Police cars, fire engines, ambulances, helicopters descend on YSHS

If you caught some of the action up at the high school yesterday afternoon, you might have been concerned. Relax! It was only a pre-prom crash exercise, one of those annual pep-talks to try to keep our kids safe on prom night.

And by-the-way, the teachers, administration and parents all desrve kudos for their efforts in this department. Keeping the kids in town by hosting the prom at an [almost] local venue (see comments) and having a post prom party at Pass It On Kids on Dayton Street are great ideas. The prom is Saturday night. It's a relief to know that our teenagers will not be driving late at night on some shoulderless two-lane blacktop out in the cornfields.

Onfroy, GunderKline set meet records at Old KTC track

Alexis Onfroy set the meet record at the Old KTC on Friday night winning the 1600 meter run with a time of 4:38.62. Teammate Jacob GunderKline won the 3200 with a new meet record of 9:59.23.

Greene County Dailies: YS boys second at Old KTC

School Board Meeting on K-9s in schools not well attended

Maybe it was because it was the third meeting on the subject, or maybe it was the weather, but the committee-of-the-whole School Board meeting on the use of K-9 units in the schools last night wasn't as packed as I thought it would be. If I had to guess, I would say about 50 folks attended, arriving late and sitting on one side of the seating arrangement in the Mills Lawn gym. There were at least a dozen teenagers and a handful of teachers. The majority of those present appeared to be parents.

The opinions expressed ranged from unequivocal support for Principal John Gudgel's plan for surprise visits by drug-sniffing dogs and their handlers, to modified support, to neutrality, to full-blown opposition. Most of the opposition came from YSHS students and recent grads who had shown up in a group, sat together, and took turns speaking passionately about how they would feel mistrusted and disrespected if the plan were set in motion. Several of those who supported the plan talked of how they had been personally impacted by friends and family members who started using drugs in high school. Some had lost relatives in drug-related deaths.

Virtually every speaker expressed their respect for Gudgel and Police Chief John Grote who was in the audience. Some spoke of their concern for what would happen if this precedent were set and they were no longer around.

Overall, the people who stepped up to the microphone appeared to be evenly divided. If you took the the YSHS student contingent out of the mix, the balance seemed to tip in favor of the use of K-9 units in some manner.

No runs, no hits, no errors. I doubt that Gudgel, who has sole authority over the matter, saw anything that would change his mind.

Diane Chiddister was there covering the meeting for the News. I would expect that they will publish a more detailed account of the meeting in next week's paper.

FYI: A summary of case law on use of drug-sniffing dogs in schools.

School Board Meeting still on for 7 p.m. in MLS Gym

The committee-of-the-whole School Board meeting on Principal John Gudgel's proposed use of K-9 units at YSHS/McKinney is still on for tonight.

The meeting is to be held in the Mills Lawn gym at 7 p.m. The community is invited.

They will call me if for some reason it is canceled. So check back here for a possible update.

Wanna play in a band, a really big band?

The third annual combined Community Band/YSHS - McKinney/Alumni band concert will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in the High School gym. Check back for the time.

If you play a band instrument, you are welcome to join the fun. We had about 110 participants last year. This year, Band Director Dennis Farmer is hoping to have 150!

Community Band rehearsals are on Monday nights at 7:30 in the YSHS music room. Every time we have one of these concerts, the Community Band seems to grow by a few members. Come see what it's all about.