Local sports with A.J. Brammer.
The Kentucky Association of School Administrators has announced the recipients of the 2024 William T. Nallia Educational Leadership Award, and a local superintendent is among those honored.
Hardin County Schools Superintendent Terrie Morgan will be honored with the award along with Livingston County Schools Superintendent David Meinschein and Baird Vice Chair Jim Allen. The KASA says the award “recognizes individuals who have demonstrated visionary leadership and made significant contributions to public education in Kentucky.”
The three were recognized for their efforts through the Coalition to Sustain the Education Profession, bringing attention to the need for public policy changes that address the Kentucky teacher shortage. The KASA says the award recognizes both their leadership and their commitment to advancing education in the commonwealth.
Morgan said the coalition’s work was a lengthy but worthwhile commitment.
“This effort actually started 18 months prior to the legislative session starting because we realized the scope of the work that was in front of us, which was to communicate the necessity to increase multiple areas of education to include teacher recruitment, pay, and respect for educators,” Morgan said.
Two of the coalition’s recommendations that legislatures picked up were allowing retired teachers to return to classrooms sooner and allowing for emergency certifications, which have been used as a short-term fix.
“We greatly appreciate their work to allow those individuals to come back and work in the workplace, but then we needed a long-range plan which was to recruit and retain teachers who go through a more traditional path of going to school for the Teacher Preparation Program,” Morgan said.
Morgan and her co-recipients will receive the award at the KASA Annual Leadership Institute on July 26.
Willow Creek Senior Living staff and residents welcomed some special guests for breakfast Thursday morning.
Bike4ALZ made a stop in Elizabethtown as part of their cross-country journey, all in the name of raising funds and awareness for Alzheimer’s research.
The bike riders are 12 Western Kentucky University students, including Business Data Analytics major Adam Pruitt.
“We go from San Francisco and bike all the way to Virginia Beach, raising money for Alzheimer’s research with events and sponsorships, different ways of raising money, but we all have connections with Alzheimer’s,” Pruitt said. “We’ve all been affected, whether it’s our family or friends or just someone in our life.”
The riders had completed about 2,500 miles of their 3,600 mile journey upon arriving in E-Town. Before hitting the road for Louisville, Willow Creek hosted the riders for a breakfast sponsored by The Wright Legacy Group.
Pruitt said so far it has been a good ride.
“We’ve been really hopeful for the end, but also sad that it’s coming to an end, but recently we’ve been able to go to some of our riders’ homes and see and meet family more often, see more faces that we know instead of out west where we’re meeting strangers all the time, and once we’re in this area we’re seeing more familiar faces,” Pruitt said.
Willow Creek Community Relations Coordinator Lori Jury said the show of support from the riders is felt by the staff, residents, and families.
“We love that they’re here so that we can thank them for what they’re doing and we can encourage them as they finish out their last two weeks of the ride on the way to Virginia,” Jury said. “It’s been a long summer for them, and these are young guys that could be doing lots of things. They could be doing internships or working or hanging by the pool at home and we’re just very thankful that they’re doing this to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s research.”
You can follow along with the riders or give financial support at bike4alz.org or by finding Bike4ALZ on social media.
Area residents now have an additional option for applying for or renewing their driver’s license.
The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet this week opened the 33rd Driver Licensing Regional Office in the state in Bardstown.
KYTC Vehicle Regulation Commissioner Matthew Cole says the transportation cabinet is excited to bring services to the Bardstown location, located at 860 West Stephen Foster Avenue.
“We bring what everybody sees as just drivers licensing, but it can be so much more,” Cole said. “If someone needs to do an address change, they need to do a name change because of a marriage, divorce decree (sometimes it’s on the bad side of it), but whatever they need, any of those functions that we’re able to help with.”
The current office is a temporary location as the KYTC prepares a permanent Bardstown location. While driver testing, which is administered by the Kentucky State Police, will not be available at this time, all other office functions can be found at the Bardstown site.
“When they offered us the temporary location, it just means we could set up shop sooner,” Cole said. “Obviously, we’ll have the full functionality. It’s just that this will buy us time to be able to finish and furnish a more permanent office that’ll have a more permanent feel to it when it gets done.”
Any driver looking to upgrade their license to a Real ID ahead of the May 7, 2025 deadline can do so by bringing their birth certificate, Social Security card, and two proofs of residence to a license office.
“That’s a federal requirement, and what that’s going to allow people to do is get on domestic flights after that enforcement date, because there’s going to be the standard license, which is good for pretty much everything else, but this is for those other restricted things, which is the domestic flight on commercial flights and getting into restricted federal buildings,” Cole said.
The Bardstown office will be open Mondays through Fridays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Appointments can be scheduled at drive.ky.gov.
The fun continues today at the Hardin County Fairgrounds as the 2024 Hardin County Fair rolls on.
Friday will feature the Gaited Horse Show, which will be held at 7 p.m. at the English ring.
In addition to great food at the restaurant and from vendors, adorable animals at the petting zoo, and exciting rides at the midway, Friday will feature the 2024 Ms. and Mrs. Hardin County Fair Pageant, which will be held at the performing arts building at 6:30 p.m. Country music act Lincoln Jamboree will hit the stage at 7:30 p.m. The second night of the Bullwhip Rodeo will take place at the motorsports track at 8 p.m.
The fair then wraps up Saturday. The fun starts early with the 4H 5K Run at 7:30 a.m. The Academy Gaited Horse Show will be held at the English ring at 10 a.m. The Brush Pull is also at 10 a.m., to be held at the motorsports track. The Baby Contest will be held at the pageant building at 1 p.m. with the Tiny Miss and Mister Contest at 5:30. The first ever King Arthur Baking Flour Baking Contest will be held at 2 p.m. In the family living building. Come out to the livestock pavilion at 7 for Cow Pattie Bingo or the English ring for the Gaited Horse Show, and the action at the fair wraps up with the Lucas Oil Pro Pulling League Pull at the motorsports ring at 8. Saturday is also Ag Experience Day, so kids can learn all about the fun of 4H from 2 to 8 p.m. at the livestock pavilion.
The Hardin County Fair has lots to offer for everybody, and as Fair Board President Marty Fulkerson says: “It’s 61 years of the most fun you can have with your shoes on!”
Find the complete schedule on the Hardin County Fair website or Facebook page.
The Lincoln Trail Area Development District is looking for feedback on its annual assessment survey for older adults.
LTADD Home Care and In-Home Services Supervisor Tabitha French said the response window is divided into two periods.
“A random sampling of 2,800 people were actually chosen,” said French. “They received some information in the mail to complete that survey. There’s actually a link on there, but there’s a paper form that can be completed as well, and then on July 21, we’re going to be opening that up to the general public to complete, and this is all for individuals 60 and over.”
Residences from Breckinridge, Grayson, Hardin, LaRue, Marion, Meade, Nelson, and Washington counties were randomly selected for the initial survey effort. French said the survey results are important for helping LTADD prioritize efforts.
“Well, it definitely gives us an idea of what the needs are in our community,” French said. “We base how we allot different funding that we receive from the state and federal government based on what individuals in the community say their needs are. So, is there a higher need for transportation? Is there a higher need for in-home services, home delivery meals, those types of things?”
Anybody ages 60 and up that was not selected in the random sampling and wants to provide feedback can get signed up for a reminder.
“If you’re interested in signing up at the link in order to receive an email notification, you can go to our website at LTADD.org,” French said. “The link will be there as well as on our Facebook and Twitter social media pages as well.”
Information on regional services and other studies LTADD has been a part of can be found on the development district’s website.
An accident on the Western Kentucky Parkway closed the westbound lane for several hours Tuesday.
According to the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to the 123 mile marker on Western Kentucky Parkway westbound at around 6:45 p.m. on July 9 for the report of a three-vehicle injury collision.
Accident reconstruction from the sheriff’s office indicates that prior to the collision the first unit, a passenger car operated by William Nelson of Sweeden, Kentucky, was traveling east on the parkway. The second unit, a pickup truck driven by Heather Childress of Elizabethtown, and the third unit, a passenger car operated by Eva Glover of Louisville, were traveling west.
Nelson’s vehicle hydroplaned, left the roadway on the left side of the highway, crossed the median, and entered into the westbound lanes of travel. Childress’s vehicle made contact with Nelson’s head-on, and Glover’s vehicle then struck Nelson’s.
Nelson and a passenger in his vehicle were taken to Baptist Health Hardin then transported to the University of Louisville Hospital with life-threatening injuries. Childress and Glover were treated at Baptist Health Hardin for minor injuries.
The sheriff’s office’s investigation into the crash is ongoing.
The fun continues today at the Hardin County Fairgrounds as the 2024 Hardin County Fair rolls on.
Thursday will feature the Dairy Cattle Show, which will be held at 6 p.m. at the livestock pavilion.
In addition to great food at the restaurant and from vendors, adorable animals at the petting zoo, and exciting rides at the midway, Thursday will feature the 2024 Little Miss and Mister Pageant, which will be held at the pageant building at 6:30 p.m. UCW Wrestling will take it to the mat at 7 p.m. for their third and final night of wrestling. Thursday is the first of two nights for Bullwhip Rodeo, which will take place at the motorsports track at 8 p.m.
Thursday is Quicksie and The Wolf night at the fairgrounds. Stop by our office at 233 West Dixie Avenue in Elizabethtown or visit our websites for a coupon to get $1 off the $15 admission price.
The Hardin County Fair has lots to offer for everybody, and as Fair Board President Marty Fulkerson says: “It’s 61 years of the most fun you can have with your shoes on!”
Find the complete schedule on the Hardin County Fair website or Facebook page.
You can help sustain the Kentucky wild turkey population by being an extra set of eyes for the state’s biologists.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife asks anyone who spots wild turkeys in July and August to report them through the Summer Turkey Online Survey Portal.
KFW says data collected through the survey helps the department better understand turkey population trends over time. Data from the survey is used to index the hatch and survival rate of young turkeys in order to assess reproductive success, which in turn influences limits set for turkey hunting season in order to help sustain the state’s turkey population.
The turkey population is studied by department biologists and graduate student researchers, and volunteers allow staff to expand the survey area. The survey gives the researchers insight into issues facing the turkey population such as habitat destruction, predation, and disease.
The online survey portal can be found at fw.ky.gov. A printable survey form may also be downloaded that a participant can then fill out and take a picture of to email back to KFW.