Local News
Calhoun receives grant for pilot EMT-Basic dual-enrollment program
Calhoun Community College has been awarded a $31,500 grant from the Alabama Office of Workforce Development to establish a pilot, dual-enrollment program in the Emergency Medical Technician-Basic certificate program.
The pilot program will be established at Sparkman High School in Madison County during the fall 2009 semester, which begins in August.
According to Debi Garrison, grants coordinator at Calhoun, grant funds will be used to provide tuition, books and equipment for the 20 students to be enrolled in the program, and to offset travel expenses for the instructor. The pilot program will target seniors at Sparkman and will provide EMT-Basic training that, once successfully completed, will prepare students to take the National Registry EMT exam.
“Students who pass the exam will receive their EMT-Basic certificate and will be qualified to directly enter the workforce,” Garrison said. “The students will also be qualified to enter paramedic training at Calhoun or other two-year colleges offering paramedic programs; to complete a four-year degree in a medical career; or to receive valuable on-the-job training as volunteers with local volunteer fire departments,”
Garrison said.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment for EMTs and paramedics is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2016, and career prospects are strong. In fact, employment of EMTs and paramedics is expected to grow by 19 percent between now and 2016.
According to Garrison, Sparkman High School was selected to pilot program because the school has an established Medical Academy with a proven method of identifying high-achieving students who have a genuine interest in health education and entering health-care professions.
“Sparkman High School also has a strong dual-enrollment relationship with Calhoun,” Garrison said.
Sparkman is one of 88 area public and private high schools and home schools with which Calhoun has dual-enrollment agreements.
The Calhoun-Sparkman High pilot dual-enrollment EMT-Basic program is the first program in the state allowing high school students the opportunity to complete the EMT-Basic certification entirely through dual enrollment.
Calhoun will pilot the program this fall for establishment of dual-enrollment EMT-Basic classes within the college’s service-area and for other community colleges and high schools statewide to offer the program.
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Local woman dies in Friday fire
A woman who was badly burned when she was discovered in her unit at Elmwood Apartments by police and firefighters late Friday night died not long before midnight, authorities said.
Vickie Strasser, 52, was taken by ambulance at about 10:40 p.m. to Athens-Limestone Hospital with second- and third-degree burns over 95 percent of her body. MedFlight was called to rush her to Huntsville Hospital at about 11:30 p.m., but she died before the helicopter arrived. -
Athens Police make 14 arrests in Friday night drug roundup
Friday night was a busy one for Athens Police officers. While several investigators were conducting a roundup that resulted in 14 arrests, other officers responded to a fire call at Elmwood apartments (see story on today’s front page).
Lt. Trevor Harris said officers conducted search warrants at two homes — one at 1210 Plato Jones St. and another at 903 Brownsferry St.
Madison Police Department provided two additional officers and dogs from the K-9 unit to assist. -
Family displaced by fire seeking residence to rent
One family displaced by last Sunday’s fire at Athens Village Apartments is desperately looking for a home or apartment to rent in the area.
Scott Robertson and his wife, Amanda, and four children, daughter Jordan, 16; son Matthew, 14; son Dallas, 9; and daughter Lily, 5, lost everything they owned on Aug. 29 when an early morning fire — sparked by a cigarette thrown on a patio chair outside another apartment — destroyed all eight units in Building D of the apartment complex at 1711 W. Elm St. in Athens. -
TVA ranks in Top 10 for economic development
For the fifth year in a row, the Tennessee Valley Authority has been named by Site Selection magazine as one of the top 10 North American utilities for economic development achievement. -
Bank robbers remain at large in city, county
Athens Police are still searching for a white man who robbed TVA Credit Union on East Hobbs Street in Athens on July 9.
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Woman burned in fire at Elmwood Apartments
A woman who was burned over 95 percent of her body after a fire in her unit at Elmwood Apartments was taken to Athens-Limestone Hospital by ambulance at around 10:45 p.m.
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Trinity reunion parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday
The Trinity High School Grand Reunion parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Athens.
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Keeping the bees
Limestone County Beekeepers Association received a grant from the Alabama Mountains, Rivers and Valleys district of the RC&D Council.
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Trinity High School had many distinguished graduates
Local resident Lt. Col. James L. Walker gathered biographies of some of these graduates as the school celebrates its annual Grand Reunion today and Saturday in Athens.
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Part of Clinton Street in Athens to be closed at least 2 more weeks
Clinton Street in Athens, between Lee and Forrest streets, will be closed for at least two more weeks while Athens Utilities replaces sewer lines that are up to 75 years old, an official said.
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