WQXE NEWS

The Radcliff City Council met for their first meeting of the month Tuesday.

The council approved the annexation of three tracts of land along South Dixie Boulevard between East Lincoln Trail Boulevard and Terrace Drive. The rezoning of all three properties from Hardin County R-1 to Commercial was also approved.

An update to the Radcliff Police Department’s policies and procedures concerning vehicle pursuits was approved. Radcliff Police Chief Jeff Cross said the update comes from recommendations from the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the Kentucky Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Kentucky League of Cities. When asked about the policy by Council Member Jerry Brown, Cross said the update doesn’t radically change the department’s current procedures.

“It has to be one of those serious felonies that we will even allow our guys to pursue, or in a reckless driving situation that has to occur prior to our engagement with that person,” Cross said.

Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall presented Assistant Fire Chief Bob Mahanna with special recognition for his dedicated years of service to the Radcliff Fire Department. Duvall also thanked the city’s firefighters for their dedication during flood recovery efforts. State Senator Matt Deneen was in attendance and said the governor’s office has financial resources for recovery efforts and additional resources will be available when the White House approves the county’s local disaster declaration, but work must be done first.

“It does take time,” Deneen said. “It takes time for the water to recede so that FEMA can do its proper assessments and the state can also come in and do its assessments and gather information, not only from Hardin County but throughout central Kentucky.”

The Radcliff City Council will next meet May 12.

The Elizabethtown City Council met for a work session Monday evening.

City Natural Gas Department Director Matthew Hobbs provided a report on his department. He said the department is fully staffed with 14 employees, and the department comes into 2025 with a “solid budget.”

“The biggest ticket item that we’ve got on that is a ‘de-hy,’ so that’s basically a unit that’s drying your gas as you’re pulling it out of the storage field,” Hobbs said. “Ours, I think, dates back to sometime mid-late 90s.”

Hobbs says while business has remained consistent, customer growth has stagnated.

“The industrial pool is still strong and holding pretty steady,” Hobbs said. “That makes up about 50 percent of our flow, so the amount or the volume of gas we’re using is staying pretty consistent, but that customer number is not going up.”

The city is in the beginning stages of a natural gas rate study, with data collection currently under way.

Representatives from Hope Academy for Kids presented on the organization’s services. Resource Development Coordinator Dara Bryant discussed additional efforts to support program members and their families.

“To better assist, Hope Academy has become part of a nationwide effort to end family homelessness,” Bryant said. “In 2024, we became a program site for Bridge of Hope, and I’m excited to share that we are the first and only program site for Bridge of Hope in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.”

Bryant said statistics show 1 in 30 children in the United States struggle with homelessness each year.

Members of Scout Troop 221 led the pledge of allegiance at the beginning of the meeting. The members then stayed after the meeting for a question and answer session with the mayor and council members.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet April 21.

Voter registration in Kentucky saw another decline in March amid ongoing voter roll maintenance. 

The Kentucky Secretary of State’s Office says more than 7,000 voters were removed from the voter rolls in March. Of the voters that were removed, about 4,600 were deceased, about 400 were felony convicts, about 200 moved out of state, and about 1,700 registrations were duplicates.

The Secretary of State’s Office credited the drop in registration to vigorous maintenance of the voter rolls. In a release, Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams says federal oversight of the voter rolls that has been in place since 2018 was recently lifted due to the state’s work on election integrity.

Republican registration grew by 157 voters and independent or other registration grew by 1,181 voters in March, while Democratic registration fell by 248 voters. Republican registration makes up 47 percent of the state electorate, Democratic registration makes up 42 percent, and independent or other makes up 11 percent.

Kentuckians can register to vote or check their registration status by visiting govote.ky.gov, or by contacting their county clerk’s office.