Latest news with #Castlen
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
York area drainage project keeps floodwaters away
When last week's severe storms and days of epic rainfall swept over the region, one place that didn't see flooding was in the Shifley-York neighbors off Bittel Road. 'Actually, there is no flooding at all since they've done the construction,' former City Commissioner Mark Castlen said Tuesday. In 2022, commissioners approved a $5-million stormwater project in the Shifley-York area, using American Rescue Plan Act dollars the city received for pandemic relief. The final sewer work is expected to be complete next month, Assistant City Engineer Jack Goetz said Tuesday. 'We are moving ahead well,' Goetz said. 'We are in the process of installing the last line of the sewer system. 'We are hoping to wrap up all the storm sewer (work) by early May,' Goetz said. The project included creating a three-acre drainage basin, widening York Ditch from 2 feet to 8 feet, and installing sewer lines to take neighborhoods out of the combined sewer system, which handles both sewage and rainwater. The new lines will keep sewage and rain water from overwhelming the storm water lines during heavy rainfall. Although not complete, the system is already working, Castlen said. 'I was pleasantly surprised after the rain there was no pond' at places that formerly flooded in the neighborhood, Castlen said. Castlen was on the City Commission when commissioners and Mayor Tom Watson unanimously supported the drainage project. 'I'll be happy when it's over, but I'm more happy it's making such a difference for my neighbors,' Castlen said. 'Everything fell into place, and I feel good about that.' After the final sewer line is installed, crews will do some site restoration in areas where construction took place, Goetz said. The work caused some disruption in the neighborhoods, Castlen said, but that it was 'a minor price to pay for the betterment of the community.'
Yahoo
01-03-2025
- Yahoo
Wethington announces resignation as circuit judge
Daviess Circuit Judge Jay Wethington, who was Commonwealth's Attorney before becoming a judge in 2007, resigned from the bench as of Friday. With Wethington's retirement, the Administrative Office of the Courts can begin the process of filling the Division I seat for the rest of Wethington's term. The process calls for the Administrative Office of the Courts to appoint a nominating commission which will take applications and forward recommendations to the governor for an appointment. Whoever is chosen will have to run for election in 2026. Wethington suffered an injury from a fall in March of 2024, and Wethington's division has been covered by other judges since. In a letter submitted to state Chief Justice Debra Hambree Lambert, Wethington said while he was hoping for full recovery, 'my expectations and hopes were too high,' and that he is currently 'unable to resume my duties as circuit judge to the extent I know the position requires ...' While Wethington said Friday his health has improved since the accident, he is looking forward to traveling with his wife in the future. The decision to resign was difficult, he said. 'Not because of my injury, but in my heart it was a hard decision to make, because I liked it, I was good at it, and people responded to things I wanted to do,' Wethington said. 'There's more to it than sitting on the bench,' Wethington said. Wethington, a former Atlanta Constitution reporter, started his law career in private practice before being hired as an assistant commonwealth's attorney by then Commonwealth's Attorney Tom Castlen. 'We go way back. We were friends even in grade school,' Castlen, who is now a retired Circuit judge, said. Later, he said, 'Our careers have paralleled one another over the years. 'He's a good attorney and he's a good person,' Castlen said. When Castlen became Circuit Judge and Wethington became commonwealth's attorney, Wethington was an strong supporter of the creation of a drug court program, Castlen said. 'I'm not so sure, when I was Commonwealth's Attorney, if I would have been as receptive' to the idea of Drug Court, Castlen said. 'But Jay was very supportive and got on board ... He knew the alternatives that needed to be explored for people with substance abuse.' Wethington said the prosecutor is an important part of Drug Court, because prosecutors have to agree to send a defendant to the court-monitored substance abuse program. People in drug court receive substance abuse treatment and services, with the court monitoring their progress. Wethington, who later presided over Drug Court after becoming a circuit judge, said 'Drug Court has been good for me as a judge.' 'My first attitude was, 'if you miss up, you're going to prison,' ' Wethington said. But Wethington learned that addicts will relapse. Drug Court, 'helped me understand about addiction,' Wethington said. Wethington said some of the cases he handled as Commonwealth's Attorney that created new state law. For example, a local case that rose through the appeal process resulted in the justices ruling that a person could be found guilty of homicide if they supplied drugs to a person who died. Another case, which Wethington handled as a special prosecutor, made law when the Supreme Court ruled commonwealth's attorneys also had a right to appeal in criminal cases. Wethington argued the case before the Supreme Court. Wethington said his judicial philosophy was 'to stay out of the way.' '(Judges) call balls and strikes,' Wethington said. Later, he said, 'The hardest thing for me was to shut up and let the lawyers win or lose their case. They know the case better than you, so stay out of it.' State Court of Appeals Judge Lisa Payne Jones was hired by Wethington to be an assistant commonwealth's attorney when Wethington ran the CWA's office. 'He helped me get litigation experience under my belt,' Jones said. 'He took the mentor role,' Jones said, and that, 'he guided me on buying a house. He didn't just care about you as a lawyer, he cares about you as a person.' Retired Daviess Circuit Judge Joe Castlen, who was Division II judge for years while Wethington was in Division I, said, 'I always liked Jay being on the other end of the hall' at the judicial center. 'I could always ask his opinion,' Joe Castlen said. 'We always confided on different matters, and it was great to have a good working relationship like that.' Wethington said, as a prosecutor, 'I didn't care about wins and losses, because that's not the point of the job. The job is justice.'
