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Mary Ann Gemmill started her job as Christian County’s new superintendent of schools at the beginning of July. The 40-year education veteran comes to the district after serving most recently as the chief administrative officer for the Collier County School District in Naples, Fla. Gemmill is a Clinton, Tenn., native, and has worked in several school districts across the Midwestand south. She comes to Christian County Schools as Kentucky is implementing a major push for college and career readiness.

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. 

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.

The Four Rivers has a rich history and culture.  From ancient Native American mounds to making teas from the herbs growing in our region to preserving and protecting the resting places of War of 1812 veterans, there are people working to safeguarding the past for the generations to come.  We’ll also meet a Marshall County man preserving his family’s tradition of making quality moonshine and the woman who’s reviving the art of burlesque in Paducah.  Then, we’ll hear how sorghum is still being made the old-fashioned way and what’s being done to keep big singing alive in Benton. It's a special presentation of Front Page Sunday from WKMS.

Before access to modern medicine became widespread, the rural poor mixed up their own treatments from the plants they grew and foraged. They learned which plants would relieve aches, supplement nutrition, and get rid of infections. These days, a trip to the pharmacy is a much more common way to heal an ailment. But there are still enclaves of natural healing around our region. Angela Hatton traveled to Clarksville, Tennessee, where a local herbalist has preserved her great-grandmother’s remedies.

The War of 1812 is sometimes called the second war for independence. It’s also called the forgotten war, as it was overshadowed fifty years later by a much bloodier war. Kentuckians were an important part of the 1812 war effort. The Commonwealth contributed more to the casualty list than any other state. Soldiers buried in western Kentucky fought in campaigns from Canada to New Orleans, with a few under the command of then-General and future president Andrew Jackson. Angela Hatton went searching for their graves.

McCracken County Schools announced the principal of its new consolidated high school this week. Michael Ceglinski has been involved in plans for the school combining students from Reidland, Heath, and Lone Oak since its early stages. 

When a business meeting gets particularly boring, your pen starts to wander. Curlicues, horses and airplanes appear, scrawled along the margins of your notes, but as you doodle, are you really creating art? According to the Yeiser Art Center, you are. Once a month this year, local interior designer Bill Ford has held doodling workshops for children in the center, and he recently held his first class for adults. Casey Northcutt has more on an art form spawned from boredom.