Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The most recent meeting of the Clark County Fiscal Court coincided with September 11, on which 343 firefighters courageously gave their lives. 

Perhaps appropriately, the Magistrates decided to host a ceremony paying tribute to local firefighters. 

The Clark County Fire Department Promotion Ceremony was held to promote several employees. 

“We take great pride in honoring the legacy of those firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice on September 11 with our promotion ceremony,” said Clark County Fire Department Chief Steve Asbury. 

Providing those in attendance with historical information, Asbury noted that the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) implemented over 160 necessary promotions in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. 

“The magnitude of the tragedy and the urgent need for restructured command structure required the FDNY to rapidly promote personnel to ensure effective operations and leadership,” he said. 

CCFD’s ceremony also recognized the largest number of promotions simultaneously. 

“Thankfully, this is not in response to a tragedy, but rather to address the current needs in leadership and operations,” Asbury said. 

Those present for the ceremony included Brad Holman, Nic Carson, Chris King, and Nathan Matthews. 

The four Clark County Fire Department members were each promoted to Lieutenant. 

Joe Wheeling was also listed on the Fiscal Court’s agenda as being promoted to Lieutenant.

During the promotion, a loved one presented a pin to each firefighter.

They also swore to “support the Constitution of the United States of America, the Constitution of Kentucky…[and] enforce and obey the laws and ordinances of Clark County,” as first read aloud by Clark County Judge-Executive Les Yates. 

In addition, local citizens brought matters of concern to the Court. 

Among them was Jamie Sparks, who spoke of issues on Hollow Road. 

He described issues, including the road, which is undrivable in certain conditions, features torn-up asphalt, and more. 

Clark County Judge-Executive Les Yates responded. 

“It seems like, as a minimum, it needs to be graded. It needs to have ditches and gravel,” he said. “We’ll get something done.” 

Also speaking was local resident Reggie Gay. 

Gay, whose family—including his father James—has long been associated with Winchester, spoke of issues encountered near his home on Old Stone Church Road. 

“In the last thirty to forty-five days, we have had significant challenges using our telephone. Most people can call into our house, but increasingly…it seems that we are diminished in being able to call out of the house,” he said. “In doing a little investigating, I discovered that at the basis of this issue with basic telephone service at our house is the internet.” 

Speaking later in the meeting, Magistrate Dan Konstantopoulos addressed such concerns, reiterating the project to improve broadband access was taking place. 

“We’ve qualified for one project, which is a federal program. They’ve already started construction…that will cover [approximately] 2800 homes,” he said. “We’re [also] part of a regional plan [with] several other counties involved. We have worked out a program with Spectrum to provide broadband to every house in Clark County.”

The contract, signed in January 2023, estimates that the entire project will take approximately three years, with regular updates providing information on progress. 

“They have to build certain areas first to get that infrastructure out there to the rural areas,” Konstantopoulos added. “It’s just [going to] take a little bit of time, but they are working on it…each time they get a quadrant done, they turn that quadrant on so it’s not [as though] everyone has to wait three years…hopefully by the end of 2025 [or] beginning of 2026, that project should be complete.”