WQXE NEWS

After being out of commission for a week, activity is set to return at the Hardin County Justice Center.

“The Hardin County Justice Center will be reopening on Monday, April 14 after having been closed for flooding that we had as a result of the rain event, and we were closed for a week because of that,” said Hardin Chief Circuit Court Judge David John Simcoe. 

Simcoe thanked State Representative Steve Bratcher and State Senator Matt Deneen for helping get assistance from the state to help get the justice center ready for reopening.

Despite reopening, work on the justice center is ongoing.

“The remediation process in the basement is probably going to continue for about three weeks,” Simcoe said. “We had a lot of files in the basement as well as some mechanical stuff, and so we’ve had to have some inspections done. We are having the files removed, cleaned, and they will ultimately be returned to us through Servpro.”

The courts are rescheduling cases that were affected by the closing.

“Anyone who had court will be receiving a court notice of their new trial date or their new court appearance date, and they should be getting those, probably, in the next week or two,” Simcoe said. “No bench warrants or failure to appears will have been issued as a result of missing court last week.”

Anybody with questions should contact the circuit clerk’s office or their attorney.

The Real ID enforcement date is now less than a month away. 

Beginning May 7, all Kentuckians 18 and older will need a Real ID or another acceptable form of identification to travel domestically and access certain federal facilities such as military bases.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says in order to apply for a Real ID, residents must visit a Driver Licensing Regional Office and present one proof of identity document, one proof of Social Security document, and two proofs of residency. The KYTC website has a checklist of documents that qualify for each requirement. Real ID licenses are available for four-year or eight-year credentials.

After the enforcement date, standard licenses will still be valid for driving, as proof of identity, age, and residence for voting, and for age-restricted purchases. The standard license will also allow access to federal facilities such as VA hospitals.

Officials are reminding Kentuckians that May 7 is an enforcement date rather than a deadline. You will still be able to apply for a Real ID after May 7. Visit drive.ky.gov and click on the Real ID tab for more information.

Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory says the city receives praise for the Elizabethtown Sports Park from people around the country, and now the city is on to the next big thing.

“We’re in a very good position with the Elizabethtown Sports Park to start looking at our next new project that’s going to continue that trend,” Gregory said “To bring money in from people and bring tourism and tourists in from all over the country, and even other countries for that matter, that would have never come to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, to Hardin County, or this region of the state of Kentucky, that’s extremely important.”

That next new project is the outdoor music venue being constructed at Buffalo Lake, which Gregory and Elizabethtown Tourism and Convention Bureau Executive Director Jana Clark provided an update on during the Hardin County Chamber of Commerce’s April luncheon Wednesday.

Gregory says the project accomplishes two goals for the city by creating an additional amenity for area residents as well as connecting Commerce Drive from Mulberry Street to Springfield Road.

Clark says when discussing the project with designers, E-Town Tourism wanted to create a guest experience that visitors would go away talking about.

“We needed a wow factor,” Clark said. “We don’t like to do stuff that people can do at any other place that they go. We needed a multi-use venue. We need to do stuff, more than just concerts. We also needed a venue where performers wanted to come.”

Clark says construction on the 10,000 seat venue is under way, with a goal for completion by October 2026. In the meantime, the city and E-Town Tourism want to hear from the community.

“Would your business like to partner with us at the amphitheater?” Clark said. “Do you have a product that you’d like to feature? Are you interested in a corporate box? Do you have a great idea for a name, or something that you’ve gone to another venue and you’ve done there that you would love for us to have here in this community?”

The Elizabethtown City Council this week approved an ordinance for general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed $47 million for the project. The city says those bonds will be paid using proceeds from the music venue and other available resources. Contact E-Town Tourism for more information.