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Duvall says Radcliff continues to see progress

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Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall says the numbers in the budget show the growth the city has seen since he first served as mayor.

“Looking back over my first budget when I became mayor, we had about an $11 million operational budget, and now currently, with stormwater, we have about an $18 million operational budget,” Duvall said. “My reserve fund balance back then, when I first became mayor, was $3 million, and today we’re at nearly $14 million in reserves.”

Duvall was one of the speakers during the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s January Membership Luncheon Wednesday.

Duvall talked about the city’s commitment to public safety, including about $600,000 in renovations at the police department, about $350,000 to add female living quarters at Fire Station No. Two, and nearly $4 million that went towards the purchase of new fire trucks and communications upgrades, among other city upgrades.

“We did $50,000 in upgrades to the Colvin Community Center in air conditioners,” Duvall said. “We’re also upgrading our pool and our area around the pool to provide turf so people can lay out where there’s some grass areas now. We did over $130,000 in playground equipment upgrades in our city parks, and we currently are working on grants to provide an all-inclusive playground, similar to what they have in Vine Grove, and we did about $650,000 last year in paving.”

Duvall said increases in business licenses and housing construction continue to show the progress the city is making.

“When you think about progress, I want you to think about some of the numbers I mentioned,” Duvall said. “When you hear people say Radcliff isn’t growing, I disagree. We’re growing, we’re just growing at a slower, steadier pace than maybe what some of the other people do.”

Follow the City of Radcliff Government Facebook page for updates.

Twin Lakes Skatepark Project makes progress towards goal, seeking sponsorships

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Twin Lakes Skatepark Project Chairman Casey Keown says the nonprofit took major steps towards their goal of a new permanent skatepark facility in Grayson County, including a partnership with Indiana-based design firm Hunger Skateparks.

“We’ve completed our geotechnical survey, and next week we’ll be completing our topographical survey, so we are hoping to have our preliminary design in the near future, and you know, all these things take time and money, so we’re just going to keep pushing,” Keown said.

The skatepark project promotes “Unity Through Community” and as they get closer to the goal they are seeking community partners to sponsor their upcoming Casino Night. 

“Our theme this year is Art in Motion,” Keown said. “It’s a night of celebrating skateboarding as an art form. Obviously, skateboarding is not like your conventional sport, and a lot of times skateboarders get a bad rep because they’re misunderstood.”

The sponsorship is not only a way to support the organization and be featured at the event, but also to be featured on the organization’s social media, which Keown says has seen great growth.

“Just over the last 28 days, we’ve had over 20,000 views,” Keown said. “Our engagement’s up 455 percent, and our follower growth is up 3,000 percent. This is before running any paid ads. This is just organic growth. We’re quickly becoming one of the top pages here in Grayson County.”

Businesses or organizations interested in sponsorship should email Dani Saltsman at dani@twinlakesskatepark.org. Visit the organization’s website or Facebook page for more information including tickets.

Vine Grove mayor says city is moving forward ‘in a smart, responsible way’

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Vine Grove Mayor Pam Ogden says in 2025 the city focused on moving Vine Grove forward in a smart, responsible way by “investing in infrastructure, supporting public safety, and working with regional and state partners” to position the city for future growth.

“We invested $5 million in our wastewater treatment plant,” Ogden said. “We are still in the process of that. We purchased a new ladder truck for our fire department. We also ordered a new fire truck to replace the one that burned up in our fire that happened this year.”

Ogden spoke during the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s January Membership Luncheon Wednesday. Ogden said the city installed 16 Flock cameras, hired two full-time firefighters for the first time, and supported a fully-staffed police department with 12 officers.

The city received several grants aimed at infrastructure and beautification efforts, and city staff worked hard to improve the city’s service offerings.

“We had 15 out of 31 employees either attend training or they were certified in their position, so to me, that’s amazing,” Ogden said. “We have eight active subdivisions, 159 single and multi-family units. I’m especially proud of our city staff, who work tirelessly behind the scenes to serve our residents and businesses.”

Ogden said the goal for 2026 is to support local business, encourage thoughtful growth, and preserve quality of life.

“Some of my goals this year include a farmers market upgrade, finishing our wastewater treatment plant which should be finished this year, revitalizing our downtown and supporting the businesses that are moving there, sidewalk improvements, and hopefully we will have an ambulance stored in Vine Grove,” Ogden said.

Follow the Vine Grove City Hall Facebook page for city updates.

Area students invited to free scholarship and college prep event at North Hardin Saturday

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Students and their parents are invited to learn about scholarship opportunities and other college resources at Get Your Money Right 2026, to be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, January 17 at North Hardin High School.

“The goal of the event is to put the high school students in the same room with these local scholarship opportunities and get them to fill out as many applications as they possibly can,” said event organizer Selena Hudson. “If they bring their Chromebooks that day, or in the future this month, they can fill out the application and get awarded that money, and not leave any money on the table.”

In addition to scholarship opportunities, the event will feature workshops, panel discussions, and guest speakers focusing on a range of financial literacy topics.

“We have Budgeting 101 through Abound Credit Union and AI for Teens with Lucas Solutions, and we also have our former garrison commander coming back in and he’s going to be our motivational speaker to kick off the day, to talk to the students about ‘don’t talk about it, be about it,’” Hudson said.

All students are welcome to attend this free event, but seniors are encouraged to register ahead of time in order to qualify for door prizes and scholarship giveaways.

“It’s going to be a great day for the college students,” Hudson said. “We’ve had businesses donate gift cards and gift all the things, and we will have about 20 local vendors that are offering scholarships and local organizations that are offering scholarships will be there.”

Find the link to register and more information on the Get Your Money Right Inc. Facebook group.