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E-Town council reviews tax rates, approves municipal orders

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The Elizabethtown City Council met for their first meeting of the month Tuesday.

The first reading was held on ordinances that establish city taxes for the 2024-2025 fiscal year. The franchise tax rate on all eligible bank deposits will be set at .025 percent. The tax rate for real and personal property will be 11 cents per $100 assessed value. The tax rate on motor vehicles and watercraft will be 11.6 cents per $100 assessed value. Those ordinances will go up for approval on their second readings at the next regular council meeting.

The council approved a municipal order for the purchase of 723 Greenwood Drive for $323,000.

“Whereas the City of Elizabethtown desires to address drainage issues in the community, and whereas in the engineering studies of the community watersheds the need to develop a basin in the Helmwood Heights area was identified,” said City Attorney Ken Howard, reading from the municipal order. 

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory noted that the property is owned by one of his relatives and said he was not part of negotiations.

A bid from Dirt Works Unlimited was approved in an amount not to exceed $418,847 for the Arnett Place construction project. The city agreed to a property contract with the Elizabethtown Lions Club that requires certain improvements by the city. The project will establish a street from Ring Road between the current Lions Club building and the volunteer fire department. City Administrator Ed Poppe said city officials are happy with the bid.

“They’re doing a sewer project for us currently,” Poppe said. “They’ve got a couple other subdivision projects in this general area. Our design engineer reviewed their cost breakdown and felt comfortable with that. Michael Page with our engineering department also looked at the bid numbers and everybody thinks it’s a really good number that we got from it.”

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet for a work session on September 9.

Man faces multiple charges after multi-county chase

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The alleged driver in a multi-county pursuit is in jail after a short hospital stay.

Joshua E. Arledge of Louisville was booked into the Hardin County Detention Center shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday after being transferred there by the Kentucky State Police from the University of Louisville Hospital.

According to the KSP, the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office contacted KSP Post Four Sunday evening as they were pursuing a stolen vehicle heading west on the Bluegrass Parkway. The KSP took over the pursuit as the driver got on Interstate 65 North near Elizabethtown.

The driver exited I-65 at the Joe Prather Highway and drove towards Radcliff, with the pursuit ending on Patriot Lane when the suspect got out of the vehicle and then fled on foot. As officers set up a perimeter, the suspect was seen driving away in a semi-tractor trailer, heading back onto I-65 North.

Troopers successfully deployed stop sticks near the 117-mile marker, and the semi exited the interstate, pulled into a parking lot, and briefly traveled on East Blue Lick Road in Bullitt County before overturning in a wooded area. The suspect was apprehended with no further incident.

The suspect was transported to the University of Louisville Hospital by EMS after he supposedly ingested “an unknown substance believed to be heroin.” He was held for medical observation until his release and transfer to the detention center Tuesday, at which time the KSP identified the suspect as Joshua Arledge.

Arledge faces multiple charges including First Degree Fleeing and Evading, Receiving Stolen Property, and Theft, among other charges. A video arraignment hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

17-year-old dead after crash on Bluegrass Parkway

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The Kentucky State Police is investigating a fatal accident on the Bluegrass Parkway Saturday.

According to the KSP, a trooper with KSP Post Four responded to a two-vehicle collision near the 13-mile marker on the parkway at around 5:45 p.m. on August 30. 

The KSP says the preliminary investigation indicates a 17-year-old male from Cox Creek was driving west on the parkway when for unknown reasons his vehicle crossed the median and went into the path of an eastbound vehicle driven by Patrick Reed of Bardstown.

The juvenile driver was pronounced dead at the scene by the Nelson County Coroner’s Office. Reed and two passengers were transported to the University of Louisville Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The eastbound lane on the Bluegrass Parkway was closed until about 10:30 p.m. Saturday for accident reconstruction. The investigation into the crash is ongoing.

Election prep running smoothly ahead of November 5

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With the 2024 general election just over two months away, Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith said the May primary provided a good roadmap for preparations for November.

“Our general election plan looks a lot like it did in the May primary,” Smith said. “The difference is we’re beefing up the centers, having more clerks and more check-in stations, so check-ins should be, we hope, adequate.”

Smith discussed the November election during his report to the Hardin County Fiscal Court at their most recent meeting. The deadline to register to vote in the election is October 7, so Smith said don’t wait for the deadline when registering or updating your registration is easy.

“If you’ve moved in the last couple of years, just go on and check,” Smith said. “Make sure all of your information is accurate. We’ve had folks come in and change their party affiliation. That doesn’t impact how you can vote in the general election, but it will set you up for the next time we have a primary, so if you want to, do that as well.”

Smith said unlike some counties that are struggling to find poll workers, Hardin County actually has the opposite problem, but he said don’t hesitate to sign up if you are interested in helping out.

“If we can’t use you this time, we’ll keep you on the list for future reference,” Smith said. “We always set aside a number of alternates because 70 percent of our poll workers are 70 and above, and that’s the population that sometimes has surgery, injuries, and illness that kind of creep up unexpectedly, so if you get assigned to be an alternate, don’t be disappointed. We’ll probably end up calling you real early in the morning on Election Day.”

You can find information on working the polls via the new portal available on the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website, and you can find election information at govote.ky.gov.

Area organizations among Victims of Crime Act grant funding recipients

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Several area organizations were included in the latest round of the federal Victims of Crime Act grant program.

According to a release from the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, 102 organizations across the commonwealth were awarded a total of $14.9 million in funding.

When discussing the funding during his Team Kentucky update Thursday, Governor Andy Beshear said the funds will go towards initiatives that continue providing critical services, hold offenders accountable, and keep Kentuckians safe. The governor referenced a local incident when highlighting the importance of the funding.

“We were reminded at how concerning this level of violence is by an incident that occurred just outside the courthouse in Elizabethtown just last week, so we know that there is still more to do,” Beshear said.

Area organizations that received funding include the Baptist Hardin Foundation (which received $87,274), CASA of the Heartland ($100,000), the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office ($61,429), Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery Services ($304,224), and SpringHaven Inc. ($199,634)

“Each of these organizations is doing God’s work, is being there for people after the worst trauma that is imaginable, and for everyone working at any of these organizations or others that serve victims of crime and of violent crime: thank you for being there for your fellow human being,” Beshear said.

Visit the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet online for more information on the Victims of Crime Act program.