Sherry Chandler » Subpoenaed
Subpoenaed
Charlie Whitt, our diligent Flatwoods South Shore reporter, has drawn my attention to this story, filed by Frank Lewis in The Portsmouth [Ohio] Daily Times:
The feud over the Indian Head Rock has been taken to the next level.
Greenup County (Ky.) prosecuting attorney Cliff Duvall has subpoenaed Portsmouth Mayor Jim Kalb to appear in Greenup County Court to testify before a Greenup County grand jury on March 28, at the Greenup County Court Annex.
“We have the Antiquities Act here in Kentucky, that involves things that are registered under that act through the University of Kentucky,” Duvall said. “It’s a Class D felony, and in Kentucky, that carries one to five years. That charge will probably be the most applicable. There isn’t any monetary value that anybody could put on it.”
Kalb said receiving the subpoena was not a surprise to him.
“I got a call from my office a couple of days ago, saying that a member of the Scioto County Sheriff’s Office was there to serve me with a subpoena. I kind of suspected that it would be over the rock,” Kalb said.
…
Does Duvall intend to call Steve Shaffer, the man who spearheaded the retrieval of the rock last year?
“If he chooses to. Let’s put it that way,” he said.
Shaffer, of Ironton, the main authority on the history of the rock, told a recent gathering of Scioto County school administrators there were five main theories as to the real history of how the now-famous carved face got on the rock.
“One is that in 1851, messages were placed on the rock, likely by early pioneers to mark the low-water mark. The second is that a quarry man carved it with a metal tool. Theory No. 3 is that a band of robbers used it as a marker when they buried their loot nearby. The fourth theory is that it was carved by Native Americans, and that theory began in an account in the 1891 edition of the Portsmouth newspaper. And the fifth theory is about a 100 -years-old. It says a boy named John Book, a prominent member of Scioto County society who was killed in the Civil War, carved it,” he said.
…
Kalb isn’t backing down on the issue, and is standing firm on his belief the rock belongs right where it is.
“The rock belongs in Portsmouth. It’s a logical place for it. This is not a case of Kentucky wanting to display it, it’s a case of them not wanting Portsmouth or Ohio to have it,” he said. “This is an important part of Portsmouth history, and if the rock is on display, it will be for both sides of the river to enjoy. If it’s Kentucky’s intent to put the rock back in the river, that should be a crime in itself.”
On an unrelated note but just because I saw it in the headlines, Scioto County where Portsmouth is located, went for Clinton in yesterday’s primary.
The Clinton campaign toured Ohio over the last month with former President Bill Clinton coming to Shawnee State University on Feb. 25, accompanied by Ohio first lady Frances Strickland.
Scioto County Democrat Party Chairman Randy Basham credited Strickland and the Clinton campaign sending Bill Clinton to Scioto County with pulling off the election for Clinton.
“It was good when Ted Strickland got Bill Clinton down here to speak on behalf of Hillary. Hillary did come to Lawrence County, and a lot of people from here went there to see her,” Barnett said.
Maybe they could get Bill to come down and arbitrate this rock dispute.
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