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ECTC’s Sutherland named to KCTCS Board of Regents

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The Kentucky Community and Technical College System Board of Regents will have some local representation.

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College Engineering and Electronics Technology Professor Marty Sutherland has been selected as the new occupational, technical education faculty regent for the KCTCS Board of Regents. The 14-member board acts as the governing body of the college system. Sutherland will serve an interim term that ends in September.

The KCTCS says Sutherland has worked for ECTC since 2002 and has served in several leadership positions, including his current tenures as chair of the Engineering and Electronics Curriculum Committee and the KCTCS Senate Council for ECTC.

Sutherland said in a release: “I am honored to join the KCTCS Board of Regents as the representative of occupational and technical faculty throughout our system. KCTCS and our great faculty are leading the way in technical education, and I believe that we can build upon those strengths as we work together to advance workforce opportunities across our state.”

Sutherland graduated from Southern Illinois University with a bachelor’s degree in Workforce Education, Training, and Development, and holds several professional certifications.

Elizabethtown City Council tables medical marijuana facilities ban

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The Elizabethtown City Council met for their first meeting of the month Monday.

The first reading was held on an ordinance that would prohibit the operation of all medicinal cannabis facilities in the city. State law legalizing medical cannabis goes on the books July 1, so cities and counties are making decisions on whether to opt into or out of the state law. The ordinance does not prohibit the legal use of medical marijuana by cardholders, but it does prohibit the five types of businesses that are regulated by state law.

“Cultivators, processors, producers, compliance businesses, and dispensaries,” said City Attorney Ken Howard. “Now typically what most people are interested in is dispensaries, where can you go and buy.”

The law allows for 48 total dispensary licenses statewide, with no more than four in each of 11 established regions. No county may have more than one of the four district dispensaries, and a lottery is held if there are multiple applications.

Other restrictions exist for the other business types. Several members of the council were not comfortable taking action on the ordinance until they could learn more about the other regulations since state law appears to require approval of all or none. Council Member Julia Springsteen said she is against banning the facilities because of the heavy regulation state law provides for acquiring a medical cannabis card and for businesses.

“There’s a board of eight doctors and two nurses that govern the whole thing,” Springsteen said. “It can’t be near schools, it can’t be advertised that well, and the bottom line is this was passed because sick people need this and it’s proven to help sick people.”

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said the restrictions in the law also satisfy some of his concerns.

“If it treats people that have terminal cancer or epilepsy and makes their life a little bit better for what they have here, then I’m all for it, but if it was going to be available to be on every corner of the city I was out, but with the restriction that it could, possibly, only be one place softens my stance somewhat,” Gregory said.

The council tabled the ordinance in order to get more information on questions they had. The ordinance can be found on the city website.

In other meeting news, the first reading was held on the city’s 2024-2025 budget. The total budget comes in at $149.9 million with $119.7 million in expenditures.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet for a work session on June 10.

Online and in-person help available for families filing the FAFSA

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Assistance is available for families who need help filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. 

The Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education says the new FAFSA form includes revised formulas, meaning more students are eligible for financial aid. The delayed rollout of the new form, however, made it more challenging for Class of 2024 high school students and current college students to determine the amount of aid available for them ahead of the upcoming school year.

To help Kentucky students submit the FAFSA form, the KCP’s GEAR UP Kentucky unit is partnering with the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority throughout the month of June to provide families with assistance. The goal is to assist families and increase the state’s FAFSA completion rate, which is at a five-year low.

GEAR UP Kentucky and the KHEAA will co-host a virtual session Tuesday for families that need to fill out the FAFSA that will enable participants to understand their college financial aid paperwork and processes, hear the most up to date information about the 2024 financial aid timeline, and ask financial aid experts their questions. The session will be hosted on the GEAR UP Kentucky Facebook page at 6:30 p.m. EDT.

In-person FAFSA and financial aid help will also be offered at more than 70 locations across Kentucky during the month of June. Visit www.kygoestocollege.com for details and locations.

Registration open for EPD’s Cops and Bobbers youth fishing event

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The Elizabethtown Police Department will host their eleventh annual Cops and Bobbers youth fishing derby Saturday, June 22 at the Freeman Lake Park Boat Ramp.

“Children between the ages of 8 and 12 are invited to participate, but spaces are limited,” said EPD Public Information Officer Chris Denham. “Rods and reels as well as necessary bait and tackle will be provided to all participants.”

Check-in will begin at 10:30 a.m. on June 22 and the event will wrap up at 12:30 p.m.

“Hot dogs and snacks will be provided to all participants and trophies will be awarded to the winners,” Denham said. “All participants will leave with a fishing rod and tackle box.”

Download an application from the EPD website. Contact Officer Denham (270-765-4125) for more information.

State Theater Summer Movie Series kicks off Tuesday

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The 2024 Summer Movie Series at the Historic State Theater kicks off today.

“The Summer Movie Series is my personal favorite event that we do throughout the year at the State Theater,” said Elizabethtown Events Manager Beth Pyles. “We’re excited for our 2024 series. It’s a family-friendly movie series offering showings at noon and 7 p.m. each Tuesday this summer beginning June 4 and running through July 31.”

Tickets to each showing are $2 and offer affordable family fun.

June will feature four Disney/Pixar favorites.

“We have Cars, The Incredibles, Toy Story, and Monsters Inc., so those are the first movies in the series, and those movies are loved by, I think, young and old, so we hope people come out and see those,” Pyles said.

July’s movies were selected to follow a theme.

“We are showing movies that are based upon books,” Pyles said. “So July 2 we’ve got Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, which was one of my child’s favorite books when he was growing up.” 

The other July movies are Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, How to Eat Fried Worms, Charlotte’s Web, and Mary Poppins.

Doors open one hour prior to each showtime, and concessions will be served.

“A lot of times people tell us this is the first time they’ve brought their child to the movies because it’s movies that they can enjoy,” Pyles said. “We have young and old, so it’s open to everybody. We hope that everybody comes out and sees us.”

Visit www.thestate270.org for tickets and a full schedule of events at the theater.