WQXE News

The Elizabethtown City Council met for a special meeting and work session Monday.

An ordinance approving the renewal of Comcast’s non-exclusive franchise agreement with the city for 15 years was approved on its second reading.

City Clerk and Alcohol Beverage Control Administrator Jessica Graham gave an update to the council on the city’s alcohol licenses. Graham says the city has approved 179 licenses this year.

“59 of those this year so far are temporary, special temporary,” Graham said. “I have about four of those pending. I have probably 12, whether it’s inquiries or applications, in process.”

The city has brought in $1.2 million in regulatory fees so far this year. Graham said there are still two quarters to collect for as well as for October, November, and December, so she anticipates the city will clear $2 million by the end of the year, which would be more than the $1.8 million collected last year.

Graham said she would like to see some slight amendments to the city’s ABC ordinance to clean up some language and make some clarifications.

“We want you to use our city forms,” Graham said. “It causes a lot of problems for us if you try to make your own. We want to make sure that everyone understands you cannot have any alcohol out after 1 a.m. That doesn’t mean you just close your door. We had to add the EDC ordinance. We hadn’t added that.”

Elizabethtown Fire Chief Mark Malone said the fire department’s new burn building has been put to good use, including for thermal vision training that saw participation from several area fire departments recently. Repairs and replacements were made at fire stations One and Three, and construction is going well on the city’s newest fire station.

“Station Four is under construction and on schedule and on budget,” Malone said. “We hope to open that station late July of 2025.”

Elizabethtown Director of Engineering Michael Page said street and sidewalk improvements on North Main Street have been going smoothly. The city plans to announce additional road closures in that area as the project wraps up.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet November 4.

Three area school districts are looking for feedback from school families through active surveys available through their websites and social media.

Breckinridge County Schools is seeking responses for their Parent/Caregiver Experience survey. BCS says feedback from the survey will help the district determine what is working well in their schools and what needs improvement. The survey should take about 15 minutes to complete and can be found on the Breckinridge County School District Facebook page.

Meanwhile, the Hardin County Schools Calendar Committee has created two options for the 2025-2026 school year. That survey is available on the News and Announcements section of the Hardin County Schools website until midnight this Friday. The HCS School Board has the final decision on the calendar but will consider community input in their decision.

Finally, Tuesday is the last day to provide input on the Elizabethtown Independent Schools 2025-2026 school calendar. A link to the survey options can be found on the Elizabethtown Independent School District Facebook page.

Crystal Rogers investigation suspects Steven Lawson and Joseph Lawson were back in the Nelson Circuit Court Friday afternoon for a review hearing.

Attorneys for Steven Lawson confirmed that his former attorney Ted Lavit had turned over the rest of the case file to them. Lavit had been threatened with contempt of court after not turning over the entire case file after he was dismissed by Lawson in August.

Special Prosecutor Shane Young submitted his response to arguments made by attorneys for Joseph Lawson to sever his trial from Steven Lawson and Brooks Houck. Attorneys for Joseph Lawson were prepared to make additional arguments based on similar cases from other states, but Judge Charles Simms III asked them to submit it to the court in writing, which the attorneys said they would Friday evening. Young said he would file a response Monday.

Young also said his office is wrapping up its comparison of case files sent in by the FBI with files sent by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Young said most of the information overlaps, but they are identifying any additional information that has not been seen by the defenses. He said that review should be completed in two weeks and at this time he does not anticipate additional discovery.

Young said hotel accommodations in Warren County, which will be the site of the trial scheduled to begin in February, are being finalized. Simms asked that the hotels for all parties involved be in separate parts of the area in order to keep them separated during the trial, and said part of what ruled out Christian County was all of its hotels are in the same area.

The judge said he would schedule the next review hearing after the prosecution submits their response Monday.