Ladder

The real income difference between "low wage" folks and "high wage" folks gets bigger each year. The trend has persisted for several decades. The trend receives considerable press coverage because it appears to be bad news, and the press loves bad economic news. In part, it is bad news and in part, it is good news. Focusing only on the bad news keeps us from understanding the problem. The good news portion of this trend is that it means the real economic reward going to people who become "knowledge workers" is rising rapidly because there is a worldwide demand for those folks.

LEXINGTON ? Rich Brooks isn't talking to his team about bowl positioning or ending a losing streak to Tennessee here Saturday. Instead, the Kentucky coach says beating Tennessee will be significant for one other reason ? it will let UK finish second in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division for the first time with a 4-4 league mark. "The top thing is trying to finish as high as we can in the SEC East. If we do that, then a lot of things are taken care of," said Brooks Sunday.

A basketball court is adjacent to the Rev. Marvin King’s office at First Baptist Church. When time allows, King puts up a shot and reflects on his basketball career at Drake University. However, his time is mostly filled serving as pastor of his church, located on North Highland Street. King, 37, was called to serve as pastor at First Baptist nearly a year ago and his venture into the ministry featured a “very interesting career path.” King is originally from Houston, Texas, and went to college in Iowa before settling down in Lexington.

The holidays should be a time to spend with loved ones and to enjoy family. However, every year an estimated 6,000 individuals are taken out of the cheerful festivities to the emergency department by falls related to holiday decorating. Almost half of holiday decorating falls are the result of ladders, and men are more likely than women to be injured. Injuries from falling off the roof while mounting decorations are also common, as is falling from furniture stood on to place indoor decorations.

A construction worker was injured this morning after slipping on an icy ladder rung and falling into the basement portion of the renovated library in Danville. Buddy Douglas fell anywhere from 12 feet to four feet, according to co-workers. Danville Fire Chief Mike Thomas said Douglas was taken to Ephraim McDowell Regional Medical Center after the fall. Douglas was awake and alert, and Thomas believes he may have suffered neck and back injuries. Douglas had to be pulled up over the wall of the basement on a stretcher by a crew of firefighters and Boyle County EMS workers.

Worker dies from fall The man who fell from a ladder on a construction site died from an apparent heart attack, according to the Fayette County coroner's office. The Nicholasville police were sent to the site of the new Goodwill Store located at 1038 N. Main St. around 2:40 p.m. last Wednesday. Police thought the man, who was working at the site, died after falling off the ladder and striking his head. The corner's office did not release the man's name. Construction workers at the site found the man, but there were no witnesses to the accident.

Charged - Melissa Blake Ballard, 25, of Mount Sterling, was charged today with reckless driving, driving under the influence and being a fugitive from another state. Reports - At 8:18 a.m. Wednesday, officers were called to 224 College St. concerning the theft of a ladder and a satellite radio. - At 10:35 p.m. Wednesday, officers were called to 31 E. Washington St. concerning an assault.

LANCASTER - Emma Howard, 11, was distraught about her precious cat who was missing. Little did she and her family know, the feline may have better survival skills than most mountain climbers. Precious, who's 2, went missing about Jan. 29, according to Kathy Howard, Emma's mom. Howard said Precious always came running as soon as she and the kids piled out of the car from work and school. "Sometimes she'll go across the road and visit the neighbor's cats, but she never stayed away for this long," Howard said.

It's already time to start planning for the next archery deer season. As it stands right now, I haven't done a thing in preparation except think to myself, "I've got to decide what I will need to get ready for the next deer season. " The only thing I have done is peruse the aisles at my local archery store to see what's new on the scene. As usual, there so many new articles of must-have gear available that any person with a bow hanging on the rack will give serious thought toward purchasing a few of these items.

Have you ever had one of those situations that you thought would be a piece of cake, but wasn't? I had one of those situations last week when my friend Steve Mertz and I were trying to erect two ladder type deer stands in our hunting area. The ladder stand that we were going to put up for Steve was a stand built by my neighbor Keith Tarter. I think I've mentioned this stand in an earlier article. The stand was minus a top platform, although the framing was there, and Steve welded a heavy mesh screen onto the top. It was now extremely top-heavy.

The holidays should be a time to spend with loved ones and to enjoy family. However, every year an estimated 6,000 individuals are taken out of the cheerful festivities to the emergency department by falls related to holiday decorating. Almost half of holiday decorating falls are the result of ladders, and men are more likely than women to be injured. Injuries from falling off the roof while mounting decorations are also common, as is falling from furniture stood on to place indoor decorations.

Charged - Melissa Blake Ballard, 25, of Mount Sterling, was charged today with reckless driving, driving under the influence and being a fugitive from another state. Reports - At 8:18 a.m. Wednesday, officers were called to 224 College St. concerning the theft of a ladder and a satellite radio. - At 10:35 p.m. Wednesday, officers were called to 31 E. Washington St. concerning an assault.

A basketball court is adjacent to the Rev. Marvin King’s office at First Baptist Church. When time allows, King puts up a shot and reflects on his basketball career at Drake University. However, his time is mostly filled serving as pastor of his church, located on North Highland Street. King, 37, was called to serve as pastor at First Baptist nearly a year ago and his venture into the ministry featured a “very interesting career path.” King is originally from Houston, Texas, and went to college in Iowa before settling down in Lexington.

LEXINGTON ? Rich Brooks isn't talking to his team about bowl positioning or ending a losing streak to Tennessee here Saturday. Instead, the Kentucky coach says beating Tennessee will be significant for one other reason ? it will let UK finish second in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division for the first time with a 4-4 league mark. "The top thing is trying to finish as high as we can in the SEC East. If we do that, then a lot of things are taken care of," said Brooks Sunday.

Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks wants his team to keep climbing the proverbial ladder. The Wildcats earned their sixth win and became bowl eligible for the fourth straight season with a 24-13 victory at Vanderbilt last weekend. Brooks said the win over the Commodores was a major step forward for his program, knowing it will be one of several Southeastern Conference programs participating in a bowl game this season. "What it did was put us into position to do what we all want to do on this football team and in this football program, and that is to climb the SEC East ladder, while knowing we have a chance to be somewhere in the post-season," he said during his weekly press conference Monday.

It's already time to start planning for the next archery deer season. As it stands right now, I haven't done a thing in preparation except think to myself, "I've got to decide what I will need to get ready for the next deer season. " The only thing I have done is peruse the aisles at my local archery store to see what's new on the scene. As usual, there so many new articles of must-have gear available that any person with a bow hanging on the rack will give serious thought toward purchasing a few of these items.

BUCKEYE - Not many people can say they've built an entire fire truck. In fact, Buckeye Fire Department safety officer Michael Mullins Jr. might be the only person nearby who can. Mullins has constructed a one-sixth scale remote control replica fire truck, with all the extras included. His truck, affectionately named "The Old 603" after a now-defunct Buckeye fire truck, features an actual water tank and pump, a functioning mounted water cannon and auxilliary hose, an air pump and 14 flashing lights.

The Jessamine County Fire District received delivery of its newest and biggest piece of equipment last week. A new $767,370, 105 -foot Pierce Velocity ladder truck was delivered from Wisconsin to Station No. 1 on Main Street. The new truck was needed to help give adequate coverage to the larger buildings going up in the county, Fire Chief Mike Rupard said. "We have large buildings in the county like Southland Christian Church and the distillery buildings down south and other large structures going up and we needed to be able to cover them," Rupard said.

Stanford Detective Barry Allen used the city's ladder truck Monday to go up on the roof of the China Wok in the Stanford Plaza. Allen said someone entered the restaurant through the rooftop ventilation system and stole cash from the register and emptied the the tip jar.

John Zippay enjoys a parade. He and many other members of the Shriners will be driving mini-cars and -trucks in the Great American Brass Band Festival parade Saturday. Zippay will be driving a lawnmower with a ladder that resembles a fire truck. The group includes The Oleika Shriners, The Wilderness Shriners and a local group of riders called Tin Lizzie. Orginally from Pennsylvania, Zippay has lived in Danville since 1974. He retired in 1990 from Bell South. His wife, Patsy, is from Danville and taught at Danville High School until retirement in 1991.