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KY Gives Day raises nearly $100K for area non-profits

94.3 The Wolf

The Central Kentucky Community Foundation facilitated the twelfth annual KY Gives Day for regional non-profits Tuesday.

Community Foundation Communications and Projects Coordinator Erin Hahn said the effort was a successful one.

“25 regional organizations participated and they had a great day,” Hahn said. “It was a 24-hour online giving day and we raised collectively close to $100,000, and that’s just due to the amazing and generous community that we live in.”

More than 600 donors contributed 771 gifts to regional organizations. Hahn said the individual support is a credit to the impact the nonprofits have across the community.

“Yes, it’s a 24-hour online one day of giving, but more importantly, it’s you give $5, you give $10, but every dollar counts, and it really does help to make a strong impact to all of the organizations that do so much good in our community.” Hahn said.

Participating organizations compete for state and regional prizes, which Hahn said is a way of adding friendly competition and encouraging more support.

“The organizations obviously are wanting to raise dollars for their organization, but we kind of help to throw in a little bit more fun with providing prizes for most dollars raised,” Hahn said. “We have a couple of power hours through the day, which some organizations actually take advantage of having matches during those periods.”

The leading recipients in the region were the Lincoln Museum, Bernheim Forest, and Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. More information and the complete leaderboard can be found at www.kygives.org.

ECTC and BlueOval SK host ribbon-cutting for training center

94.3 The Wolf

Government, business, and community leaders joined officials from Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and BlueOval SK as the ribbon was cut on the college’s new training center located just outside the battery park in Glendale.

ECTC President and CEO Dr. Juston Pate said cutting the ribbon on the facility is a testament to the investment, vision, and commitment of the many community partners that have helped bring the project to fruition.

“It is kind of hard to think that a year ago we were just breaking ground on this,” Pate said. “We were here not even really a full year yet. It was a nice, beautiful, warm day, and we were thinking about what could be, and here just a short year later we’re celebrating what is.”

The ECTC BlueOval SK training center is a 42,000 square foot facility that will host training with a primary curriculum focused on battery knowledge, roles, and skills.

“The ECTC BlueOval Training Center is going to serve trainees who are looking to enter an innovative, high-wage, high-demand career, and at ECTC we could not be more proud to serve such a critical role in preparing those employees for those careers, and we could not be more proud to support the historic investment that BOSK has made in not just Hardin County but the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Pate said.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the investment of BlueOval SK and the partnerships that help support ECTC will help change lives.

“This is advanced manufacturing with cutting-edge technology, so even with a workforce second to none we knew we would have to rise to the challenge to make sure we could fill all of these good jobs,” Beshear said. “We are facing this head-on with three great Team Kentucky partners: Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, BlueOval SK, and Ford.”

The governor credited BlueOval SK with sparking development in the commonwealth that has revolutionized Kentucky’s image.

“We are the first call that world class businesses are making right now,” Beshear said. “We are the first destination they want to come to. Never a flyover state ever again. Never a place anybody looks down their nose at ever again. We are truly together building a new Kentucky home.”

Beshear recognized the center’s ahead-of schedule completion in part by honoring Trace Creek Construction Vice President David Milam and Superintendent Scott Dalton as Kentucky Colonels. The training center will start onboarding classes in June.

Real ID deadline less than a year away

94.3 The Wolf

Kentuckians have one more year to get their licenses upgraded to a Real ID.

Enforcement of the Federal Real ID Act begins on May 7, 2025, after which a Real ID state-issued driver’s license or ID or another federally-accepted form of identification such as a passport will be required for air travel and access to government or military buildings that require ID.

A state-issued Real ID must be requested in person at any of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Driver Licensing Regional Offices. In order to get a Real ID, you must bring one proof of identity document, one proof of Social Security document, and two proof of residency documents.

Kentuckians can renew a driver’s license up to six months before the printed expiration date, and cards can be upgraded to Real ID at any time. Standard issue licenses will still be available and will still be valid for driving and proof of identity or age, but will not be valid for security checks.

A list of valid documents for registering and more information can be found at www.realidky.com.

ECTC celebrates student success with spring graduation ceremony

94.3 The Wolf

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College celebrated the accomplishments of its students Monday with their spring graduation ceremony, held at Severns Valley Baptist Church in Elizabethtown.

ECTC says the college expects to award 725 degrees and diplomas along with around 1,200 certificates to students that completed coursework this spring.

ECTC President and CEO Dr. Juston Pate said Tuesday that graduation is a celebration for the students and the community.

“When a student comes to Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, they’re going to get relevant education for being here,” Pate said. “They’re probably going to stay here, which means they are going to be a vibrant, contributing part of our community. That’s where we want to be as a college, and to get to see that last night, that’s what makes graduation so special.”

Pate said the investment these students make in themselves by continuing their education pays dividends in multiple ways.

“Roughly half of our students do go on to transfer for a four year degree and that kind of thing, but because they’ve spent those first two to three years here after high school making connections in the community, probably getting that first job here in the community, the data shows that they are more likely to get that degree and stay here,” Pate said.

Whether a student stays in the area or ventures elsewhere, the college is still doing what it set out to do.

“The mission of the college is to add value to the lives of our students and then return that value back out into the community, and that value is represented in those lives that have bettered themselves by getting skills and knowledge that they didn’t have,” Pate said.

Enrollment for summer classes and the fall semester is currently open. Visit ECTC on the web or contact the college for more information.

ECTC robotics team performs well at national championship

94.3 The Wolf

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is celebrating the accomplishments of four students that recently competed in a national robotics competition. 

Team NUKE participated in the Vex Robotics World Championship in Dallas, the eighth consecutive year ECTC students have competed at the event.

Vex U provides students with the chance to design, build, and program robots, which helps the students develop technical and soft skills. Teams work on their robots and compete in year-round events which culminate at the world championship.

Team NUKE competed in nine qualifying matches with teams from around the world, placing seventh in their division. The team recorded the highest individual match score of the tournament when they defeated Mississippi State 222 to 70. The team ultimately fell in the division finals to the University of Kentucky, which was led by a former member of Team NUKE.

The members of Team NUKE are students in ECTC’s Engineering and Electronics Technology program. Contact Marty Sutherland at ECTC to learn more.

Team nuke consisted of ECTC students Jeffrey Stewart, David Roche-Meléndez, Tanner Blake, and Joshua Wisniewski, along with five students from Northern Kentucky University.

LaRue County accident leaves one dead, two injured

94.3 The Wolf

The Kentucky State Police is investigating a fatal accident that occurred in LaRue County Sunday evening.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. on May 5, KSP Post Four troopers were requested by LaRue County Dispatch to assist in investigating a single-vehicle collision at the 6000 block of KY 61/Greensburg Road.

The KSP says the preliminary investigation indicates that 59-year-old Bobby D. Sexton of Magnolia was driving south on KY 61 in a pickup truck when for unknown reasons he drove onto the shoulder of the roadway before overcorrecting. The vehicle overturned several times.

Sexton was pronounced dead at the scene by the LaRue County Coroner’s Office. Two passengers in the vehicle, one an adult and one a child, sustained life-threatening injuries in the crash. The adult passenger was flown to the University of Louisville Hospital, and the child was flown to Norton Children’s Hospital.

The KSP’s investigation into the crash is ongoing.

One dead, one injured in WKP crash

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One person is dead and another seriously injured following an accident on the Western Kentucky Parkway in Hardin County.

“On Sunday, May 5 at approximately 10:48 p.m. the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 126 mile marker on the WK Parkway for a reported motor vehicle accident.” said Hardin County Sheriff John Ward. 

Upon the arrival of deputies, both of the involved vehicles were engulfed in flames.

“The operator of unit one – Roger B. Wilson, age 38, of Elizabethtown – was pronounced dead at the scene of the Hardin County Coroner,” Ward said. “The operator of unit two was transported by helicopter to the University of Louisville Hospital with life-threatening injuries.”

The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office’s Accident Reconstruction Team’s investigation into the accident is ongoing. The Western Kentucky Parkway was closed in both directions for several hours after the accident.

KY From Above offers accessible map views of the commonwealth

94.3 The Wolf

The Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet says Kentucky is the first state in the country to capture side and angle view photography of its entire geography from the sky.

Pilots working for contractor NV5 flew 2,600 flight lines over 117,000 miles to capture images of more than 40,000 square miles of Kentucky’s cities, towns, farms, and natural areas to create the KY From Above program.

The program was established in 2010 by the Kentucky Geographic Information Advisory Council with the mission of creating access to geographic information in the state by providing detailed elevation data and aerial photography at no cost to Kentuckians. The accuracy and clarity of the images captured provides context for hundreds of map layers used by state and local government agencies. 

The state also says the program will improve public safety as first responders will be able to use it to help on accident responses and search and rescue missions, and emergency management leaders will be able to use the program when assessing damage after a disaster.

You can access the program by visiting www.kyfromabove.ky.gov.

Highway fatalities up in Kentucky in 2023

94.3 The Wolf

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says there were 813 highway fatalities on Kentucky roadways in 2023, an increase from the 744 seen in 2022.

The KYTC’s Office of Highway Safety says in those fatal accidents, 51 percent of victims were not wearing a seatbelt. 33 percent of the accidents involved speeding or aggressive driving, 20 percent involved distracted drivers, and 16 percent involved alcohol.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says wearing a seatbelt is the single most effective way of preventing injury or death in a traffic accident. Seatbelt use and the dangers of drunk driving continue to be the primary subjects of most public awareness campaigns.

The KYTC says it continues to focus on infrastructure projects that improve safety for everybody on the roadway, including a pilot project set to begin this summer that will test systems that detect and deter wrong-way crashes along select interstate ramps in Fayette and Jefferson counties. 

Preliminary numbers for 2024 report 170 roadway deaths, which is down more than 13 percent compared to this time last year.

Clean around appliances and check on dryer lent to help reduce fire risk

94.3 The Wolf

Spring is in full swing, and people are sprucing up their houses and yards as they welcome the warmer weather.

Radcliff Deputy Fire Marshal Tommy Crane says as you go about your spring cleaning, don’t forget about your appliances.

“Just make sure that when you’re cleaning, clean places that you might not normally like behind refrigerators or dryers, a lot of those that have motors where the dust and things like that can build up,” Crane said. “Try to clean those, vacuum around and behind those at least once a year.”

Crane says not only does it reduce the risk for fire, it also helps extend the life of the appliance.

While cleaning your dryer, don’t forget about making sure lent isn’t building up.

“We tell you always make sure you’re cleaning the lint filter during each time you dry, but also during the spring, maybe pull the dryer out, clean the hose or the pipe that goes to the outside of the house to make sure that’s clean and free of lint because that will build up and could cause a fire,” Crane said.

Also check to make sure the dryer exhaust outside the house is clear, as there is potential for it to become clogged due to lent and animals or other pests.

“Just make sure that it’s free and clear, that it’s got good air movement,” Crane said. “If you do live in an area where, say, birds and other pests are a problem, and you put a screen over there, make sure you’re checking the screen because the lint will build up even easier there.”

More fire safety tips can be found on the Kentucky State Fire Marshal’s website.