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Front Page Sunday 7/15/12

There are two local option election to allow alcohol sales in our region this week and both sides find stats to support their cause. Also on the program today we'll begin our youth radio project, hear from a state lawmaker pushing to make medicinal marijuana legal in Kentucky and we'll learn about your last chance to voice comments about an impending cut to maintenance funds at Land between the Lakes. 

(1.) ALCOHOL VOTE -- On July 17th, Marshall County will settle an issue that has divided the area for months, whether or not to allow the purchase of alcohol within county lines. The county Chamber of Commerce just released statistics saying that Lyon and Calloway Counties experienced some tourism growth after going wet. However, over the past 20 years, dry counties in the Jackson Purchase area also have enjoyed the lowest percentage of DUI convictions per capita. This was compared to wet counties and counties that allowed some alcohol sales. Casey Northcutt, a native of Marshall County, expands the research, looking at a sample of statistics across the state. 

(2.) DRY COUNTY COMMENTARY  -- Local musician and Murray State graduate student Kirk Raper felt a bit of a culture shock when he moved from the Nashville area to Calloway County and found that the closest place to buy packaged alcohol was across the state line. This inspired him to write a commentary in the form of a song, titled “The Dry County Blues.” Please note, the views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the contributor and do not necessarily reflect the views of WKMS. 

(3.) 50TH ANNIVERSARY CHILD ABUSE STUDY -- Battered Child Syndrome turned 50 this month, in 1962 the Journal of the American Medical Association published this ground breaking study which broadened the term “child abuse” to include “child maltreatment,” encouraged the development of child protective services agencies, and changed the way physicians cared for children with injuries. Pediatric Forensic Expert Dr. Melissa Currie, is only one of two physicians in Kentucky specializing in child abuse. Dr. Currie is the medical director of pediatric forensic medicine at the University of Louisville. She talks with WKMS’s Heidi Couch about the continued need for awareness. 

(4.) KY HEMP MUSEUM -- Coming up we’ll hear about a push to legalize hemp and medicinal marijuana in the Commonwealth but first, did you know Kentucky has a Hemp Museum. In fact it is looking to make Christian County its new home, once hotbed of industrial Hemp Growth. WKMS’s Drew Adams spoke to Kentucky Hemp Museum Director Katie Moyer about the move to the Purchase, the uses for hemp and why it’s different from its psychoactive cousin, marijuana.

(5.) MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL -- After learning more about Kentucky’s Hemp History…Could Kentucky be the next state to legalize medicinal use of marijuana? State Senator Perry Clark hopes so. He’s pre-filed the “Gatewood Galbraith Medical Marijuana Memorial Act.” The bill is named after the late perennial gubernatorial candidate who campaigned on legalizing marijuana. Kentucky Public Radio’s Phillip Bailey spoke with Senator Clark on his podcast Noise and Notes. Here’s a portion of that interview. 

(6.) PATRICK JONES YOUTH RADIO -- We kick off our WKMS Youth Radio Project with an interview by 9-year-old Murray Elementary School student Patrick Jones. He recently attended a basketball camp organized by Murray State Men’s Basketball Head Coach Steve Prohm. He scored a few minutes with Prohm to talk about the Racers’ upcoming season and the celebrated “ice cream shot.” 

(7.) LBL CUTS -- In April Land Between the Lakes officials announced the park’s federal maintenance budget had been reduced by 50 percent. The total loss amounted to about 8 hundred thousand dollars for the park. Over the past few months, we’ve been following the efforts of local Forest Service officials as they try to determine how best to deal with the cuts. The process involved seeking public input at several meetings around the park, as well as an online questionnaire. Now, the public has a final chance to give their input to park administrators before they make the final decision on changes in August. Shelly Baskin spoke with LBL Customer Service Manager Brian Beisel about what the results of the public surveys were, and what the future looks like for LBL.

(8.) JERRY WAYNE WALKER UPDATE -- The trial began this week for Jerry Wayne Walker Jr., the man implicated in a fatal 1998 Murray State dorm fire. Walker was originally charged in 2001 in connection with the fire that killed student Michael Minger.  That trial ended in a hung jury. Kentucky State Police reopened the investigation a couple of years ago, and brought charges against walker again this past September. This week jurors have heard evidence presented by the prosecution. Candice Freeland has been covering this week’s event for the West Kentucky Star. Gary Pitts speaks with Freeland. 

(9.) ANGEL’S ATTIC -- It’s been ten years since Murray’s Angels Attic thrift shop opened it’s doors with the help of donated space and 20 thousand dollars of seed money. The sale of donated gently used items help to support the Angel’s community clinic, which provides health services for Murray’s uninsured. Drew Adams reports on how the clinic has helped one person, and tells us more on the thrift shops impact on the health of Murray’s uninsured. 

Chad Lampe, a Poplar Bluff, Missouri native, was raised on radio. He credits his father, a broadcast engineer, for his technical knowledge, and his mother for the gift of gab. At ten years old he broke all bonds of the FCC and built his own one watt pirate radio station. His childhood afternoons were spent playing music and interviewing classmates for all his friends to hear. At fourteen he began working for the local radio stations, until he graduated high school. He earned an undergraduate degree in Psychology at Murray State, and a Masters Degree in Mass Communication. In November, 2011, Chad was named Station Manager in 2016.
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