WQXE News

The Summer Reading Program is under way at the Breckinridge County Public Library, and a wide variety of activities are available at the library all summer long to keep kids reading during summer break.

“Our basic schedule is on Mondays we have our special events like our Pokemon Party that was this week and then this upcoming Monday is our Garden Party, and we’ll also have our special visitors on Mondays,” said BCPL Children’s Librarian Izzy Deaton. “On Tuesdays we have our regular story time, and we’ll be doing our outreach in the Cloverport area at different places each week. On Wednesdays we have Art Club at 1, and on Thursdays at 10 a.m. we have Gardening Club and in the afternoon starting at 1 we have Open STEAM. On Fridays we have our Book to Movie Club so we are screening movies that were originally books, and then on Saturday we’ll have activities that go along with the stories we have out on our Story Walk, so you can walk, get some exercise in, read a story, and then come inside, cool off, and do an activity that will go with that.”

In addition to programs and activities, the library also invites kids to participate in the Summer Reading Challenge, where kids can pick up a weekly reading log and enter to win a prize. There is also a Summer Reading Challenge for adults.

“We have a summer reading log that measures minutes as well, and then we also have our summer reading bingo, which is like specific little events and if you get a line bingo you can get a prize, and then there’s a monthly prize for reading for June and July for adults,” Deaton said.

Summer reading program events are free and no registration is required. Visit the Breckinridge County Public Library Facebook page or website for more information.

CASA of the Heartland is continuing to raise awareness for the most vulnerable children in the community with next of their Light the Night 5K Superhero Run/Walk events, to be held at Buttermilk Falls in Brandenburg Friday evening.

CASA of the Heartland Executive Director Michelle Kail says food trucks and vendors will be on hand for the event, and glow and superhero items will be available. Participants are encouraged to “go all out” with the superhero theme.

“The reason that we do the Light the Night Superhero edition is because we know that our CASA volunteers are providing a light in some of the darkest times for the kiddos that we serve, and to us, they’re kind of like our real life community superheroes,” Kail said.

CASA of the Heartland recruits, trains, and supports community volunteers who advocate on behalf of abused, neglected, and dependent children in Breckinridge, Grayson, Hardin, Hart, LaRue, and Meade counties.

“It really is just whatever we need to do to step up and make sure that their needs are being met, and then whatever we can do with the courts to help them navigate that situation to make sure that they have everything that they need and that their needs there are met,” Kail said.

The party kicks off at Buttermilk Falls Friday at 7 p.m. Packet pick-up starts at 7:30, with the race scheduled to begin at 9:03. Find more information and the registration link on the CASA of the Heartland Facebook page or website.

The trial for Dustin Caudill, the Elizabethtown man accused of shooting and killing two men and then setting the Henon Lane residence they were in on fire in October 2024, was scheduled to begin next week.

That trial is getting pushed back, however, due to a backlog in pre-trial forensic assessments at the Kentucky Correctional Psychiatric Center.

Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Chris McCrary told Hardin Circuit Judge Larry Ashlock during what was supposed to be the final pre-trial conference Tuesday that when the commonwealth requested an evaluation of Caudill on April 6 they were told it would be a two to five month wait before Caudill could be evaluated by KCPC. Because the forensic assessment takes approximately 30 days, and KCPC would then need additional time to prepare a report, McCrary said the assessment could not be completed in time for the scheduled June 8 trial start.

Defense attorneys for Caudill said they had prepared to begin the trial on June 8 and their witnesses had made travel arrangements for the trial. Ashlock said that statutes which allow the defense to submit arguments regarding Caudill’s mental health allow for the prosecution to conduct their own evaluation for rebuttal, so he sustained the commonwealth’s motion for a continuance.

The new trial date was scheduled for October 19, but Ashlock said if conflicts with scheduling witnesses arise it can be addressed at a later date. A pre-trial conference to discuss several motions currently under consideration in the case was scheduled for June 16.