Ice Storm

Emergency Management personnel activated the emergency operations center at the Danville 911 center at midnight, but despite a dose of freezing rain, the area didn’t experience the large-scale disaster some had feared. “We dodged a bullet,” said Boyle Emergency Management Agency Director Lennie Shepperson, who spent the night at the center. This morning when city and county officials met at the center, where response to the January 2009 ice storm was staged, the major topic of conversation was what could have happened.

It may not be a repeat of the massive winter disaster that happened in January 2009, but with up to a quarter-inch of ice possible overnight emergency management officials and utilities are preparing for any contingency. The National Weather Service in Louisville has issued a winter storm warning for south central Kentucky, including Boyle, Garrard, Lincoln and Mercer Counties. Brian Schoettmer, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Louisville, said a winter warning typically describes an area getting above 4 inches of any kind of freezing precipitation in a 12-hour period.

One of the owners of Old Bridge says Boyle County’s only public golf club may be sold. Bruce Brown, head golf pro and general manager at Old Bridge, said membership is at its lowest in recent memory for the semi-private club, which has dues-paying members as well as public play. “The golf business is about as down as it could be,” Brown said. “We are in the process now of possibly selling the course or reorganizing in some way. We are also considering shutting down for the winter, which would be the first time we have closed for the season.

Dear Editor, Voters in District 1 have the opportunity to re-elect one of the best magistrates that Boyle County has ever had. That magistrate is Mickey Harmon. Mickey cares for not only his constituents but the welfare of all Boyle countians. Mickey has been a public servant for many years, he has served as Boyle County deputy sheriff, sheriff, jailer and PVA. Mickey has worked hard for the farmers on dead animal removal, he has been the real link that brings broadband service to Forkland and other rural areas.

Dear Editor, I wish to express my support for Harold McKinney as Boyle County judge-executive. I’ve known Harold for many years, and know he has the education and training to continue being a great judge for Boyle County. He also has the temperament to get us through hard economic times, as well as any natural disasters like the ice storm of 2009 and the flooding last May. Please join me in voting for Harold on Tuesday, Nov. 2. Mary Hurley Danville

BRYANTSVILLE — Linda Alexander was given the title of Kentucky Colonel on Monday for her work in cleaning up Herrington Lake as President of the Herrington Lake Conservation League. Judge-Executive John Wilson and the Garrard County Fiscal Court awarded the honor to Alexander at a special called meeting held on the dock of the Herrington Lake Marina. Alexander has been president of the conservation league for six of its nine years in existence. During the league’s initial cleanup effort in 2002, volunteers filled 32 commercial Dumpsters with Styrofoam pulled from the lake in a single day, Alexander said.

The nature of the news in 2009 changed dramatically. Headlines in the beginning of the year were dominated by winter storms, culminating with an ice storm that rocked most of the Bluegrass, including Jessamine County. The spring was both a time of mourning and a time of celebration in the Jessamine County School District, which lost three of its members and cheered on one of its basketball teams as it raced into Rupp Arena. Over the summer and into the fall, the reality of the national recession started to sink in, and the unemployment rate climbed as businesses struggled to stay afloat.

McDowell offers new weight loss program McDowell Wellness Center will begin offering a new weight loss program, "Lose Weight Feel Great, which begins in January. "Lose Weight Feel Great" is an eight-week weight loss program supervised by Janet Fluty, a registered dietitian on staff at McDowell Wellness Center, in coordination with fitness trainers there. The program includes group instruction and support as well as individual consultation with the dietitian and a trainer.