Menu Close

ECTC selected for Metallica Scholars Initiative for fifth straight year

Support for Elizabethtown Community and Technical College comes from many places, including one of rock music’s most legendary acts.

ECTC has once again been named to the Metallica Scholars Initiative, which was created through the band’s All Within My Hands nonprofit to support education efforts. ECTC will use the $75,000 grant to support scholarships for students in their Advanced Manufacturing Program.

“This is year five for ECTC, and we’re the only college in Kentucky to be included in the Metallica Scholars Initiative, which is grant funding that is provided for career and technical education to really make a difference for our students,” said ECTC Director of Marketing and Public Relations Sarah Berkshire. 

Berkshire said the college has applied the funds to a number of programs over the last five years.

“This funding has paid for things like scholarships especially, but also it helped us develop the Wherever I May Roam Truck Driving Academy,” Berkshire said. “It’s been used to enhance what we were doing with our Army Career Skills program, and then, again, this year we’re focusing on the scholarships for Advanced Manufacturing programs.”

Berkshire says the show of support from Metallica goes beyond funding.

“It really is amazing to see a name as great as Metallica take action to support career and technical education, and to see the pride that that’s bringing our students,” Berkshire said. “Of course the scholarship funds are important, but this past year when we used these funds for scholarships, being named a Metallica Scholar it was so awesome to see that affirmation that those students can be successful.”

There’s still time to enroll in classes for the fall 2024 semester. Visit ECTC’s website or contact the admissions office for more information.

EPD warns of social media sales scam

The Elizabethtown Police Department is warning residents to be wary of an ongoing social media scam.

“There’s a new scam circulating on Facebook where scammers post about free items available for pickup, enticing potential victims with attractive offers,” said EPD Public Information Officer Chris Denham. 

When the victim expresses interest, the scammer claims they moved, and offers to transport the item for a small fee. 

“They request the conversation continue on different apps like WhatsApp, making the transaction seem more personal and trustworthy,” Denham said. “After the victim pays for the supposed courier fee, the scammer disappears and the money and the promised items never arrive.”

Denham said the EPD strongly advises anyone who is completing transactions on social media to use extreme caution, never send money to strangers, or share any of your personal information. 

“If you encounter any suspicious posts or offers, report them immediately to Facebook or whatever social media platform you’re using,” Denham said.

As with other scam attempts, never disclose personal or financial information.

State partnership will allow for free document digitization

A new state partnership will help with preserving important documents and records for Kentuckians. 

The Commonwealth is partnering with FamilySearch in order to digitize “tens of thousands of primary records such as birth, death, and marriage certificates that are currently on microfilm reels.”

The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives along with volunteers with the Kentucky Genealogical Society will be reaching out to county clerks to notify them of the opportunity to have records digitized free of charge by FamilySearch. The county clerk offices will receive copies of the digitized records and FamilySearch will post copies to their free online database.

The KDLA says local records such as marriage licenses and land ownership records date back to each county’s establishment, resulting in some of the most continuous sources for families researching their histories. The KDLA also says the partnership with FamilySearch increases public access to the documents, which they hope will increase interest and awareness in the historic nature of these records.

Visit the KDLA on the web for more information.

SOS office launches poll worker registration portal

The Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office is making it easier for people looking to help with the state’s elections to get involved.

Secretary of State Michael Adams announced this week the launch of a new Poll Worker Recruitment Portal, which allows volunteers to sign up and get connected with their local county clerk.

Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith says working the polls is a great show of civic duty, and the county needs a strong team come Election Day.

“We’re going to need a little over 200 poll workers,” Smith said. “We need Republicans, Democrats, and independents. The easiest way for folks to sign up is govote.ky.gov or they can call our office at 270-765-6762.”

Smith says getting started on being a poll worker is an easy process.

“Any registered voter in Hardin County qualifies to serve as a poll worker,” Smith said. “If you’ve never served before, don’t worry, we train you, and we’d love to have you. We always have, every year, a few poll workers who sort of age out. They tell us they can’t keep up with the long, long day, so we’re looking to recruit not only poll workers for this election, but for the next generation of elections.”

Poll workers must be available to attend training and work all day on Election Day. Contact your county clerk’s office for more information. The deadline to register to vote is October 7.

Meade County Schools will serve free breakfast and lunch for all students; asst. superintendent recognized

As Meade County Schools gears up for the new school year, the district has announced an exciting way to support its families.

The district will once again be able to offer all students free breakfast and lunch, provided through the USDA’s National School Breakfast and Lunch Program.

Meade County Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Martin says taking the financial burden off families gives students a better chance at success.

“You’ve got to take care of the basic needs first,” Martin said. “You’ve got to talk about safety, make sure kids are fed, loved, and it’s difficult being a parent. It always has been, but just with the recent years and the amount of inflation that we’ve experienced across the country and here locally, it definitely is removing a cost for our families so those dollars can be best used for their son or daughter in other ways.”

Martin says the numbers show how important making meals available to all students is.

“Last year alone, during the 2023-2024 school year, we served over 1.1 million meals, and we also continue that feeding throughout the summer, and just this recent summer that we’re concluding we served almost 100,000 meals to families across all of our communities in Meade County,” Martin said.

Meade County Schools is also celebrating recognition for one of its administrators as Assistant Superintendent Marc Adams was named District Level Administrator of the Year by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators.

“He’s been in Meade County Schools for 20 years,” Martin said. “He started out as an agricultural teacher. He’s been an elementary principal or high school principal and has been at the district office for a number of years now, and it couldn’t go to a better person. Yes, he’s helped us accomplish so much for students, but he leads with his heart and he is a fixture in our community.”

The first day of classes for Meade County Schools is August 7.