Area News

By Dave Taylor At Monday’s meeting of the Hancock County Fiscal Court, magistrates debated, from seats spread around the room, whether to shut down parts of Vastwood Park and how to handle county employees who can’t – or won’t – come to work during the pandemic. Court members found seats in the front and back…

By Dave Taylor The Hancock County Library is closed to the public during the coronavirus scare, but many of its services are still available online, and the library has removed the passwords on its internet and removed blocks for those with fines or overdue books to make it easier for people to access its books…

By Dave Taylor Hancock County Schools are closed until at least April 6, but superintendent Kyle Estes says the district is keeping its focus on educating while adding a strong emphasis on protecting the well being of the student population through increased meal and health services. “I’ve had multiple meetings with our support staff and…

By Ralph Dickerson As the coronavirus continues to slither across the United States, the effect on our way of life changes each day. Nearly every entity in the county faces changes wrought by the virus. Though no reported cases of the virus exist in Hancock County at this time, many churches cancelled services this past…

By Dave Taylor In Lona Morton’s job as Hancock County’s director of senior services, the COVID-19 pandemic means she’s facing competing responsibilities: bringing seniors together for socialization, and isolating them from the virus that most often kills seniors. As of this week, however, the county’s senior centers are closed, although the strain of having to…

By Ralph Dickerson The COVID-19 epidemic continues to alter the fabric of community in Hancock County, weaving changes great and small. The virus impacts all areas of our society. It changes how kids go to school, how people worship and now how people eat out. Fear of the virus already changed business traffic in local…

By Dave Taylor With schools in the county closed for three weeks due to COVID-19 worries, parents are suddenly left to figure out not only how to watch their kids each day, but also how to make sure they do their daily school work. Amy Jackson is well suited to the task, being a second-grade…

By Dave Taylor A couple in their 20s is encouraging some old-school ideals with a little library built on a tree stump in their front yard, where they hope neighborhood kids will develop a passion for reading. Kensey and Tyler Jarboe’s home at the corner of Robin Circle and Bluegrass Drive prominently features the miniature…