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Leitchfield man suspected of multiple crimes in Grayson and Breckenridge counties arrested

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A Leitchfield man police believe is responsible for multiple incidents in Grayson and Breckinridge counties over the past month is in custody.

According to the Grayson County Sheriff’s Office, from July 14 to August 12 deputies responded to at least 10 reports of burglaries, thefts, and destruction of property in and around Grayson County. The alleged thefts include stolen vehicles, UTVs, guns, identity theft, and allegedly leading officers on a pursuit in a stolen vehicle earlier this month.

Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins says investigators were able to identify the suspect as Tyler W. Corbin.

“We’ve been receiving multiple thefts over the last several weeks,” Chaffins said. “We figured he was in the Breck. County/Grayson County area, and every time there was a theft we received information that he was a suspect, and we had witnesses that saw him. We had him on camera a few times, so we knew who we were looking for.”

Corbin was taken into custody by Breckinridge County Sheriff Billy Richardson after he spotted Corbin and detained him after a short foot pursuit.

Chaffins says Corbin has been through multiple attempts at pre-trial diversion programs, and while he believes in second and sometimes third chances at a certain point public safety must be considered.

“At some point we have to draw the line somewhere, and I think that he certainly forced us to draw the line,” Chaffins said. “This cannot continue to happen, otherwise we’re going to be reading a different headline in the news where someone was hurt or killed because of his actions, and it’s certainly not something as sheriff that I want my citizens to have to deal with.”

Corbin faces multiple counts of Burglary, Theft, and Criminal Mischief in Grayson and Breckinrdige counties, and the sheriff’s office says more charges are likely as the investigation continues. Corbin was lodged in the Breckinridge County Detention Center.

Truck accident near Cecilia Valley Elementary school causes gas leak, downed power lines

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A pickup truck struck a utility pole and ruptured a gas line near Cecilia Valley Elementary School Tuesday afternoon.

Hardin County Sheriff John Ward said the incident happened shortly after 3 p.m.

“The pickup truck was westbound on Kentucky 86, and it knocked over a utility pole and also broke the gas line, which had gas leaking out the line freely,” Ward said.

Ward said Cecilia Valley had already dismissed students at the time of the incident, but 32 students along with several staff members were still in the building for the elementary’s afterschool program. Students and staff were advised to shelter in place while the gas line was sealed.

Hardin County Schools Community Relations Specialist John Wright said students were then unable to exit due to the downed utility pole.

“We were asked to inform parents to not come pick up their children,” Wright said. “Even though the gas leak had been repaired the power lines were still down, and it wasn’t long after that that we got word that we could resume as normal, so parents were at that time welcome to pick up their kids and students from the school-age childcare program.”

Wright thanked emergency responders for their quick response to the scene, saying the situation was ultimately back to normal in about 45 minutes.

Radcliff council denies Redmar zoning request, approves annexation

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The Radcliff City Council met for a regular meeting Tuesday.

The council voted to uphold the Radcliff Planning Commission’s denial of a zoning map amendment for four properties at or near the intersection of Wingard Drive and Redmar Lane in the Redmar Subdivision from R-1 to R-4. Council member Jerry Brown said that Radcliff is a relatively young city in one of Kentucky’s oldest counties, and it is important to preserve the city’s history when possible.

“There is so little of valid historical significance, but this area, this community that these homeowners are discussing, is probably the only valid historical area in town,” Brown said.

The council did approve on second reading ordinances that annexed a property on the east side of Bullion Boulevard between Safari Trail and Oakland Circle and a property at 691 Safari Trail from the city of Vine Grove and rezoned both properties from R-1 to R-3.

An ordinance establishing an Energy Project Assessment District program was also approved on its second reading.

“By establishing an EPAD program, pursuant to the EPAD Act, eligible property owners will be eligible to finance qualifying energy projects to their properties through the imposition of assessments on their approved real property within the city,” said City Attorney Michael Pike, reading from the ordinance.

The council received an update on the Green Dot program, a violence prevention program that trains schools and businesses while promoting bystander intervention. Leadership Hardin County, Silverleaf, and the city council partnered to implement the program, and to promote it a mural was commissioned to be designed by the North Hardin High School art class, with the winning design submitted by recent grad Megan McNight.

“We wanted to resemble a breaking away of all of this negative energy, all these bad things that could be happening like bullying, just getting away from all of that, and then behind it is something beautiful where it’s just like a calm scene,” McNight said.

A location for the mural is being discussed.

The Radcliff City Council will next meet in a work session on September 12 and a regular meeting on September 19.

2022 a bounce-back year for state, local tourism

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Governor Andy Beshear last week said that 2022 was a strong year for tourism, with the industry generating more than $12,9 billion in economic impact across the commonwealth.

Tourism on the local level also had a strong year.

“For Hardin County, tourism accounted for 2,472 jobs,” said Elizabethtown Tourism Director of Marketing Krysta Souleyrette. “The labor income from those jobs was $69.51 million in Hardin County. In state and local taxes, tourism generated $26.7 million, and visitors spent $335.57 million in 2022 in Hardin County.”

Souleyrette says tourism numbers for the county represent both a rebound from the pandemic as well as improvement from pre-pandemic numbers.

“Visitor spending increased 12 percent over 2019,” said Souleyrette. “Since 2019 was really the last normal year pre-pandemic, we used this to kind of gauge, and pretty much everything was up. So we’re really pleased with these numbers and excited to continue the growth in 2023.”

More information on tourism statistics for 2022 can be found at www.kentuckytourism.com.