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Hunters that help KFW test for CWD can win prizes

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As Kentucky Fish and Wildlife continues to monitor for chronic wasting disease, the agency is offering an incentive to hunters to help with their efforts.

Kentucky hunters that harvest a deer between now and January 20 are invited to submit it to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife for sampling, which will enter them in the Shoot for Samples regional giveaway.

KFW says the giveaways will take place across five regions: Bluegrass, Northeast, Southeast, Green River, and Purchase. Hunters will be automatically entered in the contest when they drop off deer heads at CWD sample drop-off sites or send a sample in with a CWD mail-in kit. One winner will be selected from each region with multiple prizes available including gift cards valued between $500 and $1,000.

Submitted samples must come from deer harvested in Kentucky, and regular bag limits and deer hunting regulations apply. Testing for CWD is free.

KFW has ramped up its monitoring for chronic wasting disease after a deer at a farm in Breckinridge County tested positive, prompting the creation of a CWD surveillance zone in Breckinridge, Hardin, and Meade counties. KFW will host a public informational meeting on the surveillance zone and related restrictions at Breckinridge County High School (2019 East Highway 60, Harned) Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Tickets on sale for Elizabethtown Christmas activities

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Tickets are now on sale for the multiple Christmas activities offered by the City of Elizabethtown this holiday season.

“The City of Elizabethtown prides itself in offering events for our residents,” said Elizabethtown Events Manager Beth Pyles. “We have a lot to offer here. You don’t have to go to a big city. I think the festivities that we have here are fantastic, and we just hope that everyone enjoys the magic of the holiday season that we hope to bring to Elizabethtown.”

The city will host their annual Breakfast with Santa on December 7 at the State Theater.

“Tickets include breakfast, which is delicious, a visit with Santa, a professional photograph, Christmas crafts, and a ticket to the showing of Polar Express, the movie that day,” Pyles said.

The Polar Express is the kickoff to the State Theater’s Christmas movie series. Pyles says tickets will go fast for these holiday classics.

“Tickets are $3 each and the box office opens one hour before showtime,” Pyles said. “You can find the full list of movies on our site, thestate270.org. The titles include The Polar Express, It’s a Wonderful Life, Elf, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, The Grinch, and White Christmas.”

Find more information on all of the city’s holiday offerings at etownevents.com.

HCS to host drug overdose presentation Thursday

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Hardin County Schools will be partnering with several area agencies to present an assembly on the dangers of drug overdoses.

“It’ll be an opportunity for our community, our parents, our families to see that obviously drug use and the abuse of it is not the proper thing to do,” said HCS Community Relations Specialist John Wright. “It can impact so many lives when things go wrong, and so this will really give people a firsthand look.”

The assembly will be Thursday at 6 p.m. at the HCS Performing Arts Center.

“The simulation is very powerful,” Wright said. “That is why we are saying that only those who are 18 years of age or older can attend. There will be a school version of this that students can see. The one that we are going to show on Thursday evening is a little bit more in your face, and so we are asking folks to be 18 or over to attend that.”

The event is free, however attendees are asked to reserve a ticket at thepac.net.

Separate trial ordered for Steven Lawson; trials for Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson consolidated

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The judge in the cases of the Crystal Rogers investigation suspects has ordered for a separate trial for one of the defendants. 

Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III ordered Tuesday that Steven Lawson will be tried separately while the trials for Brooks Houck and Joseph Lawson shall be consolidated.

Simms said in the order that while the prosecution intends to introduce Steven Lawson’s grand jury testimony and redact Joseph Lawson and Brooks Houck’s names, attorneys for Joseph Lawson and Houck intend to introduce Steven Lawson’s interviews with investigators that the prosecution has stipulated are inadmissible against him in order to show inconsistencies in Lawson’s testimony. The court found that in a joint trial, the jury would never hear of the inconsistencies between Steven Lawson’s police interviews and his grand jury testimony without hearing both, which would cause undue prejudice against Houck and Joseph Lawson.

Attorneys for Houck argued that if he is tried with Joseph Lawson he will not be able to use two police interviews Lawson had with police, but the court found that because Joseph Lawson’s interviews did not result in any admissible evidence being presented to a grand jury, the interviews are irrelevant at trial. In responding to arguments submitted by Joseph Lawson’s attorneys, the court found that because the trials will be moved to Warren County, because there is no evidence of “spillover evidence”, and because Houck has not implicated Joseph Lawson of any wrongdoing, their cases can be consolidated.

The trial for Steven Lawson is scheduled for February 10, although his attorneys have indicated they are not sure they will be ready in time for that date. Houck and Joseph Lawson will appear in court on December 5 to discuss a new trial date.

Polls open and large turnout expected for 2024 election

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The polls are open, and voters have until 6 p.m. local time to cast their ballot in the 2024 general election.

The Associated Press reports that about 77 million Americans cast early ballots in this year’s election, with several states seeing record numbers. Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith described the early voting turnout in Hardin County as “staggering.”

“We voted over the course of three days early voting,” Smith said. “We voted just short of 14,000 people. That’s on top of the almost 1,700 voters who took advantage of in-person absentee voting, so this was record numbers. My staff and I have really worked hard to educate the voters about the upcoming election, about their options in voting, and it has certainly seemed to pay off.”

Hardin County has prepared for an anticipated record turnout by expanding the number of voting locations and increasing the number of voting machines at the busiest locations. Smith says he thinks his office’s prep work will pay off.

“We’ve worked very hard for the past seven or eight months to prepare for this,” Smith said. “It’s like preparing for the Super Bowl. Our locations are secure. Our locations are set up. Our poll workers have been trained. Equipment and resources are deployed. We think things will run very smoothly.”

If you need help figuring out election information, resources are available.

“The best place to look up information is govote.ky.gov,” Smith said. “You can see your sample ballot. You can find all the locations. We’ll be updating our Hardin County Clerk’s Facebook page throughout the day with information that may be helpful to voters in terms of wait time and where to go.”

Kentucky voters have a full ballot today with a presidential election, state and federal representative races, city council and school board elections, and two constitutional amendment questions.