WQXE News
As Crystal Rogers investigation suspect Steven Lawson is set to go to trial in Warren County on May 27, Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III is setting some of the ground rules ahead of the trial.
Simms issued an order Friday for Lawson’s case file to remain in Nelson County during the trial. The circuit court staff “will be responsible for videotaping the proceeding and returning the recordings, as well as any trial exhibits, back to the Nelson Circuit Court Clerk.”
In a previous hearing, Simms said normally once a case file is transferred it is not transferred back, so he wanted to keep the file in Nelson County for as long as possible for convenience of the defense, prosecution, and court staff.
Simms on Tuesday issued an order that bans recording the trial proceeding by anybody except court personnel. The order bans all electronic and recording devices from the courtroom. Simms said in the order: “This case has generated tremendous interest amongst the news media and the general public which has resulted in a ‘circuslike atmosphere.’” Simms also said people sitting in the media area during previous hearings have been observed recording on iPhones or iPads, with complaints that proceedings have been live-streamed and posted to social media.
Lawson is charged with Tampering with Physical Evidence and Conspiracy to Commit Murder. His son Joseph Lawson, along with Brooks Houck, is scheduled to go to trial on June 24.
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is inviting area students in grades six through ten to their annual Pathfinder Academy.
“It is a week-long academy with various classes,” said ECTC Director of Advanced Manufacturing Accelerator Project and Pathfinder Coordinator Eileen Worthington. “We have VEX Robotics, CAD, soldering, LEGO Robotics, culinary arts, sewing, and robotic automation.”
The academy runs June 9 through 13, with class sections divided by age.
“Registration ends on May 30,” Worthington said. “It’s a lot of new classes, so new programming, new technical things that students may not have done before, so some of it’s going to be new and interesting, and trying something new is what we’re trying to get a lot of students to do.”
Campers will also participate in financial literacy workshops.
Advanced registration is required with spots available on a first-come, first-served basis. Visit the Pathfinder Academy page on the ECTC website or contact Worthington (270-706-8712) for more information.
The City of Elizabethtown is now accepting applications for the 2025 Heartland Homecoming Parade.
“It is Saturday, August 23,” said Elizabethtown Events Coordinator Beth Pyles. “Applications are being accepted for participants at www.etownevents.com. The theme for this year’s parade will be “A Walk Through Time: Remembering Our Past and Planning for Our Future,” and we’re encouraging all entries to decorate and theme their floats to match that theme.”
All are welcome to sign up to participate.
“There is no fee to enter as a participant, but spots are limited, so get those in,” Pyles said. It will step off at 10 a.m. as normal from Public Square and run north on West Dixie Avenue all the way to Saint John Road.”
Pyles says the Heartland Homecoming Parade is a tradition that extends beyond Elizabethtown.
“It’s a great time,” Pyles said. “It’s not just Elizabethtown. We get representatives from all over the county, from all the communities – Radcliff, Vine Grove, West Point – to come together and celebrate Hardin County, so we definitely call it the Heartland Homecoming Parade.”
Visit www.etownevents.com for more information or to register.
Unemployment in Kentucky in April came in slightly higher than where it was the year prior.
The Kentucky Center for Statistics says the state unemployment average for April was 5.2 percent. That is up slightly from April 2024 when the average was reported at 4.9 percent, but it is unchanged from the March average.
Kentucky’s unemployment average also came in higher in April than the national unemployment rate, which the U.S. Department of Labor reported at 4.2 percent.
The Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet says the state’s civilian labor force, which includes people currently employed and people actively searching for work, saw an increase of 752 people from March to April, bringing the civilian labor force to a little more than 2,118,000.
The Education and Labor Cabinet says the Professional and Business Services, Educational and Health Services, Government, and Other Services sectors saw increases in April. Decreases were seen in the Mining and Logging, Information Services, Leisure and Hospitality, Financial Activities, Construction, Manufacturing, and Trade, Transportation, and Utilities sectors.
Visit the Kentucky Center for Statistics website for more about unemployment figures and labor market information.