WQXE News

The Heart of Kentucky Chorus invites the public to their spring show, to be held at 7 p.m. on Saturday, May 24.

“This year we’re going full gospel,” said chorus member Bob Swope. “All of our songs are going to be classic favorite gospel songs, and in keeping with the theme, we will be performing in the sanctuary at the Memorial United Methodist Church here in Elizabethtown.”

Tickets are $15 and available from any chorus member and at the door, with children 12 and under free. The spring show is a benefit for the Living Waters Guatemala Partnership.

“I lead a team of volunteers that go to Guatemala several times a year to install water purification systems in little mountain villages that basically have no access to clean water, so this is an opportunity for the community to come out and help support this mission as well as enjoy some wonderful entertainment,” Swope said.

Swope says the Heart of Kentucky Chorus is open to anybody that loves to sing.

“We come from all around Central Kentucky, Hardin County and surrounding counties,” Swope said. “We meet every Thursday evening and rehearse under the direction of Aaron Dale. Aaron is a phenomenal director, and he manages to get some wonderful sounds from some pretty average voices (laughs).”

All are welcome to attend. Find more information on the Heart of Kentucky Chorus Facebook page.

Employees at the Starbucks located at 1703 North Dixie Highway went on strike Tuesday in protest of what they described as unfair labor practices by the company’s upper management.

Barista Anastacia Shelton was among the striking workers Tuesday. She said Starbucks has not closed bargaining with Starbucks Workers United, the union representing the Dixie Highway store and the store at 111 The Loop, for over a year, which means calls from workers for better benefits, wages that keep pace with cost of living changes, and improved distribution of labor have gone unanswered.

“They’ve been pushing it off, and they haven’t done anything to give us any of what we’ve been asking for or even find a middle ground with us,” Shelton said.

Starbucks Workers United says on social media that stores across the country are also protesting what they called illegal changes made to the company dress code during the bargaining process. Shelton said the company says the dress code change is for the customers, but customers have not said anything to them about what they are wearing.

“It also isn’t something that affects the taste of coffee, but it is discriminating a bit against our LGBTQ+ community within our stores,” Shelton said. “It’s making them very uncomfortable. There’s a lot of things like gender dysphoria that’s being caused by the changes to the dress code, and it’s very much not welcoming to the trans community that we have a lot of in our stores.”

Starbucks said in a statement Tuesday: “Thousands of Starbucks partners (employees) came to work today ready to serve their customers and communities. The biggest update to our dress code is simple: wear a black shirt—either your own or one we provide. While Workers United, which represents less than 5 percent of our workforce, attempted to create disruption in a handful of stores, the overwhelming majority of our 10,000 us company-operated stores remain open and are serving customers as normal. It would be more productive if the union would put the same effort into coming back to the table to finalize a reasonable contract.”

Voter registration in Kentucky in April was described as “flat.”

The Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office says 5,423 new voter registrations were logged in April, while 4,824 voters were removed, a net gain of only 599 voters.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, of the registrations that were removed from the rolls 3,279 were for deceased voters, 620 were for felony convicts, and 487 moved out of state.

Republican registration increased by 740 voters in April. Independent or other registrations increased by 1,324, while Democratic registrations decreased by 1,465 voters. Republican registration makes up 47 percent of the electorate, Democratic registration makes up 42 percent, and independent or other makes up 11 percent.

Kentuckians can register to vote or check their registration status by visiting govote.ky.gov, or by contacting their county clerk’s office.