Alternative house re-districting plan proposed

State Representative Ben Waide of Madisonville has proposed an alternative state house re-districting plan which would prevent he and State Representative Myron Dossett from having to run against each other in the Republican Primary.
The proposal would also slightly reduce the number of current members running against each other to ten. That would include one pair of Republicans, two pairs of Democrats two pairs of Democrats versus Republicans and one pair of Republicans.
The proposal splits 24 counties and 10 precincts as opposed to the 28 counties and 246 split precincts under the already passed House Bill 1. Eastern Christian and all of Todd County would be in Representative Dossett’s District 9 and 8^th District Representative John Tilley would have much of southern and western Christian County.
A small portion of northwestern Christian County would be in the 4^th District along with Caldwell, Crittenden and Trigg. Waide’s bill has a smaller variance in acceptable population difference among districts and believes House Bill 1 will be deemed unconstitutional in court.
A lawsuit challenging its constitutionality has reportedly already been filed.
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01/25/2012/am

Citizen Corps Council Anniversary is today

Today marks a very important milestone for FEMA’s Individual and Community Preparedness Division.
According to officials, today marks the 10^th anniversary of when the Citizen Corps program was created.
Since the 9-11 tragedy, the program has helped hundreds of communities across the nation become safer, stronger, and better prepared in the wake of disaster.

Pennyrile Citizens Corps Council Chairman Dan Nicholson says he wants everyone to ask themselves if they can sustain themselves for several days when a natural disaster occurs.
According to Nicholson, numerous natural disasters occurred last year, which caused billions of dollars worth of damages in the nation, and he says it can happen again.
He is encouraging residents to take a pro-active approach and prepare for a disaster by creating an emergency kit that contains essential items like food, water, clothing and medications.

Citizen Corps Councils on average conduct several free training seminars through out the year on essential information like weather alerts, warnings, local sheltering, evacuations, and emergency planning.
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City of Hopkinsville and Codell Contruction to host job fair

The City of Hopkinsville and Codell Construction will be hosting a joint job fair next month.
According to Hopkinsville Mayor Dan Kemp the purpose of the job fair is for local suppliers, contractors and construction workers to obtain information about the new municipal center project, which he says will be going out for bids in the March time frame.
The job fair will be held Monday, February 13^th from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the War Memorial Building.
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American Idol contestant to peform in Christian Co.

Fans of American Idol will have the chance to see one of this year’s contestants in Christian County this summer.

Performing at the 2^nd Annual Kelly Little Green Men days August 17^th will be Kayla Nettles of Nashville.

Kelly Community Organizer Frank Brown says Ms. Nettles did a good job of singing the National Anthem at last year’s event and he’s looking forward to her being back this summer.

Brown says contractual obligations prevent Kayla from revealing how far she will make it on the show, but says to stay tuned.   This year’s Kelly Little Green Men Days are August 17^th and 18^th in “downtown” Kelly just north of Hopkinsville.

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01/25/2012/am

84-year old Clarksville woman violently robbed

An elderly Clarksville woman returned home from grocery shopping yesterday afternoon, only to be robbed.

A news release says the 84-year old woman returned home around 4:30 and set her bags down, when she was approached from behind by a man who threw her to the ground.

The suspect said something about drugs and demanded money, while holding her to the floor and breaking her glasses.

He made the victim dump her purse in the floor and took her cash and checkbook, before making her go to the bathroom. The suspect then put a couch in front of the bathroom door and ran out the front door.

A neighbor reportedly saw the suspect running toward Tyler Street and described him as a “stocky” white male approximately 5 feet 8 inches tall, wearing blue jeans and a tan jacket. He had on a black head covering and some sort of covering over his face.

Anyone who may be able to help police identify the man is asked to call the tips line at 931-645-8477.

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01/25/2012/am