Menu Close

WQXE News

Your source for local community news, weekdays at 6, 6:30, 7, 7:30, 8, 9 and Noon.

Applications being accepted for arts program grant

WQXE News 0 Comments

The Kentucky Arts Council is accepting applications for the Arts Access Assistance Grant, which supports arts and health programming.

Grants of $2,500 or $5,000 are available through the program, which is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Kentucky General Assembly. The program is designed to support the use of art-based strategies to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and communities.

The theme for this year’s grant cycle encourages organizations to explore how the arts can support public health, strengthen connection, and improve quality of life. Funds are also available to serve healthcare workers, patients, caregivers, and their families, as well as to engage community members in creative activities.

Kentucky-based arts and cultural organizations and nonprofits partnering with professional artists or arts organizations are welcome to apply. The application deadline is August 24. Visit artscouncil.ky.gov for more information and the application.

One dead, one injured after Hardin County domestic incident

WQXE News 0 Comments

A man is dead and a woman injured after an alleged domestic incident Monday.

Hardin County Sheriff John Ward says at approximately 6:25 p.m. on July 27, deputies responded to a residence on the 75 block of Battle Drive in Elizabethtown for a reported domestic disturbance.

“As deputies arrived on the scene, they heard a single gunshot coming from inside the residence,” Ward said. “A short time later, an adult female exited the home, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound to the chest.”

Deputies rendered aid and secured the area, and the recently-formed Hardin County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team was activated for the first time. After making entry and searching the home, team members located an adult male suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“The female victim was transported for medical treatment and was later released.,” Ward said. “The male was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

The incident remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office’s Criminal Investigations Unit.

Hardin County Fiscal Court meets

WQXE News 0 Comments

The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday.

The first reading was held on an ordinance amending the fiscal year 2026-2027 budget, which Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul said primarily concerned purchases for Hardin County EMS.

“The biggest one of which is around $900,000 for some new cardiac monitors that replace some old ones that have reached the end of their life,” Taul said.

Hardin County EMS Director Mark Peterson said crews made 1,417 dispatches in June, and responded to 16,394 calls in fiscal year 2025-2026. That number is down about 300 from the previous fiscal year, continuing a general decline over the past five years.

Hardin County E-911 Director Mike Leo said dispatch answered 4,566 calls in June. For fiscal year 2025-2026, 25,390 calls were answered, up from 24,784 the previous fiscal year.

Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith said the Hardin County Election Board approved the addition of a new polling site.

“That still has to go through state approval, but with the state’s approval, which we anticipate, we’ll have an additional location for the three days of early voting and that same location will be available on Election Day,” Smith said.

Smith said he will announce the polling site once it is approved by the state.

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet August 11.

I-65 lanes through downtown Louisville reopen early while construction continues

WQXE News 0 Comments

If you are heading through Louisville today, you’ll have more travel options as four of the six closed lanes of Interstate 65 in Louisville reopened ahead of schedule at midnight last night.

“We’re still a little ways from completing the full infrastructure project, but the disruption of having I-65 fully closed is over, and I can promise you this: even though some work will extend into March of next year, we won’t be shutting down this crucial roadway all the way back for this project again,” said Governor Andy Beshear during a press conference Tuesday.

The governor, and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District Five Chief District Engineer Matt Bullock, credited the work of project engineers and construction workers for their accelerated work which saw the setting of 70 steel beams and more than 200 precast deck panels. Bullock said it was important to note that I-65 through downtown is still a construction zone.

“The speed limit, I think it’s important to note, will be 40 miles per hour just south of the CSX Bridge to the north end of the project in the Spaghetti Junction,” Bullock said. “We’re going to have barrels and barrier walls used to guide traffic.”

Because of the reduced capacity still in place, officials are asking drivers who are not going to downtown destinations to continue using the signed detour route in place on Interstate 264. Visit www.i65centralcorridor.com for more information and updates.

E-Town Planning Commission sends data center amendment to City Council

WQXE News 0 Comments

A standing room only crowd was in attendance at the Elizabethtown Planning Commission meeting Tuesday evening as the commission considered a text amendment proposed by the city’s Planning and Development office concerning data centers.

Elizabethtown Planning and Development Director Aaron Hawkins said currently a data center would fall under existing definitions for a data processing center.

“If you look at the definition, it’s a lot older,” Hawkins said. “You can tell that this was written probably 25-plus years ago, and it has not been modified since because a lot of the items listed in that are no longer even relevant.”

Hawkins said the proposed amendment adds definitions recommended by the Kentucky League of Cities while also adding enforceable standards such as size limits, utility upgrade responsibilities, and closed-loop cooling systems. Data centers will also be limited to “accessory use.”

“So the way this is written, as these only being accessory uses, is you cannot have a data center on a lot by itself,” Hawkins said. “It would have to be affiliated with a permitted use in that zone.”

Planning Commission Chair Steve Rice said Elizabethtown can’t say a data center can’t come to the city, but they can regulate it, and he felt the proposed amendment gives the city protection before any proposals are made.

“This is a hot item, a very hot item,” Rice said. “Other communities have put moratoriums on it. I don’t think that’s going to work, so we’ve decided to be a little more proactive and take a stance on this, that we can protect ourselves in terms of what comes in here.”

The commission voted to recommend the city council approve the amendment.

In other meeting news, the commission also recommended approval for an application for construction of a cellular antenna tower to be located at 204 Ring Road. The city staff found the proposal is in line with zoning and development requirements, and an attorney representing TowerCo said the FAA said the tower will not be tall enough to require beacons.

An application concerning a Downtown District area-wide zone change was withdrawn, but Hawkins said the city is seeking more public input on the subject at public meetings to be held August 18 at the Pritchard Community Center and September 29 at the State Theater.

Tuesday’s meeting can be viewed in full on the City of Elizabethtown Government Facebook page.