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DEA collecting unwanted medications Saturday

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The Drug Enforcement Administration will team up with more than 4,400 law enforcement partners for their 28th National Prescription Drug Take Back Day this weekend. 

The DEA will host Take Back Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, offering communities across the country a safe, convenient, and anonymous way to dispose of unneeded prescription medications.

The DEA says take back day aims to reduce the risk of prescription drug misuse by helping to safely remove expired, unwanted, or unused medications. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, opioids such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine are among the most frequently misused prescription pain medications, and they often come from home medicine cabinets.

Tablets, capsules, patches, and other solid forms of prescription drugs will be accepted. Liquids such as cough syrups must remain tightly sealed in their original containers. Take Back Day locations will accept vaping devices and cartridges if the lithium batteries are removed. Syringes, sharps, and illicit substances will not be collected.

Among the participating law enforcement agencies is the Radcliff Police Department, which will be collecting items at the Radcliff Walmart located at 1165 Walmart Way. You can search for more participating locations and find more information at www.deatakeback.com.

One dead after collision 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 6 p.m. on April 22 the Nelson County Sheriff’s Office requested the KSP investigate a two-vehicle collision near the 800 block of KY 509 in Coxs Creek.

The KSP says the preliminary investigation indicates that a vehicle operated by Jonathan Hood of Lawrenceburg was traveling east on KY 509 when for unknown reasons the vehicle crossed the center line, crossing into the path of a vehicle operated by a 17-year-old juvenile.

A passenger in the juvenile’s vehicle, 18-year-old McKinzi Raisor of Bardstown, was pronounced dead at the scene by the Nelson County Coroner’s Office. Hood and the juvenile driver were both transported to the University of Louisville Hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries.

The KSP’s investigation is ongoing. KY 509 was closed for several hours after the collision to allow for accident reconstruction.

State releases annual unemployment rates for Kentucky counties

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Increases in unemployment as well as increases in the number of people working were seen across the Lincoln Trail District in 2024.

The Kentucky Center for Statistics says annual unemployment rates increased in all 120 of Kentucky’s counties in 2024.

The statewide annual unemployment rate for Kentucky in 2024 was 5.1 percent. That was also the reported annual average for the Lincoln Trail District, and four of the eight counties in the district had annual rates lower than the statewide rate.

Breckinridge and Grayson counties had the highest annual unemployment rates in the district at 5.8 percent. Washington County had the lowest rate in the district, and tied for the third-lowest in the state, at 4.2 percent.

Hardin County’s annual unemployment rate for 2024 was 5.2 percent. That’s up from 2023’s annual rate of 4.3 percent.

The Center for Statistics says: “The increased unemployment rates across Kentucky’s counties were often due to people entering the labor force rather than people losing jobs. While the annual unemployment rate increased in all counties, the number of people employed increased in 91 counties.” This was the case in all of the Lincoln Trail counties except for Grayson, which saw a decrease of 55 workers.

Learn more about unemployment and other labor market information at kystats.ky.gov.

Taul presents Hardin County Fiscal Court budget for 2025-2026

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Hardin County Judge/Executive Keith Taul gave a presentation on his proposed budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year during the Hardin County Fiscal Court’s second meeting of the month Tuesday.

“It’s difficult because it’s trying to balance out the fact that you’re needing to take and consider growth in the county, but at the same time with limited, very limited funds, so how do you balance that out?” Taul said.

Taul proposed a total budget of $60,780,515, up from the previous fiscal year’s budget of $59,615,729. Taul said challenges in the budget include the continued impact of inflation, accounting for a 1.8 percent increase in personnel costs, and necessary commitments such as subsidies for county departments, which Taul noted at $12 million comes in higher than the county’s property tax draw of $11.6 million.

“It kind of gives you an idea, I believe, of what we’re up against here,” Taul said. “All of our property tax is gone, even in excess of that, even before we get to some of our departments and other things that we are trying to do, some of the other services.”

Taul said the net operating budget is balanced with revenues and expenses both estimated at $23,646,154. That revenue includes a 4 percent increase in property taxes and $2.5 million of the annual hospital sale payout funds.

“I’m not saying that we should use all $2.7 million every year for the next 20 years, but we have it available to us as we try to figure out how to continue to grow our services at a very efficient way, but as we try to figure out how to increase revenues to cover all those, right now we have this available to us,” Taul said.

Taul’s budget presentation can be found on the county website. The fiscal court’s finance committee will hold meetings on the budget, with the first reading of the budget ordinance scheduled for the next Hardin County Fiscal Court meeting on May 13.

(Photo Credit: Hardin County Government YouTube Channel)

Hardin County Fiscal Court approves EMS agreement with Bullitt County for West Point

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The Hardin County Fiscal Court met for their second meeting of the month Tuesday.

The court approved an interlocal agreement with Bullitt County, under which Bullitt County Emergency Medical Services will respond to the city of West Point. West Point Mayor Richard Ciresi said that agreement will have a critical impact on the city.

“This will reduce our ambulance response time in West Point from somewhere between 20 and 25 minutes to five to seven minutes,” Ciresi said. “That’s huge. That’s life and death.”

Hardin County Sheriff John Ward reported that his office made 258 arrests, issued 405 citations, and served 234 warrants in February and March. Sheriff’s Office CFO Teri Benentt said county residents have paid about $95.8 million of the more than $97 million the sheriff’s office is charged with collecting, a collection rate of more than 99 percent.

Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith presented area high school student Karsten Ingalls with a special honor.

“Karsten, who is not yet old enough to vote, has three times won the Secretary of State’s Statewide Essay Award, bringing honor and recognition to our community, and so I felt that was worthy of special recognition, and so Karsten, we we going to give you the honorary title of Hardin County Election Ambassador,” Smith said.

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet May 13. The next Hardin County Town Hall Forum will be held in the fiscal courtroom at 5:30 p.m. on April 28.