BREAKFAST WITH SANTA B1
B OONE COMMUNITY RECORDER 50¢
Children got some one-on-one time with St. Nick himself at Breakfast with Santa events.
Ky. ranks high on homelessness Nearly 40,000 children in Kentucky didn’t have a place to call home in 2010. The Bluegrass State has the highest amount of child homelessness in the nation behind Oregon. Story, A3
Your Community Recorder newspaper serving Burlington and Hebron THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2011
BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Commissioners reflect on first year By Stephanie Salmons ssalmons@nky.com
All in all, the past year has gone pretty smoothly for Boone County Fiscal Court Commissioner Matt Dedden, who, along with Commissioner Charlie Walton, is wrapping up his first year on the Fiscal Court. It’s been a learning experience though, Dedden said. “It’s been enjoyable. It’s been smooth. It’s also been challenging,” he said. But he likes that part of the job. “I wouldn’t be happy if everything went completely smooth,”
Dedden said. While some things he was asked were beyond his control, Dedden said he’s been able to “find other avenues to get things done,” Dedden by helping people find individuals who could help. “A lot of people think the county commissioner job, you get an agenda packet on Friday, go to the Fiscal Court meetings and you decide what’s going to happen in the county and it’s so much more than that,” Dedden said. Dedden said he doesn’t look at
particular accomplishments. “I think doing the job you’re paid to do is accomplishment enough,” he said. He’s happy as long as he can go Walton home at night knowing he did the best he could do, he said. “I’ve enjoyed it,” Dedden said of the last year. “I’m looking forward to the next three years.” Walton said his first year on the Fiscal Court has been fine. A lot of things they do on the Fiscal Court are similar to his past expe-
riences in government and education, he said. He feels good about what the Fiscal Court has been able to accomplish, he said. The county has been able to “look at some really good collaborative programs” that benefit a number of agencies, Walton said. If he could have done more this year, it would have been to increase opportunities or bring more jobs to county citizens, he said. “I enjoy working with the community, working with people who have legitimate concerns,” Walton said. “It’s been a great year for me.”
ON SANTA’S KNEE
Matthew Dasch, 3, of Burlington, enjoys telling Santa what he wants for Christmas during the annual Breakfast with Santa held at the Boone Links Clubhouse.
Pets get homes for the holidays A record 50 animals were adopted during the Home for the Holidays Open House Dec. 16 at the Boone County Animal Shelter. Photos, A9
PATRICIA A. SCHEYER FOR THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
Photos: The year in sports The year 2011 was a great one for sports in Boone County. Here are some of the best images from 2011. Sports, A10
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Vol. 8 No. 52 © 2011 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Reactions mixed on national cellphone ban By Stephanie Salmons ssalmons@nky.com
Unless it’s an emergency, the National Transportation Safety Board doesn’t want drivers using portable electronic devices while behind the wheel. On Dec. 13, the board called for a nationwide ban on using cell phones and other portable electronic devices while operating a vehicle. “I have no problem with them banning everything but the hands free because they are a distraction,” said Boone County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Tom Scheben. From his own experience, however, Scheben said he doesn’t find the hands free devices, where the phone is not in sight, hands are on the wheel and there
are no obstructions to peripheral views, to be a distraction. He does, however, think cell phone usage is “ more prevalent in accidents than even we realize.” A ban, however, would be hard to enforce, he said. But it’s not just cell phone usage behind the wheel that can cause problems. Scheben said he thinks distractions in the car, whether it’s talking on the phone, texting, loud music or friends, anything “under that umbrella called distractions has to be the major cause for accidents.” Zak Schultz of Hebron, however, doesn’t want legislation regulating what he can do in his car. “We are being legislated to death,” he said. “It is very disheartening and feels very un-
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American.” Schultz said he travels at least 60,000 miles a year for his job and he uses his phone frequently while driving. In the past three years, he has had zero accidents. Not being able to use a mobile device while driving “makes it impractical to do what I or my colleagues would do,” he said. Legislation should come in if there’s an accident, he said. “If there’s an accident and I’m texting, hold me responsible,” Schultz said. The matter, should be “more of an awareness and education thing,” he said. Such a ban, which would face enforcement issues, would have law enforcement officials “taking their eye off the ball on more serious crime,” Schultz said. Kay Patton of the William-
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stown-based B-Safe Driving School, which serves all of Northern Kentucky, said officials will have to implement something by law “in order to control the accident situation.” She covers distractions during training. Patton said the instruction she gives is that if it’s a distraction, it’s causing the driver to take that focus off the road and putting it somewhere else. While she’s guilty of phoning while driving herself, Patton, who retired from the state police, said concentration is focused less on the driving and more on the conversation. “A distraction is a distraction whether it’s a cell phone or someone putting on their make-up,” Patton said. “Anything that’s a distraction and takes the focus off the road could be harmful.”
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