To the Edmonson County Lions Club: On behalf of the faculty, staff, and STUDENTS of South Edmonson, we want to thank everyone involved in making the Edmonson County Fair a huge success. The parade was great as usual, but Fair Day and the entire fair (especially the carnival rides) seemed to be back with a vengeance. It was absolutely fantastic to watch the hundreds of kids running around on Friday enjoying what fair day is supposed to be-- a fun-filled day with friends. For most of the elementary kids, this was their first real Fair Day experience. The midway itself and the nightly activities seemed to be back to what it used to be, but “Fair Day” surpassed all expectations. And it was made possible because of you all and the effort, commitment, dedication, and hard work you put into it. We want to sincerely thank all of you for working to ensure our kids were able to experience what all of us experienced growing up in Edmonson County-- Fair Day. There’s nothing like it! Thank you all! Josh Long South Edmonson Elementary Principal
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Dear Editor, Edmonson Voice: Thank you for your recent article regarding school safety here in Edmonson County. I was notified by our Director of Facilities & Safety, Callie Beliles, that she has obtained quotes for the remaining ballistic film needed in our schools. She will present these quotes to our local Board of Education at the upcoming meeting on Monday, May 8. I am copying our school board representative, Alex Ulm, on this message. I ask everyone in Edmonson County to contact your own school board representative to request that they provide Ms. Beliles with the resources she needs to complete this project as well as other urgent safety needs. For example, I recently learned that common areas of Edmonson County High School are without a working intercom system. Imagine trying to communicate to students during an emergency without a working intercom. School safety should be our #1 priority, and that should be reflected in our school funding. If anyone doesn’t know who your School Board representative is, here is a list: Sincerely,
Marty Cassady Dear Editor,
March 12-18 was AmeriCorps Week. AmeriCorps is a federally funded community service program that focuses on the underserved communities. There are about 23 AmeriCorps programs in Kentucky. Edmonson County has two AmeriCorps programs. I am grateful to serve as the AmeriCorps Kentucky College Coach at Edmonson County High School! AmeriCorps members can only serve four years. This is my final year as an AmeriCorps Kentucky College Coach. In the near future the position of the Edmonson County High School AmeriCorps Kentucky College Coach application will be open. The position is from August-May, with possible summer extension and renewal up to the four years. Members are expected to serve 1200 hours in that time period. Members receive a monthly living stipend and may be able to use the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award to help pay for college tuition or pay toward college loans. AmeriCorps Kentucky College Coaches’ Program targets and mentors first generation college students about steps needed for a successful after high school life, careers, as well as other helpful skills to help them be successful in the future. My four years as an AmeriCorps Kentucky College Coach has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my professional life. I started my service at North Bullitt High School with the hopes of coming back home. It was a dream come true when I learned I could transfer to my alma mater. While communicating with students during virtual learning was a challenge; we figured things out. Through the past four years I have watched students grow, mature, and make informed life decisions. Watching students apply for college and seeing their reaction after realizing they are a future college student is priceless. Helping students research what careers may be a good fit for them is worth its weight in gold. For more information about the Kentucky College Coaches’ Program you may contact the KHEAA KCC Program Manager, Toni Wiley, at tmwiley@kheaa.com or 859-200-8317. You may also contact me carmon.hughes@edmonson.kyschools.us or 270-597-2151. In Service, Carmon Hughes ECHS AmeriCorps Kentucky College Coach/Ambassador Dear Edmonson Voice Editor,
Information was released on Friday, February 3, 2023, that GoodRx Holdings, developer of the well-known GoodRx prescription drug discount app, has been accused by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of wrongfully sharing data on millions of users’ prescription medications and illnesses to multiple companies, including Google and Facebook. According to the FTC, this “sharing” went on for years and was done primarily so GoodRx could market to and make even more money from users of their app. GoodRx has reportedly agreed to settle these allegations by paying a substantial amount of money. For many, many years we have all received “discount” cards in the mail and seen stacked up at medical offices and other places. Consumer Reports has stated multiple times that “discount” cards are a major source of identity theft in this country, which is very accurate. All those companies printing those multitudes of “free” cards and newer companies like GoodRx with extremely expensive commercials are all in the business of making money…loads of money. Many of them make profits in various ways and one very serious way is by selling or using people’s data and personal information. In my opinion, this is very unethical and immoral because most people have no idea this is being done and are just seeking help with their prescription costs. As the old sayings go, “If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is” and “Nothing in life is free” (even though I would add except God’s Grace, though it too was paid by One). At Alford’s Pharmacy, this is precisely the reason we do not participate in this stealing of our friends, family, and neighbors’ data and information. Rest assured, if you call our pharmacy your home then you have nothing to worry about with this regard, and I am very proud to say that. Unfortunately, over the years there have been some to not believe or trust us when we told them of the great risk they had by using “discount” cards and apps at other pharmacies. We will never put Profits before our Character. We have many tools at our disposal to save people money on their much-needed prescriptions and invite anyone to reach out to us to discuss those available to them in their particular circumstance. At Alford’s Pharmacy, our Mission is Serving Others With Humility and we take that extremely serious. We will always strive to do that while Honoring God, Honoring People, and Honoring Our Communities. Eternally grateful for the opportunity to serve and love our neighbor as ourselves, Kasey Alford, Pharm.D., CEO Alford’s Pharmacy by Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams:
Voters will head to the polls in less than 4 months to vote in the 2023 primary election for governor, secretary of state, and other constitutional offices. As my team has prepared, we have looked to lessons learned from the November 2022 elections. First and foremost, the midterms showed that early voting works. At my urging, in 2021 the General Assembly acted in bipartisan fashion to enact it, and over a quarter million Kentuckians took advantage of it in the general election. The turnout correlated with the partisan affiliation of our voters – Republicans with a little less than 50%, then Democrats close behind, followed by Independents. Early voting doesn’t favor a side; it just helps voters. It doesn’t just help voters who vote early. It also helps the voters who don’t. While some counties saw long lines on election day, they would have been even longer if voters had not already had three days to vote. The solution to long lines on election day is not to add more voting days: More than four times as many voters voted on Tuesday, November 8th, as voted in the 3 early voting days combined. In order to reduce lines, we need more voting locations, not more voting days. There are a few ways to accomplish this. One would be to do what was done in 2020, via emergency powers granted by the Legislature: granting counties the flexibility to consolidate voting locations, but only with approval of the governor and secretary of state. It’s important that someone who is accountable to voters be able to review and approve a local election plan that reduces voting locations. An alternative approach to fixing this problem would be to develop a statutory formula to set a floor for how many voting locations a county needs. Finally, election funding allocated to counties should be aligned not with how many precincts they have on paper, but how many polls they actually open. Another way to improve the voter experience is by closing the loophole that allows electioneering at the polls during early voting. Current law only prohibits electioneering at the polls on the six days of excused in-person absentee voting, and on election day, but not on the three days of no-excuse early voting. We can improve the recount process by closing a loophole that allows candidates to request recounts even when they lose by a landslide. In 2021, lawmakers worked in a bipartisan fashion to only allow recanvasses if the requesting candidate lost by one percent. The same threshold should apply to recounts, which are far more taxing on our election officials. We have a separate law that permits an election challenge upon an allegation of fraud, corruption, or even an administrative error, and any person with evidence will not lost the right to contest an election; but, the frivolous lawsuits by people who lack evidence of fraud, corruption, or administrative error, and lose by a wide margin, must be stopped – this harassment is contributing to attrition among county clerks, and we need experienced professionals in these offices. Although none of these changes is major, they are all important to ensuring our next election runs as smoothly as possible. |
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