The 72nd annual Grayson County Fair kicks off tomorrow evening. This year, the fair will offer carnival rides, karaoke, and a beauty pageant. “We have one of the best county fairs in the state. I want to invite people that are interested in a demolition derby, also the truck tractor pull is a big event for Saturday. One price gets you all the rides and all the activities,” says Rick Embry, Fair Board member and Mayor of Leitchfield. For more information on events and pricing of the fair, visit graysoncountyfair.net.
Over the weekend, the community braved the heat to watch the return of the Heartland Homecoming Parade. This year’s parade had 73 entries. City Events Coordinator Sarah Vaughn said this year’s parade was a success.
“Heartland Parade went really well for us yesterday. I think most people that I talked to were so excited that we were just able to have a parade this year after missing it last year. Batman was a huge hit. Rick Stansbury was a huge hit. Fort Knox always has an amazing show for us. It was just a great homecoming day. We were thrilled with the outcome, and we just hope everyone had a fantastic time.”
The next big event for Elizabethtown is the Wine Fest coming up next month.
There have been many reports of egg masses appearing on everything outside. The department of Entomology has determined that these are fall armyworm masses. “They’re like a caterpillar, but they feed in a row. So as they march across your lawn, they’re feeding on the turf on the grass. They will definitely eat it down to nubs,” says Hardin County Extension Agent Amy Aldenderfer. These worms can create a lot of damage and are easiest to control when they are small.
The long anticipated Heartland Homecoming Parade is happening on Saturday. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. and will feature Rick Stansbury, the head coach of Western Kentucky Hilltoppers Basketball team as the grand marshal. City Events Coordinator Sarah Vaughn said the theme will remain ‘superheroes’ in honor of our pandemic heroes.
“We’ve all seen a different superhero. The grocery store worker that does grocery delivery. We’ve all seen it, so there’s going to be so many different organizations, some of them wearing capes because they wear scrubs, or wearing capes because they work at a gas station. With the superhero theme, we want to encourage the kids to wear those costumes.”
Portions of North Main Street, Poplar, and South Main Street will be closed tomorrow in preparation for the parade. Dixie Highway from Central Avenue to Saint John Road will shut down around 9:30 a.m.
Thrift in Leitch invites the community out for its grand opening on Saturday. Located just off the square in Leitchfield, this is a small local vintage clothing and style shop featuring pre-loved clothing and accessories. The owner is 19-year-old Morelia Falcon, who says she has made many sacrifices to get here.
“I’ve been selling vintage clothing for the past few years, but it wasn’t until a year ago that I decided to quit my full-time job and go full into selling vintage. So a year ago, I moved into my sister’s basement, and kind of ran just an online shop. On Saturday from 12 to 6 EST, we are going to have our grand opening and just hang out with people at the shop. We are ecstatic to actually let people come in and see what we’ve been working on for the past year.”
For more information, visit their Thrift in Leitch Facebook page.
Girl Scouts are about more than cookies. The Girls Scouts of Kentuckiana will host a free event tomorrow night at Freeman Lake for all school-aged girls.
“Girl Scouts isn’t necessarily just cookies and crafts. They do a lot of community work. They do a lot of leadership skills. There’s a whole leadership experience where girls can evolve the skills they need to be successful in the future. So we’re inviting anybody with school-aged girls to Freeman Lake tomorrow night to experience some of the other sides of girl scouts,” states Membership Development Manager Dusty Siravo. The event is free and will last from 5:30 to 7 p.m. For more information, visit the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana Facebook page.
After two years, the Larue County annual clean up days are back. The event will be held tomorrow and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Larue County Maintenance Garage across from Larue County High School. Jill Gray, the Solid Waste Coordinator for Larue County, urges the community to come out to this important event.
“Our landfills fill up fast enough as it is. Sometimes there are things that people can use or there are some things that need to be handled a little differently. We try to recycle as much as we can because it saves landfill space but it also saves money because you don’t just get to throw all that stuff in the landfill for free. So we do try to keep as much going back to be able to be reused and recycled.”
A list of what will be accepted can be found on the City of Hodgenville Facebook page.
Local law enforcement are now asking for the public’s help in a murder case. “The Elizabethtown Police Foundation’s Board of Directors voted to contribute $5,000.00 towards the reward fund for Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Shirley’s murder. The Elizabethtown Police Foundation is joining with the FBI, ATF and the Louisville Police Foundation and collectively offering a monetary reward of up to $80,000 for the information leading to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the individual(s) responsible for Deputy Brandon Shirley’s murder,” stated Executive Director Carl Bee. Any information Anyone with information regarding Deputy Shirley’s murder should immediately call the FBI at (502) 263-6000, ATF (888) atf-tips, or the Louisville Metro Police at (502) 574 LMPD. Tips can also be submitted at tips.fbi.gov or atftips@atf.gov.
An Elizabethtown man who was teaching at Moore High School in Jefferson County was involved in an incident with a student on Monday. William, Bill, Bennett has been identified as the teacher in question on multiple videos widely circulating on social media. It is unclear from the footage how the incident began, but Bennett can be seen in a physical encounter with a male juvenile. Bennett posted on his Facebook today that he has an attorney and has been advised not to speak regarding the situation. He did state that he feels like the whole narrative has not been made public due to complete school footage or actual statements not being released. Jefferson County Public School Spokesperson Renee Murphy did not identify the teacher by name, but said he has been reassigned to a non-instructional role and an investigation is underway.
Bennett previously served 2 terms as an Elizabethtown City Councilman. He ran unsuccessfully in 2020.
Today, the Pfizer became the first Covid-19 vaccine to become fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “When a therapy or medication receives full FDA approval, then that means that it has satisfied the requirements of the 1962 Kefauver Harris Amendment which established scientific safeguards that the FDA still uses today to ensure that consumers will not be victims of unsafe and ineffective medication,” says Jamie Lane, a Pharmacist at Baptist Health Hardin.
Terrie Burgon of the Lincoln Trail Health Department stated the new approval brings about several new changes including a new name.
“If people hear the name Comirnaty, that is synonymous with the Pfizer vaccine that everyone has been receiving all along. What you may not be aware of is that the full FDA approval is in individuals 16 years of age and older. So those who are 12 to 15, the Pfizer vaccine still operates under the Emergency Authorization Use. I know that there were some individuals who were waiting because they wanted it to be fully approved. Now that time has come. Our Covid numbers are escalating. If you have not gotten your vaccine, now is the time to do it.”
The other vaccines are both approved under the Emergency Authorization Use, and are currently seeking full approval.