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State partnership will allow for free document digitization

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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

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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

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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.

Public meeting on U.S. 62 improvements set for Aug. 13

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Area residents will have the opportunity to provide feedback on upcoming road work in Elizabethtown.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will host a public meeting on Tuesday, August 13 to present design alternatives that will address congestion and safety within the U.S. 62 interstate interchange corridor with improvements for intersections and accommodations for pedestrians. 

The meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on August 13 at the Elizabethtown Tourism and Convention Bureau, located at 1030 North Mulberry Street.

“With continued growth of the area, more traffic, more congestion, this public meeting is going to feature some ideas, alternatives to offset that, and we know it’s only going to increase,” said KYTC District Four Public Information Officer Chris Jessie. “We have to plan now, trying to stay ahead of that curve, and again we’re going to present some ideas for intersections and just the corridor as a whole out on the interstate end of U.S. 62 for improvements.”

The meeting will be an open-house format with no formal presentation. Residents can stop by any time to review displays, ask questions, and discuss the design alternatives with officials. Meeting accommodations can be made by reaching out to Kevin Blair at KYTC District Four (270-766-5066).

More information on the project and a survey link for anybody that wants to provide feedback but is unable to attend the meeting in person can be found at www.drive62.com.

Raft Up event at Nolin River Lake nets $60K for charity

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Raft Up Nolin Lake Event Coordinator Brent Schaber says the annual Raft Up event at Nolin River Lake has turned into a strong annual fundraiser.

“Raft Up is a charity event that we host annually,” Schaber said. “We help support the local community down around the lake, covering Grayson County, Hart County, and Edmonson County, to try to help support the youth around the community.”

This year’s Raft Up event, which was held in late July, turned out to be one of the most successful editions yet.

“Our goal was set at $60,000 this year, and we’re finalizing the numbers and we should be able to hit our target number this year, $60,000,” Schaber said.

The event includes an auction and prizes for costumes and boat decorating, as well as a good time for friends and family to come together. Schaber says the funds raised at the Raft Up are able to go towards a variety of programs.

“The local sheriff’s department, they run a Behind the Badge Program,” Schaber said. “Edmonson County, they run a Christmas program. We help with the local schools. We’re branching out this year to create some more options with the amount of money we’ve raised. It keeps growing every year we’re branching out to help support more of the local communities.”

Visit the Nolin Lake Unofficial Raft Up Facebook page for more information.