Jobs

A Danville company that manufactures boilers, water heaters and boiler room accessories is moving forward with an expansion and will add jobs. According to a press release from the Governor's office, Green Boiler Technologies will invest $365,000 in their West Walnut Street facility and create 27 jobs. Green Boiler Technologies¿was founded in 2007, and the next year¿acquired Sellers Engineering, a business that had been in operation since 1931. The company plans to make improvements and purchase new equipment for its 30,000-square-foot facility in Danville.

The Winchester-Clark County Industrial Authority is aggressively seeking business and employment opportunities for the community, said Todd Denham, industrial authority director. Denham spoke at a joint meeting of the Clark County Fiscal Court and the Winchester Board of Commissioners Tuesday night and told officials from both bodies that the authority has seen an increase in activity during the past three months. “Our philosophy in Winchester is that we're going to be aggressive with jobs, whether it's five, 10 or 100,”¿Denham said.

Dear Editor, With the recent announcement of Intelligrated’s intention to stay here in Danville, we need to give thanks to the people who worked tirelessly on a local level to keep it open. Our community owes a special thanks to Judge-Executive Harold McKinney and Jody Lassiter of Danville-Boyle County Economic Development Partnership. In spite of insurmountable odds, these men worked together and made it their personal mission to do everything possible to save the jobs at both Red Wing and Intelligrated.

Dear Editor, Everybody needs jobs so badly. My married friends who have children want more businesses in the community so there will be more jobs. All I want are lower taxes, lower prices and lower insurance for residents who need to go to the doctor and dentist, to pay bills and much more. The young and old also love to go to college to learn and keep their minds busy. I think Danville needs to start anew, to have some "spirit parties" to get moving. Everyone knocks on my door and asks me if I will run for mayor again.

Dear Editor, Being a single parent is no excuse to sit at home. I am a single parent of two kids also since their father passed away, but I also have two jobs and no one pays any of my bills. I struggle daily with daycare, medical and household bills, and it's the same people sitting at home using my tax money who want to complain about Mexicans or other races getting out and working. They are only getting the jobs no one else will do. They work for less money and personally I think that if they are willing to do the work that Americans are too lazy to do, then make them equals, make it easier for them to be legal.

LIBERTY - Two announcements this week will mean more jobs for Casey County, which has one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. Image Entry, a data processing service, plans to be up and running in a couple of weeks and will hire 50 people, said Arlan Sanders, executive director for the Liberty/Casey County Economic Development Authority. Another job boost to the county comes with the approval of a $500,000 Community Development Block Grant to extend sewer service from Liberty to Tarter Gate Co. in Dunnville.

Dear Editor, I'm here to tell you, folks, it's jobs Boyle County needs. And I'm not talking about the $6 to $8 per hour temp jobs that are available in abundance through local temp agencies. Public places for outdoor activities and "greenspace" are wonderful things for you to strive for, but how about all of these people you meet at Wal-Mart or the local drive-through who are in cars on their last legs, with purses or wallets banging on "E" just as surely as their old vehicle's gas tank?

Dear Editor, It's about time someone said something. Danville is my hometown, but I moved to Louisville in hopes of finding a job. Why move? Well, too many illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from those who do get out and work. I have been a homemaker for most of the time. I found out I was pregnant 11 years ago. Now I'm a single mom with two kids to think about, after their daddy passed away. They are now old enough for me to go to work part-time while they are at school.

Dear Editor, In a letter to the editor on Jan. 16 in The Advocate-Messenger, the writer complains about customers not tipping enough. She went on to say that since the first of the year it's gotten worse, and servers can't make it on the tips they are getting. I want to say to these people that if they aren't happy with their jobs, maybe they should look elsewhere. With the price of gas and food on the rise, we have all been hit hard, and going out for a meal is a luxury instead of a convenience for most of us. On the rare occasion we do go out for dinner, it usually costs anywhere from $40 to $50. By the time you pay this much, you shouldn't have to compensate for the employer's lack of pay. Also if she isn't happy with the tipping system, maybe she should try to get her employer to pay more, or maybe give better service.

The Clark County school district's search for a new superintendent began Wednesday night when the Board of Education and the Screening Committee held their first combined meeting. The Screening Committee will look through 39 applications during the next few weeks and offer its recommendation to the board May 14. The committee members, as selected by their peers, are Shawna Wells, parent representative; Tina Banks, classified representative; Shanda Crosby, certified representative; Jeff Sebulsky, certified representative; Lisa Smith, principal representative; Robbie Graham, minority parent representative; and Ashley Ritchie, the representative of the school board.

The Clark County school system could play a larger role in the growth of local industry. At its regular meeting Tuesday night, the Clark County Board of Education heard an update from JoEllen Reed and Bruce Manley of the Bluegrass Community and Technical College on the Workforce and Education Initiative. The plan would use money from the annual Run for the Glitz event to purchase industrial maintenance equipment in the new area technology center at the site of the new high school.

HARRODSBURG - In the last four years, three major manufacturing companies have invested an additional $486 million and brought 360 new jobs into Mercer County. These investments have added to the quality of life in Harrodsburg and surrounding areas, and even more opportunities may surface in the near future, said Drew Dennis, executive director of the Harrodsburg-Mercer County Industrial Development Authority. “Going back to 2009, we've enjoyed significant growth in our manufacturing plants,” despite the global economic downturn, Dennis said.

I am blessed that my wife understands the nature of the business that I am in. That's a good thing, because it is not uncommon for my cell phone to buzz indicating a text message or for it to ring with a business-related phone call after hours. This also happens when I'm on vacation, or taking paid time off, as the company likes to call it. I took the week of spring break off to tend to some projects at home, and over the course of five days, I responded to my fair share of work-related text messages, and fielded a phone call or two. I am not complaining, because I encourage those who have my number to call or text me when news happens.

I am a bus driver. I am the first face of the school system your child sees each day and I am the last face of the school system they see each evening. Often, I am the first smile your child has seen that day. I am a nurse. I am the one who puts a bandaid on the ouchie, feels for a fever,  passes tissues to the snotty nose and soothes the child who doesn't feel well. I am a referee. I break up the fights, calm the arguments, and separate the combatants. I am a maid. I clean up the trash, discarded papers, bad report cards and vomit that gets left on the bus. I scrape up the food and gum that is not allowed to be eaten on the bus but somehow is. I am a mechanic.

In February, 2013 Clark Middle School's counselors, administrators, Youth Service Director, Gear Up Advisors, and the district Community Education Director began to plan a job-shadowing event for our 8th grade students which would include many of our community business partners. After some planning meetings, we had put together a Job Shadowing Proposal for our 8th grade students to write. Our counselors and administrators presented it to our 8th grade students and explained all the details, expectations, and requirements of the proposal.

Danville Mayor Bernie Hunstad never fails to disappoint. Recently he picked an unnecessary fight at the Economic Development Partnership (EDP) board meeting, embarrassing Danville in the process. Mayor Hunstad demonstrated his misunderstanding of basic components of our EDP's structure and attempted to micromanage decisions of Boyle County Fiscal Court. He is trying to distract from his poor attendance at EDP meetings and his failed leadership. If you attend an EDP board meeting you will find our community's most respected and talented leaders working to create jobs and improve quality of life in Boyle County.

LEXINGTON - Patrick Towles said everyone got a fresh start when the new Kentucky coaching staff came aboard, and he's hoping that will give him his chance to show he should be the Wildcats' starting quarterback this season. “It's what sport is all about. You want to come out here and prove to whoever you need to prove it to that you're better and you deserve to play. And we're all out here trying to show coach (Neal) Brown and coach (Mark) Stoops we deserve to play,” Towles said Wednesday after Kentucky's practice.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Blue Ribbon College Basketball editor Chris Dortch covers Southeastern Conference basketball - and writes for nba.com - was in Nashville for the SEC Tournament.  He's know Kentucky coach John Calipari since his coaching days at Memphis, and was one of the first to predict that Calipari and UK would be a perfect fit before Kentucky hired him. Dortch shared his thoughts on several UK related items Friday before the Cats played...

JUNCTION CITY - Junction City officials will ask the state Attorney General's Office for an opinion on whether council member Dewayne Taylor is potentially violating an incompatible offices statute. Incompatible offices are those where a person cannot serve in more than one simultaneously, in order to maintain the “appearance of propriety,” City Attorney Bill Noelker said in an previous interview. Concerns arose in January that Taylor was in violation of the Kentucky statute, as he had been serving for the past two years as a special deputy for the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department, an unpaid volunteer position, and has been a member of the Junction City Council for eight years.