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The Hardin County Fiscal Court heard reports on Animal Control and Emergency Management during their regular meeting Tuesday.

Animal Care and Control Director Mike McNutt said the animal shelter took in 84 dogs and 91 cats during the month of July. 76 dogs were adopted out, 12 were returned to owners, 8 were secured, and 15 were euthanized.

McNutt said while the euthanasia rate is up, it is not due to time and space in the shelter, and stressed that the adoption rate has also increased. He also said the biggest drop off has been in the number of dogs getting returned to their owners.

“Not as many people are coming and getting their animals back from the shelters, and that’s a nationwide problem going on now,” McNutt said. “For the second quarter it was up to a 26 percent increase over the past two years. We’re hoping that stables off eventually because the shelters can’t handle much more.”

The live release rate for cats in the shelter is 95 percent, and 268 spay/neuter surgeries were performed on dogs and cats in July.

Hardin County Emergency Management Director Joey Scott discussed some of the incidents his department responded to in recent months. King also praised members of his staff who have developed strategies for responding to incidents on the Nolin River.

“This year we’ve had quite a few incidents coming down there,” Scott said. “I think we’re just trying to be more efficient in our response to that, so with Nick (Douthitt) and Richard (DeWitt)’s work on a mapping process for us down there I think it’s going to really speed up our response time to lost people on the river location-wise.”

Ahead of their next regular meeting, the fiscal court will host its first town hall forum at the former West Point School on August 27 at 5:30 p.m. Magistrate Fred Clem said he wanted to correct a previous report that topics at the forum had to be submitted ahead of time.

“We’ll have a little bit of an agenda, and then it’s just going to be opened up to where the folks can have a dialogue back and forth with county officials, so the formality of it is going to be disposed of,” Clem said. “Just come with questions, comments, and suggestions.”

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet for a regular meeting on August 29.

The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office is warning residents of another scam attempt.

According to the sheriff;s office, an area resident fell victim to the Publisher’s Clearing House scam, in which they were told they had won a large sum of money but first needed to send money to cover taxes and other fees.

The sheriff’s office says they were able to recover several thousand dollars for that victim, but funds can not always be recovered from scams.

Hardin County Sheriff John Ward says if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

“When you get a call, and you don’t think it’s right, you’re probably correct,” Ward says. “Don’t give them any information. Just hang up.”

If you have been targeted in a scam attempt, you can report it to law enforcement, including the sheriff’s office by calling 270-765-5133.

Tuesday marks the first of school for Elizabethtown Independent Schools, and Wednesday is the first day for Hardin County Schools, so with families doing morning and afternoon drop offs and school buses heading back out now is a good time to remember to help keep kids safe.

“Please adhere to the posted speed limit, particularly in school zones,” says Elizabethtown Police Department Public Information Officer Chris Denham. “Be mindful of school bus traffic, and follow their stop arm signals. Please be vigilant of increased pedestrian traffic, particularly around schools.”

When a school bus stops and has its stop arm extended, drivers going both directions on the road must come to a complete stop. The only exception is if the bus is going the other direction on a road that has a median.