WQXE News

Area school districts are set to launch their summer meals programs this week.

Elizabethtown Independent Schools is offering free meals for children 18 and under at Elizabethtown High School, Morningside Elementary School, and the American Legion Park waterpark Mondays through Fridays from June 1 through July 24, with no meals served June 29 through July 3. Meals must be consumed on site. Parents who signed up for multi-day meal pick-ups will be contacted with more information. Contact the EIS Nutrition Services Department at 270-766-1231 for more information.

Hardin County Schools is running its summer meals program at several locations between June 3 and July 29, with no service on July 3. Rural locations are grab-and-go, while meals at urban locations must be eaten on-site. Free meals are available for any child 18 and younger. Participants do not have to be a HCS student. Adult lunch is available for $4 at the Farmer’s Market, Dawley Park, and Optimist Park sites. Participants must register, and can find more information, on the HCS website.

“Dates and times and locations, all that information is on the Hardin County Schools website,” said HCS Community Relations Specialist John Wright. “If you just go to hardin.kyschools.us and click the Quick Links tab, right under that tab the very first item is 2026 Summer Feeding Program, so just click on that and you’ll find everything that you need.”

Breckinridge County Schools is offering their summer meals program June 3 through July 22. During each pick-up, a parent or guardian may pick up five breakfasts and five lunches per registered child. Weekly registration is required by 11 p.m. the Monday before each pick-up. Meals are not guaranteed if you do not sign up.

“We’ve got a schedule that parents and families are able to get online and sign up for their free pickups, and we’re really excited that we’re able to offer that again for our kids and the community,” said BCS Superintendent Dr. Nick Carter.

The link to the registration form and a menu for the meals can be found on the Breckinridge County Schools Facebook page. Contact Valerie Dowell at 270-756-3007 for assistance.

Contact your area school district for more information.

The City of Hodgenville will be looking for a new police chief soon.

Current Hodgenville Police Chief James Richardson submitted a letter of resignation to Hodgenville Mayor Jim Phelps Thursday. Richardson’s resignation is effective at midnight on June 8.

“My family and I decided that with the current status of the county, with the recent election and how all that turned out, it’s just the arguments and the fights and the things that we have to put up with on a daily basis behind the scenes,” Richardson said. “It’s just no longer worth it to my family and I. We sat down and talked about it, so I am leaving on my own accord. The mayor and I discussed it. He said he understood.”

Richardson said in his resignation letter: “I am not willing to compromise my morals to ‘get along’ with LaRue County officials.”

Richardson had high praise for the employees and officers of the HPD.

“The city has been great to us,” Richardson said. “The city has been good to me. The mayor, the council, I want to thank them for all the support that they’ve given us over the years. The police department’s in a good spot. We’ve got some good officers, so I’m leaving it better than I found it, and that’s the way I always intended.”

Richardson said he has taken a position with another agency as a patrolman.

Phelps said during a special called Hodgenville City Council meeting Thursday that he had accepted Richardson’s resignation. Phelps said he would recommend an interim chief for approval at the next city council meeting, and the city would begin the search for a permanent replacement.

The Hardin County Board of Elections conducted a recanvass of the Eighth Magisterial District Republican primary Thursday at the Hardin County Clerk’s Office’s Radcliff location.

The recanvass was requested by candidate Jonathan Breeding, who “filed a timely written request for the recanvass” after the initial tally from the primary showed him trailing incumbent Kenny Muse by two votes. Kentucky state law allows for a recanvass when the threshold of victory in a race is less than one percent.

Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith opened the meeting by explaining the work the clerk’s office does to prepare the county voting machines for an election, and then walked through the recanvass process, which reviews all of the results that came in on election night.

“On each machine, there is a verification sheet,” Smith said. “We will be double checking the serial numbers and then the tape, and that report that is presented, that is driven to our office on Election Day, Ashley (Deputy Clerk and Hardin County election Supervisor Ashley McMurtry) is going to come behind me and collect those after we’re finished.”

Muse appeared in person, while Breeding had a representative in his place due to a death in the family. 

The results of the recanvass showed the results were as reported on election night: 583 votes for Muse and 581 votes for Breeding.

Smith thanked Muse and Breeding for their positive conduct throughout the process.

“I’ve been a candidate, and I’ve also supported candidates, and I know what it’s like to love the results coming in and know what it’s like to not like them, but I want to thank both of them for the way they’ve treated me and my staff through this process,” Smith said. “Everybody has a right to understand the transparency and the importance of this process, and I’m glad we were able to demonstrate that today.”

Breeding said in a Facebook post he accepted the results, and congratulated Muse on his victory in the primary.