Local News

With August came a lot of excitement in the political world. Early voting kicked off Aug. 4 and ended Aug. 11, with the primary election day coming Aug. 14. Voters, who had been mailed sample ballots, found the process easier with the required identification.

Non-profit organizations had a scare after the members of the Gadsden County Board of Commissioners thought they would have to slash all non-profits after an initial look at finances during the early budgeting process.

In a changing testing environment with standards being raised and test scores tumbling statewide, Gadsden County’s elementary schools continued to perform well in mathematics. With the release of all FCAT scores for grades 4 through 8 for mathematics, reading and science, 61 percent of Gadsden County fourth-graders were proficient in math, beating the state average of 60 percent. In fifth grade, 58 percent of Gadsden County students were proficient in math, exceeding the state average of 57 percent.

For more than 10 years, Gary Murray has come upon his livestock, discovering carcasses slaughtered and beheaded in or near their pens. His outbuildings have been vandalized, electrical wiring and copper tubing has been stolen and wild dogs seem to have set their sights on his property. But Dec. 23 has been the worst.

It’s a long way from the old James A. Shanks High School to the Pentagon.

Just ask Quincy native U.S. Army Major Gen. Frederick B. “Ben” Hodges, a graduate of Shanks.

Hodges came home in March to the delight of many and visited the school. Classmates remembered him as a big, blond kid, smart in school with a good sense of humor. From the James A. Shanks Class of 1976, he went to West Point and graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1980.