Marshall County Post

M ARSHALL C OUNTY P OST "ELFAST s #HAPEL (ILL s #ORNERSVILLE s ,EWISBURG s 0ETERSBURG Vol. No. 36 $1 Thursday, April 25, 2024 Retirement announced Page 3 Sports Page12 Can you go tuition free? Let’s find out. AA/EEO/disability/vet mtsu.edu/MTfree CASA Luncheon held at Rec Center Large crowd of nearly 200 gathered for CASA luncheon –Post Photos by Tracy Harris TRACY HARRIS Staff Writer A CASA Lun- cheon was held on Thursday, April 18 at noon at the Lew- isburg Recreation Cen- ter. Attendees had the chance to donate at the end of the luncheon to help fund CASA’s ini- tiatives. Approxily See CASA, Page 6A TRACY HARRIS Staff Writer T he Marshall County Republican Party met for their monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 16 at 6:00 p.m. Three guest speakers spoke about education, primarily school vouchers. The speakers were Director of Schools Ja- cob Sorrells, State Representative Todd Warner, and State Senator JoeyHensley. Director Sorrells spoke fi rst. The fi rst topics were the building program, Marshall County school budget, TISA, and COVID funds. Next, Sorrells jumped right into the rea- son he was there - school vouchers. “I don’t agree with vouchers for lots of reasons. But let’s say we did have vouchers, where are our kids going to go? There’s not one here…so why would we want this? When you go to Walmart and buy something that costs $100, you GOP talks school vouchers Representative Todd Warner provided BBQ & fixings for the April GOP meeting. – Post Photo by Tracy Harris See GOP, Page 5A Miss Cornersville Pageant Miss Cornersville 2024will be held on Saturday,April 27 at 5 p.m. in the Cornersville High School auditorium and is hosted by the high school cheerleaders. The contestants are: Belle Braden, Kaydee Fowler, Jenny Jett, AllieWilliams, Lilly Luna, KelseyWilliams, Emma Cuevas, Mariellen Collier, Claudaia Armstrong, Jacey Metcalf, Katelyn Hinzman, and AshlynWillis. –Photo submitted 2024 MCHS Top Ten. Front row left to right: Teneal Alexander, Kamaria Johnson- Valedictorian; Kamea Johnson- Salutatorian; Araya Green Second row left to right: David Eastep, Wyatt Joyce, Skylee Sonnier, Diya Patel, Kendric Hernandez, Henry Pearson –Photo submitted 2024 Marshall County High School top ten The Marshall County High School seniors will graduate May 17, 2024. This year, there will be 176 students graduating and 40 graduated in December. This is an exciting time for seniors, faculty, family, and friends. Mr. Justin Perry, principal at MCHS made the fol- lowing statements: “The administration, faculty, and sta ff of MCHS are extremely proud of our Top Ten graduates. This diverse group is made up of high achievers, scholar See Top Ten, Page 6A TRACY HARIS Staff Writer T his article follows up on last week’s City Council article about Marshall County EMS. As a reminder, Council Member Joe Bradford mentioned an email from a con- cerned citizen. The gmail address used the name “Faith Walker” and expressed their concerns about Marshall County EMS. That email was sent on April 7 to all City Council Members, the City Manager, the City May- or, the City Attorney, and the Treasurer. The Marshall County Post veri fi ed Mar- shall County EMS does not employ anyone named Faith Walker. The email sent to the city o ffi cials is listed below: Dear City Council Members, I am writing you as a concerned citizen and a Nationally Registered Paramedic with 16 years of experience. While I understand that the city coun- cil may not directly oversee the decisions of our County-run Emergency Medical Service (EMS), I believe what I have to share is of utmost impor- tance to the safety and well-being of our commu- nity. Currently, Marshall County EMS should ideally be operating with a certain number of fully sta ff ed ambulances in various locations, 6 ALS sta ff ed am- bulances in total. However, due to sta ffi ng short- ages and operational constraints, we are unable to meet these standards consistently. This shortfall directly impacts our ability to provide timely and e ff ective emergency medical care to the citizens of Lewisburg and surrounding areas. One critical issue contributing to our chal- lenges is the scheduling system in place for EMS personnel. We currently work on a 24/48 sched- ule, meaning we are on duty for 24 hours followed by 48 hours o ff . While this schedule may seem appealing on the surface, it becomes unsustain- able and detrimental to our well-being when com- pounded by sta ff shortages and high call volumes. The resulting burnout and fatigue among EMS providers not only jeopardize our own health but also compromise the quality of care we can deliv- er to those in need. In a normal 40 hour a week profession, 2080 hours are worked in a year. On a 24/48 schedule, we work 2880 hours in a year. 800 hours more per year. To address this issue, many of us have advocat- ed for a switch to a 24/72 schedule, similar to that of the Lewisburg Fire Department. This change would allow for more rest between shifts, mitigat- ing burnout and fatigue, and ultimately improving both employee retention and the quality of care we can provide. However, despite our repeated requests, this proposal has been consistently over- looked or dismissed by the County government. A Community at Risk: Marshall County EMS See EMS, Page 6A