WQXE NEWS

Area officials are warning residents of several ongoing scam attempts.

The Grayson County Chamber of Commerce says a chamber member received a phone call Tuesday from somebody posing as a chamber official. The caller asked the chamber member about purchasing advertising space for the “Leitchfield Junior Chamber.” Grayson County does not have a junior chamber, and the Chamber of Commerce says residents should not give any information over the phone and hang up if they receive such a phone call.

Meanwhile, the City of Elizabethtown says local businesses have reported receiving a phone call from somebody who says they are with “E-Town Utilities.” The scammer tells the person they are behind on utility payments and must pay via credit card over the phone or their gas will be turned off. The city’s utilities department does not make phone calls, and a caller can only pay their bill via phone by calling City Hall directly.

Never give out personal or financial information without confirming you are talking with a company or entity you mean to do business with. Never click the link in a suspicious text or email. If shopping online, check for a website on the Better Business Bureau’s Scam Tracker to confirm its legitimacy.

The results of the second Team Kentucky Medical Cannabis Dispensary License Lottery were announced at the Kentucky Lottery Corporation’s office Monday.

Following the initial draw on November 26, Monday’s draw awarded four licenses each to the Kentuckiana and Bluegrass regions. Excluded from those draws were Jefferson and Fayette counties, for which two licenses each were awarded.

The businesses that submitted for the lottery were required to submit their application and pay required fees ahead of the random drawing that was conducted by the lottery corporation.

“In developing our lottery process, we considered the best practices used in other states and determined this was the most fair and transparent way to build this new exciting industry in the Commonwealth, and it should be noted that other states are also adopting this approach,” said Kentucky Office of Medical Cannabis Executive Director Sam Flynn. “Because our program is rooted in patient access, it is critical that our medical cannabis business licensing framework ensures that this new industry is stable and sustainable, with an emphasis on small business, and provides product growth to meet cardholder demand.”

Three applicants from Shepherdsville were selected in the Kentuckiana region’s draw. Those businesses are DNP-DH KY LLC, KY Pristine Vistas LLC, and Pinnacle Path LLC.

Kentuckians may apply for medical cannabis cards beginning January 1. Visit kymedcan.ky.gov for more information.

Seven teams representing area schools on Thursday competed in Altec’s fifth-annual Innovation Challenge, an event which the company says “encourages creativity and critical thinking by combining science, technology, engineering, and math in a student-driven, project based competition.” The teams were tasked with developing solutions for real-world problems, with the winning team awarded $10,000 to implement their project in the spring of 2025.

A team of Elizabethtown High School students took home the top prize for their proposal to introduce a state-of-the-art irrigation system and greenhouse at the United Way of Central Kentucky’s Community Garden. The students on the winning team are Johnathan Hall, Landen Childress, Cedric Dennis, Cooper Carmen, and Landen Brown-Cline.

“They have worked every single day since August on this, and so today they were rewarded with their hard work and dedication to this problem in our community, and today they’ve won the funding to solve this with their irrigation system that they have completely designed themselves, and I could not be more proud and happy for them,” said EHS faculty sponsor Missy Mills.

Altec Elizabethtown General Manager Daniel Flory says the Innovation Challenge helps students grow while encouraging growth in the community.

“As the students work through this, they’re learning a lot of new skills,” Flory said. “Public presentation, budgeting, project timelines, also just how to use the whole STEM package, so they’re creating an idea, they’re formulating it, and we like to give students that ability to reach out into that and to have that in their toolbox for later in life and whatever path they choose in the future.”

Educators interested in learning more about the Altec Innovation Challenge can learn more by emailing etowninnovationchallenge@altec.com.