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Man arrested for break-in at Leitchfield Animal Shelter

94.3 The Wolf

A man is in custody after a break-in at the Leitchfield Animal Shelter.

Michael Baker of Falls of Rough faces multiple charges including second degree Animal Cruelty, third degree Burglary, and third degree Criminal Trespass, among other charges, following his arrest Tuesday.

The Leitchfield Police Department says officers responded to the animal shelter on February 27 for a reported break-in at the facility. Upon arrival, officers found that multiple dogs were released from their kennels with several injured, and one dog was found dead. The investigation eventually found that 16 dogs were released, four were reported injured with one being transferred for veterinary treatment.

One dog was reported to still be at large, and was later seen on surveillance footage near the Southgate Mall with the suspect, identified as Baker. The dog was recovered by police on Wednesday.

The police department says surveillance footage shows Baker enter the area of the dog kennels, after which several dogs are seen running from the kennel area. Baker is then seen exiting the kennel area and walking around the parking lot attempting to catch the dog he was later seen with. Surveillance footage shows some of the dogs fighting, which they believe resulted in the death of the dog found dead.

A warrant was issued for Baker’s arrest. He was taken into custody at his residence Tuesday.

E-Town Wine Fest tickets discounted this week

94.3 The Wolf

Elizabethtown Events Manager Beth Pyles says the city is excited to kick off its summer programming with the eighth annual E-Town Wine Fest, which she says will be bigger than ever.

“Delicious food, wineries, we will have beer – we’ve got some craft breweries going to set up as well,” said Pyles. “Of course, the Bourbon Spec Yard Bourbon Bar will be available as well, and this year we’ll have several commercial vendors on site. We had some last year, but our selection has expanded, and we are still taking applications, so by the time May gets here we are excited for what we’re able to present to the public this year.”

The festival will be held at the bandstand at Freeman Lake Park from 4 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 11. Tickets are $30 the day of and $25 in advance, but there’s still time this week to take advantage of the festival’s “Uncorking Sale.”

“You get discounted tickets for the Wine Fest for only $20, so you’re saving a little bit of money, $5 off of the pre-purchase, and of course $10 off the day of, so $20 up until March 1st,” Pyles said.

Wineries will be offering drinks by the glass or bottle, so tasting tickets will give patrons the chance to try before they buy.

“With your tasting ticket, that includes admission, a wine tasting glass that you get to take home with you, and eight tasting tickets to use at any of our wineries,” Pyles said. “We have reached out to several more wineries this year, and it looks like we’re going to have a lot more than we had last year. We’re really excited about that.”

Non-tasting tickets are available for $10. In addition to the food, drink, and commercial vendors, Piper Madison will open on stage, followed by headliners The Mixers.

Visit www.etownevents.com for more information.

North Hardin students Michael and Mackenzie Logan trying to work their way to Europe

94.3 The Wolf

North Hardin High School students Michael and Mackenzie Logan need your help, and you can help them by letting them help you.

“We knocked on doors, we introduced ourselves, we tried to persuade this message that we are two high school students trying to raise money and we are willing to help you with anything it takes to help you help us,” Michael Logan said.

The Logan Siblings are raising money for the North Hardin German class’s trip to Europe in spring of 2025, and in order to do so the two are offering their services for whatever jobs people need done.

“I do babysitting,” Mackenzie Logan said. “We’re good with dogs. We have dogs of our own, so we love pets. We can clean house. We can do some yard work. We ain’t afraid to get dirty. I can drive, so if people need groceries bought for them, like elderly people, and they don’t want to deal with the online shopping and stuff, but they don’t want to go out and travel, we can also offer that as well.”

The two have set a fundraising goal of $12,000, with a deadline set for this October. In addition to working, the two are planning a yard sale for April, and are hosting a Scentsy scent circles fundraiser that ends this week.

“They’re air fresheners that basically can go in your car, your backpack, anything like that,” Michael Logan said. “She gives them to us, we make the orders, and then out of the $20 that it costs to buy the scent circle, $7 of that goes to me and my sister for our trip.”

The siblings have their sights set on the 2025 trip because it will be their only opportunity to participate in the trip together, and both are excited for the experiences the trip will offer.

“I’ve never really traveled anywhere,” Mackenzie Logan said. “I thought that would be really nice. I always am into learning something new, and I’d love to try some new food.”

You can meet the Logan Siblings at the E-Town Lions Club’s pancake breakfast at Elizabethtown High School on March 23. Find the Logan Siblings Facebook profile to learn more, donate, or inquire about the siblings’ services.

Central Hardin High School freshman will attend class at satellite campus for 2024-2025 school year

94.3 The Wolf

Current eighth graders heading to Central Hardin High School for ninth grade next school year will be attending classes at a satellite campus.

“Near the beginning of this school year, we shared, through multiple channels, videos and letters to eighth grade families, so current eighth graders, that when those current eighth graders become Central Hardin High School freshmen, that they may have to relocate to a satellite campus in their freshman year in order to expedite construction at the Central Hardin campus,” said Hardin County Schools Community Relations Specialist John Wright. “We sent that out as a possibility, and now that favorable bids have come in for Phase 2 of construction of Central Hardin High School, that will happen.”

The Bruin Academy will be located in the former Lincoln Trail Elementary School building on Bardstown Road. In a release sent out by HCS, the district says it considered multiple factors including convenience, travel logistics, and location. Students participating in electives and extracurriculars will still have access to those activities at the main campus, with counselors working on transportation schedules.

Wright said the district is dedicated to giving every student a positive experience.

“We know it will work, and we are committed to making sure that next year’s freshman at the Bruin Academy receive every opportunity that they would have were they, literally, on the Central Hardin High School campus,” Wright said.

A form for parents and community members to ask questions and express any concerns is available on the HCS website.

Hardin County Fiscal Court approves recovery residences ordinance, hears water district reports

94.3 The Wolf

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

The court approved on second reading the county’s ordinance for the certification of recovery residences in the county, which is modeled after the ordinance recently approved by the City of Elizabethtown.

“This ordinance will go into effect, if we approve it today, go into effect July 1, 2024,” said Hardin County Judge-Executive Keith Taul. “We also, at the last meeting, approved an inter-local agreement with Elizabethtown for the enforcement of that.”

That’s Hardin County Judge-Executive Keith Taul.

Hardin County Coroner Pat Elmore gave his office’s annual report for 2023. The coroner’s office handled 1,066 total cases, which included 962 deaths due to natural causes, 70 accidents, and 8 homicides. Elmore said there was at least one positive note in the data.

“Our overdoses were actually down from 55 to 37,” Elmore said. “We’re looking at some things about that. We feel like there may be some early interventions with NARCAN being available more readily. That’s going to help. We hear it a lot here in our office, we’ll hear where they’re going out on that response, and we feel like those are being revived, so that’s one positive thing we had there.”

The court heard annual reports from Hardin County Water Districts Number One and Two, with both utilities discussing revenue status and projects for the past and coming year. Water District One General Manager Justin Metz said estimated consolidated revenue for 2024 totals more than $21.8 million. Water District Number Two General Manager Shaun Youravich said water revenue for 2023 came in at about $17 million, which was $1.9 million higher than budgeted, but the sewer numbers show a negative net income, which was anticipated.

“Our revenues do cover expenses, we’re just not fully funding depreciation,” Youravich said. “Of course, we have a very young sewer division. In fact, it was $16 million worth of infrastructure and 47 customers. So I don’t expect to cover, fully, depreciation until we start to grow our customer base, which we’ll do, or until we begin collecting sewer waste from the battery facilities in Glendale.”

Water District Number Two is working with the Kentucky Public Service Commission on a rate increase to cover depreciation, which would see the average customer’s monthly fee increase from $28.88 to $34.32. Youravich said the water district has not instituted a full rate increase since 2007.

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet March 12.

One person dead after vehicle crash in Upton

94.3 The Wolf

One person is dead following a crash in Hardin County.

The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office says at approximately 7:20 a.m. Tuesday deputies responded to the 1600 block of North Pleasant Hill Road following a reported multi-vehicle accident.

The preliminary investigation indicates that a vehicle driven by Destiny McClawley of Upton was traveling west on Pleasant Hill Road when the vehicle went left of center, striking an eastbound vehicle operated by Taylor Riggs of Upton.

McClawley was pronounced dead at the scene. Riggs and two juvenile passengers in McClawley’s vehicle were transported to Baptist Health Hardin for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

State Senator Deneen pleased with progress of legislative session so far

94.3 The Wolf

Kentucky Tenth District Senator Matt Deneen says he feels good about the progress that has been made as the Kentucky General Assembly’s 2024 session is now past the halfway point.

“I think the session has moved at a steady pace,” Deneen said. “We are actually picking the pace up here in this week and the coming weeks, of course, as we now have the budget from the House, and we are working through the budget issues systematically, one part of the budget at a time, so in the next few weeks we hope to have some of those things ironed out.”

Among the bills that the senate has taken action on is Senate Bill 20, for which Deneen was a primary sponsor.

“After working with our commonwealth attorney and our county attorney, and gaining the endorsements of several law enforcement associations that have unfortunately had to deal with this issue, we believe that Senate Bill 20 past the floor of the Senate and is now over into the House, and it will try those juveniles 15 and up that do commit violent gun crimes, it will transfer them to circuit court where they’ll be tried as adults.”

As the legislative session heads into its final weeks, Deneen says setting the state’s budget is the lead objective, while also focusing on developing projects.

“Infrastructure is a major point of contention here in our county and in several of the counties that have seen economic development lately, so we will be focusing on infrastructure spending needs,” Deneen said. “We will be looking at, of course, all budget issues, but our roads and our road plans we’ll be getting into as well.”

Deneen encourages anybody with concerns to contact his office, contact information for which can be found on the Legislative Research Commission’s website or the senator’s Facebook page.

E-Town council hears presentation from Silverleaf, discusses Fire Station No. 4 design plans

94.3 The Wolf

The Elizabethtown City Council heard two presentations during their work session Tuesday.

Silverleaf Sexual Trauma Recovery Services Executive Director Dr. Jillian Carden provided an update on some of the organization’s activities in 2023. Carden discussed the results of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Abuse Involvement Test which received 66 responses from adult participants in the organization’s services. Carden said the organization did not previously have strong data on substance abuse.

“We know intuitively, and we know by research, that substance abuse and trauma go hand in hand,” Carden said. “They are co-occurring at a very high rate, and when you drill down even to sexual assault and substance abuse those numbers are incredibly high.”

While Silverleaf is not a substance use treatment facility, the data gives the organization a better idea on what it is dealing with.

“We recognize that if we’re going to say that trauma and substance abuse co-occur, we need to be intentional about assessing for that to make sure that if our clients and our survivors are working on their trauma, but they also have a substance abuse history, we need to be making sure that they’re getting referred to the place that they need to work on their sobriety as well,” Carden said.

Elizabethtown and Hardin County are its most frequent subject areas, but Silverleaf provides services for all of the Lincoln Trail District.

Meanwhile, RBS Design Group Architecture presented design plans for Elizabethtown Fire Station No. Four to the council. RBS President Craig Thomas said the design is largely based on that of Fire Station No. Two, with some changes based on feedback from E-Town firefighters.

“One of the things that we have done, when you look at Fire Station 2, we reduced the height for this portion of the building so it’s not going to be as tall,” Thomas said. “Another thing that we’ve done, we’ve added a baby drop box here on the western corner on the building.”

The estimated total cost of construction is $6.9 million, which City Administrator Ed Poppe said comes in under the $7.5 million budgeted by the city. The plan is to get the project out to bid in April, begin construction in May, and complete construction by April 2025.

The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet March 4.