My East Ky

With my little girl now 4 years old and soon to be 5. Me and her mother decided it was a great idea to get her into preschool, plus our daughter was more than ready to go. She is/was totally excited. Almost every day we play/pretend that she has homework to do, has multiple book bags varying from Dora the explorer to Winnie the Pooh. So around 2 or 3 months ago we went to sign her up, and were told we would receive a letter either accepting or denying her. At the time the only possible reason I could think of denying her a head start is that the classes was filled to capacity, first come first serve kind of thing.

Fast forward to this week (one week before school starts) and we still have not heard anything from the Floyd County Board of Education. We even decided to attend the open house at one of the Floyd County Schools. At the open house we did learn that 1 preschool class had 16 out of 20 slots filled. So we were optimistic that she would be attending school this year. But we left not knowing if she was going to be able to attend.

So today a couple of calls were made and to our surprise we were told that she was not eligible because of our income. Apparently we make too much money. Yes that’s right, we have a very eager young lady wanting to attend school and 2 parents that want the best for their child but was denied because we make too much money? I thought something was strange when check stubs were required when she was signed up. I just assumed they use it for statistics or something? Not to look at the amount of money parents make and say you make too much so you must wait. What kind of system is this? What really gets me irritated is that there is room for her. Why is this decision based on income?

Don’t get me wrong I completely understand children with disabilities, should have first serve to help them improve. But as I stated they said they have room! On the Kentucky Department Of Education it states

Kentucky’s preschool education programs are available for all four-year-old children whose family income is no more than 150% of poverty; all three and four-year-old children with developmental delays and disabilities, regardless of income; and other four-year- old children as placements are available based on district decision.  The preschool program is designed to be developmentally appropriate for young children.  “Developmentally appropriate” is defined in law to mean that the program focuses on the child’s physical, intellectual, social and emotional development, including interpersonal, intrapersonal, and socialization skills.

OK first there is room in the class, second: how can they tell what is “Developmentally appropriate” by income. Funny thing is that half the people we talk to tells us that there are always students that stop going and she will more than likely be able to attend around Christmas.

Fun Fact: The USA Poverty level for 2008 with a household of 3 is $17,600.00

With the building of another McDonald’s in Prestonsburg I can only assume that another free Wifi spot is going to be available to the City Of Prestosnburg courtesy of At&t. Even though I do not like McDonalds I would use their free internet access

Remember to use Wifi @ McDonalds simply use your AT&T high-speed Internet membership ID and password. Not sure of the completion date but construction seems to be trucking along. This is just another example of how local business should be the ones using free Wifi as a driving tool to get customers in and not the city.

Well after reading an article on the Floyd County Times website, it’s interesting to see that “Munroe” is going to run for city council with 3 other wannabe council members Bucky Collins, Harry Adams, and Tony Conn. Looks like it’s going to be an interesting race. From the article it seems that none of the candidates have an exact plan on what they would do other then fixing some signs, or some general issues, with not getting specific on how they would obtain their goals. It’s easy to say you want to boost the local economy but what good is it to elect you if you have no idea on where to begin? I’m sure every council member right now would love to boost Prestonsburg’s economy and bring in new business but that is definitely easier said than done.

There was also a note about the Prestonsburg’s wireless access and how it was opposed by some. Is it even still operational? Not heard anything about it since its launch. Like I said before unfortunately IMO this was a waste of time and money. Wireless access is not a deciding factor in recruiting new businesses. It’s a nice perk I guess I would say but that’s about it. Here is a article from Virginiabuisness. In the article you will see that Bristol decided to with fiber optics to lure in new business’s, and guess what? A business in the neighboring state moved its 30 employee business there. Fiber optics is the future.

I’m sure everybody by now has seen the Drew Exposition carnival setup @ Archer Park for this year’s Fourth Of July Celebration. I have to admit I have not been to the carnival in some years. Don’t really miss it that much either, but my little girl has seen the setup and is dying to go so this will probably be my first year back.

With all the recent carnival/amusement park accidents I’m sure that’s on everybody’s mind and rightfully so. I do remember the last few times I went (which was around 10+ years ago) seeing the carnival operators drinking while working. Maybe they have cleaned up their act? Also is there any kind of inspection that takes place after the rides are setup to maintain safety? The carnival should be peaking Friday July 4th with the annual fireworks display. I have not seen any times posted for the fireworks show but I would assume it will be around 9.00 - 9:30pm?

Hillary Clinton has won in Kentucky by a landslide 65% to Barack Obama’s 30%. Too little to late? Who knows, but it’s not looking good for her.