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With the 2024 general election just over two months away, Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith said the May primary provided a good roadmap for preparations for November.
“Our general election plan looks a lot like it did in the May primary,” Smith said. “The difference is we’re beefing up the centers, having more clerks and more check-in stations, so check-ins should be, we hope, adequate.”
Smith discussed the November election during his report to the Hardin County Fiscal Court at their most recent meeting. The deadline to register to vote in the election is October 7, so Smith said don’t wait for the deadline when registering or updating your registration is easy.
“If you’ve moved in the last couple of years, just go on and check,” Smith said. “Make sure all of your information is accurate. We’ve had folks come in and change their party affiliation. That doesn’t impact how you can vote in the general election, but it will set you up for the next time we have a primary, so if you want to, do that as well.”
Smith said unlike some counties that are struggling to find poll workers, Hardin County actually has the opposite problem, but he said don’t hesitate to sign up if you are interested in helping out.
“If we can’t use you this time, we’ll keep you on the list for future reference,” Smith said. “We always set aside a number of alternates because 70 percent of our poll workers are 70 and above, and that’s the population that sometimes has surgery, injuries, and illness that kind of creep up unexpectedly, so if you get assigned to be an alternate, don’t be disappointed. We’ll probably end up calling you real early in the morning on Election Day.”
You can find information on working the polls via the new portal available on the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website, and you can find election information at govote.ky.gov.
Several area organizations were included in the latest round of the federal Victims of Crime Act grant program.
According to a release from the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, 102 organizations across the commonwealth were awarded a total of $14.9 million in funding.
When discussing the funding during his Team Kentucky update Thursday, Governor Andy Beshear said the funds will go towards initiatives that continue providing critical services, hold offenders accountable, and keep Kentuckians safe. The governor referenced a local incident when highlighting the importance of the funding.
“We were reminded at how concerning this level of violence is by an incident that occurred just outside the courthouse in Elizabethtown just last week, so we know that there is still more to do,” Beshear said.
Area organizations that received funding include the Baptist Hardin Foundation (which received $87,274), CASA of the Heartland ($100,000), the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office ($61,429), Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery Services ($304,224), and SpringHaven Inc. ($199,634)
“Each of these organizations is doing God’s work, is being there for people after the worst trauma that is imaginable, and for everyone working at any of these organizations or others that serve victims of crime and of violent crime: thank you for being there for your fellow human being,” Beshear said.
Visit the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet online for more information on the Victims of Crime Act program.
The National Park Service says the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park has a positive impact on the surrounding community.
A report from the NPS says nearly 240,000 visitors came to the historic park in 2023. The report indicates that visitors to the park spent just over $16 million in surrounding communities, which supported 242 area jobs and had an overall benefit to the local economy of $23.3 million.
The NPS says the historic park is part of a national parks system that welcomed more than 325 million visitors across the united states in 2023. Those visitors spent $26.4 billion in communities near national parks, supporting more than 415,000 jobs and creating an overall economic impact of $55.6 billion nationwide.
Stacy Humphreys, the park’s Chief of Interpretation and Resource Management, says the park offers two unique properties: Lincoln’s birthplace and his first childhood home.
“The two units of the park are separated by 10 miles, so if you go to the birthplace unit, all you have to do is follow U.S. 31E like you’re heading toward Bardstown and that will take you out to Knob Creek,” Humphreys said.
Learn more about the economic impact of the National Parks Service via their website, and learn more about the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park via its website and Facebook page.