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Volume 134 Number 5 © 2009 The Community Recorder ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Hebron mom has part in ‘Secretariat’
A series of lucky circumstances led to Jessica Cook being cast as a horse owner in the new Disney production “Secretariat.” Cook was a paid extra and spent two days filming at Churchill Downs. The film tells the life story of Penny Chenery, owner of Secretariat, the 1973 Triple Crown winner. – LIFE, PAGE B1
School makes reading a ball
Florence Elementary is hoping its readers aim for the fences. The school kicked off its annual Accelerated Reader program. Each year the school gives the program a theme and is using baseball this year. “We try to get the kids motivated,” said Principal Charlie Walton. – SCHOOLS, PAGE A9
Letters to Santa
Hey kids! It’s time to start writing your letters to Santa and send them in to the Community Recorder, where they will be published on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Please send your brief letter to Santa to Melissa Hayden, Santa’s Helper, 394 Wards Corner Road, Loveland, OH 45140 or via e-mail to mhayden@communitypress.com. Be sure to include your child’s name, age, the community you live in and the Community Recorder paper you read, as well as a telephone number we can use to contact you if we require additional information. You may also include a nonreturnable photogaph (or JPG image) that may appear with your letter. Letters and photos are due no later than Friday, Nov. 13. For the Postmaster
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New women’s center officially opens By Paul McKibben pmckibben@nky.com
The Women’s Crisis Center celebrated the official opening of its new regional services center in Hebron with an Oct. 15 ceremony and open house. The center moved into its new headquarters in May but showed off the facility with the open house. “We’re thrilled with it. It serves our needs,” said Martha Malloy, interim executive director. The center is named The Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile, Jr./ U.S. Bank Foundation Regional Services Center. The foundation donated $1 million to help begin WCC’s Leadership for Change Campaign. Of the $2.5 million campaign, so far $2 million has been raised. The Kresge Foundation will give it a $260,000 grant if it raises the remaining $500,000. WCC serves 13 Kentucky counties, including Boone, Campbell and Kenton. It has two 24-hour crisis hotlines and six walk-in crisis centers. The new facility is 8,200 square feet. It’s home to administrative staff, counseling staff, volunteers, prevention education staff and advocates. WCC owns the land and the building. WCC has room to grow inside the building and with the land at the new location. Administrative employees were located at WCC’s Covington office
PAUL MCKIBBEN/STAFF
Martha Malloy, interim executive director of the Women’s Crisis Center, speaks during a grand opening ceremony Oct. 15 at the center’s new Hebron facility. that continues to be open. Renovations were done to the Covington office. WCC closed its Florence office that it was leasing. State Rep. Addia Wuchner, RFlorence, said the center is a gift to the county and community. Wuchner, a nurse, told a story at
the center’s groundbreaking ceremony last year about a woman who was bloodied and came into the emergency room with two young children. The woman later died. The tragedy happened because her husband was awakened by the smell of burnt cook-
ies. “So the opening of a center like this, for me especially as a health care professional, causes you also to reflect back on patients and lives and exactly what it means to have a facility like this right here ... in our community,” she said.
Free lunches on the rise in Boone County By Justin B. Duke jbduke@nky.com
The repercussions of the economy have made it to the cafeteria. Both Boone County school districts have seen a jump in applications for free and reduced lunches this school year. For Boone County Schools, about 2 percent more students are receiving aid than last year, but for a district with more than 19,000 students that means more than 5,600 students are receiving aid. “We’re at the highest we’ve ever seen,” said Food Services Manager Barbara Kincaid. In Walton-Verona Schools there was a 4.3 percent increase in general enrollment, but a 14.9
percent increase in free and reduced lunch recipients. “It does suggest that the economy is hitting our families hard, “ said Walton-Verona Finance Officer Kevin Ryan. Because the free and reduced lunch program is reimbursed with federal money, the districts aren’t burdened by the increases, Kincaid said. “At a time when people need it most, we’re glad it’s there,” she said. A common theme from applications this year is the number of students requesting free or reduced lunch for the first time, Kincaid said. “We’ve got parents calling who say, ‘We’ve never, never asked for free or reduced lunch,’” she said.
For Boone County Schools, about 2 percent more students are receiving aid than last year, but for a district with more than 19,000 students that means more than 5,600 students are receiving aid. Often parents say they need the service because they’ve lost a job and will only use it until they get a new job, Kincaid said. Since an application is good for an entire school year, Kincaid encourages those parents to continue to use it all year and use lunch money to try to
catch up on bills. Kincaid has been impressed with how selfless parents have been, often times not wanting to apply because they feel someone else may need the service more. “Even in difficult times, people have been so gracious – not wanting anyone else to miss out,” she said. A common myth is that the service only has so many spots, but it is open to anyone who needs it, Kincaid said. “We can take everybody,” she said. Even at all-time highs, Boone County’s free and reduced lunch population is low compared to other districts in the state that have free and reduced lunch rates near 90 percent, Kincaid said.
Fiscal court takes no action on golf carts
Issue first raised by former commissioner By Paul McKibben pmckibben@nky.com
The Boone County Fiscal Court is taking a wait-and-see approach about allowing golf carts to be driven in two subdivisions near Union. The Fiscal Court on Oct. 13 didn’t schedule any official readings or public hearing for a draft ordinance that would permit golf carts on the streets of the Triple Crown and the Heritage Trails subdivisions. The
communities are connected. “I would like to encourage the residents ... however they feel, to contact us and let us know how they truly feel,” Commissioner Terri Moore said. The issue first came about when former Boone County commissioner Dr. Tim Hamilton addressed the Fiscal Court at its Aug. 25 meeting about allowing golf carts in Triple Crown. Judge-Executive Gary Moore said once the county heard from some other residents that it might be a good idea, the county continued to look at it. But he said the county has now been contacted by probably a larger group of residents who believe
the current system works well. The judge-executive said if the county gets direction from the Fiscal Court at some point that they want to move forward with possibly passing something, the county would schedule a public hearing. “If there’s not support here, why go through that process,” he said. The draft ordinance specifies several criteria for the vehicles and their operation, including: • The golf carts would need to meet federal safety standards for low-speed vehicles. • The golf cart has to have windshield wipers and a speedometer. • Owners would have to pur-
chase and display a permit or sticker, costing $50 annually. • Golf cart drivers would be required to have a valid operator’s license in their possession. • The golf carts could only be operated between sunrise and sunset. • The golf cart would be designed so it couldn’t go faster than 35 mph and have at least four wheels. Kentucky law requires that local governments specifically name each street where the golf carts would be allowed. The proposed ordinance lists 78 streets in either the Triple Crown or Heritage Trails subdivisions.