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Near-record temperatures possible as heat wave continues

After lower temperatures were seen across the area the past few weeks, the heat appears to have returned with a force.

“It sure did rebound here in the opposite direction,” said Meteorologist Mike Kochasic with the National Weather Service in Louisville. “Strong high pressure over the area has resulted in temperatures around 10 degrees, 13 degrees above average, and near record-setting here for the next couple of days.”

 Kochasic says the heat runs through the rest of the week.

“Normal high temperatures for this time of year are in the upper 80s, so when you’re pushing upper 90s to close to 100, that’s definitely well above average,” Kochasic said. “We’re looking at temperatures returning to near average, say, by the weekend. We have a cold front coming in that should bring things back down into the upper 80s.”

The heat prompted Breckinridge County Schools to cancel outdoor after school activity Tuesday. Kochasic says residents should remember to take precautions.

“Especially in direct sun,” Kochasic said. “If you can, if you’re outdoors for any length of time, make sure you take shade breaks, hydrate well, and try to find indoors where it’s cool. That’s all good to prevent heat illness.”

Kochasic also says to be mindful of pets and children, and to always check the backseat to make sure they don’t get left in a locked car.

KFW offers guides ahead of fall hunting seasons

Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has resources available to help hunters prepare for fall hunting seasons that are set to open in the coming weeks.

KFW says the fall dove hunting season and the early Canada goose season in the western goose zone open on September 1.

For the doves, hunters can begin searching for birds at 11 a.m. on opening day, although KFW says they will likely wait until cooler afternoon hours. Dove hunters typically look for fields with bare ground and food and water sources nearby. The state has more than 50 dove fields that are open for dove hunting.

Canada goose hunting seasons are divided into two zones. Hunting in the western zone, which includes all counties west and south of Hardin, Nelson, and Washington counties, takes place September 1 through 15. Hunting in the eastern zone, which includes Bullitt County and all counties east of Washington County, runs September 16 through 30.

Hunters looking for regulations and recommendations can check out the 2024-2025 Kentucky Hunting Guide for Migratory Birds and Waterfowl, which is available at fw.ky.gov.

E-Town Public Works proposing limit on tree removal services

The Elizabethtown City Council met for a work session Monday evening.

City Public Works Director Don Hill gave an update on projects the city’s Public Works Department has been working on. Hill said investment from the city has helped with efficiency in the Sanitary Sewer Department, which completed several installation projects.

“On the sewer construction side, they installed 985 feet of sanitary sewer line, they installed 500 feet of water line at the nature park for the orchard, we just got that completed,” Hill said. “New taps installed: 20. Main line repairs: 33. Cleanouts installed: 9.”

Hill discussed changes in the department such as bringing maintenance of the Elizabethtown City Cemetery in-house, and reviewed other stats such as city paving projects.

“To date, 4.9 miles of city streets have been paved,” Hill said. “They have the schedule and they started on that this week, and there’s 6.63 miles in this next paving schedule, but we also will issue them another one around the end of September, so our target is to get between 12 and 15 miles of paving done.”

Hill said 1,897 loads of brush have been picked up since January, 675 bags of clippings have been collected from residents, and 5,480 bags of litter have been collected along 231.6 miles of city streets. With such a burden already on brush collection equipment and employees, Hill said the department is proposing setting limits on tree removal.

“We’re not saying we want to eliminate picking up trees,” Hill said. “We’re not saying we want to eliminate contractor-cut trees, but what we’re saying is because of the dollars, because of the lead time on parts and the difficulty of getting parts, because of the lead time on buying new equipment, we’re proposing, up for discussion is we’d like to reduce the size of what we pick up and kind of limit that.”

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory supported Hill’s call for limits. He said brush collection is an important service the city provides but he feels some people may be taking advantage of it.

“I would even be willing to bet that some of those contractors figure in, on their bill, removal, and use us as a service to do it, and so they’re making money off of what our services provide, and it’s absolutely destroying a lot of our equipment on the pieces that you’re talking about that are extremely large, so we have to set a standard somewhere,” Gregory said.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet September 3.

Summer LIHEAP still available for residents in need of electric bill help

Time is still available for area residents in need of assistance paying their electric bill to apply for help.

“The LIHEAP program is a program that helps right now with the electric,” said Hardin County Community Action Coordinator Julie Arney. “You cannot be disconnected. You have to be current, and we can help people that need assistance. It goes until September 13. Right now, that’s what we have money that we can provide assistance for.”

Assistance is available on a first-come, first-served basis by contacting your local Community Action office. Arney says walk-ins are welcome.

“We’re located at 233 Ring Road inside our Kentucky Career Center, or you can call us at 502-764-2222,” Arney said. “If you call, you can make an appointment. We do see those first, but you could walk in. Our hours are 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., but we take our last client at 2 o’clock.”

Registration for the Fall LIHEAP program will open October 21 for disabled residents and residents over 60, and for other clients on November 4.