by Greg Hudson
Park Clean-up Day The Parks and Recreation department along with the Healthy Communities Coalition are sponsoring a Park Clean-up Day on March 19th at 10:00am until TBA. Everyone will meet at Hwy 70 Sports Complex and divide into teams to clean each park. There will be volunteer appreciation event immediately after clean-up is completed. Volunteers are needed for this event. If you, your family, organization, club, or business would like to volunteer contact Greg Hudson at 270-597-9301 for more information. Easter Egg Hunt On March 26th, 2016 at 11:00am, the Parks and Recreation department will sponsor an Easter Egg Hunt at the Highway 70 Sports Complex. There will be 4 categories for the hunt, ages 0-4; 5-8; 9-12 and individuals with disabilities. We are looking for interested businesses and organizations to co-sponsor this event. If you would like to co-sponsor this event please contact Greg Hudson at 270-597-9301 for more details. “Come Walk with Me” Walking Program The Parks and Recreation department is offering a 12 week walking program starting in April 2016. This program will be conducted at the Highway 70 Sports Complex on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of each week. Registration forms are available. Don’t worry we will tailor the program to your ability level. Needs Assessment Survey Most of the results from the survey are in and Parks and Recreation will now be planning for programs and events based on those results. Look for more information within the next two months on the Parks and Rec website. That covers it for now, thanks for supporting your local Parks and Recreation Department. Together we can do some great things! Make sure you visit our website at www.ecparksandrec.com.
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There has been no shortage of activity in Frankfort this week. The 40th day of the 2016 Legislative Session passed along with the bill filing deadline. In all, over 900 bills have been filed this session, however, only Senate Bill 4, has been signed into law. Many legislators were hurrying to file bills before the deadline and there was much other activity going on within the Capitol walls.
I filed two bills this week to take care of two of our most important citizen groups, veterans and public safety workers. House Bill 526 would raise training incentive pay for police and firefighters to $4,000 per year, and would raise the allotment for volunteer fire departments to $11,000 per year. Additionally, I filed House Bill 547, which expands access to Kentucky’s military license plate program in order to insure access for every interested veteran. Continuing on the theme of taking care of our law enforcement and first responders, the House also passed bills to crack down on those who try to harm our police, firefighters and public health workers. With HB 137, approved 90-0 by the House on Tuesday, the House sent a strong message that we will not stand for attempts on the lives of our police or firefighters in this state. HB 137 would put criminal attempt to commit murder of an identifiable on-duty law enforcement officer or firefighter on par with other violent offenses by requiring those convicted of the crime to serve 85 percent of their sentence before they would be eligible for parole, regardless of whether the officer or firefighter is seriously hurt. The current threshold for parole eligibility in such situations is 20 percent of time served. HB 137 goes to the Senate alongside HB 210, and would allow a charge of third-degree assault to be levied against those who recklessly or intentionally cause or attempt to cause physical injury to on-duty local health department employees. Ten types of professionals in Kentucky including teachers and social workers currently fall under the protections that would be offered to health department workers under HB 210. That bill passed the House by a vote of 88-0. Education is always a priority in the Kentucky House and we are again attempting to provide additional educational opportunities for children though House Concurrent Resolution 133. This resolution would ask the state’s public colleges and universities to identify and give special admissions and tuition aid consideration to prospective students who lost their parents or were removed from the custody of their parents due to abuse or neglect and then adopted by a blood relative or raised by a permanent legal guardian. Kentucky law provides public post-secondary tuition assistance for foster children but not children being raised by grandparents, other blood relatives or permanent guardians. Approximately 49,000 Kentucky children are being raised by their grandparents today. With only 20 legislative days remaining in this session, the rest of our days are sure to be focused on budget work. The 10 day veto recess is scheduled for March 30 and after the recess, two legislative days will be reserved to consider voting to override any vetoes to bills sent to the Governor. The final day of the session is scheduled for April 12. However, that can change should both chambers agree to push the session back a day or two. The session must end no later than midnight on April 15 per the state constitution. As always, I welcome your comments and concerns on any issues facing our Commonwealth during the 2016 Regular Session. I can be reached through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181, or you can contact me via email at Michael.Meredith@lrc.ky.gov. You can keep track of committee meetings and potential legislation through the Kentucky Legislature Home Page at www.lrc.ky.gov. Beginning March 7th through the 30th, students at South Central Community and Technical College (formally known as BG -TECH) are doing a drive in which they are asking for donations of backpacks. Backpacks are essential for the homeless because they are easy to transport their basic necessities. Most shelters are temporary, first come first serve, and only available overnight.
There is no place for storage, so the homeless need backpacks to keep their belongings with them. Please bring donations to the admissions office at the Main Campus located off Morgantown Road at 1845 Loop Drive, Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 3:00pm. Other items that can be useful are: (for adults and children) socks, hats, gloves, toiletries, survival kit, first aid kits, snacks and drinks and gift cards. Any and all donations are greatly appreciated, and are going for a great cause. Darren Doyle, story and photo
In an ongoing effort to improve the Edmonson County Little League Baseball and Softball programs, the county league board hosted a mandatory pre-season coaches training Saturday at the Chalybeate Sports Complex. The three-hour training was in addition to the certification program each head and assistant had to complete in order to be allowed to coach a team during the upcoming season. Over 30 coaches attended the seminar that covered everything from technique to attitude and teaching. Bryan Thompson, assistant baseball coach at ECHS, head of the local youth football league, and Edmonson Voice WildcatsLive Football commentator, led yesterday's seminar. "This is something that the board has wanted to do for a while but never had the time to plan and implement," said board president, Laura Thomas. "With Bryan willing to do the preparation and implementation, it made it feasible for us to host the training." Thompson said through all the outlines, bullet points, and teaching, at the end of the day, it's all about the kids. "I think the coaches were happy with everything we shared," Thompson said. "They asked several questions and even challenged me on some ideas ideas. This was great because that makes me a better coach as well." The board has said that they want all kids in the program to have an opportunity to reach their personal best. "We want to emphasize good sportsmanship and character while teaching the fundamentals of the game," Thomas said. "We felt the training would benefit the coaches with fundamental skills as well as helping to express the vision and goal of the Babe Ruth League as a whole." Several coaches in attendance said they enjoyed the seminar and said they felt like it will help them with the upcoming season. "If all the coaches work together and continue to share their ideas and success, we'll have a world class youth program this year and the years to come," Thompson said. Little League Board members were also in attendance as well, including President Thomas, Vice President Michael Meredith*, Secretary Terry Alexander, Treas. Stewart Lich, Shawn McCombs equip. manager, Chad Clemmons publicity coordinator, and Carl Mills, fundraising coordinator. *An earlier version of this story inadvertently omitted Michael Meredith's name from the board members. We apologize for the error. Kyrock Faculty & Staff dressed in blue today to promote "Colon Cancer Awareness." Jodi Johnson, Kindergarten teacher said participation for the event showed that they were "uniting for a future free of colon cancer."
WKU TRIO students competed in academic competitions at the University of Louisville as a part of the state’s celebration of national TRIO Day on Feb. 27. Students were also able to attend various workshops and hear from motivational speakers during the event. Educational Talent Search 2 (ETS 2) took five students to compete in High-Q, a competition of four rounds of quick-recall questions asked to opposing teams of four students. Upward Bound took six students to compete in Scholar’s Bowl, a quick-recall competition of nine rounds for individuals and teams. Philip Parsons, from WKU Student Support Services, finished second in the inaugural poster competition and won $50. Parsons conducted original research about student perceptions of campus services for veterans for his entry. WKU’s ETS 2 team is composed of Warren Central High School seniors Lizzey Cain and Thomas Porter; Warren Central junior Kenly Chau and freshman Aleka Chau; and Bowling Green High School sophomore Raven Robinson. Representing WKU’s second Talent Search Grant, these students won all three matches and took first place in the High-Q competition for the second year in a row. The team has qualified for the regional competition representing Kentucky ETS teams in Atlanta, where they will compete against teams from North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida. Above: WKU TRIO students competed Feb. 27 in academic events as part of the state’s celebration of national TRIO Day. Front row (from left): Raven Robinson, Krystin Hardin, Lizzey Cain and Kenly Chau. Back row (from left): Tristan Forbes, Cassie Larson, Isiaha Price, Brad Aubrey, Danny Holt, Thomas Porter and Aleka Chau. photo courtesy of WKU ETS2 WKU’s Upward Bound team is composed of Danny Holt, a junior from Edmonson County High School; Isiaha Price, a junior from Logan County High School; Krystin Hardin, a senior from Butler County High School; Tristan Forbes, a senior from Edmonson County High School; Cassie Larson, a senior from Edmonson County High School; and Brad Aubrey, a senior from Allen County-Scottsville High School. WKU Upward Bound finished second against nine other teams after an eight-hour competition. Team high-scorer Danny Holt qualified for the Kentucky All-Star Team, which will also compete at the regional competition April 23 in Atlanta.
TRIO is a federally funded program that identifies and assists qualified students in middle school, high school, as well as adult and veteran learners in college enrollment. The program is free to all participants. For information, contact the TRIO office in Jones-Jaggers Hall on WKU’s campus at (270) 745-4400 or visit www.wku.edu/trio Mammoth Cave: A Place Called Home, a new 30-minute documentary by WKU-PBS, premieres Friday, March 11, at 7:00 p.m., with an encore on Sunday, March 13, at 8:00 p.m. A local showing will be hosted by the Edmonson County Historical Society on March 17, at the Edmonson County Public Library at 6pm.
“This program comes during 2016, an important anniversary year for Mammoth Cave National Park,” said Superintendent Sarah Craighead. “It folds together layers of history – the families who gave up their land, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and the infancy of a national park. There are moving personal interviews, family photos, historic footage, and present day scenes of places in the park that were once home sites.” WKU-PBS producer Cheryl Beckley researched the pre-park communities and the creation of the park, gathering documents and photos from the Kentucky Library Special Collections, Mammoth Cave National Park museum collections, the Filson Historical Society Special Collections, the Kentucky Historical Society, Case Western Reserve University, Clemson University Library, Historic Locust Grove Collection, and family albums. "WKU-PBS is proud to be able to bring the history of the Mammoth Cave region to television,” said Beckley. “These stories are both poignant and important to understanding this part of Kentucky. We greatly appreciate our community partners who made this program possible." Everyone is invited to attend this informative program. Light refreshments will be served as well. For further information, please contact Charlotte Kleier at 270-779-5382. Coach Brad Meredith's Basketball Team, the Wildcats, in the K-2 Division, won the tournament & went undefeated this season (8-0). Aidan Meredith & Brayden Johnson tied for "Most Points" in the different categories of the division's "Skills Competition."
A local business panel visited Kyrock Elementary students Monday, February 29th. Participants were led by Kyrock's Leadership Team, answering various questions about being career/college-ready. Students were advised to have good character, excellent behavior, take school seriously, & choose a profession they enjoy.
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