WQXE News

As part of the department’s strategies for monitoring and preventing the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife will be hosting a special antlerless-only season in counties within the established CWD Surveillance Zone.

KFW says the four-day season will run from September 25 through 28 in counties located in Deer Zones 1, 2, and 3, which includes Breckinridge, Hardin, and Meade counties. Firearms, bows, and crossbows may be used but only antlerless deer may be harvested.

Zone bag limits apply, and testing is mandatory for deer harvested during the special season regardless of method of take used. Hunters must drop off the harvested deer’s head at an unstaffed CWD Sample Drop-Off Site or submit a sample using a CWD sample mail-in kit.

Additional strategies, such as restrictions on transporting deer carcasses in and out of the CWD Surveillance Zone and restrictions on the use of certain types of feeders, are also in effect. Find more information on the CWD webpage at fw.ky.gov. Members of the public may also report sick or dead deer or elk by using the online form on the Report Wildlife Disease webpage.

The Radcliff City Council met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday.

The first reading was held on an ordinance levying city ad valorem taxes for 2026.

“Assessed valuation (per $100) as follows: on real property, .126 and personal property .184, including real and personal property of public service companies,” said City Attorney Mike Pike, reading from the ordinance. “On privately owned and registered vehicles and watercraft, .199, and bank deposit tax, .00025.”

Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall presented Mayor’s Recognition Awards to Boundary Oak Distillery and Red Hill Cutlery, and recognized City Clerk Ashley Russo, for their efforts in hosting and organizing last Saturday’s Bourbon and Blades Festival. Duvall said the Radcliff Police Department estimated the event saw more than 10,000 total visitors.

“It was a great show, probably the largest show that we’ve had,” Duvall said. “The weather was great. Everything went very smooth and well.”

In other meeting news, the council approved 2026 Trick or Treat times for the city. Trick or Treating in the City of Radcliff will run from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, October 31.

The Radcliff City Council will next meet Friday morning to hold the second reading on the tax ordinance, after which the council will next meet for a work session on October 13.

Elizabethtown Community and Technical College is celebrating growth in student success.

ECTC says students at the college posted a graduation rate of 61.4 percent for the 2025-2026 school year, the highest in school history and nearly double the rate from 10 years ago.

ECTC Chancellor Dr. Juston Pate said with the graduation well above the national average of 42.7 percent, it is something the whole community can take pride in.

“It really does speak to the quality of the college, to the quality of the community that supports that college, and to the workforce in general that supports our graduates and motivates them to get the degrees that lead to those jobs,” Pate said.

The graduation rate measures “the percentage of full-time college students who earn a credential within three years of first enrolling at the college.” ECTC says success has been seen in other metrics as well, including an 80.1 percent course success rate in the Fall 2025 semester, which is up nearly 14 points from Fall 2018.

Pate said the hard work of the faculty and staff is critical to the college moving forward.

“I think what makes me most proud is the work that our faculty and our staff have done for ten years to continually get better, and to continually put our students in a better position to achieve their goals,” Pate said.

Pate also credited community partners for their work in reducing barriers to success, such as Family Scholar House. Learn more about similar initiatives on the ECTC website.