Covington students off until Tuesday

The Covington Independent Schools have announced that students will not attend classes today through Friday, and will also be off on Monday (Presidents' Day).

The Covington Board of Education adjusted the calendar at the request of teachers who wanted to attend a statewide rally today in Frankfort to ask the General Assembly for adequate funding for education.

"Because Friday had already been scheduled as an off day for students (as a teacher-training day), attendance was expected to be so low on Thursday that the Board voted to close schools Wednesday-Friday," said Bill Weathers, Covington schools spokesman.

Notre Dame luncheon honors three grads

COVINGTON - Notre Dame Academy is hosting its "Women Making A Difference Luncheon" March 6 at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center.

The luncheon will honor the work of three Notre Dame graduates: Virginia Witemyre McCafferty, of Fort Thomas (Class of 1948), Denise Gehring Schickling of Villa Hills (1965) and Fran Harden Carlisle of Fort Thomas (1958).

McCafferty, known as "Tep" to friends, family and classmates, is a cancer survivor known for her work with child brain cancer patients at Children's Hospital.

Schickling operates the Crestville Drugs store in Crescent Springs, taking over after her father died in 1981. She has mentored many of her employees into fields including medicine, nursing, finance, law and business.

Carlisle has worked with the Wellness Community, the National Conference for Community and Justice, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Corporate sponsorships for the luncheon are available at $1,000 for a table of 10, with sponsor recognition in the program and table signage.

For reservations for the luncheon or sponsorship information, please call the Notre Dame Academy Development Department at 292-7729.

Justice Ginsburg gets Brandeis Medal

LOUISVILLE - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg received an award Tuesday night from the University of Louisville's Louis D. Brandeis School of Law for her work to promote civil liberties and gender equality.

Ginsburg, awarded the Brandeis Medal, is the second justice of the current Supreme Court to receive the honor, following Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.

The law school is named for Louis D. Brandeis, a Louisville native and former justice widely regarded as one of the Supreme Court's greatest intellects. Brandeis also was a devotee of the university.

The school awards the Brandeis Medal annually to people whose lives reflect Brandeis' ideals of individual liberty, concern for the disadvantaged and public service.

Ginsburg, 69, joined the Supreme Court in 1993.

Lexington considers ban on smoking

LEXINGTON - Health officials in Lexington, a hub of burley tobacco sales, will begin drafting a regulation to outlaw smoking in bars and restaurants.

A similar measure is pending before the city council, which tabled a proposed ordinance by a 6-5 vote in December. A public hearing on that matter is scheduled for Feb. 20.

On Monday, the Fayette County Board of Health voted unanimously to start drafting a restaurant smoking ban. The board would probably not vote on the matter for two more months.

Mayor Teresa Isaac, who sits on the 13-member health board, said she voted for the measure because the evidence about the health consequences of secondhand smoke is "irrefutable." But Isaac said that as mayor, she would have to weigh economic concerns of bar and restaurant owners.

At Monday's meeting, surgeons, doctors and public health crusaders beseeched the health board to make Lexington the first Kentucky city to ban smoking in public buildings.

Tackett steps down from safety board

FRANKFORT - A retired circuit judge plans to resign from the state commission that decides penalties for mine-safety violators.

Charles Tackett, 73, one of the three members of the Mine Safety Review Commission, announced his intention to leave the panel - effective May 10 - in a letter last week to Gov. Paul Patton, spokesman Terry Sebastian said Tuesday. Tackett was to have served on the commission until May 2004.

Tackett said he resigned to devote more time to personal and business matters, including starting a winery on his Lexington farm.