Principal without a school: WCMS principal prepares way for students

by Matt Hughes

J-E News Editor

Some people had questions when the Webster County school district hired a middle school principal more than a year before the middle school would be opened, but since arriving on campus, Geoff Bailey has been hard at work paving the way for the 2014-2015 school year.

Bailey’s office in the middle school administration suite is nothing more than four bare concrete walls without a ceiling. For the time being he has been assigned to a conference room three doors down from the high school office. His new school now sits six feet away from his “office” behind a temporary wall, still four to five months away from looking anything like a school.

College to Career Ready

The following is the fifth in a series of monthly articles from Webster County High School regarding efforts to help students earn the distinction of College and/or Career Ready, which is a key component of the Kentucky Department of Education’s “Unbridled Learning” accountability initiative aimed at producing graduates that are better prepared for the rigor of college-level coursework and the increasing demands of the world of work and a global economy.  This month’s focus is College Financial Aid.  

Tim Roy

WCHS principal 

As we move past the mid-point of the 2013/2014 school year, thoughts begin turning toward “next year.”  While our faculty and underclassmen at WCHS will think in terms of the next high school year, many of our seniors have begun the process of determining which college they will attend, what academic majors they will declare, with whom they will live, and how they will pay their tuition, room and board, textbooks and other expenses that go along with continuing their education after high school.    

Burglary Suspect

The Webster County Sheriff’s Department is asking for your help identifying a burglary suspect caught on video in the Webster and Union County areas. Deputies are currently investigating at least one case involving the suspect seen in the attached photographs.

Notice to J-E customers

by Matt Hughes

J-E News Editor

Due to a problem at the printing plant, this week’s editions of The Journal-Enterprise will be slightly delayed.

Papers should be available at all of the stores that carry The Journal-Enterprise by noon. Unfortunately, because most of the mail has already either been delivered or is already on the mail truck, those customers who normally receive their paper by mail will most likely not get their copies until tomorrow.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Clay votes to accept bid for new fire station

by Matt Hughes

Future site of the Clay Fire Department

J-E News Editor

On Monday, December 30, 2013, the Clay City Council approved a bid to begin construction on a new Clay Fire Station.

The winning bid, approved by a unanimous vote by the council, was submitted Kentucky Contracting LLC of Dixon, in the amount of $249,000. Kentucky Contracting will handle the complete construction project.

The $249,000 bill came in just short of the magic number of $250,000, which would have required the city to pay “prevailing wages.” In government contracting, a prevailing wage is defined as the hourly wage, usual benefits and overtime, paid to the majority of workers, laborers, and mechanics within a particular area. 

At a Fiscal Court meeting last month Mark Moser of E&M told the court that prevailing wage would cost about “a third more” than a project that did not go over $250,000.

“Construction should be completed within 180 days,” said Fire Chief Jeremy Moore.

According to Moore, the city has been working on this project for three years. During that period they secured grant money from the state that will cover the entire cost of construction.

The new fire station will be constructed on almost the exact location that Townsend’s Grocery once occupied in Clay.

Council members also voted to give mayor Rick Householder the authority to sign all documents and contracts associated with the project.

Arctic Blast hits Webster County

by Matt Hughes

J-E News Editor

The storm front that moved through the area over the weekend passed a little further to the north than expected, taking the bulk of the snowfall with it, but that still did not spare Webster County residents from what officials are referring to as a “polar vortex”.

By 6:00 a.m. on Monday the temperature had dropped to -1 in the county, with wind chills of 10 to 15 degrees below zero. Temperatures throughout the day didn’t rise much more than 1 or 2 above zero.