MCT-2024-08-01

4A —The Marion Tribune, Thursday, August 1, 2024 “This national award speaks highly of your commitment to academic excellence and illustrates your dedication to pre- paring students for their future.” Award recipients receive a National Beta School of Distinction banner to proudly dis- play as a symbol of their accomplishment. Kimball Christian Academy is proud of these achievements and remains committed to instilling qualities of aca- demic excellence, char- acter, leadership, and service in its students. businesses and resourc- es. Other signi fi cant cov- erages include the annual Cornbread Festival, the Marion County School District’s 2024 gradua- tions, and numerous stu- dents signing to colleges and work internship pro- grams. Additionally, the Tribune reported on sea- sonal activities for spring and summer, as well as the extreme weather and snowfall in January that brought the area to a standstill for weeks. Looking ahead, The Marion Tribune aims to continue growing and covering all the essen- tial news and events that residents need to know about, ensuring it re- mains a vital part of the community for years to come. One Year Continued from Page 1 Awards Continued from Page 1 T he Marion Tribune encourages its read- ers to express their views by submitting let- ters to the editor. Let- ters that are published will appear on the opin- ion page of the weekly edition. To submit a letter for consideration, please email it to llimadasilva@ mar i ont r ibune . com. While mailed copies are accepted, emailed sub- missions are strongly encouraged. Deadline for consideration for publication in the fol- lowing edition is noon on Mondays. Letters will run in a fi rst-come basis, and inclusion in a particular edition can- not be guaranteed due to space limitation. All submissions must have the writer’s name and city of resi- dence. Letters that are not accompanied by name and city of resi- dence will not be con- sidered. We also request you provide a phone number should there be questions regarding your letter. Your phone number will not be pub- lished. All letters become property of The Marion Tribune upon receipt and are subject to edit- ing for space and con- tent. Publication of a letter to the editor is at the sole discretion of the editor. Letters written by former employees about their employers will not be published, nor will letters from disgruntled customers about a pri- vate business. Once a person has announced his candidacy for public o ffi ce, letters from that person will not be pub- lished in the “To The Editor” column. Letters from others speci fi cally supporting or criticizing a state or local candidate in their letter will also not be published during the campaign season, as those are considered paid advertisements. The editor may choose not to run a let- ter if it is deemed mean- spirited, racist, libelous, patently o ff ensive, vul- gar or from a third party or deemed to be plagia- rized. Those writing letters are asked to keep sub- missions fewer than 400 words. For submissions that are a bit longer, the writer may request the editor use the letter as a guest editorial. Guest editorials will be con- sidered for timeliness, readability and general interest. Guest editori- als that are overly long will not be considered. How to submit a letter to the editor “Wild Child” Day Camp a success SP employee sick leave transfer request approved LACIE SILVA Editor A t the South Pittsburg City meeting, the is- sue of allowing employ- ees to donate sick time to one another was dis- cussed. The current employee policy does not permit the transfer of sick time. City Attorney Gouger stated that any changes to this policy would require board approval. An em- ployee had requested to donate 160 hours of sick time to the City Admin- istrator Gene Vess, with several other employees also willing to contribute. Attorney Gouger con fi rmed that a policy change could be autho- rized to allow such dona- tions. Mayor Rector sug- gested reviewing the em- ployee policy to poten- tially allow employees to use their sick time as they see fi t, noting the current restriction on transfers. The board voted on the request to donate sick time, and it was unani- mously approved. 9 things you might not know about power restoration A s the President/CEO of Sequachee Valley Electric Cooperative, I’m accustomed to members’ questions about power out- ages and why it can take time to get the lights back on. This month, I’d like to shed light on our restora- tion process to help our members understand what could be happening behind the scenes. Here are nine things you might not know about restoration: 1. We need you. When your power goes out, it might be just at your home or a small section of a neighborhood. We rely on you to let us know if your power is out. Report an out- age at svalleyec.com or call 888-421-7832. 2. Our employees might be a ff ected too . Because SVEC is a local electric cooperative owned by the members we serve, our employees are local as well. When you’re without power, our people might be too. 3. It’s a team e ff ort. Every one of SVEC’s em- ployees is working to get your power restored as soon as possible. When your power goes out, we all work together as quickly and safely as possible to get you back to normal. 4. We assess the sit- uation fi rst. Every outage is di ff erent, and we don’t know how dangerous it is or what equipment might need to be replaced. When responding to outages, we fi rst need to see what hap- pened, then fi gure out what materialswe need and form a plan for how to fi x the problems without compro- mising electric fl ow for the rest of ourmembers. 5. Restoration is normally prioritized by the largest number of members we can get back on in the short- est amount of time. Our crews focus on responding fi rst to public safety issues and critical services like hospitals. Then we com- plete work that impacts the largest number of people fi rst. 6. Our employees face many dangers. Besides working around high-voltage electricity, our crews are on alert for wild animals, weather elements, falling trees and fast-mov- ing cars. (If you ever drive past one of our vehicles, please do so slowly.) 7. Flickering lights are not a bad thing. Some folks mistake fl icker- ing lights for a power surge, but these “blinks” are im- portant because they indi- cate our equipment worked and prevented a possible outage likely caused by ani- mals or stray tree limbs on the lines. 8. You need a back- up plan. We do our best to help those who need it, but if you depend on electric- ity for life support purposes such as oxygen, you must have a backup plan — re- member, we don’t always know how long restoration e ff orts will take. If you’re unsurewhat todo, call us so we can help you prepare an emergency location. 9. Our employees have to plan — and eat. If you ever see our trucks in a restaurant parking lot while your power is out, know that sometimes our employees huddle in a safe, common area to map out their plan for getting your power back on. Also, our crewsworklong,hardhours during outages and need to take time for meals just like everyone else. Learning the complexities of power res- toration can help you, our members, understand the diligent e ff orts of our team at SVEC. We are commit- ted to restoring your power as safely and swiftly as pos- sible, but your patience and cooperation are vital to this process. Together, we can ensure that our community remains resilient and well- prepared for any future disruptions. Thank you for your continued support and trust in SVEC. For more information about our system go to svalleyec.com.