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ECTC celebrates success of students with commencement ceremony

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Elizabethtown Community and Technical College recognized the accomplishments of students during commencement ceremonies for the Summer and Fall semester.

About 200 students walked across the stage before hundreds of guests Tuesday as the college hosted commencement at Severns Valley Baptist Church.

According to ECTC, two ceremonies were held Tuesday to honor students who completed their academic programs in the summer and fall. The college expects to award graduates approximately 500 degrees and diplomas along with more than 1,400 certificates. Credentials awarded include Associate in Applied Science degrees to help support students heading into careers in high-demand fields such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and trades, along with Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degrees for students looking to transfer to four-year colleges and universities.

ECTC President and CEO Dr. Juston Pate said: “We are so proud of our new alumni and look forward to seeing the class of 2025 become part of the next generation of leaders in our region. Whether they are entering the workforce and starting a high-demand career or moving on to successfully complete a Bachelor’s degree, the time they spent at ECTC has prepared them for the next step in their journey.”

ECTC is currently enrolling students for the Spring 2026 semester, and the application for financial aid opportunities is open. Visit the ECTC website or contact the Admissions office for more information.

KFW accepting live Christmas trees to support fish populations

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If you decorate your home with a live Christmas tree, you can close out the holiday season by giving Kentucky Fish and Wildlife a gift this year.

You can give your used Christmas tree another life after the holiday season and donate it to the KFW “Christmas for the Fishes” tree recycling program, through which donated evergreens are used to create underwater habitats that help fish thrive.

KFW says the donated trees are put to work in local lakes and reservoirs, where they are arranged in clusters to create dense branches and small pockets for young fish to hide. These structures attract sportfish as they offer opportunistic feeding opportunities. The donated trees help restore woody structures that have previously decayed in lakes.

The donated trees are anchored to environmentally-friendly weights and submerged at various depths in lakes and reservoirs across the commonwealth. The new habitats support local fish populations, which in turn benefits anglers heading out to fish on Kentucky waterways.

KFW will accept evergreen trees from December 26 through January 16 at 37 drop-off locations across the state. The trees must be real and should be free of lights, garland, and decorations. Visit the program page on fw.ky.gov for more information.

Scholarship application open for ECTC students

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Interested or continuing students at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College still have time to apply for available scholarships.

“ECTC already has the lowest tuition in the state, and thanks to many very generous donors, we have so many scholarships that can help make that even lower,” said ECTC Director of Marketing and Public Relations Sarah Berkshire. “We have more scholarships than ever before, and that’s why we’re really trying to make sure that every student who will be here in the fall next year gets their application in for this.”

Even if you are not sure that you will qualify, ECTC recommends submitting an application as the range of scholarships is wide and the application process is simple.

“We have one application, and when you complete that one fairly simple application you will be matched with all of the scholarships for which you are eligible,” Berkshire said. “We have 50 scholarship opportunities, or about that. You’re not filling out 50 applications. Just one scholarship application.”

The priority application deadline is February 28. Visit www.ectc.us/scholarships or contact the ECTC Financial Aid Office at 270-706-8698 for assistance.

Radcliff City Council holds final meeting of 2025

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The Radcliff City Council met for their final meeting of 2025 Tuesday.

The council approved an ordinance updating the city’s code of ethics for city officials and employees. The council also approved an ordinance that rezones 238 Oak Drive in Vine Grove from Commercial to Residential-4, a “high-density residential and single family duplex zone”. That is the last rezoning requested by Silver Gate Properties for their development at the property.

The council approved the surplusing of the building and land at 987 North Dixie Boulevard.

“It had been many things over the years, and so it finally ended as the FFO and they tried to sell it, had it listed for well over $800,000 and didn’t have it, so that was donated to the city, and in the meantime, we ended up taking that building and trying to figure out really what we wanted to do with it,” said Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall. “We looked at many different options, one of them was a youth center.”

Duvall said the current tenant originally signed a three-month lease, but in order to help pay utility costs the city has allowed them to remain while the city decides what happens next. Bids for the property will be opened on February 5. If interested, contact the city to set an appointment to tour the site.

The council also approved two operating procedures for the Radcliff Police Department recommended by the Kentucky League of Cities. RPD Chief Jeff Cross said one of the policies concerns the safe storage of firearms, while the other concerns emergency call location requests.

“If we have an incident that requires us to have to find the location of an individual or an individual’s phone, sometimes you can do that under exigent circumstances that doesn’t require a search warrant, and then there’s times that it does require a search warrant,” Cross said.

The council approved termite treatment for the cabins at Saunders Springs, with an initial cost of $1,875 and annual renewals for $375. The council will discuss further renovations for the cabins at a later date.

Duvall addressed a bomb threat that was called in over the weekend at the Radcliff Walmart, and thanked the first responders that quickly arrived on scene. He said nothing was found after a sweep of the property.

“They’re working through some of that, and I think we have some good leads on that, and we’re doing what we can, but just so people know, we had the same threat made against City Hall probably two or three weeks ago, and so I don’t know if this is just a fun thing people like to do but it causes real headaches for all of us that have to deal with it, and it’s a crime if you get caught, absolutely,” Duvall said.

The Radcliff City Council will next meet January 12.

Kentucky medical cannabis program making progress

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Heartland Medical Cannabis Health and Wellness owner, and family nurse practitioner and licensed medical cannabis practitioner, Marlena O’Neal says the opening of the state’s first medical cannabis dispensary (The Post Dispensary in Beaver Dam) this past weekend shows the progress medical cannabis continues to see in Kentucky.

“I believe that soon to follow will be Kentucky Alternative Care, which is located up on Bardstown Road in Louisville,” O’Neal said. “I know that the processors are still trying to get up and running, and those are the ones that are responsible for your products being made such as edibles and vaporization products. So right now, what we have access to would be the raw plant materials for patients.”

O’Neal says the Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis has made some streamlining changes to the application process for medical cannabis cards.

“There’s less forms,” O’Neal said. “They’re standardizing those a little bit more, and then they have their customer service number up and running for people to be able to reach out if they have any issues once they’ve applied for their card. Otherwise, the process is still pretty much the same, and we’ve been seeing a steady number of people come through for certifications.”

O’Neal says the state office has expressed openness to expanding the list of qualifying conditions, but such action is a legislative process so the focus is on getting the program up and running. State regulations require all products in the program be Kentucky-made.

O’Neal says offices like hers exist to help people through the application process.

“If you have a qualifying condition, it’s easier to get certified than you would imagine, and the major goal is making sure that someone qualifies, but also that they can safely use cannabis and they don’t have any contraindications, and we do that in one office visit,” O’Neal said.

More information, including contact information for practitioners like O’Neal, can be found at kymedcan.ky.gov.