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WQXE News

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

June 11th – New COVID cases for state; local community

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Governor Andy Beshear announced 191 new cases of COVID-19 for the Commonwealth yesterday. Governor Beshear once again stressed the importance of testing for residents as experts begin watching for a second spike in cases.

“Not only will this bring you piece of mind and ensure that you’re not spreading it to other people, it also helps us as a state have the data that we need,” Beshear said.

On a local level, five new cases of the virus were announced yesterday. The Lincoln Trail District Health Department confirmed the new cases Wednesday afternoon, with cases being confirmed in Hardin, LaRue, Marion and Washington counties. In total, the department has seen 251 cases. When it comes to the demographics of the cases, officials say that while the age of patients might vary, the gender of those infected is lopsided.

“Most cases in our area are between the ages of 20 and 69,” Senior community epidemiologist Lyndsey Blair stated. “The average age of [COVID] onset is 46.2 years. There is a significant difference in which gender tests positive for COVID-19. Females comprise 61% of the cases in LTDHD.|

Elsewhere, Breckenridge County health officials confirmed just one new case Wednesday, bringing their total number of cases to 23.

June 10th – Elizabethtown Independent to establish “Equity Plan” for district

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One area school district is taking steps to address educational shortfalls and barriers for students. Elizabethtown Independent Schools announced the district’s new ‘Equity Plan’ in a social media post yesterday. According to superintendent Jon Ballard, the plan was conceived in the spring of 2019, when, as he described, the district took a “hard look in the mirror.”

“We had some areas that we needed to address, and that started… when we looked at our achievement gap,” he said.

Ballard says the contents of the plan, which includes community building and and helping to raise awareness were conceived out of several focus groups comprised of community leaders, teachers, parents, and students.

“They’ll keep it real for you,” Ballard said. “They don’t mind opening up; it was telling in a lot of those [meeting].”

Ballard says the district’s plan is to ultimately make sure that students are welcomed into a “nurturing” learning environment.

June 10th – Vine Grove tops list of fastest growing cities in Kentucky

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New census information for the state of Kentucky shows that one Hardin County community has expanded. Data from the 2010 Census, as well as recent census data, shows that the city of Vine Grove is the state’s fastest growing city.

The previous census reported that the community was home to 4,520 residents in 2010, and had jumped nearly 27% to an estimated 6,340 residents in 2019. Vine Grove mayor Pam Ogden attributes the growth of the community to many things, including the safety of the community, as well as a large base of military residents, among other things.

“We have a lot of retired military that decided that stay, so that we have a lot of people that were born and raised in Vine Grove that decided to stay, myself included,” Ogden explained. “So I think that when people are thinking about where they want to retire or where they want to raise their kids, I think Vine Grove is one that they chose rather quickly.”

Vine Grove was also voted Kentucky’s safest city earlier this year.

June 10th – Protests expected in area communities Wednesday

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As protests and demonstrations continue across the country, similar protests are spreading to communities in the surrounding region. Just a week after the latest protest in Elizabethtown, two demonstrations– one in Leitchfield and one in Hodgenville– are expected for Wednesday afternoon in the respective cities.

“I’ve made contact with the organizer of the [Leitchfield] event,” stated Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins, “and all indications are that it’s going to be a peaceful protest.”

“As a law enforcement agency, whether we agree or disagree with anyone who wants to protest, we have to allow them, and we’re certainly going to allow them to do that,” explained Chaffins. “We’re also going to protect any protestors there.”

The Hodgenville protest, which is slated to take place an hour before the Leitchfield one, will start at the courthouse and consolidate at the square.

“[The police] are going to meet-up with those folks at the courthouse at 2 o’clock, and we’re going to provide them with an escort down to the square,” Sergeant James Richardson said.

Richardson said that while there will be a police presence at the event, he does not believe that the demonstration will need law enforcement to intervene at any point.

“We are going to have some officer on standby and some other agencies to assist if need be, but we don’t expect that to be an issue.”

June 10th – New cases of virus for Tuesday

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LaRue County has recorded their first COVID-19 related death. The Lincoln Trail District Health Department confirmed the news in their press release Tuesday afternoon. The deaths marks the 3rd death in just two days, and the 8th death in the department’s service area. Additionally, the department confirmed just 3 cases yesterday, two in Nelson and one in Marion, bringing the total to 246. 197 patients have recovered from the virus so far, 34 are on home isolation, and 7 are currently hospitalized.