Graduation Plans Up in the Air After Copper Theft
By Matt Sanders, The Paducah Sun, Ky.
May 28–CADIZ, Ky. — — Trigg County school administrators are considering alternative locations for Friday night’s graduation ceremony because stolen copper wiring disabled the high school gymnasium’s air conditioning.
School facilities director Matt Ladd said Tuesday that the gymnasium still has power, but the building’s air conditioning and heating unit cannot operate because three lines of copper wiring running to an air handler on the roof were stolen, Ladd said. Each line has 130 to 150 feet of copper, he said.
Superintendent Tim McGinnis said a decision will be made this afternoon after considering what repairs are needed and Friday’s weather forecast. Graduation traditionally has been held in the gymnasium.
If the air conditioning cannot be fixed by Friday, the options are keeping the ceremony inside the gymnasium or moving it to the football stadium, Paul Perdue Field, McGinnis said.
The National Weather Service forecasts a high of 87 degrees for Friday. The high school has 135 graduating seniors and up to 2,000 people are expected, Ladd said.
“People here are very understanding and with both facilities located on one campus, this should not be a major inconvenience,” McGinnis said. “We may be forced to do things the old-fashioned way and sweat through graduation.
“We want to look at weather in mid-morning (today) and check the 36-hour forecast before deciding.”
Graduation will begin at 7 p.m. If the ceremony remains in the gymnasium, school officials will bring in fans and open doors around the gymnasium early in the day to help air circulate, McGinnis said.
Ladd remained confident that the repairs — estimated to cost several thousand dollars — could be completed by Friday.
Some damage to the roof and to the air conditioning and heating unit also were reported, Ladd said.
Three Cadiz men were charged in relation to the copper theft, said Hollis Alexander, Cadiz police chief.
Shelby Ray Mart, 20, Andy Dawson, 29, and Josh D. Neeble, 23, were charged with theft over $300 and criminal mischief. Mart and Neeble remained in the Christian County Jail late Tuesday on cash bonds of $7,500 and $2,500. Dawson was released Tuesday on a surety bond on $3,765.
Officer Mathew Dolezal was called at 4:15 p.m. Monday to investigate the copper theft, which Cadiz police believe happened on Saturday night, Officer Scott Brown said.
The investigation took an unexpected turn less than three hours later, at 7:01 p.m., after three men were spotted on the high school gymnasium roof, Brown said
Deputy Sheriff Jimmy Godair detained Mart, Dawson and Neeble walking on Main Street, east of the high school, about five minutes later, Brown said. The three men were arrested during the investigation by Dolezal and Godair, Brown said.
Additional copper wiring on the roof had been loosened Monday night but not removed, and there was evidence of an attempt to saw into a live 600-amp service wire, Brown said.
Cadiz police believe the thefts are related, but their investigation continues, Brown said.
The thefts are the latest in a rash of copper and scrap metal thefts reported in Cadiz and Trigg County, Brown said.
Mart also was served with a Trigg County bench warrant for nonpayment of fines and a Trigg County indictment warrant charging him with felony receiving stolen property and violation of an emergency protective order. Dawson was served with two Trigg County bench warrants for nonpayment of fines.
The warrants are unrelated to the school copper theft.
Matt Sanders can be contacted at 575-8659.
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