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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 Cooperative Extension Service invites the community to come learn more about what the Extension Office has to offer during their summer Porch Parties, the first of which will be held next week.
“Last year, this idea kind of came to fruition,” said Hardin County Extension Family and Consumer Science Program Assistant Cassie Richardson. “I just want to bring people out to our office to kind of learn what we do, and so we have four total days and they’re going to spotlight one of the core program areas in our office.”
All are welcome to attend each event.
“They are fun days,” said Richardson. “They’re free days, and everybody can come out. We have tables set up with hands-on activities for both youth and adults. We will have food trucks available. The first one is actually from our Cattleman’s Association that meets here at our office.”
The porch parties will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on June 2, 16, and 30, and on July 14.
“The theme of the very first one is actually “Udderly Amazing Agriculture’, so it’s going to be all about Ag,” Richardson said. “Our second one is about our horticulture, then we have our 4-H Day and we have our FCS day.”
The extension office is located at 111 Opportunity Way in Elizabethtown. Visit the Hardin County Cooperative Extension Service Facebook page for more information.
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.
After more than nine months of preparations, the summer closure of Interstate 65 through downtown Louisville begins next week.
Five miles of I-65 will close between Interstate 264 (Watterson Expressway) and Jefferson Street in downtown Louisville on Monday, June 1, with a scheduled reopening to traffic on August 1. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District Five says the complete closure of the interstate will allow for accelerated work replacing the I-65 bridges over Kentucky and Brook streets, Hill Street, a CSX rail line, and Burnett Avenue, and Bradley Avenue.
The KYTC says the old bridges, which were part of the original construction of the interstate in the 1950s, will be removed and new bridges will be built in their place. Sidewalk improvements and the installation of modernized lighting under the bridges will also be part of the construction work.
Traffic will be detoured to I-264 on the west side of Louisville. Traffic accessing downtown Louisville will use the Jefferson Street exit from southbound I-65. Traffic will also be able to access downtown Louisville via I-64. Traffic leaving downtown will use the ramp from East Liberty Street to access northbound I-65.
The KYTC says the full closure was determined to be the most cost-effective option, and the full closure will save about a year of work compared to temporary closures. Visit the project website, www.i65centralcorridor.com, for more information.