(1) The 2006 General Election was held, and Switzerland County voters moved all over the ballot to elect their leadership.
Democrat winners included: Nathan Hughes, Rachel Bladen, Ginger Peters, Joan Armstrong, Tom Conroy, Mike Jones, Donnie Covington, Barbara Bowling, Anthony Jackson, and Kip Hatton.
Republican winners included: K.C. Banta, Terry Hall, Lowell Wayne Sullivan, Andy Jessup, and Robert Jackman.
(2) For the first time, members of the Switzerland County School Board were elected during the November General Election rather than in the spring primary.
Andy Truitt won reelection without opposition in Jefferson Township; while Virgil McKay won in Craig Township and Vern Waltz won in Posey Township.
(3) As anticipated, the new connector road running south from the Markland Dam to Interstate 71 was open in time for Thanksgiving traffic. The road, which entails 5.5 miles, is Exit 55 off of the interstate, and is called Kentucky Road 1039.
(4) The county’s farm crop harvest was running slightly behind this fall, thanks to some untimely wet weather that has been keeping farmers out of their fields. Chuck Deputy of the Switzerland County Farm Service Agency estimated that some farmers may now have to wait until the ground freezes before being able to safely move equipment into the fields.
(5) The spans were set for the new bridge that will cross over Turtle Creek near Florence. McAllister Excavating, which is doing the work, expects the new bridge to be open in May of 2007.
(6) The incredible story of Jose Hernandez and his escape from Communist Cuba was detailed in a two-part story in the Vevay Newspapers. Now an employee of Belterra Casino Resort and Spa, Jose Hernandez floated at sea for nearly a week with six other refugees on a homemade raft as they tried to escape Cuba and make it to America.
After being picked up the Coast Guard and spending 18 months in a detainment camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, he was finally allowed to fulfill his dream of coming to America, where he is now a citizen.
(7) The Switzerland County Lady Pacer basketball team captured the first ever “Rulers of the River” trophy by defeating Rising Sun. The traveling trophy, which goes to the winning school of each Switzerland County-Rising Sun varsity basketball game, is cosponsored by Vevay Newspapers and the Rising Sun Recorder.
(8) Wilma Cole, a worker in the school cafeteria here for more than 20 years, was honored by the Switzerland County School Board on the occasion of her retirement.
(9) Donations continue to come in to help with the construction of a new building that will provide an indoor facility for the high school baseball and softball teams. The Switzerland County Lions Club and the United Fund of Switzerland County both made donations to the cause during home basketball games.
(10) A group of volunteers gathered at the Vevay American Legion Post to fill boxes with an assortment of gifts that will be sent to soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan during the Christmas holiday season.
There were enough donations to send three boxes to each of the 12 soldiers on the local list.