PADUCAH, KY (KFVS) - Paducah Water Distribution Superintendent Barry Bolin was presented with the prestigious Earl T. Mitchell Award at the opening ceremony of the annual Kentucky Water and Wastewater Operators' Association.

The conference was held on April 16 in Louisville.

Bolin had been an employee of Paducah Water for nearly 18 years. The award was created and named after a long-time Paducah Water employee. It is a statewide recognition across the four chapters of the KWWOA.

Criteria for the Earl T. Mitchell Award required Bolin to have 10 or more years of professional involvement in the water or wastewater industry, and that he demonstrated a special commitment to the improvement of the management and technical progression of operations, maintenance and water quality in Paducah.

According to Paducah Water, Bolin was unaware that he was up for the award, and therefore, when he heard his name called as the recipient it was a big surprise.

(KFVS) - Registration is open for the 4th Annual 5KFVS.

On May 19, starting at 8:30 a.m., you can run through downtown Cape Girardeau with the Heartland News Team. The start and finish will be at South Main Street in front of Hutson's Furniture. A one mile fun run will follow at about 9:30 a.m.

The entry fee is $25 for the 5KFVS run/walk and $10 for the one mile fun run. You can mail the entry fee with the registration form. Make checks payable to KFVS12. Checke in and packet pick up will be May 18 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at KFVS12 or May 19 from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. at the race site. Proceeds go to the United Way of Southeast Missouri.

The registration form must be postmarked by May 14. You can click here to print of the registration form.

MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY (KFVS) - Western Baptist radiation therapy technician Jason Heilig has more than one good reason to captain the hospital’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life team.

Heilig has worked nine years in Western Baptist’s nationally-accredited Center for Cancer Care. The hospital says compassion for his patients influenced his decision to volunteer.

“What I have found through the years is that this is not so much a job, as it is a calling,” Heilig said. “The best explanation I can give for why I do what I do is rooted in 1 Corinthians 13:13, ‘So now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.’ I have faith in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, hope that every day will be better than the one before and love for each person I meet.”

Heilig has another inspiration at home – his 6-year-old daughter, Alli, a first grader at Christian Fellowship School in Draffenville.