Cerebral Palsy

Howard promoted to vice president of Central Kentucky Savings Bank Ronald S. Howard has been promoted to vice president of Central Kentucky Federal Savings Bank, according to bank president William H. Johnson. Before joining First Lancaster Federal Savings Bank in 1999, Howard was a Realtor and auctioneer in business with his parents, Nancy and Holton Howard, and a certified real estate appraiser. Since First Lancaster Federal was acquired by Central Kentucky Federal Savings Bank in May 2001, he has been an assistant vice president and loan officer in Lancaster and will continue to be the loan officer in Lancaster as well as taking on other responsibilities for the bank.

Unreasonable intrusion To the Sun: After much legal research and meticulous wording, the Clark County Board of Education believes it has found a narrow path by which it can circumvent the Constitution and randomly search our children for drugs. Perhaps. But that doesn't mean it should. Our children should be able to go about their daily lives "secure in their persons," free from search without probable cause. That freedom is so fundamental that the Founding Fathers dedicated the Fourth Amendment to protecting it. It is bad government that works to subvert that freedom.

FRIDAY There will be a public meeting to discuss the needs of the low income in Jessamine County. The meeting will be held on Jan. 18 beginning at 10 a.m.. The meeting will be held at the old Jail, located at 200 Main Street. For more information, contact Carolyn Cobb, Community Developer for Blue Grass Community Action Agency, at 885-3512. UPCOMING EVENTS Every first Friday and Saturday of the month, the city of Nicholasville will accept brush at the water plant on Shun Pike.

What is a premature birth? Most pregnancies last around 40 weeks. Babies born between 37 and 42 completed weeks of pregnancy are called full-term. Babies born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy are called premature. In the United States, about 12.8 percent of babies (more than half a million a year) are born prematurely. Premature birth is a serious health problem. Premature babies are at increased risk for newborn health complications, such as breathing problems, and even death.

Sharon Price put her son, Michael, into a group home in eastern Kentucky because she thought he would be protected and cared for there. She never expected to receive a phone call at 1 a.m. Oct. 14, telling her he had died of an apparent heart attack. He was 25. As if that wasn't enough of a shock, she said, three weeks later she received another phone call, this one informing her that a worker at the Grayson group home had been charged with killing him. Matthew Bortles, 21, of Olive Hill, is charged with second-degree manslaughter and tampering with physical evidence, according to the Carter County District Court office.

Editor's note: This is the third installment in a series of stories about Kentucky School for the Deaf, its past and its future, the buildings and grounds as they exist and as they might change, those who worry about the changes and those who might benefit from them. Down one of the corridors at Kentucky School for the Deaf's Walker Hall marched a slow but sweet procession. Three staff members at the elementary school were walking backward into the lobby, gesturing toward someone not yet visible who was down the hall.

Happy 6th birthday to Simon Andrew Cecil! On Monday, I learned that this week was the week to honor people with special needs. I never realized there was a special week set aside to do this until I heard the message on TV Monday. I immediately thought how ironic that my little grandson, Simon, who was born with a rare condition of Kneist dwarfism, was born during a special needs week. He was born on April 18, 2007. Yes, little Simon will be 6 years old this year. His 6th birthday will arrive on Thursday - the day this article will be in print.

Saying Blue Bird Market is a new furniture and home decor store is like saying Wilderness Trace Child Development Center is a daycare center. Both statements are true, but each is so much more. WTCDC, serving children from childbirth through 5 years old, started in the mid-1980s to help children with disabilities. Over time, the center has seen the value of co-mingling their special-needs children with what they call “typical” children in shared classrooms. Coping with or overcoming disabilities becomes just a bit easier with same-sized models.  “Typical” kids also learn lessons in finding the similarities as opposed to focusing on the differences in others when that “different” kid with cerebral palsy or autism is now a classmate and friend.