It’s been good to see Elliotte’s first term as sheriff getting off to a positive start

I’m not sure how some other first time office holders are doing, but Whitley County Sheriff Bill Elliotte appears to be off to a good start going into the fourth week of his first term in office.

Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.

Elliotte was elected sheriff in late 2022 and took office at the first of January.

Since that time he has implemented a few new programs at the sheriff’s department.

Deputies are now doing random bus escorts as part of an initiative designed to catch drivers not paying attention to bus traffic signals. It’s something that I don’t recall hearing about any other area sheriff’s departments doing.

In addition, deputies are also patrolling school campuses after dark giving some communities more patrols. It also is giving officers the chance to stop at after school activities and interact with parents and students.

Given how some people behave at sporting events, I think this is a really good idea.

Deputies are also patrolling churches in rural areas especially some churches in the more eastern portion of the county, which is often a pretty remote area.

Hopefully, Elliotte will keep up the good work.

Now to discuss a few other topics before I conclude this column.

• If you get the chance, check out Trevor Sherman’s story in this week’s edition of the News Journal about Whitley County Judge-Executive Pat White Jr.’s recent address to the Corbin Rotary Club.

One of the more exciting initiatives that White spoke about is a proposal to possibly build a 100-bed rehabilitation facility in the old Nevisdale School building. The county would use a portion of its opioid settlement funds to do this, which would be a very appropriate use of the funds as much of our drug problem revolves around the use of opioids. So far Whitley County’s opioid settlement funds total $729,000.

White also talked about some upgrades to the Whitley County fairgrounds, including a grant that will allow for a large, open-air structure over the rodeo/horse show ring.

Several years back, the county purchased the nearly 100-acre site where the fairgrounds now sit. The land was intended for use as an eventual industrial site. While this would still be good to see, I think using it as a fair grounds is also a pretty good use.

In the past, a portion of this site has been used by the jail to plant the jail garden using county work-release inmates. The program got shelved during the pandemic, but I am hoping that the jail garden will make a comeback under new jailer Jason Wilson either around the fairgrounds property or someplace else.

• While it’s exciting that the $30 million plus US25W (Cumberland Falls Highway) Reconstruction Project in Corbin is now underway, it’s going to be a pain in the posterior while it gets done over the next couple of years.

One example of this is that the entrance to Corbin Center Drive from Bacon Creek Road will be closed for a few months. You can still access the Corbin Center and The Arena by turning onto Corbin Center Drive between Speedway and Applebee’s.

You will have to exit the same way as there will be no through traffic access onto Bacon Creek Road from Corbin Center Drive at any time during this phase of the road construction.

In other words, if you are planning to go to a concert at The Arena then getting out afterwards will be a little bit more of a pain as all traffic will have to exit between Speedway and Applebee’s. Previously, many people heading towards downtown often took the Bacon Creek Road route to save time.