WQXE News

Crystal Rogers investigation suspect Steven Lawson was back in Nelson Circuit Court for a status hearing Thursday.

While no motions were before the court, Lawson’s defense previously requested the hearing be scheduled in order to keep “on a routine track in advance of the currently scheduled trial date.” The defense requested another status hearing for 30 days out, but when Special Prosecutor Shane Young asked for a date in late April due to a busy trial schedule the two sides settled on a hearing date of April 3.

Lawson’s defense said they are still working through the discovery in the case, which Young said outside of possibly a few phone calls has been completed. The defense says Lawson had also not seen any of the discovery until August when the new attorneys were appointed to represent him. Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III said he would make any requested accommodations to allow Lawson access to the courthouse in order to review the discovery as needed.

Simms also said he would keep the case files for the case in Nelson County until shortly before the trial begins in Warren County. Lawson’s trial is scheduled to begin on May 27.

Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Jonathan Shell is inviting the public to submit their artwork for the state’s contest to redesign the Kentucky Spay and Neuter license plate.

According to a release from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, proceeds from the sale of the spay and neuter plate  go to the Animal Control and Care Fund, which the state Animal Control Advisory Board uses for animal control issues and applications for spay and neuter grants. Elizabethtown City Council Member and Animal Control Advisory Board Member Julia Springsteen says the hope is a new plate will help bring in more funding.

“We need to raise more money from the sale of these license plates, and sales have been flat over the last 10 years, and so we’re hoping a refresh of the design will make more people want to buy this plate,” Springsteen said.

More than $600,000 in grants has been awarded during the lifetime of the current plate, allowing more than 17,000 cats and dogs to be spayed or neutered.

“The revenue generated by these license plates goes directly to county shelters in Kentucky to help with their spay and neuter programs, and with the money dwindling, spaying and neutering pets is even more important these days,” Springsteen said. “We’re hoping to raise awareness, raise sales, and help our county shelters more.”

All are welcome to submit a design by April 20. Artists are asked to consider reasons for spaying and neutering in their designs. More information, a design template, and the submission email address are available at www.kyagr.com. Online donations to the Animal Control and Care Fund can also be made through that website.

An alleged threat put North Hardin High School under a hard lockdown at around 10 a.m. Wednesday.

“That means that no students were permitted to leave their classrooms and all students and staff were secured where they were,” said Hardin County Schools Community Relations Specialist John Wright. “No one could leave or exit a secure area, but that lockdown, at approximately 10:15 a.m., was lifted.”

The lockdown resulted from a student who was reported to have a weapon.

“We had reason to believe that there was a threat to the building,” Wright said. “Law enforcement officers detained an individual who pretended to have a weapon. They did not have a weapon. This person thought that they were playing a joke; however, that student, it was a student, and they will face severe charges which will be dealt with in accordance with the law and the Hardin County Schools Code of Acceptable Behavior and Discipline.”

Wright says the usual One Call that goes out to parents in situations like this did not go out because the school was in and out of the lockdown so quickly. HCS commended the student that reported the incident to an adult who contacted school administration, and thanked area law enforcement for their quick response to the situation.