WQXE News

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife says surveys show a great turkey hunting season looks to be coming up soon.

Kentucky’s spring hunting seasons get under way with the youth-only turkey season on April 5 and 6, followed by the general turkey season from April 12 through May 4.

The KFW Wild Turkey Program says an unusually high number of younger birds were found during winter netting and leg banding research, which aligns with productive hatching numbers in 2024. The season should be especially beneficial for younger or inexperienced hunters as younger birds are typically easier targets. Public lands hunters should focus on prescribed burn sites at wildlife management areas as turkeys favor areas of regrowth.

No more than two legal turkeys may be taken per spring season. Hunters may only harvest one bearded turkey per wildlife management area and no more than one bird may be taken per day. Find more information on hunting regulations and license requirements in the KFW’s Spring Hunting Guide, available at fw.ky.gov.

The Radcliff City Council met for a called meeting Thursday afternoon.

The council approved a $198,366.26 bid from Riverview Contracting for renovations to Radcliff Fire Department Station No. Two.

“This has to do with the remodeling of Station Two, which is going to allow for separate bathrooms,” said Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall. “Obviously we have female firefighters and are trying to hire more female firefighters as well, and so this separates this. This is an update to a building that was built many years ago, and so this is going to be an update to that as well as add some new quarters for sleeping and stuff like that.”

The first reading was held on three ordinances that annex property on the east side of South Dixie Boulevard between East Lincoln Trail Boulevard and Terrace Drive, along with three ordinances that rezone those properties from Hardin County R-1 to Commercial. The Radcliff Planning Commission approved the zoning changes.

Duvall said Green River Waste will be contacting residents as they work on cut-offs for non-payments and no established accounts. The company allowed a grace period as the transition from the previous provider overlapped with severe winter weather, so Duvall says residents should call to ensure their service is set up and paid for properly.

“There’s still people that have not set their account up or have not paid the bill, and so for the last few months they have been receiving service,” Duvall said. “They’ve made an effort to make sure they try to pick everything up in hopes that everybody will come pay.”

The Radcliff City Council will next meet April 7.

The City of Elizabethtown formally began conversations with the public on the potential expansion of historic preservation in the city with a public engagement session at the Historic State Theater Wednesday evening.

“We want to educate the public on the benefits of historic preservation,” said City of Elizabethtown Director of Planning Joe Reverman. “We want to educate them on how historic preservation works in Elizabethtown and hopefully encourage citizens and property owners to support the expansion of our preservation in the city.”

Reverman noted during the meeting that the city has had plans to discuss expanding historic preservation as part of the city’s comprehensive plan, but the city council asked the city to move forward sooner following public feedback on a College Street zoning change.

Craig Potts and Dr. Nicole Roth with the Kentucky Heritage Council discussed benefits related to historic preservation districts including access to tax incentives and grants, and Roth noted benefits to economic development such as property value stabilization and neighborhood stability.

“If you live in your house or say your apartment for a long time, you become physically, financially, as well as socially invested into your neighborhood, and caring about the development and the change that follows through,” Roth said.

Roth said the purpose of establishing a local preservation ordinance or district is not to restrict growth or use, but to allow for “thoughtful consideration of change.”

“Just because you’re in the local district, that does not mean you live in a museum and cannot also adapt with the changing times,” Roth said.

The current downtown historic district is mostly limited to the downtown square, to a point that even the 200-year-old Brown-Pusey House is not within the district’s borders. 

Reverman said this is the beginning of a months-long discussion. Potential properties will be discussed at the May 8 meeting of the city’s Historic Preservation Commission. Questions may be directed to Reverman’s office at city hall.