Henderson history: Some community problems resolved before forums ended
A 1998 series of public forums about community problems saw resolution of one of them before the fourth session even began.
Another issue was dealt with a week after it was raised, and one of the main complaints during the first session was put to bed before the year ended.
But Henderson shouldn’t get too puffed up; some of the problems remain with us today.
The 1998 forums were organized by the Henderson Chamber of Commerce. Similar ones have been held since at least 1946, and most of them were chamber projects. I’ve counted six of them between 1982 and 1995, and I know there was one as late as 2014 and perhaps even more recently.
The impetus behind the 1998 sessions was “improving the quality of life” in Henderson County. The fourth session originally had been planned at the Henderson City-County Airport but was moved to Henderson Community College because of a lack of air conditioning at the airport. That was in the middle of a heat wave, so I’m sure participants considered that an improvement in the quality of their lives.
The Gleaner of June 30, 1998, carried a Ron Jenkins story about the first forum. “Industry odors, riverfront development, community beautification and the plight of the poor and low-income elderly” were among the range of topics discussed, he reported.
“A dominant theme during the nearly two and one-half hours of comment was industry odor,” which I wrote about June 4, so I won’t dwell on it here other than to say the problems wafting from the MacMillan Bloedel paper mill and the Tyson chicken plant had been mostly resolved before 1998 came to a close.
Another subject raised were the needs of the Black community, such as transportation for kids participating in programs at the John F. Kennedy Community Center during the summer months. “We don’t have any way to get kids to and from field trips,” said Gail Turner, president of the Black History Committee.
“I’ve waited for years to see a Black principal or a Black vice principal – and I’m still waiting,” said Thomas Platt, president of the local NAACP chapter.
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Schools were also the topic at the second forum in Robards, where residents were still upset about the closure of their elementary school, according to the July 10 Gleaner.
“I think elected officials have got their priorities in the wrong place,” said Ramey Henzman.
Henderson City Commissioners Michele Deep and Greg Sutton spoke on the same point, except they favored having two high schools.
“Everyone wanted two high schools and everyone wanted smaller classes, and we didn’t get either,” Deep said.“Our school system seems to be more concerned about the bottom line than the future of our children,” said Sutton. “We need two high schools in this community.”
Two other issues raised at the July 9 forum were the lack of county fairgrounds and problems with the county’s green box system of solid waste disposal. The fairgrounds issue was also raised at the July 16 forum.
The Gleaner of July 18, however, carried a story quoting Judge-executive Sandy Watkins announcing the county had purchased 18 acres on Airline Road to develop as fairgrounds. Henderson Fiscal Court passed a pair of ordinances in January 2004 abolishing the green box system of rural garbage collection and setting up franchised private haulers. Green boxes were gone by mid-March.
Road and highway concerns cropped up at the third forum, which was reported in The Gleaner of July 17. Deep said it was “almost impossible” for tractor-trailer rigs to make a turn from Green Street onto Sand Lane without traffic on Sand Lane backing up. The same type of problem existed at Fifth and Green and at Watson Lane and U.S. 41.
A different type of road problem cropped up in the July 22 Gleaner. Chamber executive director George Warren said he had heard numerous complaints that Rucker Road No. 1 was too narrow and needed to be widened. “Several people have been injured or killed on that road,” he said.
Magistrate Charles Alexander said Henderson Fiscal Court had discussed that problem multiple times in the past. “It gets down to the rights of way and no one’s willing to give it up,” Alexander said.
The Rev. Ed Bradley of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church brought up another issue at the July 21 forum: the influx of Hispanics lured here by Tyson Foods and agricultural work. “This is much larger than we can handle,” he said.
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Barbara Jones agreed. “If they’re going to settle here, we should welcome them and address their needs. We need a coordination of social services where the information gets to them.”
The Gleaner of July 31 reported the focus of the final forum was the riverfront and the need to replace the Henderson Police Department station at Water and First Streets. That had been the department’s home since 1963; replacing that building had been a matter of considerable controversy for several years.
The Gleaner of Jan. 12, 2000, reported the Henderson City Commission had agreed to spend $2.2 million to buy half of the former Peabody Coal Co. headquarters at the cloverleaf. The building was converted into a new police station, as well as other city and city-county offices.
Movement on riverfront redevelopment began relatively quickly, despite being tied up in longstanding legal disputes. Nola Bernstein, director of Operator Community Pride, noted those legal problems had prevented OCP from extending the River Walk it had built between Hays Boat Ramp and 12th Street.
“Will that ever be cleared up so we can get through the land?” she asked. Moderator Bill Markwell noted the city of Henderson and Dennis Francis had been arguing over ownership of about three acres at Seventh Street. The case was then before the Court of Appeals.
“Most likely that will be resolved in the near future,” Markwell said. “It’s closer than it was. There is some activity. It’s been a long one, but there’s been some difficult issues.”
City government began working on the area between Second and Third streets initially. The Gleaner of Feb. 10, 1999, reported the Henderson City Commission voted 3-2 to match $2 million of grants with $1 million of city money to improve the riverfront. The first phase of the work got under way in mid-May of 2000.
The last gasp of the riverfront legal troubles came in The Gleaner of Aug. 24, 2008, when Henderson Circuit Court\'s oldest active lawsuit was settled when the city of Henderson paid $58,400 to two banks to put paid to the dispute over the land at Seventh Street.
100 YEARS AGO
Spalding “Trip” Trafton returned to work at The Gleaner after being postmaster 1914-1923, according to The Gleaner of July 1, 1923.
Between 1923 and 1932 he wrote some 70 columns about local history for The Gleaner, although there was a large gap from late 1925 to early 1931 when he was managing editor of the newspaper in Madisonville. Most of those columns are on file at the Henderson County Public Library.
He was born Aug. 15, 1866, and began his newspaper career at age 16 in 1882. He continued for five decades, except for when he was postmaster.
“A few years ago, Spalding Trafton strayed from the newspaper fold – strayed after the political fleshpots, which is a common sin for newspaper men,” The Gleaner said in 1923. “But ‘Trip’ came back. They always do, for the man who once gets printer’s ink on his fingers is foredoomed to return to the pen, the scissors, and the pastepot. It is the lure of the ‘Fourth Estate.’”
Trafton’s death on Thanksgiving Day 1932 was one of those unexplainable twists of fate. He was on his way back to The Gleaner office to write a story about a man who had been killed by an automobile when he stepped off the curb at Washington and Green streets -- and was struck by an automobile. Cause of death was a skull fracture.
75 YEARS AGO
Park Field in Atkinson Park was nearing completion and promoters were seeking $2,000 to build bleachers to seat 300, according to The Gleaner of June 27, 1948.
The first publicized ball game was the Henderson Veterans of Foreign Wars against Anthoston, which took place Aug. 8, according to a Gleaner advertisement that day. The ad said the field was on “Boat Club Road.”
The VFW played Uniontown Aug. 22, followed by an Aug. 24 night game against Central City “under the lights.”
50 YEARS AGO
Henderson County’s system of green boxes – one of Kentucky’s first rural garbage disposal programs – went into operation “on a small scale” at the end of June 1973, according to the caption of a photograph in The Gleaner of June 23, 1973. The system didn’t achieve full operation until September of that year and was discontinued March 15, 2004.
Readers of The Gleaner can reach Frank Boyett at YesNews42@yahoo.com or on Twitter at @BoyettFrank.
This article originally appeared on Henderson Gleaner: Henderson history: Some community problems resolved before forums ended
