On Friday, October 17, the Lewis County Public Library received a federal automation grant of $9319 as a result of the Library Service Technology Act.

The funds came through the Kentucky Department of Libraries and Archives. Actually the money received is only half the grant. The balance will be issued to the library after the first of the year.

The automation in the local facility will require some changes. New plastic library cards will be required. Library Director Marilyn Conway said that the staff has been updating information from local patrons for some time in preparation for the move to automation.

She explained that 30,000 books plus all the audio and video cassettes, magazines and other materials will have to be entered into the data bank and bar-coded.

Experience Works is actually the Green Thumb program with a new name. From 1965 to January of 2002 it was know as the Green Thumb.

This coming January the organization will celebrate the first anniversary with its new name Experience Works. The mission of the non-profit organization is "To Put Experience to Work."

President and CEO Andrea Wooten wrote that the new name is a natural fit because of that mission. The agency offers training, employment and community service opportunities for mature workers.

That includes a variety of programs designed to help older individuals enter the workforce, secure more challenging positions, move into new career areas or supplement their income.

A meeting for anyone interested in the project has been tentatively set for Wednesday, November 19, at 6:00 p.m., at the diner on Route 10 in Tollesboro.

Hilary Lambert, associate director of the Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA), will be on hand to discuss what is a watershed council and why Cabin Creek was selected by the State Division of Water as a watershed council location.

KWA is currently celebrating its 10th anniversary as an independent non-profit organization. It works at both state and national levels to protect Kentucky's clean waters.

Meeting in regular session on Monday evening, October 13, the Lewis County Board of Education received and approved the annual financial audit report as presented by Kelly Adkins of Reynolds & Company, Portsmouth, Ohio.

Adkins said that Reynolds has issued an unqualified opinion meaning that the school's financial statements are fairly stated and we found no material mis-statements this year. All the school system funds were in compliance with only two minor errors found in the activity funds.

Auditor Kenny Walters said those errors involved the handling of receipts at the first two basketball games at a couple of the schools and were not recurring errors. Action was taken to insure those small errors are not repeated.

Adkins said the audit shows that Lewis County Schools has capital assets of 21 million dollars with 11 1/2 million dollars in bond obligations.

She further stated that only seven of the 114 schools audited had a 90 percent or higher agreement rate. Central had a 91.89 agreement rate and is one of those seven schools. The state considers a 70 percent agreement rate as good. She indicated that Central's high score validates the kind of scoring and training Lewis County is doing with the local teachers.

Forman also reported on the CATS scores. She said that the schools are just now at mid-point and every school is in a range where they can reach their goals for the year. The idea is to raise the scores and to reduce the number of novice or low scoring students and the schools are doing that.

Superintendent Maurice Reeder Jr. informed the board about viral meningitis in the schools. Three cases have been reported school wide.

He said that two kinds of meningitis exist. One is serious and the other is not too serious. The cases in Lewis County are of the non-serious viral variety. Bacterial meningitis is the serious kind.

A dreadful fire took the Petersville First Church of God in September of 201.

The fire was sparked by a lightning strike early in the morning. Firefighters worked vigorously to save the church, but the fire was out of control.

Soon after the fire, members of the church pulled together to build the church back.

The church was covered with some insurance, but not enough to pay for the furnishings and parking lot. Donations are needed to help bring Petersville First Church of God to completion. All donations are welcome. Contact May Davis at 606-876-2842, Jessie Humphries at 606-849-2991, Danny Blankenship at 606-796-3583, or Bill and Connie Denton at 606-798-2487.