The Jessamine Journal's thumbs up, thumbs down for June 28

Up

The question of whether student-athletes should be drug-tested while their sport is in season has a simple answer: yes. This is a move several members of the Jessamine County Board of Education were in favor of earlier this month.
It’s to everyone’s benefit to ensure that all athletes are on a level playing field and the students’ health and safety is ensured not just while in high school but once their playing careers are ended.
The flaws in the old system allowed students to work around the system or get completely passed over.
Sure, it will cost more to test athletes throughout the year, but the benefits far exceed those costs.

Down

 The board of education should not stop at expanding drug testing just for athletes. Student drivers are currently tested randomly throughout the year and pose daily danger if they are driving to school under the influence of drugs. Driving while under the influence of drugs can have the same deadly outcomes as driving under the influence of alcohol, and the school system is in a unique position to curb the risk of tragic accidents involving student drivers.

Up

After years of discussions, the new Jessamine County Animal Shelter will be unveiled this weekend with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday followed by an open-house event Saturday. The new shelter is located behind the former shelter building at on the City-County Park. The new 9,000-square-foot shelter, which cost more than $770,000, will better serve the animals that it houses and the public it serves.

Down

The upward trend in vehicle break-ins and burglaries is an alarming number indeed. But according to the Nicholasville Police Department, thieves are being helped out by residents who do not take a few simple steps to deter the crimes from happening.
The steps are simple: Make sure doors to homes, businesses and outbuildings are locked and secure, and lock your vehicle doors. To paraphrase Sgt. Scott Harvey, get to know your neighbors and look out for one another. On the subject of vehicle break-ins, do not leave valuables out in the open for would-be thieves to see, and lock the doors.

Up

The Ichthus festival has made an excellent decision in offering up shares of the farm in Wilmore to those with a vested interest in the ministry. The effort to sell the farm over the last year has not succeeded but opened the door for the tens of thousands who have attended and still attend the festival to own a part of the farm and help keep the event alive. After a questionable future last year, the festival continued this year thanks to an outpouring of support and encouragement from those who have come to love it; it’s only logical that those same people would be willing to help raise the money to preserve it.