Jessamine County

Nicholasville's Violet McQuerry will celebrate her 100th birthday Sunday, June 2, at Lone Oak Country Club with family and friends. McQuerry has lived in Jessamine County her entire life, moving from out in the country in the Sugar Creek area before moving to town in 1960. “I think it's a good place to live -  of course, I haven't lived any other place, so I wouldn't know much about it,” she said. McQuerry is not the typical centenarian. She's on Facebook and uses email, and she just recently began texting on an iPhone - all to keep up with her family of two children, 12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

After six years of remaining stagnant, state funding for child support services in Jessamine County was increased for next year, which will allow for the hiring of a new full-time case worker. For at least a few years now, child support case workers in Jessamine County have carried hundreds more open cases at a time than they should.  The average child support case worker in Kentucky carries 450 to 500 open cases at a time, while the three full-time workers in Jessamine County have carried up to 900, county attorney Brian Goettl said.

Carla Sparks is retiring from the Jessamine County Property Valuation Administration office after 28 years of service. “It's my time, and I'm going to take it,” she said. Sparks grew up in Nicholasville, although she never dreamed that she would stay and work in the same profession her entire life. Sparks said her adventures in the field made her appreciate Jessamine County and its people. “I've learned a lot about this county, because I've been on every little back road, coming and going,” she said.

Jerry Abshear died Monday, May 20, at Baptist Health Care. He was the loving husband of Sandra Abshear for 26 years and devoted father to Stephen Abshear, Ashley Mae Abshear, Jerrye Abshear Huber and Karen Abshear Cronin. Additional survivors include three grandchildren, Ali Abshear, Alec Huber and Eric Selby; brothers Paul Abshear and Mickey Abshear and wife Debbie; sisters Carolyn Boggs and husband Bruce, Linda Sewell and husband Dwight, and Beverly Janes and husband Don; mother-in-law Anna Chavez; and father-in-law Porfirio Granados.

Three Jessamine County educators received Excellence in Teaching awards from Campbellsville University on Saturday at the school's campus. The awardees were the three recipients of Jessamine County Schools' Excellence in Education awards, Shawn Carlstedt of Rosenwald-Dunbar Elementary School, Anna Campbell of West Jessamine Middle School, and Tasha Bowlin of East Jessamine High School. Carlstedt is a first- and second-grade teacher at Rosenwald-Dunbar Elementary School. She has also taught at Warner Elementary School.

Gov. Steve Beshear appointed Jessamine County director of Public Services Mike Cassidy to serve a four-year term on the Kentucky Animal Control Advisory Board last week. The duties of the Kentucky Animal Control Advisory Board include making recommendations to the commissioner of the Department of Agriculture relating to animal control issues, evaluating applications for disbursement of animal care and control funds, establishing shelter standards, and creating training programs.

The Jessamine County Board of Education unanimously approved its tentative 2013-2014 budget Monday night. The budget included everything board members asked for at the earlier May work session: intervention support, technology upgrades, new security measures and no raises for teachers. The technology upgrades and intervention support were expected to take additional dollars but will be covered through existing expenses and Title I funds, respectively, superintendent Lu Young said Monday.

Though I've lived in Nicholasville since 2004, I've never experienced one of her grandest events because a scheduling conflict has always found a way to keep me from Nicholasville and the Kentucky Wine & Vine Fest. That is, until this year. Last Saturday, I cycled from home to the large white tents at York and Oak streets where a significant crowd had already gathered. Judging from the license plates, many locals were joined by citizens of several Kentucky counties and even those from a handful of states.

The Jessamine County Board of Education chose a familiar face Monday night as the architect for an upcoming renovation to Warner Elementary School. The board heard presentations from two firms, Tate Hill Jacobs and Murphy + Graves, at a work session April 8. Chief operating officer Jimmy Adams told the board at its May work session that the administration would be recommending Tate Hill Jacobs because of architect Margie Jacobs' familiarity with the school and her history with the district.

An alert deputy stumbled upon two men with several items designed to manufacture methamphetamine early Wednesday morning off Short Shun Road, Jessamine Sheriff's Chief Deputy Allen Peel said. Shawn P. Brown, 29, of Lancaster, and Bo S. Anderson, 34, of Lexington, were arrested at the scene. Both men were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, which is a Class B felony, punishable by 10-20 years in prison if convicted. Brown was also charged with first-degree possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine)