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Greenspace hosting public meetings for trails master plan on February 27

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Greenspace President David Haines told the Elizabethtown City Council Monday that about two years ago the organization decided to develop a master plan for trails in Elizabethtown.

“We started to evolve more towards a transportation purpose, and we ended up on a place where we realized that the best way to serve our trails is to better connect our community and our neighborhoods to those trails,” Haines said.

Greenspace hired engineering firm Gresham Smith, and they are “about three months into the process of coming up with a bike/pedestrian master plan” for the city.

Haines said an important step in the process is coming up on February 27.

“It’s going to be the first day for public engagement here at Pritchard Community Center and there’s going to be a series of meetings,” Haines said. “One for the project advisory committee, one for a stakeholder group that was identified and includes city leaders, business leaders, tourism, and user groups to kind of start getting ramped up on the bike pedestrian plan, where it’s at, giving input.”

Those meetings will be followed by a public engagement session and the launch of a website for the collection of feedback. Haines said the goal is to identify what the city has and what it needs going forward.

“What I told Gresham Smith is what I would like is a top three or five high-priority, high-payoff street projects that the city can look at and budget for in the next five to ten years,” Haines said. “That makes sense, and then beyond that a best practices manual that incorporates what they did with Complete Streets, but tailors it a little bit more towards Elizabethtown.”

Contact Greenspace for more information.

Drug charges net prison time for two Hart County men

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Two Hart County men were sentenced in federal court Thursday. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky says Dominick Woods of Bonnieville was sentenced five years in prison followed by four years of supervised release for one count of Conspiracy to Distribute More Than 40 Grams of Fentanyl and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

Meanwhile, Joshua Sanders of Cave City was sentenced to two years and nine months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Fentanyl and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

Woods and Sanders faced charges related to a July 2023 incident in which they attempted to smuggle fentanyl pills into the Hart County Jail. The firearms charges were based on previous convictions, for Woods a 2020 Enhanced Trafficking in Marijuana charge out of the Hardin Circuit Court and for Sanders multiple charges from 2009 to 2019 out of the Barren, Hart, LaRue, and Warren circuit courts.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Kentucky State Police, and the Greater Hardin County Narcotics Task Force as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods. There is no parole in the federal system.

Baptist Health Hardin president says health system still striving to adapt to community needs

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Baptist Health Hardin President Rob Ramey says the hospital and health system is still “building for a bright future” following the opening of the new medical pavilion at the hospital. That includes the opening of new facilities in Elizabethtown and Nelson County and evaluating new uses for properties that saw their facilities moved to the medical pavilion.

“We’ve moved a lot of things out, so it gives us a chance now to continue to assess and grow to meet our patients’ needs, but even more importantly, make it more accessible, make it easier for our patients,” Ramey said.

Ramey was the featured speaker at the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s February luncheon Wednesday. He says Baptist Health Hardin provides services to more than 400,000 patients, which is equal to one-tenth of the state’s population. Ramey says serving the fastest-growing region in the state means adapting to the needs of a rapidly changing population.

“If we can’t provide the service well, we’re not going to provide the service,” Ramey said. “We’re going to recruit excellent physicians. We’re going to provide the right care team around them to make sure that we’re providing an excellent service, which is why we’re glad and proud that we’ve been able to grow to provide all of these services within our hospital.”

Ramey touted innovative technology available at the hospital, including a 4D mammography clinical trial in partnership with Duke University and Calidar Inc. and three new cardiac catheterization labs. Ramey asked Dr. Aaron Mulhall to discuss the hospital’s ion bronchoscopy technology, which uses a 2 millimeter camera to check for lung cancer less invasively and more effectively.

“One out of five Kentuckians still smoke, so it’s like 17 to 20 percent,” Mulhall said. “We had the most cases of lung cancer in the United States last year and we’re still one of the worst in mortality, so for five-year survival we’re in the bottom, I think, five or six still.”

Ramey said the hospital has 300 certified beds, including 15 specifically designated for behavioral health.

One dead after crash in Nelson County

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The Kentucky State Police is investigating a fatal collision that occurred in Nelson County Tuesday.

According to KSP Post Four, at approximately 9:15 a.m. on February 11 Nelson County Dispatch requested troopers assist with a two-vehicle collision near the intersection of Springfield Road and Pottershop Loop near the Bardstown city limits.

The KSP says the preliminary investigation indicates that 42-year-old Brian Tichenor of Bardstown was driving north on Springfield Road when he failed to negotiate a curve. Tichenor’s vehicle crossed the center line and struck a southbound semi-tractor trailer head-on.

Tichenor was pronounced dead at the scene by the Nelson County Coroner’s Office. The driver of the semi was not injured.

Accident reconstruction closed the affected portion of Springfield Road for several hours. Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District Four said cleanup of the accident was impacted by Tuesday’s weather conditions.

The investigation of the crash remains ongoing.