All hits, no misses

Last week we reported that The CaringPlace will reopen March 29.

The center, offers adult day services for people who are caring for family members with Alzheimer’s dementia and related disorders so they can have respite time.

It formerly was housed in the former Brandon School, and has been closed for nine years, when the building was razed to make way for the North Alabama Medical Center.

The city of Sheffield gifted the organization with a building it owned on Marengo Street in Florence. Renovations to the building are complete, and the board has raised the $350,000 required to cover the agency’s first-year costs.

We are happy that this needed agency will be operational again soon.

Learning about government

Last week, from Florence, Mars Hill and Florence Christian schools spent the day learning about Florence government and its operations as part of the annual Youth In Government Day.

The event, in its 49th year, is sponsored by the Florence Exchange Club.

Students spent time at a Florence City Council work session and meeting, and learned about different city government entities, including the Sanitation Department, where they got to work controls of some of the equipment.

They also offered local officials ideas on how to improve the Shoals area after the work session ended.

This is a valuable experience for the students who participated. We are glad to see this event continued.

This Deuce is not wild

The Florence Police Department recently introduced its newest K-9 officer, Deuce, along with his handler, Officer Josh Hein.

Deuce is a bomb K-9, and replaces the former bomb dog, Iva, who recently retired.

Explosives-detecting dogs serve numerous purposes. In addition to being available at all times when there is a suspicious package or device, or a report of such a device, they provide preemptive services.

They conduct sweeps of parades, University of North Alabama athletic events, festivals and other gatherings. The canine also assists other area agencies who don’t have a bomb K-9.

We are happy to have Deuce on the job.

New kicks

Last week, R.E. Thompson Intermediate School’s 307 third- through fifth-grade students received a big surprise.

They were the latest recipients of Listerhill Credit Union Foundation’s “Kicks for Kids” program. Every student received a new pair of name-brand athletic shoes.

Angela Scott, Listerhill’s director of Philanthropy, said the event never gets old.

“To see the kids so excited and appreciative just really fuels us to keep going, keep helping our communities,” she said in our story last week. “Our hope is to get to all the schools, pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, in our Listerhill service area.”

We hope so, too.