An Anniversary

Mayor Teresa Isaac will be the guest speaker when the Center for Creative Living celebrates its 30th anniversary on Friday, May 31 at 11:30 am. Info, 859/277-3855.

Another Anniversary

Cardinal Valley Elementary will celebrate its 40th anniversary Sunday, June 1. The celebration includes an open house, refreshments and visits from former staff and principals. Info, 859/ 231-6914.

Read All About It

Fourteen percent of Kentuckians who are of working age can't read at all, and another 26 percent read at the basic level. The state has goals to increase literacy 10 percent by the year 2010. The Carnegie Center hopes to assist in this goal, and are now in the midst of working out a public/private partnership between LFUCG, the Lexington Public Library Board, and U.S. Ambassador to Britain William S. Farish. The goal is to keep the Center open at its current location. It's estimated that the Center needs $260k to stay open, and Farish has pledged $100k, if the Library and LFUCG will match. He's set a deadline of June 3 for the match.

No Such Thing as a Free Lunch?

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government will be serving free lunches this summer as part of a federally-funded food service program. The lunches are available to all children aged 19 and under. The program will kick off in June, and continue until August. For more information, call 258.3070.

Russell Elementary

While one elementary school celebrates a 40th anniversary this week, another continues to fight for its life. Another forum will be scheduled in the ongoing debate between the school board (which sees closing the school as fiscally responsible) and Friends of Russell, who've raised $400,000 (of the $3 million the school board say is needed). Parents and friends have requested more time, at a meeting earlier this week, and feel their fundraising to date represents both a good-faith effort, as well as the financial resources necessary to keep the school open while they continue to raise additional funds.

No Mo' Popo?

Public safety officers,such as policemen and firefighters, have been left in the lurch, as co-workers leave to find work in other counties because of the low pay in Lexington.

Police and firefighters pled to the City Council that uncompetitive salaries have caused 54 officers to leave the police force. A division survey found that an estimated 62 more officers were planning to leave.

Some ideas were offered to help pay officer's salaries, such as temporarily granting payroll tax exemptions to public safety personnel, and ending discussions of condemning the water company.

The council is in the middle of a series of meetings aimed at balancing the budget, which is $7 million to $8 short. The budget must be approved before July 1 deadline.

Bluegrass State Games

The Bluegrass State Games will be here sooner than you think. With opening ceremonies on July 18th. But, now is the time to register for the events you wish to participate in, which range from archery to basketball, gymnastics to equestrian. Entry forms can be downloaded from their web site at www.bgsg.org. The entry fee should run you about $20 bucks. If you don't have web access, call the Bluegrass State Games' office at (800) 722.2474 and an entry form will be mailed to you.

Agree to Disagree

Candidates Ernie Fletcher and Ben Chandler are further preparing for the race to replace a Paul Patton as governor of Kentucky.

Just after winning their respective party's primaries, in the past week, two have agreed to debate each other between six and eight times from the month of July to the election date in November.

Election, debate coverage information, and upcoming airdates can be found at web sites such as www.ket.org,

Blood Thirsty

The next blood drive will be held on June 12, from 8am to 4pm in the ballroom of the Government Center. For more info concerning the blood drive, call 258.3008.

Street Trafficking

Anyone headed to the downtown area this weekend should be forewarned, as construction crews will be installing the street print "bricks" Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st at the intersections of Main a

To submit an advocacy/activism activity or event for Quickies, email rkirkland@aceweekly.com, or editor@aceweekly.com.