The always touchy subject of pay raises came up during this morning’s Todd Fiscal Court meeting and the issue went away with mixed results.

A cost of living adjustment of 2.96% was recommended for magistrates, county attorneys and coroners by the state—with those the only three constitutional offices that fiscal courts must vote on for them to receive the raise.

Squire Brent Spurlin made a motion to give County Attorney Harold “Mac” Johns and Coroner Bob Whittlsey the raise—but to exclude magistrates. He said it’s highly possible the court won’t be able to afford to give county employees a raise, so he couldn’t justify giving himself one.

Every magistrate who spoke up was against boosting their own pay if they couldn’t do the same for employees, with Squire John Camp saying he also wanted to remove the coroner from the proposed raise since he received a significant increase last year.

Johns said he understood their concerns, but it was his professional opinion that the state mandates all elected officials to take the increase so to not take a “pay cut” in mid-term.

Ultimately, only Johns was given the raise and court said it will decide during the budget-making process if it will be able to afford increases for other county employees.

In other business, court approved allowing Ambulance Service Director Lockey Beasley to purchase a new monitor for an ambulance—with two outdated ones to be purchased back by the company selling the new one.

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03/09/2012/am

The Board of Directors of the Hopkinsville-Christian County Economic Development Council announced today that they have hired Mitch Robinson, as the organization’s new Executive Director.

Robinson’s first day of employment will be April 2^nd and officials say he is a native Kentuckian and will bring more than twenty-five years of comprehensive executive experience in economic and community development to the area.
EDC Chair Eston Glover was quoted as saying that after conducting an extensive search process, the committee determined that Robinson has the skill set and experience needed to lead the economic development efforts of the community.
Robinson holds a Bachelor’s degree in Government and Economics from Western Kentucky University, and a Master’s in Public Administration from Indiana State University.
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Two Clarksville brothers are behind bars after they allegedly robbed a woman last night.
According to Clarksville Police, a 21-year old woman told police she was robbed by three men at the intersection of McClure and Spring Street.
The victim reportedly told police she was walking from a bar on McClure Street when a black vehicle pulled up next to her with three men inside, and one of them pointed a gun at her and demanded money.
The victim claims she gave the suspects about $1,000 in cash and then they drove away, but the victim was able to give police a vehicle tag number and description of the suspects.
Through the course of investigation and the victim being able to identify the suspects, Ronald and Mario Hyrne both of King Road Clarksville were charged with aggravated robbery and remain lodged in the Montgomery County Jail.
The third suspect in the robbery remains at large.
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The Hopkinsville Police Department is investigating a report of shots being fired yesterday in the area of East 18^th Street.

According to police, when officers responded to the 1200 block of East 18^th Street, several victims stated that a suspect shot several rounds from a hand gun into the air after he was denied a cigarette.
The suspect then reportedly fled the scene on a bicycle in the director of Jones Street.
The three victims were reportedly able to give police a suspect description, but no arrests have been made in this case.
Police say the case remains open and that no one was injured as a result of the shooting.

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Hopkinsville Mayor Dan Kemp is urging local citizens to register with CodeRed to receive future weather warnings, in lieu of recent severe weather that hit the region.
The City of Hopkinsville has contracted with Emergency Communications Network to license its CodeRED high-speed notification solution to allow Hopkinsville officials a way to quickly deliver messages to targeted areas or the entire city.
Mayor Kemp says he highly recommends CodeRED to residents who want to be informed about possible severe weather or any other information concerning the city.
Mayor Kemp then went onto say that the CodeRed system was a life saver and that area residents should take advantage of the community notification system.
According to Mayor Kemp, the system requires street addresses to ensure emergency notification calls are sent to the proper individuals and the system also works for cell phones too.
For more information about the CodeRed system, contact the City of Hopkinsville at 270-887-4000.
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