WQXE News

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will host a public meeting this evening in order to get public input on improvement plans for Kentucky Route 245 between Nelson and Bullitt counties.

The KYTC says the area for planned improvement covers about 10 miles from Flaget Hospital near Bardstown to Happy Hollow Road near Interstate 65.

“The corridor between Bardstown and I-65 just continues to increase each time we do traffic counts, our routine traffic counts through there, we continue to see those numbers rising, and so this is definitely identified as one of those places that needs attention for capacity, and that in turn will address safety and certainly efficiency of the roadway as well,” said KYTC District Four Public Information Officer Chris Jessie. 

Identified needs include improving safety, improving mobility, increasing capacity, and reducing travel time.

The public meeting will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Thomas Nelson High School. Contact KYTC District Four for more information or for special accommodations for the meeting.

The month of December gets kicked off with holiday events happening all around the area Friday.

The City of Elizabethtown will host their annual Light Up E-Town Christmas Parade and Tree Lighting event.

“It’s kind of an electric light parade: lots of lights, lots of excitement,” said Elizabethtown Events Manager Beth Pyles. “That will kick off at 7 o’clock Friday night. It is kind of what we call the reverse parade from the Heartland Parade, so it starts out around St. John Road and comes and ends down at that tree.”

Elizabethtown Events Marketing Coordinator Priscilla Scarborough said visitors to the parade will not be disappointed.

“This is the largest parade that E-Town has ever seen for Christmas,” Scarborough said. “I mean, we have literally doubled the entries.” 

After the parade, Mayor Jeff Gregory will read “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and light the city Christmas tree. Scarborough said other events will be happening as part of the parade festivities.

“In the State Theater parking lot, there’s going to be a food vendor area with snacks, so you can go and get your coffees, hot cocoas, sweets, popcorn, things like that,” Scarborough said. “There’s also going to be a dance performance before the parade in front of the State Theater.”

Go to the events tab on the Elizabethtown city website for more details.

The City of Vine Grove will host their annual Auction for the Kids and Light Up Vine Grove event starting at 5 p.m. Friday.

“We kind of do an event and then we have a big auction, and all of the money we raise in that auction helps us pay for those 70 kids that we help at Christmas,” said Vine Grove Mayor Pam Ogden. “We give them $300 per child, and then we give them food vouchers, so it costs us quite a bit of money. We need to raise $26,000.”

More details are available on the Vine Grove City Hall Facebook page.

The City of Radcliff will host Light Up Radcliff tonight beginning at 6 p.m. at the Colvin Community Center. Enjoy trees from around the world and wonderful Christmas lights, free photos with Santa, and free cookies and hot chocolate, among other activities.

State and local law enforcement officers from across Kentucky were honored this week for their efforts to protect motorists from impaired drivers.

The Governor’s Impaired Driving Enforcement Awards were presented at the Hyatt Regency in Lexington. Hosted by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Office of Highway Safety, more than 170 officers representing more than 150 law enforcement agencies were recognized.

The KYTC says awards were presented to officers with the most impaired-driving arrests in each agency and in each division from October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023.

Area officers that were recognized include:

-Brian Abell from the Bardstown Police Department

-Tyler Mitcham from the Brandenburg Police Department

-Aaron Duncan from the Breckinridge County Sheriff’s Office

-Ethan Jones from the Elizabethtown Police Department

-Terry Riley from the Hodgenville Police Department

-Cameron Right from Kentucky State Police Post Four

-Jamie Ferrie from the LaRue County Sheriff’s Office

-Tycondi Whitaker from the Leitchfield Police Department

-Ryan Boyd from the Radcliff Police Department.

The Office of Highway Safety says last year in Kentucky there were more than 4,100 crashes involving an impaired driver, resulting in 1,990 injuries and 189 deaths.