WQXE News

Snow accumulation and freezing temperatures continue to be forecasted for the area as this week gets under way.

The National Weather Service in Louisville has projected two rounds of snowfall, the first through Monday morning and the second Monday afternoon and evening. Most of the area is projected to see one to two inches of snow, but parts of Hart and LaRue counties could see 2 to 3 inches. Wind chill values as low as negative three degrees are in the forecast.

Area officials have organized resources to help people in need of shelter from the winter weather.

“Due to the exceptionally cold temperatures our region is expected to experience between Sunday, January 14 and Tuesday, January 16, the City of Elizabethtown, City of Radcliff, and City of Vine Grove have collectively established a fundamentally consistent procedure to assist those without adequate shelter,” said Elizabethtown Police Department Public Information Officer Chris Denham. 

Any citizen who is displaced and in need of assistance should contact one of the following phone numbers:

-City of Elizabethtown residents may call 270-765-4125

-City of Radcliff residents may call 270-351-4477

-City of Vine Grove residents may call 270-877-2252

Any Hardin County resident who resides outside of a municipality’s city limits may contact the police department for the city closest to them.

Governor Andy Beshear has declared a state of emergency for the winter weather in order to activate state resources including Kentucky Emergency Management. The governor has also activated the state’s price gouging laws to protect families from grossly overpriced goods and services, which can be reported to the state attorney general’s office.

Hardin County trash collection for unincorporated areas has been canceled for Monday. Look to area offices on social media for more information, and stay tuned to Quicksie and The Wolf for weather updates.

Jerianne Strange, Tonya Wigglesworth, and Elaine Alicna each experienced their own type of loss, and Strange said they recognized that the kind of loss has an impact on the grieving process.

“It’s very different if you are grieving the loss of a friend, if you are grieving the loss of an adult child, if you are grieving a loss due to a death by suicide, so manner of death comes into it, the relationships come into it,” Strange said. 

The three are organizing grief support groups, and to gauge interest and see what kind of groups are needed they are hosting an informational meeting this weekend.

“Everybody’s invited,” Strange said. “It is open to the public. There is no charge, it is just informational.”

The informational meeting is Saturday, January 13 at 2 p.m. at the Central Kentucky Community Foundation building, located at 200 Jim Owen Drive in Elizabethtown.

The groups will meet twice a month for twelve weeks. Strange says the groups will have closed meetings with smaller numbers.

“We’ve set a limit of no more than 12 participants in any one group,” Strange said. “When you get any larger than that it’s not a good ‘feedback’ kind of environment, and so the whole purpose of the support nature of the group doesn’t quite work.”

The new KAVIS software program for Kentucky vehicle registrations debuted this week, and things at the Hardin County Clerk’s Office are slowly but surely coming together after experiencing some bugs with the system earlier in the week.

“The team there at KAVIS is trying to fix those as we go along, but we are experiencing slower transaction times and longer lines at the clerk’s office,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith. “That’s not something we ever want to see. We want folks to be able to come in, do their business, and get right back on the road. Unfortunately, we are just dealing with a system that isn’t perfect.”

He said the clerk’s office has also been communicating with clerk’s offices in other counties on their experiences with the system. Some people may be able to avoid the line and go online to drive.ky.gov, but not everybody.

“If you have back-due taxes on any of your vehicles you may not be able to proceed, or there may be an issue where an old vehicle remains on your record,” Smith said. “You may have sold it a couple of years ago. You;ll need to get that straightened out with the PVA, but we can help point you in the right direction.”

Smith has high praise for his staff and gratitude for the public.

“I’m very, very proud of the clerk’s office staff,” Smith said. “They’re adapting to this very quickly. I want to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the Hardin County Public. They have been very, very patient with us, for the most part, as we work through this.”

Smith is posting updates as they become available to the Hardin County Clerk’s Office’s Facebook page.