Paducah resident Karen Harris Story joins VISTA

Karen Harris Story, a resident of Paducah, was recently sworn in as a member of VISTA, the nearly 40 year old national service program dedicated to helping fight poverty in the United States. Story has been assigned to Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children to help develop a mentor recruitment and training program. Story, a native of Charleston, Missouri, has been an active volunteer in the community since relocating here in 1999. Karen is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and a student at the Barkley School of Law. In her new role as a VISTA member, one of her first projects will be to increase community awareness of Bellewood’s independent living programs. According to Gwen Taylor, Bellewood – Paducah program manager, “Karen’s knowledge of our community and her experience working with a variety of civic organizations is a huge asset for Bellewood as we work to help youth gain the life skills necessary for success. The VISTA program allows us to utilize the talent and skills of folks such as Karen to help lift individuals and families in our community out of poverty.” Mrs. Story will spend a year as a VISTA member serving at Bellewood. In exchange for her year of full-time service, she will receive a modest living allowance along with insurance, training, and travel expenses. When she completes her service, she will receive an education award of $4,750 that she can use to help pay for further schooling. For 40 years VISTA has been helping bring communities and individuals out of poverty. Today, nearly 7,000 VISTA members serve in hundreds of nonprofit organizations and public agencies throughout the country – working to fight illiteracy, improve health services, create businesses, increase housing opportunities, or bridge the digital divide.

Dr. Derek Morgan joins
medical staff at MCCH

Murray-Calloway County Hospital is pleased to welcome Derek Morgan, M.D., Orthopaedic Surgeon, as a member of the medical staff at the hospital. Dr. Morgan graduated from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas and completed his medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He finished his residency program in Orthopaedics at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita where he was awarded the Resident Teacher of the Year Award. He completed a pediatric rotation at Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis. Dr. Morgan furthered his medical training by completing a fellowship in Adult Hip and Knee Reconstruction at Stanford University in California. Dr. Morgan is Board Eligible with the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Dr. Derek Morgan, his wife, Chris, Jacob (6), Justin (4), Joseph (1.5) has relocated to the Murray area. Dr. Derek Morgan will be joining Dr. John Yezerski at Orthopaedic Associates of Murray located in the MCCH Medical Arts Building at 300 South 8th Street, Suite 178 West. Dr. Morgan will begin seeing patients September 2. Call now to schedule an appointment. His office hours will be Monday through Thursday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and Friday 8:00 am – 12:00 pm. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 270-759-1444.

Chamber of Commerce “City-Wide”
yard sale to be September 6th

The Twin Cities Chamber of Commerce will sponsor a City-Wide Yard Sale on Saturday, September 6, 2008 from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. This event will be held in Fulton and South Fulton, with booth locations available at Pontotoc Park and on Lake Street. A $10 donation to participate can be mailed to the chamber office. There will be no rain date scheduled and no refunds given. You can obtain an application at the chamber office, South Fulton City Hall, and the Leader Store. August 29th is the deadline too turn your application and to remit the donation. Mail completed applications to Twin Cities Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 5077, South Fulton, TN 38257. Yard Sale Maps will be available at the Twin Cities Chamber of Commerce Office in the South Fulton Municipal Complex, 700 Milton Counce Drive on September 5th for $2.00. Early bird maps will be available on September 4th for $4.00. For additional information, you can call 479-7029 in South Fulton.

Paducah City Commission Meeting Highlights

August 12, 2008 Government Organization Study Chamber of Commerce Board Chairman, Mike Karnes, and Board Member Tom Garrett, presented the Commission with the findings of the four-year long study of reorganizing the governments of Paducah and McCracken County. The Chamber started a 12-member task force led by Garrett to study the issue in 2004, and the Chamber supports consolidating the governments into one unified structure. The main reason for consolidating would be the population size of a unified government. Garrett says right now the area is missing out on economic development projects. He says most search consultants do not look at communities with less than 50,000 people. With a unified government, the population would be over 65,000. The task force also recognized there is little overlap between the services of the City and County which means there will more than likely not be significant savings in having one government. For citizens, the tax structure could be based on the amount of services they receive. Also many unified governments maintain their volunteer fire departments and sheriff’s offices. The Paducah City Commission unanimously approved a motion supporting the formation of a committee to study government unification. (more)

New Wireless Hotspot Downtown at the Convention &
Visitors Bureau

PADUCAH, KY— The total is now eight. The City of Paducah has added another wireless hotspot for citizens to use. The latest location for free wireless internet access is in downtown Paducah at the Paducah-McCracken County Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) at 128 Broadway. The coverage area includes the CVB offices, the area outside the offices along Broadway, and across the street into the large downtown parking lot. CVB Marketing Director, Rosemarie Steele, says “The CVB is the hub of hospitality for visitors.” Steele adds, “I think this is a perfect location because so many people come into the Visitors Bureau asking about internet access. Now, they can take a seat on a bench and enjoy the hotspot.” Seven other locations are already active in the City: Robert Cherry Civic Center, Dolly McNutt Plaza, the skatepark at Noble Park, the Noble Park swimming pool area, the Texaco Station in LowerTown, Paducah’s riverfront, and Oak Grove Cemetery. Information Systems Director, Greg Mueller, says that additional hotspots are being considered in the downtown area. Also, the Paducah Day Nursery at 1335 Atkins Street will be a wireless hotspot location in the near future. To take advantage of the hotspots, go to a hotspot location and configure your laptop or PDA to connect to the “PaducahHotSpot” wireless access point.