The Russell County Sheriff’s office is requesting your assistance in locating 15-year-old Guadalupe “Esmeralda” Moreno-Zapata. She is listed at 5’ 4” and 110 pounds and was last seen at her residence on Decatur Road in northern Russell County the morning of February 3, 2014.

She may be in the company of Victor Morales, a 23-year-old Hispanic male. If you have seen, had contact with, or have any information regarding the whereabouts of Guadalupe “Esmeralda” Moreno-Zapata or Victor Morales, you are asked to contact the Russell County Sheriff’s Department at 270-343-2191 or contact your local law enforcement agency.

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The Russell Springs City Council heard the reading and unanimously passed a resolution reclassifying the city as a fourth class city, the first step in the process of making that a reality, at last Thursday’s monthly meeting.

“I think it is a win-win situation,” Mayor Eric Selby said. The classification system in Kentucky allows cities and counties certain rights and responsibilities depending on the class.

Cities can change classes only after approval by the General Assembly in Frankfort.

The mayor said the population of the city at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census was 2,441.

Since then the city has annexed approximately 100 acres and more than 60 homes and the population for the city is expected to have grown 15 percent since then, Selby said.

Per PVA, the city currently has 1,016 existing structures for single family dwellings and there have been 42 new apartments added since the last census as well as over 20 new homes since the census.

“For those reasons the city is believed to have a population of between 3,000 and 3,200 people,” Selby said.

“More benefits would help the economic development of the city and it will also help in acquiring grants we apply for,” he said.

Selby called the resolution the first step in making the city a fourth class one and said the final step would be getting to the governor’s office for approval.

“We’ll see that, if this passes, it gets to the right people in order to make this happen,” he said.

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Bob Story was a quiet man. He was a man of faith and his life, not his words, spoke volumes about how deep and abiding that faith was. Born in Byrdstown, Tennessee 79 years ago, he joined the Army as did many men of his generation. After leaving the Army, he left the South and moved to Indiana to find work. It was there he met his wife, Ruby Withers, of Russell Springs, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Bob and Ruby married and celebrated 56 years together on January 18 of this year. They have two daughters, Stacy (Greg Coe) and Delilah “Tootie” (Michael Selby). Throughout the years, the Storys were involved in several business ventures and, according to Stacy, Ruby was by his side, day and night.

In the 1970’s, Bob served as a Councilman for the City of Russell Springs for three terms. In 1974, he was serving on the council along with J.S. Emerson, J.C. Williams, Garnet Burton, Hollis DeHart and Jim Burris with V.A. “Rocky” Bottom serving as mayor, and, as a result of their joint efforts, the city was named an All Kentucky City.

According to news stories from the time, reasons cited for this achievement included the construction of a city park, a water treatment plant and various improvements to business places in the city limits. Mayor Bottom stated in the same story he attributed a great deal of this accomplishment to the dedication of the council as well as their unanimous decision to return their salaries to a fund set aside to finance improvement projects in the city.

During this period of time, Story was involved with the Russell Springs Fire Department, established in 1941, who also donated back their monies to purchase much needed equipment for the department. He, along with the other members of city government were ‘paying it back’ long before it became trendy to do so.

In addition to his duties as a councilmember, Bob managed a small service station in Russell Springs for many years. Danny Foley, lifetime friend of Story, said Bob gave him his first job. According to Foley, as well as his daughters, Bob provided a father figure to several young men in the community as well as being a role model.

He also was involved in an oil company in partnership with H.M. Bottom and there were many times he gave fuel oil to families in need, in order to make sure the children were kept warm in the winter.

Always a progressive thinker, he was the owner of the Robo Car Wash, the first automated self-serve car wash in the country.

Known as Bob to most in the community, in his later years he became “Pappy” to two granddaughters, Danielle Wade White and Brianne Coe. According to all that knew him, these girls were very dear to him and based on their comments, he most certainly was everything a grandfather should be and more.

Bob was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease approximately 14 years ago and until the last two years, fought the fight with a stoic determination. He was a selfless individual who worked tirelessly with mayors and numerous council members to bring the city that he loved and called home into the 21st century.

As his family mourns the loss of a husband, father and grandfather, we as a community need to take a moment and reflect on the contributions he made to our city. His legacy will long be remembered in our little city.