State Senator Matt Deneen has been busy since he arrived in Frankfort at the beginning of the year. He presented three bills for consideration during this legislative session. “Senate Bill 119 was just signed into law by the Governor just the other day. Kentucky is currently ranked fifth in the nation when it comes to sexual assaults. We really wanted to look at ways that we could tighten up the law. So we looked at best practices from other states. We worked with county attorneys, with Commonwealth attorneys, with advocacy lawyers for domestic abuse homes and clinics. This bill, I think, will help change the Commonwealth when it comes to giving the judges and the prosecutors the tools they need to prosecute these perpetrators and to also assign IPOs and DVOs to those victims,” shared Senator Matt Deneen. Deneen also got Senate Bill 49 – a law to extend the time period option six alternative certification teachers had to complete their teaching certifications – and Senate Bill 60 – a law to assist military members from Kentucky renew their motorcycle licenses when stationed outside of Kentucky – passed into law.
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The Hodgenville Police Department responded to a call at Creekfront Park Monday afternoon for a medical emergency. “We responded to Creekfront Park yesterday on a medical issue call. An individual juvenile male had been playing basketball with some friends. One of these other individuals offered him a vape which he took a hit off of and immediately started having adverse effects. We have seen this multiple times in recent months.We call it an overdose which technically is – it’s not an overdose that’s going to kill you, for about two three hours, it’s pretty tumultuous for the victims. So his friends left and when his family got there he was lying next to the basketball court, called an ambulance and they took him to BHH (Baptist Health Hardin)for treatment,” stated Hodgenville Police Chief James Richardson. Police want to remind citizens that if they witness someone overdosing, they need to call 911 immediately. There are laws that prohibit arresting those who report overdoses. “The biggest issue we saw was that the friends left. We want to remind everybody if you are partaking in illegal substances and somebody happens to overdose, call for help. Do not let them lay there and die. If this had been anything else or had been laced with something else, things could have ended very badly.” Hodgenville Police and Larue County Schools will be hosting an information session on the dangers of vapes on Thursday. “We are going to be part of the Larue County High School’s vaping and its impacts on youth mental health forum on Thursday, March 23rd at 5:30 to 7:00 to talk about this very thing. With the rise in Delta 8 vapes in the area and the fact that they’re often found inside the high schools and the middle schools. We’re actually going to start talking to some folks and try to get the word out. So this is open to the public and it’ll be at the auditorium at Larue County High School. Thursday, March 23rd 5:30 to 7:00 PM.” The Superintendents of Larue County Schools, Elizabethtown Independent Schools and Hardin County School published a letter recently about concerns with the rise in vape use among juveniles in their districts and asked businesses in the area to aid in the fight to keep vapes away from minors.
An Elizabethtown woman pled guilty to fraud charges in federal court on Monday. Kelly Woods, 43 of Elizabethtown, admitted to filing three fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program Loans that resulted in over $1.3 million between May 2020 and March 31 2021. Woods exaggerated the number of employees and payroll expenses for two entities in the applications. The loan program was designed as an incentive to help small businesses to keep their workers on payroll. Woods is scheduled to be sentenced on June 22, 2023 and will forfeit certain real property and a vehicle as part of the plea agreement.
The Glendale community is getting back to a sense of normalcy following the train derailment last Thursday. “The cleanup is going well. They’ve got all the debris, all the remnants of the train cars, everything is gone. All the cleanup contractors are out of town. Trains are running through. They’re now just kind of doing the final cleanup. They’re fixing some roads that have been damaged, fixing yards and things like that that have equipment in them. The town is coming back to normal pretty quickly,” said Glendale Fire Chief Dave Black. Trains were able to start moving through on Friday. “They started running trains through Friday afternoon, Friday evening, slowly. They’re still on a lower speed limit until they get the rails all adjusted and fused.” The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet announced this morning that KY 222 is also back open in Glendale. “The road is open. Our crews are around picking up barrels, cones and blockades. And don’t be surprised if there are some short-term, few minute type blockages as some other things continue to go on out there with some recovery cleanup,” shared Transportation Cabinet District 4 spokesperson Chris Jessie. Motorists may notice rough patches at the crossings. “We have gotten some calls, especially in the northern (KY) 1136 issue there where the pavement is rough. Keep in mind, the crossings themselves, the pavement in the crossing, is the responsibility and maintenance of the railroads. So they’ll see issues there that need to be passed along to the railroad. Keep in mind that we can’t get on the tracks and do any maintenance. Obviously the goal was to get the road open.” We will pass along any additional updates as they come available.
Tomorrow is World Down Syndrome Day and you can help spread awareness by wearing bright colored mismatched socks. “We hope you’ll rock your socks. That’s just going to bring awareness. People are going to be like, ‘Why are you wearing those socks?’ And then that opens up that conversation you can say, ‘I’m wearing them for my friends that have Down Syndrome,” shared Down Syndrome Association of the Heartland spokesperson Tonya House. The organization offers programs for all ages. “We have lots of family events, and then we have weekly programming such as music therapy, art classes, cooking classes and circle time for our younger ones. So we have lots of programs that we do throughout the month every month. And then, you know, our bigger events and quarterly events and things like that. We are (available) from your prenatal diagnosis to legacy.” To make a donation or more information, visit d-s-heartland.org.