WQXE News
CASA of the Heartland held their largest annual fundraiser, the Farm to Fork event, at the Venue at Highland Sod Farm Saturday, and over 180 attendees helped make the night a successful one.
“With the team effort from our volunteers, our staff, our community supporters, and our sponsors we were able to raise $69,246 with our Farm to Fork event this year,” said CASA of the Heartland Executive Director Michelle Kail.
The event featured live entertainment, live and silent auctions, and a meal featuring locally-grown, farm-fresh dishes from local farmers, prepared by chef Tony York from Tony York’s on Main in Glendale.
Kail says the money is a big show of support for CASA of the Heartland’s mission.
“It’s about $2,800 to provide advocacy for one child for an entire year, and so we are able to continue those efforts with the funds that we raise,” Kail said.
In addition to fundraising, the event is an opportunity to provide outreach on what CASAs do, and find new people to join the cause.
“We had at least three new volunteers that maybe from hearing the testimonial at our event and learning a little bit more about the organization, we did receive three new volunteer applications following the event,” Kail said. “We’re really excited about that so that we can get those wait list numbers down because we do always need volunteers.”
CASA of the Heartland recruits, trains, and supports community volunteers who serve as court-appointed special advocates on behalf of abused, neglected, and dependent children in Hardin and now LaRue counties. For more information, visit www.casaheartland.org or call 270-982-2274.
A Central Hardin High School grad faces murder charges in Alaska after allegedly killing his wife.
Zarrius Ray Hildabrand faces charges of First Degree Murder (intent to cause death), Second Degree Muder (intent to cause serious injury), and Class C Felony Tampering with Physical Evidence following his arrest on August 11.
According to a complaint filed by the Anchorage Police Department in Anchorage’s district court, Hildabrand reported his wife, 21-year-old Saria Hildabrand, missing to police on August 7 after not seeing her since the morning of August 6. Zarrius Hildabrand said the two had been partying the night before, and his wife decided to walk to work instead of drive. He said he had searched for his wife the night before contacting police but waited to call it in in case there had been a misunderstanding.
Volunteers searched for Saria Hildabrand on August 8. Investigators learned that day that at around 2 a.m. on August 6 a neighbor to the Hildabrands had heard a single gunshot. A search warrant was served for Hildabrand’s apartment on August 9, and when crime scene technicians lifted the mattress of a bed Hildabrand had previously not given officers permission to search under they found it “saturated with human blood.” A blood reagent spray revealed blood had been cleaned up from other parts of the bedroom and bathroom.
On August 10, investigators discovered blood on a trash can near the residence. A search of the area with a drone led officers to the discovery of a body inside a 4 to 5 foot storm drain, which after recovery was positively identified as that of Saria Hildabrand.
A warrant was issued for Zarrius Hildabrand’s arrest, and he was taken into custody. Hildabrand was remanded to the Anchorage Jail. He was arraigned on the charges on August 11, and is due back in court for a pre-indictment hearing on August 17.
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College President Dr. Juston Pate says when students are forced to stop their academic pursuits at the college it is rarely due to academic reasons.
“It’s really and truly those non-academic life barriers that pose those problems that seem insurmountable, and just prevent continuation toward a better life,” Pate said.
Pate says a survey of students found that 38 percent of them ran out of money six times over the course of the academic year.
“That’s what we are working to overcome, and the talent level of these folks that we’re talking about is immense,” Pate said. “The talent is there. We just have to find ways to focus that talent and channel that talent to something other than survival mode.”
ECTC hopes to eliminate one of the biggest barriers, housing, as they and partner organization Family Scholar House announced Friday the Home for Hope Campaign, a fundraising effort to secure the last $1.5 million needed to construct a $14.8 million 48-unit apartment complex on ECTC’s campus. Beginning in 2025, the complex will provide student partners with housing while they complete their education and build a better life for themselves and their families.
ECTC says Family Scholar house has provided more than 700 students with services the college is not able to provide. Those services support students like Lacy Sallee, a single mother pursuing her associate’s degree in applied science.
“It’s knowing that I have people willing to be there to show me how to work through my issues and to get things done not for me but to teach me how to do it for myself,” Sallee said. “I want to become something that my children can look up to, and I want to have a career doing something I can wake up and look forward to doing every single day.”
Pate says the project will have an impact on ECTC for years to come.
“It’s not just a solution for 48 families,” Pate said. “It’s a solution for 48 families at a time until they get their degree, then we have programs to get them transitioned into stable housing. It’s a long-term, multi-phase, multi-generation, multi-participant program.”
To learn more or to donate, visit www.ectcforbetterlives.com.
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Representatives from the Robley Rex VA Medical Center will be hosting a public Veterans Town Hall event in Elizabethtown Tuesday.
The town hall will be held from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at American Legion Post No. 113, located at 1251 Ring Road.
VA representatives will provide a comprehensive overview of the PACT Act, provide opportunities to interact with benefit and specialty coordinators, and collect feedback from veterans on ways to improve how the medical center provides healthcare.
Resource tables and staff will provide information on the PACT Act and other VA programs and services including hospital leadership, caregiver support, eligibility, community care, women veterans, and suicide prevention.
Visit www.va.gov/louisville-heath-care for more information.