West Kentucky News from Paducah, Kentucky • 1

Friday, September 2, 2022 1101 Broadway Paducah I A A I A I 1-270-534-5556 MAKE THE WISE CHOICE Helping Employers Job Seekers SInce 1987 Job Seekers Specializing in career opportunities. Let's find your dream job today! Employers Call Centers Office Staffing solutions to expand your team! 270-443-0060 2526 Jackson St, Paducah, KY Weather Outlook By Pat Thomann McCracken Coun- ty High School was fortunate to have two students honored at the Kentucky State Fair for achievements in their years in the Future Farmers of America (FFA). Waylon Wood has been active in FFA for four years and has received the Outstand- ing Leadership Award at the KY FFA Leader- ship Training Center. He has participated in activities such as, livestock judging and dairy judging teams. Wood was the Regional Champion in Swine Production and Forage Production and was the state winner in Forage Production in 2022 and State 2nd in 2022.

He is a member of the McCracken Coun- ty Farm Bureau and was named Outstand- ing Youth Contest County Winner in 2021 and was named Out- standing Youth Dis- trict Winner in 2021. Wood also par- ticipated in many community service activities through FFA and church. He now serves as one of the song directors for the Sunny Slope Church of Christ in Paducah. From a very young age Avery Goodwin knew he wanted to be a farmer. Through his Supervised Agri- culture he has had the opportunity to plan for, get experience and begin to do just that.

For him farming is not a dream, it is his daily reality and his future. Goodwin joined the McCracken County FFA chapter in 2018 and served as Chapter Vice-President. He has participated in a State Junior and Senior Chapter meeting and has participated in Grain Production Pro- ficiency and Diversi- fied Crop Proficiency, both in the entrepre- neurship areas with regional wins. Goodwin has partic- ipated in 58 hours of community service in- cluding pushing snow, track prep for Alumni tractor pulls, disaster relief and Toys for Tots among others. In 2018 he leased 18 acres to raise pop- corn, which he sold for 14 cents a pound to Weaver Popcorn Company averaging about 4500 pounds per acre.

In 2019 he leased an additional 18 acres to raise soybeans, in 2020 he leased the 18 acres for soybeans and an additional 30 acres for grain. In 2020 he leased 48 acres for soybeans and 25 acres for grain. From this crop he har- vested the wheat and then baled straw from the remaining plant. Each year Goodwin has seen a very nice profit from his crops. Farming can be a very challenging task and can be difficult if you are not pre- pared but it seems that with the help and encouragement of their FFA chapter this pair is destined to succeed in helping to supply crops to feed our nation and maybe even the world.

Good luck to them both and thank you for the work you do. Waylon Wood and Avery Goodwin honored at Kentucky State Fair by Tom Ward Editor, West KY News Some folks who want assistance with house repairs following natural catastrophes now will have access to more money. The max- imum lifetime grant assistance amount has been raised from $10,000 to $36,520 through the Home Re- pair Program which is run by the US Depart- ment of Agriculture Rural Development. Tom Carew is cur- rently serving the state of Kentucky in the capacity of Director of Rural Development. According to him, this new cap will only apply to homeowners who reside in areas that have been desig- nated by the president as disaster areas, it affect anyone else.

This includes com- munities that were affected by floods as well as communities that were affected by tornadoes. According to Carew, this suggests that there is a possi- bility for a family to qualify for an addition- al grant of $26,520, or for a combination of a grant and a loan of the same amount. The grants, as stated by Carew, are for the purpose of repairing homes that already exist. According to Carew, is an attempt on the part of the Harris administra- tion to help families whose homes totally destroyed but have been flooded, have been mucked out, cleaned out, dried out, and are ready to be These families homes have been flooded but they have not been com- pletely destroyed. The grants are only available to house- holds that have an extremely low income and are led by an elderly person.

At the very least, the person who is in charge of the household should be 62 years old. An annual income of less than $30,350 for a household consisting of one to four people is the benchmark for being considered an extremely low income. Homeowners who have incomes that are significantly below the federal poverty line may apply for loans of up to $40,000 through the home rehabili- tation program. The loans will have a one percent interest rate for a period of twenty years. USDA Rural Development grant cap raised Many towns were greatly affected by the December 10th tornado.

This photo taken December 12th, shows the severity of the path through Dawson Springs. Some residents are still waiting for help rebuilding their homes and lives. This increase may be a godsend to those desperately needing help repairing homes. Photo Tom Ward, West KY News.