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Medical Cannabis Editorial from Judge Keith Taul

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Below is the Medical Cannabis Editorial from Hardin County Judge Executive Keith Taul to help our citizens be informed on the importance of voting for this coming up in November.

Hardin County voters will soon decide whether medical cannabis dispensaries, cultivators, processors, and safety compliance facilities will be allowed to operate in the unincorporated area of the county. On June 25th Fiscal Court passed a resolution to place this important decision on the November 5, 2024, General Election ballots. That voting will start as early as October 31st when early voting begins at the Hardin County Clerk’s Main Office (Elizabethtown) and Colvin Community Center (Radcliff).
It’s important to help voters understand the significance of their vote to allow or prohibit medical cannabis facilities to operate in unincorporated Hardin County. This vote does not affect patient accessibility to medical cannabis.
On April 17th Governor Beshear signed HB829 declaring medical cannabis a healthcare necessity. Although established by the state, counties and cities must control the medical cannabis facilities. The medical cannabis program is set up to ensure it is prescribed by authorized physicians for medical conditions only such as cancer, PTSD, MS, muscle spasms, epilepsy, chronic nausea, and chronic pain.
Initially, one dispensary is allowed by state law to operate within a city or county and only four dispensaries will be granted in our Lincoln Trail geographic region of 12 counties. Note that KY is divided into 11 geographic regions and the entire state will only be allowed, initially, to operate 48 dispensaries, 16 cultivators, 10 processors, and no limitation on safety compliance facilities.
Dispensaries will be determined by a lottery draw of eligible operators. If Hardin County voters decide to allow medical cannabis dispensaries in the unincorporated area of the county, potential local operators may not be selected to participate in the program during the initial lottery drawing.
Supply limits exist for patients using the drug which will be monitored by approved physicians. Restrictions also exist on the locations in which dispensaries, cultivators, and processors may locate. For example, these businesses cannot be located within 1,000 feet of schools or day care facilities. In addition, Fiscal Court recently passed an ordinance that requires medical cannabis businesses to operate in I-1 (light industrial) or I-2 (heavy industrial) zones in unincorporated Hardin County, if HC votes to allow medical cannabis facilities.
Both Radcliff and Elizabethtown city councils voted to opt-in by passing ordinances to allow the facilities within the city limits no matter what the outcome of the vote, but they will still vote whether the facilities can be located in the unincorporated areas.
Voters living in Vine Grove and West Point city limits will have 2 votes which could be confusing. These voters decide whether their city opts-in or opts-out separate from the county vote. Their county vote will still help determine the future of facilities out in the county.
Note that school boards must establish policies to permit or prohibit minor registered patients to consume medicinal cannabis at school. Allowing the operation of medical cannabis businesses in Hardin County is an important decision and should be taken seriously. I encourage you to read and learn all you can before casting your vote. For more information on KY’s medical cannabis program visit kymedcan.ky.gov.

UPDATE: Suspect that fled traffic stop in Hart County and arrested near Glendale identified

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UPDATE: The Kentucky State Police has identified the suspect as Jecore King of Eight Mile, Alabama. The KSP says after fleeing from a trooper that pulled King over near the 61-mile marker of Interstate 65 and asked King to step out of the vehicle after detecting the possible presence of marijuana, King led police on a pursuit up I-65 North that reached speeds of over 130 miles per hour. King crashed the vehicle near the 85-mile marker and fled on foot into a nearby cornfield while armed with a handgun. He was apprehended after a search that involved the Elizabethtown Police Department’s special response team and the KSP’s aircraft branch. King faces multiple charges including fleeing and evading police, wanton endangerment, and reckless driving among other charges. He has been lodged in the Hardin County Detention Center.

Area law enforcement agencies assisted the Kentucky State Police in the apprehension of a suspect that fled officers on Interstate 65 Thursday.

“From my understanding, the initial incident started in Hart County after a traffic stop,” said Hardin County Sheriff John Ward. “Evidently, the suspect got into an altercation with the trooper, and the suspect fled in his vehicle. The pursuit continued on north to around the 85 mile marker near Glendale, where a collision occurred. The driver fled the vehicle on foot.”

The sheriff’s office and the Elizabethtown Police Department joined the search for the suspect at around 4 p.m. Officers searched on foot and the sheriff’s office used their drone to assist in the search of a nearby cornfield.

The EPD said in a statement the suspect was apprehended shortly before 7 p.m. without further incident.

The incident caused traffic delays on both I-65 and U.S. 31W as officers searched for the suspect.

KSP reminds drivers to be on the lookout for deer

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As autumn rolls on, the Kentucky State Police is reminding drivers to be mindful of deer crossing roadways across the state.

The KSP says fall is the peak season for deer-related crashes. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows there are about 1 million car crashes involving deer across the country each year, resulting in about 200 deaths, more than 10,000 personal injuries, and about $1 billion in damages. The KSP says in 2023 there were 3,285 deer-related crashes across the commonwealth, resulting in 202 injuries and three deaths.

Deer crossings are most common during mating season, which runs October through January. Activity is most common at dusk and dawn.

The KSP is offering the following reminders for drivers:

-Watch for deer crossing signs on state roadways.

-Slow down when traveling through an area where deer are common.

-Deer travel in groups, so when you see one deer you should anticipate there are more nearby.

-Never veer from a deer. A sudden sharp turn could place the vehicle in the path of oncoming traffic or could lead to striking a tree or utility pole.

-Never forget to buckle your seatbelt.

Visit the KSP on the web for more information.

Restrictions placed on deer hunting in Breckinridge, Hardin, and Meade counties due to CWD

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Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is announcing special restrictions for deer hunting in Breckinridge, Hardin, and Meade counties due to the establishment of a chronic wasting disease surveillance zone after a deer at a farm in Breckinridge County tested positive for the disease.

The Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted to establish the zone during a special meeting Tuesday.

KFW Director of Wildlife Ben Robinson said the establishment of the zone and the restrictions are based on the agency’s CWD Response Plan.

“When you have a detection in a captive facility, you immediately draw a five mile radius around that detection, which becomes your management zone, and then you draw a 15 mile radius around that detection, and any county that touches that 15 mile radius then becomes part of your surveillance zone,” Robinson said.

There is no change to the deer hunting season or to bag limits, however baiting or feeding of deer in the zone is prohibited, as is the rehabilitation of deer or other cervids. Deer carcasses and high-risk parts cannot be removed from the three-county zone.

“That would really be head, skull with brain matter, spine,” Robinson said. “It is okay to debone meat and remove deboned meat or cleaned skull products, cleaned skull caps with no brain matter on those.”

Deer can still be moved within the zone, so a hunter that harvests a deer in Breckinridge County can still bring it to Hardin County.

Hunters can help KFW monitor for CWD by bringing the heads of legally-harvested deer to self-serve sample drop-off sites or by requesting a sample mail-in kit. Robinson said unlike in the Western Kentucky detection zone, testing will be voluntary.

“Because this is really a different landscape, when you’re looking at these three counties, we have a lot of deer, but we have a lot of deer hunters, and we have a high harvest, which is very much to our advantage, so we can really rely on our hunters to help us collect these samples using some alternative methods,” Robinson said.

KFW will be hosting a public meeting at the Breckinridge County Extension Office on November 7 to provide more information. Learn more about CWD monitoring on the KFW website.

Fundraiser benefiting Wreaths Across America returns for second year

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Area vietnam war veteran C.T. Christie says the local chapter for Wreaths Across America has been battling increasing costs, and it is important to support their mission of honoring veterans.

“I’ve been doing it with Donna Betson since the beginning,” Christie said. “When you smell those wreaths out, the evergreen smell on those graves, on a winter day when the snow’s on the ground, the green wreaths against the marble headstone, it’s a really nice atmosphere out there,  and it’s overwhelming for me, because I’ll be buried out there one day, and I hope I still get a wreath on my grave.”

All are welcome to attend a fundraiser for Wreaths Across America, to be held at ACE Hardware in Radcliff (2360 South Dixie Boulevard) Saturday, November 2 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“There’s going to be a first responder chili cookoff, car and bike show, and we also open it up to arts and crafts,” Christie said. “Anybody wants to put an arts and crafts tent up, they can. All of the proceeds go to the wreaths.”

The event will also feature a silent auction, and door prizes will be announced every hour. Contact Christie for information on purchasing a booth.