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ECTC once again receives support from Metallica

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Elizabethtown Community and Technical College will once again Ride the Lightning with financial support from rock band Metallica.

ECTC has once again been selected to participate in the Metallica Scholars Initiative, with the college receiving a $15,000 grant “aimed at enhancing student success and career readiness in advanced manufacturing programs.” This is the seventh time ECTC has been selected for the program.

According to a release from ECTC, the initiative is supported through Metallica’s All Within My Hands non-profit. This year’s edition of the initiative awarded the largest grant amount to date, with more than $3.3 million supporting 93 total colleges.

ECTC Chancellor Doctor Juston Pate said in the release: “The Metallica Scholars Initiative is an incredible addition to our advanced manufacturing programs, helping us to better prepare students for highly skilled advanced manufacturing careers.”

ECTC’s advanced manufacturing programs include courses in automation, industrial and robotics technology, electrical technology, welding technology, computerized manufacturing and machining, air conditioning technology, and computer-aided drafting and design. Learn more at www.ectc.us.

Hardin County Fiscal Court hosts second August meeting

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The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday.

The court approved an amendment to the county budget on its second reading. Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul said the $1.2 million amendment primarily concerned equipment purchases for Hardin County EMS. The first reading was held on an ordinance which amends four sections of the county’s zoning ordinance. Taul said Hardin County Planning Director Adam King will discuss the ordinance with the court when it goes up for its second reading.

Hardin County Sheriff’s Office CFO Teri Bennett said in June and July the office made 127 arrests, issued 156 citations, and served 117 warrants. Bennett also presented the annual Tax Settlement, which allows the sheriff’s office to begin collecting taxes for next year. Bennett said the collection rate from this past cycle was just over 99 percent.

“We collected about $94 million for all the taxing districts, and about $11,282,000 was for the county,” Bennett said.

Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith said the delinquent tax sale conducted on August 17 collected $381,093.94 on 166 tax bills. Smith also announced that the community room at Nolin RECC’s headquarters off of Ring Road in Elizabethtown will be added as both an early voting and Election Day location. Smith said the new location increases early voting capacity by nearly 50 percent.

“It’s also going to touch a part of our community, as you all know, it’s pretty close to our industrial park, and it allows those folks, a lot of times those folks are working swing shifts, long shifts, over time, but hopefully over those four days they’ll be able to find time they can pop over to Nolin RECC and cast their vote,” Smith said.

Find more election information at govote.ky.gov. 

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet September 8.

Support neighbors in need during Warm Blessings Cardboard Nation event

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Warm Blessings Community Kitchen invites area residents to support neighbors experiencing hunger and housing instability by participating in their upcoming event Cardboard Nation: One Night Outside.

“We’ll have time of reflection, and we’ll also have time where teams can gather together and work on signage to continue to raise awareness for neighbors who are facing housing instability, and then we’ll have a morning gathering where we will get together and share some of the things that we learned during our time outdoors,” said Warm Blessings Executive Director Josh Miller.

The event will be held at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College on Friday, October 16, with participants having access to restrooms and the ECTC site offering added security for the overnight sleep-out.

“Folks can go to our website, www.warmblessings.org, and sign yourself up or your team,” Miller said.

The Cardboard Nation event is driven by participant fundraising, with all funds raised supporting Warm Blessings’s daily operations and programming. Contact the organization for more information at 270-763-9276.

Info available from KFW as fall hunting seasons draw closer

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Squirrel Season began in Kentucky on August 15, but Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is encouraging hunters across the commonwealth to review season dates and other regulations ahead of the traditional start to hunting season on September 1.

KFW says many consider the opening day of Dove Season on September 1 to be the symbolic kick-off to the fall hunting season. KFW says the commonwealth has opportunities for all hunters regardless of what draws them to the fields and forests.

Deer Season opens with archery hunting on September 5, with modern firearms season running November 14 through 29. Black Bear Season will run in 47 counties from September 19 through December 16. The Fall Turkey Season also opens with archery hunting on September 5.

Season dates and bag limits can be found at fw.ky.gov. The website also includes the 2026-27 Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, which includes information on new regulations and permit and license requirements. The website also includes regulations for hunters taking game inside the established Chronic Wasting Disease Surveillance Zone, which includes Hardin, Breckinridge, and Meade counties.

Paving as part of Kentucky Rubberized Asphalt Grant beginning in Hardin County Tuesday

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Work is set to begin Tuesday on road work in Hardin County made possible by a grant opportunity through the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet’s Division of Waste Management.

“Our Road Department Supervisor Michael Steck applied for this grant, and it’s a test that lasts five years where you compare standard asphalt against a rubber-modified asphalt,” said Hardin County Government Communications Officer Brian Walker.

The county will be installing the rubber-modified asphalt on a one-mile stretch of Springfield Road, beginning at the intersection of Springfield and Valley Creek roads, and will then pave a one-mile stretch of traditional asphalt at the end of the rubberized section.

“This will be put through the same testing and quality standards over the next five years to see which one wears better, the overall need to make repairs, and what have you,” Walker said.

The county received about $162,000 through the grant, with the county contributing about $86,000 for the traditional asphalt portion.

“Putting them in the exact same place with the exact same amount of traffic and the exact weather, it’s going to give you a better comparison than say ‘here’s one in our county and here’s one three counties away, and what did they see?’” Walker said. “This gives us a real day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year accounting of how this is done.”

Work is expected to take three to five days, weather permitting. Springfield Road will remain open during the work, but local traffic should expect some delays.