The Hopkinsville Fire Department can better respond to fires and other emergencies after a 2012 Pierce ladder fire truck was delivered to the main station this morning.

Official local historian William Turner was on hand to take pictures of the occasion and said the city has come a long way since the first motorized fire trucks were delivered to the city 93 years ago via rail.        

Turner says it took a while to prove to citizens that the engines could actually get to fires faster than horse teams because the animals had been trained so well to get to their destinations so quickly.

Fire Chief Fagan Pace says the committee tasked to choose a new truck put together all of the needs they had and requested them on one truck.

Chief Pace says the new truck has more capabilities than older equipment and it’s more importantly safer than any other truck already owned by the force.

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03/26/2012/am

The Christian County Sheriff’s Office investigated a nearly 7 thousand dollar burglary in north Christian County over the weekend.

A shop at 6320 Old Madisonville Road was broken into sometime early Friday morning when the perpetrator cut a lock to get inside.

The burglar took a welder, tool box full of tools, four sets of shop lights, two sets of trailer lights, four sets of wheels valued at $1,800, a $975 generator, a $560 racing helmet, a welding helmet and several other items totaling just under $7,000.

The shop owner’s wife—43-year old Laura Johnson of Donna Drive—told police that someone drove by in a black four door sedan and yelled “thank you” after deputies had cleared the scene Friday afternoon.

No suspects are listed on the report, but the case remains under investigation.

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03/26/2012/am

Todd County Judge-Executive Darryl Greenfield and Hopkinsville Community College President Doctor Jim Selbe went to Frankfort together last week to lobby for a regional training facility in Elkton.

This year’s session is almost over and the budget is tight, but Judge Greenfield says it was still important to meet with leadership in Frankfort to ask for $2.5 million in funding to put the Hopkinsville Community College operated center on the campus of Todd County Central High School.

Judge Greenfield says everyone they spoke to was receptive to the idea and he’s glad they went and built relationships.

The center is part of the Southern Pennyrile Chamber Alliance’s top six priorities for the General Assembly, as officials believe such a center would help Todd County residents become better prepared for employment at Hemlock Semi-Conductor or spin-off industries which could be created.

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03/26/2012/am

There were two heavy rain events from late February through mid-March and local Stormwater Utility officials believe the system held up well.

The “Mesonet” site just north of Hopkinsville recorded 1.54 inches of rain on February 29^th and 2.69 inches on March 9^th.

Community Development Services Director Steve Bourne spoke at last week’s Hopkinsville City Council meeting and said 16 complaints were received during those events, and almost all were regarding drainage and “logjam” issues.

No homes were flooded and Bourne says the efforts of the Stormwater Utility using taxpayer funds seem to slowly but surely be alleviating some of the major issues which caused Hopkinsville to be flood-prone over the decades.

Bourne and others have acknowledged numerous times that there isn’t enough money and infrastructure in the world to completely prevent flooding in the most extreme storms, but major and minor projects through the city have caused major rain events in the last few years that once would have caused significant flooding to only cause relatively minor issues.

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03/26/2012/am

A Hopkinsville woman was arrested on assault charges last night for allegedly stabbing the father of her child in the arm.

The incident happened around 10:13pm at 11 Middle St, according to the report, which says 22-year old Naderrica Babb was at the home of 24-year old Zachary Fox when she got into an argument with Fox’s girlfriend.

Babb went to grab her daughter from Fox and allegedly stabbed him in the arm with a knife in the process. She then got in her vehicle and drove off, but was arrested a short time later on E. 9^th St.

She was charged with 2^nd degree assault and lodged in the Christian County Jail. Fox was treated for the non-life threatening injuries at Jennie Stuart Medical Center.

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03/25/2012/am