Written by Gary Gates Tuesday, 15 September 2009 14:03
Madisonville, KY – The 3rd Annual Judge Executive/Mayor's Prayer Breakfast was held Tuesday morning at the Covenant Community Church. The church's Pastor, Rev. Michael Knight told Hopkins County Judge Executive Donnie Carroll, Madisonville Mayor Will Cox and other elected officials that the event was not about the church but about them and all they do in service to the citizens of the community. He thanked them for their efforts and said, “There is a group of people who are praying for you by name daily.”
Mayor Will Cox welcomed everyone and said that he prays a prayer everyday like that of King Solomon, a servant of the people, “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to Distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
Senator Jerry Rhoads welcomed the Governor, mentioning that he is one of two Hopkins County native son's to serve as Kentucky Governor.
Governor Beshear rose to a standing ovation from the large crowd gathered at the breakfast. Beshear talked about two different crisis that have occurred in the last year and praised the Judge and Mayor for their efforts.
Beshear began his speech by recognizing Eddie Ballard who recently announced that he is retiring from the Kentucky State House of Representatives. Beshear said Ballard will serve a total of 24 years by the end of his term in office. Beshear said, “He is a person who has worked as hard as anybody ever has in Frankfort to represent your interest.” He said Ballard has had many accomplishments for this community and for the commonwealth of Kentucky. He asked everyone to stand and give Ballard a standing ovation for his service to Western Kentucky and the Commonwealth.
Beshear said that over the last year or so we have experienced our share of crisis situations, both natural and man-made. He mentioned how the events have caused a great deal of suffering as Kentuckians have lost their homes or had their homes flooded. He said Kentuckians were, “held hostage by the worst ice storm in history.” He also said, “We have job seekers who feel like they are being held hostage by this economic crisis because they can't find work.” “No doubt the good Lord has heard a lot of prayers and supplications from all of these folks.”
Beshear said he can not remember a time when we needed each other more, saying during these times political affiliation means the least. He said it is times like these that, “we need to put aside partisanship and come together in the political world and do what needs to be done to get our folks through these kinds of crisis.”
He told those gathered that faith teaches us to reach out to those in need. The governor said Kentuckians have rallied around each other to help in trying times. He bragged on the local Red Cross, state and local workers and area law enforcement agencies for their efforts to help people in need. He talked about the hard work and dedication by Judge Executive Carroll and Mayor Will Cox during the ice storm. He praised them for successfully bring the community through natural crisis.
Governor Beshear said the state has taken several steps to help Kentuckians in need during the economic crisis. He said that when he took office, he set two goals. One was to help people to get through this financial crisis. The state has launched a website to help people with a variety of needs. It is www.assistance.ky.gov. To help with health issues, the state is working to enroll children in the Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program. This is a program for children in low income families.
The process for enrolling the state's children in the program has been streamlined and made to be more user friendly. The governor stressed the need for this program saying that, “An unhealthy child does not learn very well and has less of a chance of growing up and being a productive and successful adult. The Kentucky Assistance Prescription Program was created to help eligible Kentuckians to locate free or low priced drugs. Beshear said “We need to move beyond the situation where people are forced to decide between buying their medicine they need or the food they need to survive everyday.”
The state Kentucky Community and Technical College System, KCTCS, has launched two programs in response to the economic problems the state is facing. The first offers a 50 percent tuition scholarship to displaced workers. Another program helps workers over 50 obtain new technology skills. The governor said the goal is to help workers obtain the skills and knowledge they need to be competitive with the 21st centuries jobs. Beshear also said the state has developed a new plan to help finance student loans for college students. Over 60,000 loans have been made through the program.
Beshear said that, “Treating each other with respect, looking each other in the eye” is the beginning of compassion. He said we are going to get through tough economic times just like we did the ice storm, we are going to do it together. The governor said there are brighter days ahead and the state must start making plans to take advantage of all the opportunities that will be afforded to us is better economic times.
Judge Executive Donnie Carrol gave the closing remakes at the breakfast. He thanked the governor for his help to the county, especially during the ice storm. He said the governor was quick in organizing people to come and help and also helped with over $600,000 in storm recovery expense.
Tim Moore - News Director
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PHOTO GALLERY OF BREAKFAST...
Photos/Video by Gary Gates - iSurf Media
PART ONE OF GOVERNOR SPEECH...
PART TWO OF GOVERNOR SPEECH...
