IIn this issue: FEMA information, 10A; Soccer information...
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By Michle Longworth Planet Reporter Raymond Walker says that five-minute blood test at a health fair literally saved his life. Walker, who is this year's Massac County Relay for Life ambassador, said that when he was asked about being the ambassador, he considered it "a big honor to be asked," because he said he will represent other cancer survivors, and he will have the chance to tell his story, which began at a health fair sponsored by his employer Cook Coal Terminal. He explained how the blood work from the health fair indicated that his TSH — thyroid- stimulating hormone — level was elevated at 8. He was advised to follow up with his medical doctor. Walker, 25, went to his physician, Dr. Tom Staton, who sent him for an ultrasound. Following the ultrasound, a biopsy was done. After the biopsy, he learned he had Papillary carcinoma, which is a type of thyroid cancer. At that point, Walker said he went to Vanderbilt for treatment. According to Walker, his surgery on March 8 was an eight and one-half hour surgery in which his thyroid, two para thyroid glands and lymph nodes in his neck were removed. He recalls the cancer was in his neck, wrapped around his vocal chords and in his main arteries and muscle tissue. In fact, there was so much cancer, his surgeon, Dr. Netterville, commented that in his 25 years of practice, he had never seen a person as young as Walker with so much cancer. Walker said his doctors said he was in perfect health, except that he had cancer. Following his surgery, he spent seven days in intensive care. And, he said he did so well that after his seven days of intensive care, he was sent home. But, even after going home, he had a tracheal tube and was unable to lift anything over five pounds. "That was real hard for me," he noted because he said he is such an active person. Now Walker said he is doing better and is back to work. "People are helping me any way they can," he said, noting he will begin his radiation treatment on Aug. 1. Walker said he was told that if the cancer were to spread, the most likely spot would be to the lungs. And, he will find out for certain if he is in remission on Aug. 10, when he goes in for a full body scan. Walker told a person from AEP's corporate office while he was off work and expressed his gratefulness that the health fair was made available to him and the other employees. "Take advantage of them," advised Walker, when talking about health fairs that are routinely offered. Or he encourages people to go to their family doctor to get checked out. Walker said cancer is close to him not only because of his experience, but because both of his grandfathers had cancer. He said now he is continuing to fight. "It's amazing how your perspective changes," he said, "The blues are bluer and the greens are greener. I used to take life for granted, but now I don't. One more day is a blessing." In addition to Walker, his team, Ray's Hope, will be at the Relay for Life walking the track and helping to raise money to fight this disease. Walker's team is made up of his family and close friends and within a couple of month's time, achieved bronze status, selling over 80 T-shirts. In addition, the team is also selling bracelets that feature the thyroid cancer awareness color, which is a light green, pink and blue. Walker is married to Samantha and they have a 3-year-old son, Raymond Kelly Walker. After being delayed because of severe flooding, Massac County's Relay for Life is back on track, and organizers are hoping that community members and team members will also be on the track walking all night long. The relay starts Friday evening at 5 p.m. By Terra Temple Planet Reporter It's a question hotel em- ployee Steve Chaney has been asked countless times: "Where can I go to have a glass of wine to celebrate my birthday, our anniversary, my fill in the blank?" "The only place I can sug- gest to them in the casino or Paducah," Chaney told the Metropolis City Council as he addressed them during the Citizen's Request portion of the July 11 meeting. "Not everyone wants to go to the casino," he continued. "And why should that money go to another city? People on the weekends, especially on Sundays have to go to these other cities. They're spending their money there, they're not spending their money here in Metropolis for what they want. That's money that we're losing." Chaney noted while busi- ness owners have discussed the same topic before the council, his interest is in "bringing in more city rev- enue for this city and facili- tating this city moving into the 20th century and chang- ing with the times and also to help with our economic development," rather than a personal and financial inter- est. It's been over a year since Chaney last approached the council on the topic himself. He handed out to the council copies of the Paducah liquor ordinance that allows single, by the drink, Sunday sales by restaurants. The Pa- ducah ordinance was signed into law in 2006 and since it went into effect in 2007 has brought in $33,600 in Sunday liquor license fees. "It has been a very suc- cessful program. People are spending their money at these restaurants in Paducah. They're not only garnishing the benefit of liquor license fees but also increased rev- enue as a result of people do- ing business," he said. "Since this ordinance changed, the (City of Metropolis has) lost a lot of money because of this Paducah ordinance. . . The bottom line is we need to fight to keep money here in Metropolis and stop pay- ing people to take their busi- ness elsewhere. With the cur- rent liquor license we have, that's exactly what we're do- ing — we're paying people to take their business elsewhere. How does that benefit Me- tropolis? It doesn't, at all. "There is a very apparent small town ideology here in Metropolis. Bottom line is, we're not Mayberry, people," he continued, with a chuckle. "We are not a Maybery, we will not ever be a Mayberry. If it was a Mayberry, I'm sure Mayberry would move for- ward in keeping up with the times. We need to do away with these Mayberry politics and start looking at the future advancement and develop- ment of our fine city." It took some time, but by next week, Massac County's eight emergency sirens will all be in place and in working condition. Community members will have chance to hear the sirens in action Monday, as emergency personnel will test the new system. In December 2010, Honeywell's Metropolis Works facility announced it would donate and install emergency sirens in three Massac County communities, replacing sirens that have deteriorated over time or were damaged during the January 2009 ice storm that struck the area. A part of the reason for the delay in installing the new sirens was making certain the radio frequencies for the sirens did not conflict or interfere with other frequencies used by the emergency medical service responders in Massac County. Currently, the eight sirens, which are used to warn area residents about emergency situations, were in a poor state of repair. Engineers determined that all eight are at the end of their life cycle and should be replaced instead of repaired. Metropolis electrical contractor J.M. Walters Corp. has handled the installation of the sirens. "These were needed, desperately needed," said Jim Walters, president of J.M. Walters Contractors. Larry Douglas, Emergency Service Disaster Agency director for Massac County, and Keith Davis, emergency coordinator for Metropolis, said: "We are grateful for this donation from Honeywell, which will ensure we have the means to quickly warn residents in the area in case of any emergency. The sirens are an important part of our capability to do this." "Honeywell is a member of this community and we are committed to the safety of our operations and the entire community," said Larry Smith, plant manager for the Honeywell Metropolis Works facility, which has been working with county and local emergency response personnel on the project since the first of the year. "There was clearly a need for new sirens so that residents could be warned in an emergency such as a tornado. We are committed to safety, so we felt donating the sirens 2 Sections Wednesday, July 20, 2011 20 Pages 4 Supplements Vol. 147 No. 29 85 Cents — Continued on Page 3A — — Continued on Page 10A— M M ETROPOLIS ETROPOLIS www.metropolisplanet.com www.metropolisplanet.com P P LAN LAN E E T T — Continued on Page 3A — In this issue: FEMA information, 10A; Soccer information 1-2B In this issue: FEMA information, 10A; Soccer information 1-2B Schedule of Events Emcee: Terry Reeves 5 p.m. Concessions Open 5:15 p.m. Survivor & Caregiver Registration • Refreshments at Survivor Celebration Tent 5:30 p.m. Main stage — Stacie Hines 6-7 p.m. Concessions closed for Opening Ceremony 6 p.m. Opening Ceremony — main stage • Prayer — Pastor Deem • National Anthem — Stacie Hines • Ambassador — Raymond Walker 6:30 p.m. Survivor Victory Lap 7 p.m. Family/Caregiver Lap with Survivors • Concessions Re-open 7:15 p.m. Parade of Teams Lap 7:20 p.m. Kennedy Leek 7:30 p.m. New Beginnings Baptist Church Group 8 p.m. Corn-hole Bag Tournament begins – MidCountry Bank 8:30 p.m. Fight Back Ceremony – Zumba with Courtney Blaise 8:50 p.m. Donation presentation 9 p.m. Begin Luminaria Lighting Everyone seated at main stage 9 p.m. Concessions Close • Luminaria ceremony; Reading of the names and Luminaria Lap 10 p.m. Concessions Re-open and all lights back on 10:15 p.m. Frozen T-Shirt Contest 10:20 p.m. Miss Relay contestants – report to entertainment tent • Have team member turn in entry form for contestant • Conga Walk Activity 11 p.m. Miss Relay Pageant – main stage 12 a.m. Minute to Win it 12:30 a.m. Name that Tune 1 a.m. Family Fued 1 a.m. All Money for awards must be turned in • Money can still be turned in after this time, but it won’t count for awards. 1:30 a.m. Line Dance 2 a.m. Let’s Make a Deal 3 a.m. Relay Poker Lap 4 a.m. Karaoke 6 a.m. Closing Ceremony – main stage – presentation of Awards Relay ambassador saved by five-minute blood test Emergency sirens being installed, will be tested Monday Raymond Walker, right, with his wife, Sa- mantha and son, Raymond. Liquor ordinance questioned It’s fair time Goats, sheep, cows and many more animals are all on display this week at Massac County Youth Fair, which continues until Saturday. More information can be found on page 10A. — Planet photo by Linda Kennedy
Transcript of IIn this issue: FEMA information, 10A; Soccer information...
By Michle LongworthPlanet Reporter
Raymond Walker says that fi ve-minute blood test at a health fair literally saved his life.
Walker, who is this year's Massac County Relay for Life ambassador, said that when he was asked about being the ambassador, he considered it "a big honor to be asked," because he said he will represent other cancer survivors, and he will have the chance to tell his story, which began at a health fair sponsored by his employer Cook Coal Terminal.
He explained how the blood work from the health fair indicated that his TSH — thyroid-stimulating hormone — level was elevated at 8. He was advised to follow up with his medical doctor.
Walker, 25, went to his physician, Dr. Tom Staton, who sent him for an ultrasound. Following the ultrasound, a biopsy was done. After the biopsy, he learned he had Papillary carcinoma, which is a type of thyroid cancer. At that point, Walker said he went to Vanderbilt for treatment.
According to Walker, his surgery on March 8 was an eight and one-half hour surgery in which his thyroid, two para thyroid glands and lymph nodes in his neck were removed.
He recalls the cancer was in his neck, wrapped around his vocal chords and in his main arteries and muscle tissue. In fact, there was so much cancer, his surgeon, Dr. Netterville, commented that in his 25 years of practice, he had never seen a person as young as Walker with so much cancer. Walker said his doctors said he was in perfect health, except that he had cancer.
Following his surgery, he spent seven days in intensive care. And, he said he did so well
that after his seven days of intensive care, he was sent home. But, even after going home,
he had a tracheal tube and was unable to lift anything over fi ve pounds. "That was real hard for me," he noted because he said he is such an active person.
Now Walker said he is doing better and is back to work. "People are helping me any way they can," he said, noting he will begin his radiation treatment on Aug. 1.
Walker said he was told that if the cancer were to spread, the most likely spot would be to the lungs. And, he will fi nd out for certain if he is in remission on Aug. 10, when he goes in for a full body scan.
Walker told a person from AEP's corporate offi ce while he was off work and expressed his gratefulness that the health fair was made available to him and the other employees.
"Take advantage of them," advised Walker, when talking about health fairs that are routinely offered. Or he encourages people to go to their family doctor to get checked out.
Walker said cancer is close to him not only because of his experience, but because
both of his grandfathers had cancer. He said now he is continuing to fi ght. "It's amazing how your perspective changes," he said, "The blues are bluer and the greens are greener. I used to take life for granted, but now I don't. One more day is a blessing."
In addition to Walker, his team, Ray's Hope, will be at the Relay for Life walking the track and helping to raise money to fi ght this disease. Walker's team is made up of his family and close friends and within a couple of month's time, achieved bronze status, selling over 80 T-shirts. In addition, the team is also selling bracelets that feature the thyroid cancer awareness color, which is a light green, pink and blue.
Walker is married to Samantha and they have a 3-year-old son, Raymond Kelly Walker.
After being delayed because of severe fl ooding, Massac County's Relay for Life is back on track, and organizers are hoping that community members and team members will also be on the track walking all night long.
The relay starts Friday evening at 5 p.m.
By Terra TemplePlanet Reporter
It's a question hotel em-ployee Steve Chaney has been asked countless times: "Where can I go to have a glass of wine to celebrate my birthday, our anniversary, my fi ll in the blank?"
"The only place I can sug-gest to them in the casino or Paducah," Chaney told the Metropolis City Council as he addressed them during the Citizen's Request portion of the July 11 meeting.
"Not everyone wants to go to the casino," he continued. "And why should that money go to another city? People on the weekends, especially on Sundays have to go to these other cities. They're spending their money there, they're not spending their money here in Metropolis for what they want. That's money that we're losing."
Chaney noted while busi-ness owners have discussed the same topic before the
council, his interest is in "bringing in more city rev-enue for this city and facili-tating this city moving into the 20th century and chang-ing with the times and also to help with our economic development," rather than a personal and fi nancial inter-est. It's been over a year since Chaney last approached the council on the topic himself.
He handed out to the council copies of the Paducah liquor ordinance that allows single, by the drink, Sunday sales by restaurants. The Pa-ducah ordinance was signed into law in 2006 and since it went into effect in 2007 has brought in $33,600 in Sunday liquor license fees.
"It has been a very suc-cessful program. People are spending their money at these restaurants in Paducah. They're not only garnishing the benefi t of liquor license fees but also increased rev-enue as a result of people do-ing business," he said. "Since
this ordinance changed, the (City of Metropolis has) lost a lot of money because of this Paducah ordinance. . . The bottom line is we need to fi ght to keep money here in Metropolis and stop pay-ing people to take their busi-ness elsewhere. With the cur-rent liquor license we have, that's exactly what we're do-ing — we're paying people to take their business elsewhere. How does that benefi t Me-tropolis? It doesn't, at all.
"There is a very apparent small town ideology here in Metropolis. Bottom line is, we're not Mayberry, people," he continued, with a chuckle. "We are not a Maybery, we will not ever be a Mayberry. If it was a Mayberry, I'm sure Mayberry would move for-ward in keeping up with the times. We need to do away with these Mayberry politics and start looking at the future advancement and develop-ment of our fi ne city."
It took some time, but by next week, Massac County's eight emergency sirens will all be in place and in working condition.
Community members will have chance to hear the sirens in action Monday, as emergency personnel will test the new system.
In December 2010, Honeywell's Metropolis Works facility announced
it would donate and install emergency sirens in three Massac County communities, replacing sirens that have deteriorated over time or were damaged during the January 2009 ice storm that struck the area.
A part of the reason for the delay in installing the new sirens was making certain the radio frequencies for the sirens did not confl ict or interfere
with other frequencies used by the emergency medical service responders in Massac County.
Currently, the eight sirens, which are used to warn area residents about emergency situations, were in a poor state of repair. Engineers determined that all eight are at the end of their life cycle and should be replaced instead of repaired.
Metropolis electrical contractor J.M. Walters Corp. has handled the installation of the sirens. "These were needed, desperately needed," said Jim Walters, president of J.M. Walters Contractors.
Larry Douglas, Emergency Service Disaster Agency director for Massac County, and Keith Davis, emergency coordinator for Metropolis, said: "We are grateful for this
donation from Honeywell, which will ensure we have the means to quickly warn residents in the area in case of any emergency. The sirens are an important part of our capability to do this."
"Honeywell is a member of this community and we are committed to the safety of our operations and the entire community," said Larry Smith, plant manager for the
Honeywell Metropolis Works facility, which has been working with county and local emergency response personnel on the project since the fi rst of the year.
"There was clearly a need for new sirens so that residents could be warned in an emergency such as a tornado. We are committed to safety, so we felt donating the sirens
2 SectionsWednesday, July 20, 2011 20 Pages 4 SupplementsVol. 147 No. 29 85 Cents
— Continued on Page 3A —
— Continued on Page 10A—
MMETROPOLISETROPOLISwww.metropolisplanet.comwww.metropolisplanet.com PPLANLANEETT
— Continued on Page 3A —
In this issue: FEMA information, 10A; Soccer information 1-2B In this issue: FEMA information, 10A; Soccer information 1-2B
Schedule of EventsEmcee: Terry Reeves
5 p.m. Concessions Open 5:15 p.m. Survivor & Caregiver Registration • Refreshments at Survivor Celebration Tent 5:30 p.m. Main stage — Stacie Hines 6-7 p.m. Concessions closed for Opening Ceremony
6 p.m. Opening Ceremony — main stage • Prayer — Pastor Deem • National Anthem — Stacie Hines • Ambassador — Raymond Walker 6:30 p.m. Survivor Victory Lap 7 p.m. Family/Caregiver Lap with Survivors • Concessions Re-open 7:15 p.m. Parade of Teams Lap
7:20 p.m. Kennedy Leek 7:30 p.m. New Beginnings Baptist Church Group 8 p.m. Corn-hole Bag Tournament begins – MidCountry Bank
8:30 p.m. Fight Back Ceremony – Zumba with Courtney Blaise 8:50 p.m. Donation presentation 9 p.m. Begin Luminaria Lighting Everyone seated at main stage 9 p.m. Concessions Close • Luminaria ceremony; Reading of the names and Luminaria Lap 10 p.m. Concessions Re-open and all lights back on 10:15 p.m. Frozen T-Shirt Contest 10:20 p.m. Miss Relay contestants – report to entertainment tent • Have team member turn in entry form for contestant • Conga Walk Activity 11 p.m. Miss Relay Pageant – main stage 12 a.m. Minute to Win it 12:30 a.m. Name that Tune 1 a.m. Family Fued 1 a.m. All Money for awards must be turned in • Money can still be turned in after this time, but it won’t count for awards. 1:30 a.m. Line Dance 2 a.m. Let’s Make a Deal 3 a.m. Relay Poker Lap 4 a.m. Karaoke 6 a.m. Closing Ceremony – main stage – presentation of Awards
Relay ambassador savedby fi ve-minute blood test
Emergency sirens being installed, will be tested Monday
Raymond Walker, right, with his wife, Sa-mantha and son, Raymond.
Liquor ordinance questioned
It’s fair timeGoats, sheep, cows and many more animals are all on display this week at Massac County Youth Fair, which continues until Saturday. More information can be found on page 10A.
— Planet photo by Linda Kennedy
