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Kentucky high school seniors and college freshmen are invited to enter a vlogging contest sponsored by the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority (KHEAA).
The high school student must attend a school that participates in the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship (KEES) program and plan to attend college next fall. The college freshman must be a KEES recipient attending a Kentucky school.
One senior and one freshman will be chosen to provide four vlogs for KHEAA between January and August 2019. The high school senior vlogs will tell about the winner’s experience with the college admissions and financial aid processes. The college student will talk about making a successful transition from high school to college.
Each winner will receive a $500 scholarship to a Kentucky school.
The contest begins on Oct. 22 and ends Nov. 16. For complete rules, visit www.kygoestocollege.com.
To enter, students must create an original video no more than 2 minutes long that introduces them and tells why they would be the best person to share their experiences. They must submit an entry form and post the vlog to YouTube no later than Nov. 16.
Employees and the immediate family members of KHEAA and the Kentucky Higher Education Student Loan Corporation (KHESLC) are not eligible.
KHEAA is the state agency that administers KEES, need-based grants and other programs to help students pay their higher education expenses. It also disburses Advantage Education Loans for KHESLC.
For more information about Kentucky scholarships and grants, visit www.kheaa.com; write KHEAA, P.O. Box 798, Frankfort, KY 40602; or call 800-928-8926, ext. 6-7214.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources encourages youngsters – and the young at heart – to put on their costumes and join the Salato Wildlife Education Center staff in Frankfort for the best trick-or-treat experience in town on Saturday, Oct. 27.
Salato’s annual Halloween Walk with the Animals event features child-friendly activities including a hay bale maze, “Creatures of the Night” exhibit, face painting and – of course – plenty of candy. Kids will receive a “passport” which they can get stamped at more than a dozen candy stations scattered throughout the grounds. Salato staff and volunteers will be on hand to answer questions and the center’s indoor and outdoor exhibits will be open for viewing. The event will also feature food and beverage vendors.
The center will open at noon (Eastern) for the event, which runs until 4 p.m. Event admission is $5 per person (ages 2 and up). Annual membership holders and infants too young to participate receive free admission.
The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation sponsors Halloween Walk with the Animals. Proceeds from the event benefit the Salato center.
Walk with the Animals not only allows families to enjoy the traditions of Halloween, but it provides a great opportunity for visitors to see and learn more about Kentucky’s native wildlife. “Halloween Walk with the Animals is a fun community event that we look forward to hosting each year,” said Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Foundation Director Rachel Crume. “This event provides a unique venue, as well as a fun and safe environment in which families can enjoy the holiday.”
The Salato Center is operated by the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. The center is off U.S. 60, approximately 1½ miles west of the U.S. 127 intersection. Look for the bronze deer statue at the entrance of the main Kentucky Fish and Wildlife campus.
Normal hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Salato is closed on Sunday, Monday and state holidays. The center will close for the winter after Nov. 21, then reopen in the spring of 2019.
Except for select events, admission is $5 for adults and $3 for youth 5 to 18. Children younger than 5 are admitted free. The center also offers annual memberships for individuals and families.
Photo: Louisville Metro Council
Louisville Metro Councilman Robin Engel (District 22) will hold a town hall meeting on Monday, October 22, 2018 at 6:00 p.m. at Bates Elementary School (7601 Bardstown Road in Fern Creek.
Residents of District 22 will have the opportunity to get an update on the work underway on the Southpointe Commons Development as well as meet with Councilman Robin Engel and numerous Metro and Fern Creek based entities and non-profits including: Metro Public Works, Metro Codes and Regulations, Metro Animal Services, Metro Parks, Parklands of Floyds Fork, MSD, Louisville Water Company, Fern Creek Chamber of Commerce, Fern Creek/Highview United Ministries and Louisville Metro Police (6th and 7th Divisions) along with representatives from the Fern Creek Volunteer Fire Department, Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky State Senator Jimmy Higdon (14th Senate District), State Senator Morgan McGarvey (19th Senate District) and State Representative Kevin Bratcher (29th District).
Persons seeking additional information on the forum are encouraged to call the office of Councilman Engel at 574-1122 or e-mail robin.engel@louisvilleky.gov.
Join the Kentucky Derby Museum for the 3rd annual Horses, Haunts and Hooch, presented by Northwestern Mutual, on Thursday, October 25th from 6:30 to 10pm.
Get into the Halloween spirit with a beer garden on the Oaks Garden Terrace, tours of the Kentucky Derby Museum’s cemetery and “darker side” of historic Churchill Downs Racetrack to hear creepy stories of legends and lore.
Sip on craft beers from six regional breweries including Against the Grain, BBC, Great Flood Brewing, Holsopple Brewing, Rhinegeist and West Sixth in our Halloween-themed beer garden.
Enjoy multiple food stations including a slider bar, mac and cheese bites and more as well as delicious, specialty bites with fall flair from Red Top Hotdogs, NoBaked Cookie Dough, Hi-Five Doughnuts!
All food, beverages and tours are complimentary and are included in the event ticket price. Come dressed in your best Halloween ensemble and participate in our Costume Contest and join in some spirited games. Everyone will take home a mini beer stein, perfect for sampling!
Tickets are $35 per person in advance/$40 per person at the door. Kentucky Derby Museum members are $30. (Must be 21 or over to attend.)
To learn more and purchase tickets visit DerbyMuseum.org.
Louisville residents are invited to bring unneeded documents to be shredded and disposed of at a free event on November 3, 2018. Citizens can protect themselves from identify theft by bringing items to:
Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center located at 1030 Phillips Lane
Saturday, November 3, 2018
8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Businesses may not participate in this event. All paper materials will be shredded on site and recycled. Shredding donated by the Louisville Branch of Shred-It Louisville.
Photo: Kevin Kelly/Kentucky Department Fish and Wildlife
Many deer hunters rejoiced this past weekend over a break in a weather pattern that had been alternating between stifling heat and soaking rains.
A cool down coincided with the two-day gun season for youth deer hunters. It also excited archery and crossbow hunters getting into the woods, blinds and tree stands.
“It wasn’t really fit to do much but go hunting,” said Gabe Jenkins, deer and elk program coordinator with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “We saw good participation over the weekend.”
On deck for deer hunters in Kentucky are the October muzzleloader (Oct. 20-21), modern gun (Nov. 10-25) and late muzzleloader seasons (Dec. 8-16) before the free youth weekend on Dec. 29-30, 2018.
Difficult hunting conditions defined the first six weeks since archery deer season arrived at the start of September, which also ushered in numerous changes to deer hunting regulations.
The changes are detailed in the updated version of the Kentucky Hunting and Trapping Guide, on the department’s website at fw.ky.gov and in videos posted on the department’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
“What I’ve been telling people is, if you’re a deer hunter in this state, read the hunting guide because something that affects you has changed,” Jenkins said.
Major differences from last season:
- The statewide and youth deer permits allow for the harvest of up to four deer, either one antlered and three antlerless or four antlerless.
- The modern gun deer season is 16 days statewide.
- A total of 32 counties have been moved up into a different zone.
- Hunters can take as many deer as allowed for each zone. In order to take more than four deer statewide, an additional deer permit must be purchased.
- Hunters in Zones 2 and 3 can harvest no more than four deer. In Zone 3, only one antlerless deer can be taken with a firearm.
- The bag limit in Zone 4 is two deer but only one can be an antlerless deer. Antlerless deer can be harvested during the archery season, crossbow season, free youth weekend or the last three days of the December muzzleloader season. Again, the statewide bag limit of one antlered deer applies.
Hunters are still allowed only one antlered deer statewide regardless of zone, method or season. In Zone 1, hunters can still harvest an unlimited number of antlerless deer with the statewide deer permit and additional deer permit.
The changes encourage greater harvest of does and increased deer harvest in areas where a reduction in herd numbers is sought. At the same time, they are designed to foster a bounce back in areas of east Kentucky hit hardest by last year’s epizootic hemorrhagic disease (EHD) outbreak.
“The new regulations are intended to help meet those objectives,” Jenkins said.
Jenkins said this week there has been one confirmed case of EHD with test results pending on five others, most from north of Interstate 64 and east of Interstate 75.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we see an uptick in harvest with people wanting to try to fill their four-deer limit,” Jenkins said. “But we also know that three-quarters of our total harvest comes during the modern gun season. That’s the key. If we get a bad weather weekend or two in there, that’s going to have an effect.”
Hunters harvested 136,026 deer during the 2017-18 season, the fifth highest total on record, and the state’s deer herd remains robust overall.
“Things are good,” Jenkins said. “We had a very wet winter and there’s plenty of forage for both adults and fawns, so we expect to see high survival. Traditionally, you have a stress period in July and August. That did not exist this year. They’ve had plenty of groceries on the landscape, so they should be in prime condition health-wise.”
While September’s harvest was down year-over-year, understandable considering the unkind heat and rain, it remained higher than the 10-year average.
Hunters reported taking 4,654 deer during this month’s youth-only gun season weekend, second only to the 2015 season.
That year, the statewide mast survey noted poor white oak acorn production with red oaks rated average. Early returns from mast surveys conducted this year point toward uneven acorn production. Deer will frequent areas around white oaks littering the ground with acorns first before turning attention to red oaks.
“They’re going be more active in weather like this than they are in 90-degree temperatures,” Jenkins said. “They’re going to do what they’re going to do breeding wise when the season is right. However, if conditions are more conducive to eat and be up and moving, they’re going to.
“Right now the key is acorns. Deer are just going to sit there and munch on acorns all day long.”
A chill in the air gets hunters thinking about deer in Kentucky. The best part is its arrival this year comes with plenty of season still left.
Photo: Kentucky Cabinet For Economic Development
Gov. Matt Bevin congratulated AgTech Scientific for breaking ground on a new facility to develop and manufacture hemp-based products in Paris. The facility is part of AgTech’s plan to work with Kentucky farmers to grow hemp and to partner with the University of Kentucky on research.
“The hemp industry is expanding rapidly, and Kentucky is on the leading edge of this growth in terms of its science and commercial viability,” Gov. Bevin said. “AgTech Scientific’s exciting new venture represents a unique collaboration with the state’s agricultural community, the University of Kentucky, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. We are grateful for AgTech’s investment in Bourbon County, and we look forward to the innovation and job growth that will take root in the Bluegrass State as a result.”
Today’s ceremony took place in Paris, where AgTech is building a 50,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art structure on a 10-acre site in the Bourbon County Business Park, 333 Cleveland Drive. The company has an option to purchase an additional 10 acres there. AgTech’s initial $5 million investment is expected to grow substantially. AgTech will start with around 50 employees, projected to grow to 271 within three years.
“The Ag Tech team is excited to announce that our first beta test planting season has been a success. We initially planned on 2,000 plants. However, as word and interest in our project spread in the farming community, we ended up planting 200,000 plants in 2018,” said Dr. Brian King, the company’s chief strategy officer. “We are planning to plant over 4 million plants next season. Our new state of the art 50,000-square-foot facility in Bourbon County will allow us to scale operations and ensure top quality throughout the supply chain. We deeply thank everyone in the community who has made this possible. Some of the biggest help came from the Governor, Ag Commissioner Quarles, Congressman Andy Barr, Matt Koch, Bourbon County Executive and all the great farmers of Kentucky.”
More than 6,700 acres of hemp were planted in Kentucky in 2018 under the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Industrial Hemp Research Pilot Program, placing the commonwealth behind only Colorado among all states in total industrial hemp acres planted. Approved Kentucky growers have skyrocketed from 20 at the program’s outset in 2014 to 210 in July 2018.
Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles noted the state’s success in the burgeoning industry.
“Kentucky continues to be a leader in industrial hemp production,” Commissioner Quarles said. “We congratulate AgTech Scientific on this important milestone. The Kentucky Department of Agriculture will continue working hard to position the commonwealth as the epicenter of industrial hemp research.”
AgTech holds both a Processor/Handler License and a Grower License from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture hemp program and intends to partner with Kentucky farmers for largescale hemp production. The company would then extract cannabidiol (CBD) from the locally grown hemp. CBD differs from THC, the intoxicant in marijuana. Initially, the facility would produce an energy drink incorporating CBD and would later expand its product lineup.
In partnership with the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, AgTech is researching potential health benefits of hemp-based additives for animal food. AgTech plans to eventually begin manufacturing pet and equine foods, among other products, contingent on changes to regulations.
Sen. Stephen West, of Paris, said he is eager to see the fruit of the company’s labor.
“I’m pleased to hear that AgTech Scientific has chosen Paris as the home for its new facility as the hemp industry continues to grow in our state,” Sen. West said. “I look forward to seeing what this partnership with the University of Kentucky can produce and the opportunities it will bring to Bourbon County.”
Paris Mayor Mike Thornton said the company’s presence could have a far-reaching impact locally.
“We are excited to welcome AgTech Scientific to Paris and Bourbon County. I look forward to helping them grow and expand on the opportunities that this area can provide,” Mayor Thornton said. “Their willingness to locate in Paris creates much needed employment opportunities and offers an exciting new process for industrial hemp that will surely be a huge benefit to our local farmers. I anticipate seeing great things from AgTech Scientific in the future.”
Bourbon County Judge-Executive Michael R. Williams said he is proud to see the community at the forefront of a new industry with unlimited potential.
“Bourbon County is thrilled to have AgTech Scientific join our family of business partners. This is a great day for all of Bourbon County and central Kentucky,” Judge-Executive Williams said. “Their impact on our farmers has already been very positive and will continue to bolster our already leading-edge agricultural economy. They will truly be pioneers in an industry that is positioned to bring new prosperity and a bright future to our farms and businesses. Their plans for more than 200 jobs in the processing plant is a major impact to the economy and their confidence and support of Bourbon County will be the inspiration for other businesses who will consider our community in the future. It’s a great day for Bourbon County and a great day for Kentucky. Welcome AgTech Scientific to your new home and your new business family!
To encourage the investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) in January preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $2.4 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the agreement term through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
In addition, AgTech can receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network. Through the Kentucky Skills Network, companies can receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives. In fiscal year 2017, the Kentucky Skills Network provided training for more than 120,000 Kentuckians and 5,700 companies from a variety of industry sectors.
For more information on AgTech, visit www.agtechscientific.com.
