WQXE News

Lincoln Trail Area Development District Executive Director Daniel London said each county pays 39 cents per citizen to be part of LTADD.

“You don’t want to hear about the 39 cents, you want to hear about the return on investment, because that’s what we look for,” London said. “The average return on investment last fiscal year was $270 from the ADD, so think about this: you buy a 39 cents stock, but you get $270 back, we would all buy that stock, and so the AD district is providing great support to local governments and communities as a result of that.”

London was the featured speaker at the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s June general membership luncheon, held at Phillips Grove banquet hall Wednesday. London discussed the major priorities of LTADD including community and economic development and workforce development.

London said the area right now is “bursting at the seams” with economic development opportunities, but major infrastructure improvements are needed to prepare for what is coming.

“What we came up with is almost $1 billion in infrastructure that is needed over the next six years to make this a soft landing,” London said. “That is an incredibly staggering number. This is not even all the infrastructure that’s needed for our region. We have another over $1 billion that’s not on this chart that our CED department is tracking.”

London said he wanted to clarify that the cost was not directly tied to major developments like BlueOval SK in Hardin County and Nucor in Meade County.

“We have significant issues with our infrastructure all across the state that can’t keep up,” London said. “Now, has the BlueOval project as well as others moved that timeline up? That’s when we’re replacing it? Absolutely. That is absolutely fair, but at the end of the day, this is all spending that has to happen at some point to continue the growth that we have.”

London touched on some of the recent studies that LTADD has been a part of, including a look at the lack of available childcare in the area that shows more than 2,000 work-willing adults would be able to return to the workforce with an increase in available childcare services and a housing study that shows Hardin County is about 4,500 housing units short of current needs. A transportation study that is looking at possible public transportation options for Hardin and Meade counties should be completed by September. Those studies and more information can be found on the Lincoln Trail Area Development District website.

The East Hardin Middle School Beta Club is returning from the National Beta Conference in Savannah, Georgia, with some hardware.

The Beta Club raked in 15 total awards recognizing placement in the top 10 in several competitions, and Beta Club sponsor and East Hardin art teacher Molly Hazle said one of the crowning achievements capped an effort the students put into the entire school year.

“Our biggest thing we do, where we have about 90 kids participating, is our very big Large Group Talent performing arts, and that’s supposed to showcase any kind of talent for singing, dancing, or speaking,” Hazle said. “We put on a show about BETA through the ages, and we just got national champions for that.”

The club also won the national championship for the solo/duo/trio competition.

Hazle said she is very proud of a well-deserving group of students.

“The last two years, Group Talent is what we pour our heart into the most, and we were national runner up two years in a row, so this is really rewarding for all of us,” Hazle said. “It was a long time coming. We really wanted that national title.”

The Beta Club asks students to strive for achievement in and out of the classroom.

“It is a service organization, but you also have to make certain grades to stay in,” Hazle said. “We ask our students to maintain all As and Bs throughout the year. They have to do 24 hours of service in their community throughout the year, and the four pillars are “achievement, character, leadership, and service,” so it is for students that embody all four of those pillars.”

Hazle said the club will take all students that are willing to put in the effort, and if interested in joining they can reach out once the new school year begins.

CASA of the Heartland will host their annual Farm to Fork dinner Saturday at Highland Sod Farms.

“Farm to Fork is our biggest annual fundraiser,” said CASA of the Heartland Executive Director Michelle Kail. “We partner with several local farms to provide the community with a farm to table dinner. We have a live and silent auction, and also we will have a live band this year, Van Winkle and the Spirits.”

That’s CASA of the Heartland Executive Director Michelle Kail. All of the money raised through the event goes towards the organization’s efforts to provide advocacy for children involved in family court cases through court-appointed special advocates

“We recruit, train and support community volunteers who then are assigned to children who are under petition with the Family Courts for dependency, neglect, and abuse, and our CASA volunteers get to know those children and then help advocate for their best interests within the courtroom,” Kail said.

Learn more about CASA of the Heartland by visiting their website, finding the organization on social media, or by contacting their office.