Headline News

BOIL WATER ADVISORY
Date Issued: 8/15/12
Time Issued: 3:00 P.M.

A BOIL WATER ADVISORY is in effect for consumers of Columbia Adair

Utilities District for customers from 1911 Russell Springs Road to 7910 Russell

Springs Road including all side roads.

The advisory has been issued due to a main line break.

Following such an event, the potential exists for bacteriological contamination of the water supply therefore this Boil Water Advisory has been issued as a precautionary measure.

Until further notice, boil all water used for drinking and cooking, bringing the water to a rolling boil for three minutes before using.

This advisory will remain in effect until the situation has been corrected and test results have shown the water to be of an acceptable quality.
For more information concerning the Boil Water Advisory, contact Lennon Stone

at Columbia Adair Utilities District, 270-384-2181.

The candidate-filing deadline for the November election has passed and the ballot is complete.
Five offices were available for filing including school board, city council, circuit judge, commonwealth attorney and soil conservation district.

• School board seats up for election are District 2 currently held by Marsha Walker; District 4, currently held by Floyd Burton; and District 5, currently held by Mike Harris.
Three candidates filed for election in District 2, including incumbent Marsha Walker and two new candidates, Quinn Lasley and Charles Miller. Incumbents Mike Harris and Floyd Burton were the only candidates to file in their respective districts. School board members are elected every four years.

• All current city council members filed for re-election. Those members are Linda Waggener, Jim Hadley, Robert Flowers, Craig Dean, Anthony Grider and June Parson. Former council members Charles Grimsley and Joe Moore also filed for election. New candidates Craig Lasley and Ronald P. Rogers filed this week.

• Judy D. Vance and current Commonwealth’s Attorney Brian Wright filed for the office of circuit judge in the 29th District. Wright withdrew his name from the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s race for the 29th District last Wednesday.

• Since Wright withdrew from the race, it leaves the office without any candidates.

Two candidates can be nominated by political parties. In an interview with a representative from the Secretary of State’s office, it is unclear whether the nominations have to come from the state level political parties or the local level.
Certificates of nomination for Commonwealth’s Attorney, 29th Judicial Circuit, must be filed by no later than 3 p.m. on Aug. 22. The 29th Circuit is comprised of Adair and Casey counties.

• Judith Goodin and Brent Baker filed for the office of supervisor to the Conservation District.

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6.

Adair County’s agriculture community is taking a stand to support the future of the ag education program at the high school after speculation spread last week that one of three ag teaching positions is being eliminated.
The high school site-based decision-making council will evaluate the number of staff in the ag education program at the high school—deciding whether or not the department can be sustained with two instructors instead of the current three positions.

The situation arose after Terry Harvey, one of three ag teachers at the high school, announced his retirement last week. Harvey’s official retirement date is Aug. 31. However, substitute teachers are currently taking over Harvey’s classes.
After Harvey’s retirement, the third teaching position became vulnerable to elimination.

After questions were brought to the attention of Superintendent Alan Reed, he quickly announced that any decision regarding teaching positions at the high school is ultimately up to the SBDM council.
“The site-based decision-making council will decide whether three teachers are required in the vocational agriculture program, or whether two will work in order to add a foreign language instructor, fine arts teacher, or some other teaching position in the state assessed areas,” Reed stated in a press release Friday.

ACT SCORES
In an interview Monday, Reed said the council will take this opportunity to re-evaluate staffing in light of a recent drop in ACT scores at the high school.

“ACT scores did not grow,” Reed said. “They went down in critically assessed areas.”
ACHS students’ ACT scores dropped in every category with all-time lows since 2008. English scores dropped from 17.5 to 16; math scores dropped from 18.5 to 18.2; reading scores dropped from 18.9 to 17.4; science scores dropped from 18.7 to 18.

“Everything we are doing isn’t working or we wouldn’t have ACT scores that are going down,” Reed said.
Reed said the council is going to examine every possible opportunity….

To read more, get this week’s issue of the Adair County Community Voice. Papers are in news racks throughout the county this afternoon and in mailboxes Thursday.

By Allison Cross-Hollon
[email protected]