City seeks agreement with Murray State to teach police Spanish

During its June 3 work session, the Lexington City Council will discuss the authorization of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the city and Murray State University, Kentucky Institute for International Studies, setting up a program to instruct sworn employees of the Lexington Police Department in Spanish.

If authorized, MSU/KIIS would provide 140 to 150 hours of college level Spanish Language instruction, the equivalent of nine credit hours for each employee.

The agreement would cost taxpayers $4,995, money already budgeted.

The MOU would remain valid through 2010.

The Hispanic population of Lexington in 2000 was 8,561, constituting about 3.3 percent of the population, according census data. The Kentucky State Data Center estimates the Hispanic population will grow to over 17,500 by 2010.

Mayor Newberry challenges citizens to remember fallen soldiers by exercising rights

Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry addressed a gathering at the Lexington Cemetery on Memorial Day, encouraging the audience to honor fallen soldiers by exercising the freedoms the men and women of the United States military fought and died for.

Newberry quoted from Lincoln's Gettysburg address, saying the words still hold relevance today.

"After acknowledging this country was founded on the proposition that all men are created equal, Lincoln noted that it was fitting and proper for the living to gather to memorialize that battlefield and the sacrifice of those who fought there. But then he went on to issue a challenge to those who lived," Newberry said.

Newberry called Lincoln's challenge a "duty" for all American citizens.

"So to honor these who have died, let us exercise our rights to live and worship as we please, to assemble peaceably, to speak our minds, and, in this presidential election year, to vote our conscience. Let us as a community, state and nation work to ensure that not only we enjoy these freedoms, but that the right to liberty, justice and equality are also made available to all of our fellow citizens. As American citizens, that is our call to duty," he said.

Porposed ordinance would raise EMS fees

A trip to the hospital in a Lexington Division of Fire and Emergency Services ambulance may soon get a lot more expensive.

The Urban County Council has proposed an ordinance, which if passed, will significantly increase emergency medical service fees.

The fee for basic life support would increase from $294 to $650. Level 1 advanced life support (ALS) would rise from $350 to $750 and level 2 from $497 to $900. The current $584 fee for specialty care would jump to $1,000 and the mileage charge would increase from $6.50 per mile to $11.00 per mile.

The fee hike would generate an additional $784,000 next year, according to budget figures.

Mayor Jim Newberry proposed the increase in his 2008 budget address.

“Most of these fees are paid by insurance providers, Medicaid or Medicare. Further, our EMS fees have been lower than those in several surrounding communities and this adjustment will bring Lexington more in line with the going rate for EMS services,” he said.

Nationally, the average cost for ambulance transportation is $415, according to a 2007 United States Government Accountability Office study.

The base rate for Kentucky Medicaid reimbursement for ALS ambulance transport is $110 and $4 per mile

Wendell Hatfield, director of Jessamine County EMS, said the county charges a fee of $375 for ALS 1 and $500 for ALS 2. He said Jessamine County manages to keep their fees low by collecting a supplemental occupational tax, but they are struggling to fund their services with fuel costs running 30 percent over budget.

“I’ve been in this business for over 25 years and I’ve never seen it this bad,” he said.

The proposed Lexington ordinance received first reading during the May 22 council meeting. Council Member Ed Lane made a motion, seconded by George Meyers, to suspend the rules and give the proposal a second reading, but the motion did not carry.

Susan Lamb, the council clerk, said she expects the ordinance to appear on the June 12 docket for its second reading.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government faces a $35 million shortfall in 2009 at current spending levels. The EMS fee increase makes up part of a plan involving both fee increases and cuts in service to address the budget shortfall.

Lexington Seeks $11 million in federal grants

Lexington plans to seek over $11 million in federal funding on behalf of the Department of Public Safety, Division of Fire and Emergency Services, Environmental and Emergency Management, Enhanced 9-1-1, the Police Department and the Kentucky Blood Center. The city will submit applications through the Kentucky Department of Homeland Security for funding through the Department of Homeland Security Homeland Security Grant Program.

The grants provide federal dollars to states for the prevention, response and recovery from terrorist acts, and 25 percent of the overall funding must address preparedness planning and mitigating the threat of improvised explosive devices.

Lexington seeks funding totaling an amount nearly equal to what the entire state of Kentucky received in 2007.

Last year, $11,756,573 of federal money poured into state coffers from the Department of Homeland Security, according to the Homeland Security Web site.

Federal funding peaked in 2003 when Kentucky received over $32 million in Homeland Security grants.

Lexington’s wish list includes:

A $600,000 Heavy Hazardous Response Vehicle

$233,600 to expand central Kentucky’s 9-1-1 network to include Hardin, Casey, Garrard, Perry, Estill, Meade and Taylor Counties.

$7,100,000 to integrate the police and fire department’s communications systems.

$2,434,700 for the purchase and installation of Mobile Data Computers for the Police.

$500,000 for two containment vehicles for the transportation of hazardous waste.

$122,760 for personal protective equipment and upgrades to the Robots for Hazardous Devices Unit.

$24,000 for the Kentucky Blood Center to purchase an off-site computer to back up the Blood Management System software.

$25,000 to hire a contactor to develop a disaster preparedness plan for the 2010 World Equestrian Games.

$150,729 for a Photon Scanner Laser System for the Forensic Services Unit.

$150,000 for a computer program to track fire department equipment and personnel

Welcome!

Welcome to the Bluegrass Examiner blog!

The Bluegrass Examiner will seek to fill a void in Lexington news coverage. We will cover city politics and issues such as economic development, crime and local business. The Bluegrass Examiner will also offer editorial opinion and seek to stimulate healthy discussion.

Ultimately, we plan to migrate the Examiner to its own Web site, at which time the blog will become more of an open forum to discuss local issues and for me to wax eloquently from my soap box. Until then, the blog will contain a mix of hard news reported within a professional journalistic framework, and opinion. Opinion will be clearly labeled.

I believe the most important role of a free press in a democratic society is to inform the public in order that they may self-govern. The Examiner will seek to keep the citizens of Lexington informed as to what their leaders are doing. Hopefully, this will motivate readers to involve themselves in the political process. After all, the actions of our government, particularly local government, can have a profound impact on our lives and wallets.

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