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KCTCS touts opportunities for students during Dual Credit Week

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More Kentucky students took advantage of dual credit opportunities last school year.

The Kentucky Community and Technical College System is observing Dual Credit Week now through April 18, celebrating the valuable academic advantage high school students can get through the courses, which count for both high school and college credit.

KCTCS says more than 36,000 high school students enrolled in dual credit courses during the 2023-2024 academic year, which is a 12.5 percent increase from the previous school year. In the fall of 2024, more than 29,000 students took more than 5,500 dual credit courses, saving nearly $15 million in tuition costs.

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College says in fall of 2024, more than 2,200 high school students enrolled in dual credit courses through ECTC. Students completed more than 12,000 total credit hours, which ECTC says saved them more than $1 million in tuition costs.

Kentucky has expanded dual credit access by investing in two scholarship opportunities. The Dual Credit Scholarship covers two general education courses per year for juniors and seniors, while the Work Ready Kentucky scholarship covers two technical education classes per year for all four years of high school.

Visit the Dual Credit page on ECTC’s website to learn more.

Radcliff council approves annexations, police policy update

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The Radcliff City Council met for their first meeting of the month Tuesday.

The council approved the annexation of three tracts of land along South Dixie Boulevard between East Lincoln Trail Boulevard and Terrace Drive. The rezoning of all three properties from Hardin County R-1 to Commercial was also approved.

An update to the Radcliff Police Department’s policies and procedures concerning vehicle pursuits was approved. Radcliff Police Chief Jeff Cross said the update comes from recommendations from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Kentucky League of Cities. When asked about the policy by Council Member Jerry Brown, Cross said the update doesn’t radically change the department’s current procedures.

“It has to be one of those serious felonies that we will even allow our guys to pursue, or in a reckless driving situation that has to occur prior to our engagement with that person,” Cross said.

Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall presented Assistant Fire Chief Bob Mahanna with special recognition for his dedicated years of service to the Radcliff Fire Department. Duvall also thanked the city’s firefighters for their dedication during flood recovery efforts. State Senator Matt Deneen was in attendance and said the governor’s office has financial resources for recovery efforts and additional resources will be available when the White House approves the county’s local disaster declaration, but work must be done first.

“It does take time,” Deneen said. “It takes time for the water to recede so that FEMA can do its proper assessments and the state can also come in and do its assessments and gather information, not only from Hardin County but throughout central Kentucky.”

The Radcliff City Council will next meet May 12.

Drug investigation lands Elizabethtown man in jail

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An investigation by the Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force has landed an Elizabethtown man in jail.

Marvin Brookins faces multiple charges including three first degree counts of Trafficking in a Controlled Substance following his arrest Friday.

According to a release from the task force, on April 11 members executed a search warrant on a residence on Bardstown Road east of Elizabethtown. Officers located 17 pounds of crystal meth, 54 grams of cocaine, 16 oxycodone pills, and a small amount of marijuana and anabolic steroids.

Brookins was lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center, where he is being held on a $75,000 cash bond. He is due to appear in Hardin District Court on April 25. The investigation is ongoing and additional suspects are expected to be charged.

Anybody with information on possible drug activity is encouraged to submit a tip to the Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force at 270-769-0694. Tips may be made anonymously.

Steven Lawson’s attorneys say testing hairs necessary for due process

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Lawyers for Crystal Rogers investigation suspect Steven Lawson told Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III that testing hairs found in the victim’s car is part of Lawson’s due process, while Special Prosecutor Shane Young said testing the hairs does nothing but unnecessarily delay Lawson’s trial.

The two sides were back in Nelson Circuit Court Monday morning to argue the defense’s desire to see the hairs tested despite Young withdrawing his motion during an April 3 hearing after he said analysis from the Kentucky State Police Crime Lab showed the hairs in question could not belong to either Steven Lawson or his son Joseph Lawson, who is also a suspect in the case.

Lawson’s attorneys submitted case examples to argue that Lawson “has a fundamental right to due process, which includes the right to present evidence of an alternative perpetrator.” In a supplemental brief filed with the court April 12, the defense said several identified persons of interest over the course of the case, such as fellow suspect Brooks Houck’s brother Nick Houck, could be identified through testing the hairs, and said “it is not inconceivable that someone could have come along who was involved in the alleged conspiracy to tamper with the automobile after Steven Lawson and co-defendant Joseph Lawson allegedly abandoned the automobile (but prior to law enforcement first locating the automobile).”

Young said Nick Houck’s hair has already been tested and said he could not be the contributor of the hairs in question. Young stated, as he did when he withdrew the motion at the previous hearing, that he did not want to waste money testing the hairs when the hairs could not belong to the Lawsons, and said “the simple fact that someone else’s DNA is in the vehicle is not exculpatory.”

Simms took the matter under submission and asked the prosecution and defense to submit any additional materials within 48 hours as he would like to make a ruling this week.

Elizabethtown council hears update on city’s natural gas department

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The Elizabethtown City Council met for a work session Monday evening.

City Natural Gas Department Director Matthew Hobbs provided a report on his department. He said the department is fully staffed with 14 employees, and the department comes into 2025 with a “solid budget.”

“The biggest ticket item that we’ve got on that is a ‘de-hy,’ so that’s basically a unit that’s drying your gas as you’re pulling it out of the storage field,” Hobbs said. “Ours, I think, dates back to sometime mid-late 90s.”

Hobbs says while business has remained consistent, customer growth has stagnated.

“The industrial pool is still strong and holding pretty steady,” Hobbs said. “That makes up about 50 percent of our flow, so the amount or the volume of gas we’re using is staying pretty consistent, but that customer number is not going up.”

The city is in the beginning stages of a natural gas rate study, with data collection currently under way.

Representatives from Hope Academy for Kids presented on the organization’s services. Resource Development Coordinator Dara Bryant discussed additional efforts to support program members and their families.

“To better assist, Hope Academy has become part of a nationwide effort to end family homelessness,” Bryant said. “In 2024, we became a program site for Bridge of Hope, and I’m excited to share that we are the first and only program site for Bridge of Hope in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

Bryant said statistics show 1 in 30 children in the United States struggle with homelessness each year.

Members of Scout Troop 221 led the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of the meeting. The members then stayed after the meeting for a question and answer session with the mayor and council members.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet April 21.