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Fire alarm at Bluegrass Middle School causes bus delays; students safe

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All students are safe but bus routes were delayed after a fire alarm was pulled at Bluegrass Middle School Wednesday.

Hardin County Schools Community Relations Specialist John Wright says the alarm was pulled at approximately 2:45 p.m. on March 25.

“The school administration called 911 and the Radcliff Fire Department responded immediately,” Wright said. “In the meantime, school staff and students evacuated the building, and after an investigation by RFD and the Hardin County Schools Buildings and Grounds team, it was found that a piece of equipment had malfunctioned and overheated.”

Students returned to the building to gather their belongings at around 3:20 p.m. The delayed release of the middle school students then created a domino effect.

“Wednesday’s dismissal occurred 20 minutes after the normal dismissal time, therefore buses that normally take Bluegrass Middle School students home and return to the campus to take John Hardin High School students home after that school’s dismissal were late returning to John Hardin,” Wright said. “That caused a delay for some John Hardin High School students’ arrival at home.”

Wright says at no time were students and staff at Bluegrass Middle School ever in any danger.

KYTC says text message scam still being reported

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The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says a scam involving fake texts from the KYTC has not gone away. 

The KYTC says reports are still coming in regarding fraudulent text messages impersonating the Cabinet, the Office of Highway Safety, and driver licensing offices, with the texts including a suspicious link that appears similar to Kentucky government website addresses. The scam text warns customers of unpaid traffic tickets or “traffic infractions” with notices that payment is due or actions will be taken.

The KYTC does not collect traffic ticket fees, and does not notify customers of violations via text messages. The Cabinet does not refer to itself or its offices as “KDOT” or the “DMV” and only does business on the website drive.ky.gov.

The KYTC says beware of text messages that include the word “pay” or add hyphens to official-looking links. Never click a suspicious link you receive in a text or email. When in doubt, reach out to the agency to confirm authenticity. If you have clicked a link or provided any personal information, contact your bank immediately.

The KYTC says it is working to have fraudulent websites taken down. If you receive a scam text, you can forward the suspicious message to 7726 or report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov) or the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General (ag.ky.gov). Sign up for Kentucky scam alerts at stopscams.ky.gov.

Hardin County Fiscal Court holds second March meeting

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The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday.

After a closed session that lasted about two hours, the court approved a resolution concerning the termination of an E-911 employee by a vote of 5 to 4. First District Magistrate Chris Yates said he was concerned with the issue coming back on the agenda after he said it was discussed in a closed session at the previous meeting and the court then decided against termination.

“If there was not sufficient evidence to support termination when the cause was originally heard, I question whether it is appropriate to revisit it now,” Yates said. “Doing so risks setting a precedent that decisions can be revisited until the desired outcome is achieved.”

Hardin County E-911 Director Mike Leo reported that county dispatch answered 3,625 911 calls in February. Hardin County EMS Director Mark Peterson reported county ambulances made 1,291 runs in February. Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul said the county EMS team received some good news Tuesday.

“We had a state inspection that was completed today, and we had no discrepancies with the ambulances or training or administration, so I just wanted to say congratulations, and I appreciate you and your team for working hard to make sure that that happens,” Taul said.

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet for a special called meeting on Friday, March 27. The next regular fiscal court meeting will be April 14.

Tickets on sale for Helping Hand of Hope’s 55th anniversary event

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Helping Hand of Hope Executive Director Hope Burke said for the organization’s 55th anniversary, the staff and the board wanted to step up their game in celebrating more than half a century of helping neighbors in need.

Burke and Helping Hand of Hope Board Chair Chris Kiger joined the Quicksie Morning Show Tuesday morning to announce the anniversary celebration “Faith, Family, Community, and Camo”, which will feature some special guests.

“So I was like ‘Well, this could work. Let me reach out to some friends that I know,’” Burke said. “And so we are happy to announce that Jase and Missy Robertson from Duck Dynasty are going to be our keynote speakers.”

Burke said more guests can be expected for the event, which will be held August 14 and 15.

“Sponsors will be invited to the Friday night event where they will get to hear Missy’s story and get to meet Jase and Missy,” Burke said. “They’ll get to have a fun camo-type dinner, some fun things at the House on Helm, and then on Saturday people that just purchased the tickets for Saturday will get to come and hear Jase’s story and just how amazing his life is with faith, family, and community because, a lot of people know with A&E’s Duck Dynasty, they have had their own trials and different things.”

Proceeds from the event will support Helping Hand of Hope’s mission to offer neighbors “the opportunity to alleviate personal and financial hardships by providing services that foster self-worth and human dignity.”

“This is just a really good chance to come back and support your neighbors in need because all of this money goes back into our services,” Burke said. “It doesn’t go into payroll. It doesn’t go into any of that. It’s all for the care that goes back to our neighbors.”

Tickets are on sale now and sponsorship opportunities are available. Visit www.helpinghandofhope.org or the Helping Hand of Hope Facebook page to find the ticket link.