. Then last Friday a local mail carrier reported she had seen the dog in the lower Red Lick Valley area, and that it appeared to have a broken leg. With a snowstorm pending for the INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Local News......A2-3 Obits....A6-7 Editorial.......A4 Classifieds...A12-14 Op-Ed.........A5 108 S. Court Street, Irvine, KY 40336 • e-mail: cvtnews@windstream.net See FOUND A2