STAFF REPORT
Glasgow News 1
Glasgow City Council met for its second February meeting Monday evening, approving two resolutions that will allow City Administrator April Russell to apply for grant funding benefiting the Glasgow Police Department.
The first resolution authorizes an application for approximately $36,000 through the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. If awarded, the funds would support police overtime and fuel costs, as well as attendance at the Lifesavers Conference, an annual roadway safety conference.
The second resolution pertains to a $22,000 grant, also through the transportation cabinet, to support the department’s Child Safety Seat Program. According to City Attorney Rich Alexander, the funding would cover officer training and related travel expenses.
Both resolutions passed without discussion.
Council members also announced that City Clerk Danielle Cashion would be leaving her position, making Monday’s meeting her final one.
“We owe you a lot of gratitude for your hard work,” said Councilman Terry Bunnell. “We wish you the best moving forward with your life.”
Cashion has worked with the city since 2022 and was sworn in as clerk in the spring of 2023.
By far, the most spirited moment of the evening came from local pastor Barrett Wright’s presentation for Black History Month .
Wright, a Glasgow High School alumnus, opened by reflecting on his connection to the community and to members of the council. “It’s just good to be a part of the Glasgow community,” he said.
Drawing inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech, Wright framed his remarks around themes of justice and urgency, while also localizing the speech occasionally with specific locations.
“At the time his speech was very confrontational, and in the people’s face,” Wright said. “I hope this will hit home to what we have going on today.”
Throughout the address, Wright spoke about what he described as ongoing racial disparities since the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
“Over 150 years later, the black man is still crippled by the manacle of mass incarceration and the chains of discrimination,” he said. “Over 150 years later, the black man is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself exiled in his own land.”
Wright compared the rights outlined in the U.S. Constitution to a promissory note, saying that “America has defaulted on” its commitment.
“We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now,” he said. “This is no time for cooling off, and this is no time to take the tranquilizing drug known as gradualism, now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.”
“It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment,” Wright said. “2026 is not an end but a beginning.”
“In this process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds,” he said. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst justice by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
“We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plain of dignity and discipline.”
As his speech grew more impassioned, Wright emphasized nonviolence.
“We must meet physical force, with soul force,” he said, adding that the Black community should not be satisfied until equal opportunities are realized.
“We can never be satisfied as long as a black man’s right to vote is being undone by the Supreme Court, and the attorney general is an advocate of voter suppression, and our president is racist, spewing comments of hatred and division …,” Wright said. “And we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.”
Wright’s ten-minute address concluded with the words, “Free at last, free at last,” and was followed by a standing ovation from members of the council.
Gage Wilson with Glasgow News 1 contributed to this reporting.
