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Area students invited to Hardin County Teen Court open house

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The Hardin County Teen Court is inviting all area high school students and their parents to attend an open house and mock trial at the Hardin County Justice Center.

“Hardin County Teen Court is an opportunity for local high school students to come together and sentence on the actual juvenile cases of their peers throughout the community,” said Hardin District Judge Kimberly Shumate. 

The open house is coming up on Thursday, August 28, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

“If you come at 6:30, we’ll give you an overview of the program and some of our returning students will put on a mock trial experience so you can see what Teen Court might look like on any given night,” Shumate said. “It starts at 6:30 and we should be done within about an hour.”

Teen court volunteers will be trained to be the attorneys, bailiffs, clerks, and jury members in actual juvenile cases.

“Once we complete our training, we’re sworn to confidentiality, and then we begin those trial cases, and we do the jury trials on sentencing phases throughout the rest of the school year,” Shumate said. “We also have some great opportunities for networking and some social activities with the teens that come from all over our area.”

All area students willing to put in the required time are welcome to participate. Contact Judge Shumate’s office at 270-766-5004 for more information.

One dead after crash in Meade County

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The Kentucky State Police is investigating a fatal collision in Meade County Thursday.

According to KSP Post Four, at around 10:30 a.m. on August 21 troopers from Post Four and the KSP Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Division responded to a request from Meade County Dispatch to assist with the investigation of a crash near the 14,000 block of U.S. 60.

The KSP says the preliminary investigation indicates that a tractor-trailer operated by Marshall Morgan of Guston was travelling east on U.S. 60 when for unknown reasons the vehicle crossed the center line, striking a pickup truck operated by Glenda Ricketts of Shepherdsville.

A passenger in the pickup, 80-year-old Jerry Ricketts of Shepherdsville, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Meade County Coroner’s Office. Glenda Ricketts and Morgan were both transported to the University of Louisville Hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries.

The KSP’s investigation is ongoing.

Hardin County commonwealth’s attorney recognized

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Hardin County/Ninth Judicial Circuit Commonwealth’s Attorney Shane Young is receiving some special recognition.

Young received the 2025 Outstanding Commonwealth’s Attorney Award at the Kentucky Prosecutors Conference in Lexington Wednesday.

“Personally, it’s gratifying, but really, I think it’s a reflection on what the office does,” Young said. “Not just me, but I have seven other prosecutors that work with me, and I’ve been lucky enough to assemble what I think is probably the most talented group of commonwealth’s attorneys in the state, and they’ve actually stuck with me.”

Young said to him the job means “bringing justice to victims, and then keeping the community safe.”

“Me and Teresa relocated there 20-something years ago, and our kids grew up there, and waking up every morning and making sure your kids are safe, and that your parents are safe, and that your family’s safe, is something really easy to work at,” Young said.

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said in a release: “Shane has never shied away from a challenge. There was no hesitation on Shane’s part when he took on a decade-old murder case and ultimately secured three convictions. On behalf of our office, the people of Nelson County, and the family of Crystal Rogers, we are grateful for his dedication and tireless pursuit of justice.”

Young said the Bardstown cases are another testament to his team.

“There’s a lot of people involved in that besides me, especially my wife Teresa Young and Jim Lesousky, who is a prosecutor at Louisville, and my office with me not being there a lot has continued to operate and continue to deliver consistent justice to Hardin County on their own, and I think that’s a good reflection of the talent that’s working out of the office,” Young said.

Young was elected to his third term as commonwealth’s attorney in 2024.

Fire destroys Vine Grove Fire Department trucks and equipment

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A fire at a city-owned building Tuesday night resulted in significant losses for the Vine Grove Fire Department.

Vine Grove Mayor Pam Ogden said it appears the fire at 203 North Mill Street began after the building was struck by lightning.

“We have video cameras that watch the buildings and we can see about 9 p.m. last night where a plume started coming from the building, so I think it took a while,” Ogden said. “Our guys weren’t on site until after 10. It took a little while for anybody to report. It was a night that nobody was there.”

Ogden said the fire was very hot, and with several vehicles filled with gasoline the damage was extensive. A pink truck used for cancer awareness events parked outside the building sustained damage, and several trucks inside were total losses.

“We had things in there like everybody does when you have a fire that you can’t replace, like a 1941 antique fire truck,” Ogden said. “That was literally a Vine Grove fire truck. You can’t replace that. It’s disintegrated. I mean, there’s nothing left.”

Ogden praised the work of the city’s firefighters for bringing the fire under control, knowing the fire affected them personally.

“Our fire department is made mostly up of volunteers and they love their job,” Ogden said. “They love the city. It’s just been a hard day on everybody, the aftermath of it. I think if you want to support us, just reach out to a volunteer firefighter at Vine Grove that you know. Give them some encouraging words, and we’ll see how all this plays out.”

The fire remains under investigation.