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Cold temperatures will continue to impact the area today.
“It’s looking cold and blustery for Wednesday,” said National Weather Service Meteorologist Evan Webb. “May have some slick sports on the road Wednesday morning. We’re looking at a dusting of snow possible, a trace up to around a half an inch can’t be ruled out with rain showers changing over to snow showers overnight and into the early morning hours.”
While a Wind Advisory is only in effect for the earlier part of the morning, windy conditions will impact temperatures most of the day.
“With colder temperatures in place, the wind is also going to result in wind chills in the 20s for a lot of the day, so it’s just going to be kind of a raw day, cold and blustery,” Webb said.
Thursday brings a bit of a reprieve from the wintry mix, but Webb says a similar storm system to what the area saw at the beginning of the week will roll through at the end of the week.
“An unusually strong storm system that’s going to bring rain, strong winds,” Webb said. “It’s possible that another Wind Advisory will be issued at some point late in the week, and then some much colder air behind that system over the weekend.”
Webb reminds drivers to take extra caution when driving through winter weather, with slick spots more likely with precipitation and temperatures hanging around freezing.
The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their first meeting of the new year Tuesday afternoon.
The court approved a resolution related to the annexation of a quarter mile portion of Hutcherson Road between KY 447 and U.S. 31W. Judge-Executive Keith Taul said the resolution clears the way for the city of Elizabethtown to annex the road and take it under city maintenance.
Taul recapped some of the county’s accomplishments in 2023, including increased transparency, broadband grant money, reducing costs and improving services for EMS, expanding E911 to include Radcliff Police dispatch, and an ongoing review of improving emergency services. Taul also discussed the comprehensive study that was completed on the impact of BlueOval SK. Taul said he appreciated the large amount of collaboration that went into preparing the plan.
“We had basically a timeline to deal with here because one of the main purposes of pulling this together was to identify all of these things and get with our legislators,” Taul said. “They have committee meetings and everything even in the middle of the year in preparation for the session that they’re in right now.”
Taul said goals for the new year include maintaining a strict but effective budget, continuing to improve response times for emergency responders, and a study of sewer expansion in the southern part of the county, among other goals. Taul said he is optimistic for the new year.
“I feel that this is a lot of work ahead of us, but I believe that we have a great team and I’m confident that we will make significant improvements as we plan for all of this growth coming our way,” Taul said.
In other meeting news, Hardin County Public Works Director Stephanie Givens said the county’s shredding program saw 358 bags shredded in 2023, and the recycling program collected a total of more than 306.8 tons.
Hardin County Planning Director Adam King said an open house introducing the county’s new comprehensive plan will be held at the county building from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on January 16. King also discussed the Creating Vibrant Communities grant the county received from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, which will cover more than $100,000 for a study of options for downtown Glendale.
“Three different consultants,” King said. “It will be about a year-long process studying downtown Glendale, how to preserve what we’ve got, how to protect what we’ve got, and how to even enhance it, and truly keep it a unique place in Hardin County.”
The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet January 23.
It is not the amount that his attorney requested, but Nelson Circuit Court Judge Charles Simms III has granted a bond reduction for Crystal Rogers investigation suspect Stephen Lawson.
Simms issued an order Tuesday reducing Lawson’s bond from $500,000 to $250,000. Lawson faces charges of Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Tampering with Physical Evidence following his arrest in the investigation.
Lawson’s lawyer Ted Lavit said during a bond reduction hearing last Thursday that Lawson was not a flight risk and had fully cooperated with state and federal authorities every time he has been questioned in the investigation. Lavit requested the bond be reduced to either $20,000 cash or a $40,000 real estate bond because although Lawson still did not have financial resources to reach that amount it was more attainable than $500,000.
Simms noted that neither the defense or the prosecution called witnesses during the hearing, so the court is unable to determine whether Lawson had been sent to Winchester, Ind., on December 6 when he was arrested at his mother’s residence in Harrison County. Lawson was told the grand jury would be considering charges against him on December 5, and Simms said “it is highly suspicious that Lawson was discovered in another state after being informed of the potential indictment.”
Simms considered Lawson’s limited finances in reducing the bond, and also considered that Lawson’s criminal history does not include any violent acts. Simms said Lawson’s pretrial assessment determined him to be a moderate flight risk, and said the bond amount still reflects the severity of the charges and the potential prison sentence Lawson would consider fleeing from.
Lawson remains incarcerated at the Nelson County Correctional Center.
The Radcliff City Council discussed zoning and police personnel during a work session Monday.
Radcliff Planning Official Murray Wanner discussed an annexation and several zoning change requests that were recently approved by the city’s Planning Commission. The annexation request is for about 12.5 acres located at the northeast corner of the intersection of Ernest R. Kouma Boulevard and Patriot Parkway, and developers are asking for that property to be rezoned from R-1 Residential to Commercial Zone to match neighboring properties.
Zoning changes for properties located 1276 and 1278 Hill Street to R-6 High-Density Multi-Family Residential, and for a property at 3491 South Wilson Road to R-4 were discussed. City Attorney Michael Pike said developers are responding to demand.
“Everyone’s telling us we need more housing,” Pike said.” The employers are telling us we need more housing, the realtors and brokers are telling us we need more housing. We don’t have enough inventory. Interest rates are higher than they’ve been for years.”
Radcliff Police Chief Jeff Cross discussed a proposal to remove the department’s evidence custodian position and replace it with two contract officers hired as detectives that would be in charge of the department’s evidence room. Cross said hiring detectives for the positions would keep the evidence room in check while also making additional personnel available for investigations.
“Those detectives work long hours,” Cross said. “It takes a lot to do what they do, and the first 72 hours of that are the most important. We had one (case) where the suspect had to go to the hospital and we had to sit on that person for a couple of days, and so we were having officers having to come in and call people in to cover the streets because they were having to help do that, so the more manpower we’ve got in that detective section the better it would be for them to investigate those crimes that take up a lot of time.”
Cross said money is in the budget for the positions for the current fiscal year, but he is requesting an additional $50,500 for the next city budget. Mayor J.J. Duvall said the city would look into its options.
The Radcliff City Council will next meet January 16.