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Portal open for absentee ballot requests for November election

94.3 The Wolf

Election Day is November 5, and voters looking to request an absentee ballot may now do so as the state’s absentee ballot request portal opened Saturday.

“It will be open now through October 22, but don’t wait,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith. “If you qualify for an absentee ballot, you can visit govote.ky.gov or you can call our election hotline at 270-765-6762.”

Qualifications for an absentee ballot are available on the Go Vote website.

There is still time to register to vote or to update your registration ahead of the election.

“That deadline is 4 p.m. on October 7,” Smith said. “We encourage everybody to visit govote.ky.gov and make sure everything is up to date – your address, your party affiliation, all of that is up to date by 4 p.m. on October 7.”

Ahead of the election, Smith says the clerk’s office has been reaching out to area schools in order to help teach about the importance of the right to vote.

“We’ve done voter registration drives,” Smith said. “We’ve helped with the student council elections in some schools, and we’ve held mock elections. We want to get the young people in our community excited about voting, so we hope when parents or grandparents vote, take your kids with you. It’s a great lesson that you can teach them.”

Contact your county clerk’s office for election questions.

KYTC will require vision screenings for license renewals beginning in 2025

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It’s always important to keep your eyes on the road when operating a vehicle, and come the new year the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet will be ensuring that your eyes are up for the challenge.

Beginning January 1, all Kentucky drivers must undergo a vision screening in order to renew their license. The requirement was enacted by the Kentucky General Assembly in 2021 in order to “promote highway safety by ensuring that all drivers maintain good vision throughout their driving career.”

Based on House Bill 439, vision screenings can be completed at no cost at any Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Driver Licensing Regional Office at the time of renewal. The KYTC expects the average vision screening to take less than a minute to complete.

In addition to the regional officeS, drivers may conduct a vision exam with their vision specialist or with a KYTC-credentialed osteopath, physician, or advanced practice registered nurse ahead of their license renewal. These specialists will complete a form the driver will take to their renewal appointment.

If a driver does not pass the screening at a regional office, they will need to see a vision specialist for corrective measures before getting their license renewed. Online renewals will still be available. Drivers will just need to upload the form from a specialist when they renew.
More information is available at drive.ky.gov/visionscreening.

Group looking to build skatepark in Grayson County still seeking support

94.3 The Wolf

Casey Keown is a detective with the Kentucky State Police, but he remembers the many days and nights he spent skateboarding growing up in Grayson County, something that motivated him and others to create the Twin Lakes Skatepark Project.

“The skatepark is horrible here in Grayson County,” Keown said. “We need something new, somewhere to take our kids. My daughter recently found my skateboard in the shed. So I rode with her in the driveway a few times, and that kind of sealed the deal for me, so I decided to spearhead this and just take it on.”

The group is raising funds and bringing in community partners to construct a 10,000 square foot concrete skate park in Grayson County, with a mission of creating positive experiences for youth and bringing the community together for a common goal.

“Any partners in the community that support this or want to help us out, you can visit our website,” Keown said. “It’s TwinLakesSkatePark.org. We’re looking for donations. We’re looking for volunteers. We’ve got a concert coming up on October 12. We’re going to have some great music, so we’d love to see as many people that we can get out there. Tickets are available on our website.”

In addition to the Twin Lakes project, the group was able to move ramps from the former Highway 54 skate park to behind the Purple Flash Community Center in Caneyville to create a skate spot.

“We all coordinated together, came up with a design, and all but two of the ramps are there now,” Keown said. “We’re still waiting on two more, so if anybody has a crane and is willing to donate some time, we do need a crane to move the last two, but we do have somewhere now where kids can go and ride bikes, skateboards, scooters, and just have fun.”

Visit the Twin Lakes Skatepark Project Facebook page or website for more information on how to donate, how to get involved, and ticket information for the October 12 concert.

Car show in memory of Breckinridge County man will benefit another

94.3 The Wolf

Caitlyn Burden says she has known the McKellar family since she was in middle school, so she has been looking for a way to honor the memory of Timothy “Junior” McKellar.

“Last year he passed away in a plane crash in Whitesville, and ever since then the community’s been coming together and remembering him, and I hadn’t done anything for him yet because everybody else was doing stuff for him, and I knew a year was coming up so I figured now would be a good time to do something,” Burden said.

Burden and other organizers will be hosting Junior’s Show and Shine Saturday, September 28 at Breckinridge County High School, beginning at 2 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

“We’ve got free entry for the show,” Burden said. “It’s just basically a show in remembrance of Junior. We’ve got vendors like food trucks, we’ve got trophies, and we’ve got bouncy houses for the kids, music, so we’ve got pretty much everything.”

When Burden reached out to the McKellar family, they said the event should benefit another Breckinridge County resident, Braxton Criss.

“We had seen a bunch of stuff posted around Facebook saying prayers, that he was having a rough time, and Tim McKellar, Junior’s dad, called me yesterday, and we were going to donate all the money from the show to an aviation school or a welding school, and we had been seeing that go around and he called me yesterday and he kind of mentioned it to me and I was like ‘yeah, that’s a great idea,’” Burden said.

Find more information on the Junior’s Show and Shine Facebook event page.

Elizabethtown Mayor Gregory discusses road grant funding at Team Kentucky Update

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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear discussed the latest round of funding for the Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program during his Team Kentucky Update Thursday.

Included in the $28.5 million awarded was an $11.1 million grant matched by $2.3 million in state funds for the Envisioning a Safer Elizabethtown project.

“This grant money is going to be huge for us because it identifies two different corridors that probably are our most at-risk statistically with injury accidents and accidents just in general, and we’ll be able to put this money for the aforementioned sidewalks and lighting and road diets and roundabouts that we’ve seen have great success in Elizabethtown,” said Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory. 

The funding is for projects targeting Ring Road, Leitchfield Road, and U.S. 31W.

“We’re working really hard to make sure that our infrastructure stays ahead of the game in Elizabethtown,” Gregory said. “BlueOval SK, four miles south of Elizabethtown, which immediately brought us three other companies in our industrial park in Elizabethtown, has caused us to look at the way that we’re looking at our infrastructure as far as roadways, sewer lines, gas lines, and everything that comes with that.”

Visit the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet online for more information.

Kentucky labor market sees slight increase despite slight unemployment increase

94.3 The Wolf

Unemployment in Kentucky saw a slight increase in August. 

The Kentucky Center for Statistics says the state unemployment average for August was 4.8 percent. That is an increase from the 4.7 percent rate reported in July as well as from August 2023 when the rate was reported at 4.2 percent.

Kentucky’s unemployment average also came in higher in July than the national unemployment rate, which the U.S. Department of Labor reported at 4.2 percent.

The Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet says the state’s civilian labor force, which includes people currently employed and people actively searching for work, saw an increase of just over 7,300 people from July into August, bringing the civilian labor force to about 2,061,000.

The Education and Labor Cabinet says while manufacturing jobs saw an increase in August, companies have been reporting fewer jobs over the last few months. Employment in the trade, transportation, and utilities sector and the leisure and hospitality sector saw slight drops. The mining and logging sectors were mostly unchanged.

Visit the Kentucky Center for Statistics to learn more about labor market information.

Radcliff City Council accepts check for North Logsdon Parkway work

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

An ordinance amending the city budget for the 2023-2024 fiscal year was approved on its second reading. Radcliff Mayor JJ Duvall previously said the amendment was standard for the end of a fiscal year.

Representatives from QK4, which provides engineering work for the city, presented the council with a $1.85 million check from the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Grant Program, which will be used for stormwater improvements on North Logsdon Parkway. The grant, which includes a 25 percent local match, must be used within three years, and surveying work should begin on the project in four to five weeks.

Council Member Pamela DeRoche reminded the community of this Saturday’s Radcliff Days festival.

“Vendors will start setting up at 2 p.m.,” said DeRoche. “The festival actually starts at 4, and we’ve got 35-plus vendors, I think, that’ll be selling wares on Saturday, and then we’ve got several food trucks.”

The Radcliff Days parade begins at 5 p.m.

“The theme is ‘Dance the Night Away,’ so we will have several dance groups out there,” DeRoche said. “We’ll have a DJ that will be playing music, so if people want to join in on the dancing, they’re welcome to do that as well.”

Visit the City of Radcliff Government Facebook page for details.

The Radcliff City Council will next meet October 7.

Snapchat threat against Breckinridge County Schools under investigation

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Breckinridge County Schools responded to a potential threat Wednesday.

“A little bit before noon, a student reported to a school official a Snapchat post, and the Snapchat post was threatening in nature to our school district, so we immediately started putting things in place to ensure the safety of all of our schools in the district,” said BCS Superintendent Dr. Nick Carter. 

The Breckinridge County Sheriff’s Office and the Hardinsburg and Irvington police departments expanded their presence at school buildings through dismissal. The sheriff’s office is leading the ongoing investigation into the threat.

“Right now we’re cooperating with the Breckinridge County Sheriff’s Office with this investigation and when we know more, we’ll be sure to communicate more,” Carter said.

Carter last week sent out a message to district parents and guardians advising them to talk with their students about responsible use of social media. Carter says talking with students and keeping a close eye can help keep schools a safe place.

“Unmonitored teenage use of social media platforms is causing disruptions to the school days for students, not just in Breckinridge County but all around the state, and we need the help of all parents and guardians in monitoring their child’s social media platforms,” Carter said.

Follow the Breckinridge County School District Facebook page for updates.

Increased activity means increased noise possible at Fort Knox

94.3 The Wolf

Area residents may hear increased activity at Fort Knox for the next few weeks.

“Due to military training at Fort Knox’s new Digital Air Ground Integration Range, or DAGIR, September 18 through October 8, increased noise and vibrations may be experienced during that time,” said Fort Knox Media Relations Officer Kyle Hodges. 

The DAGIR came online in the summer, so more activity can be expected as more units utilize it.

“Exercises involving aircraft maneuvers and weapons firing in daytime and nighttime hours are an important aspect to maintaining critical capabilities and readiness for all units, so we ask for the community’s patience and understanding during this time,” Hodges said.

Follow the U.S. Army Fort Knox Facebook page for updates.

Down Syndrome Association of the Heartland hosting two events

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Down Syndrome Association of the Heartland has two events on the calendar this week, beginning with the Birdies and Burgers golf scramble and lunch.

“It’s Thursday, September 19,” said DSAH Executive Director Tonya House. “We have the golf scramble and then the lunch is right after that from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., and then our Buddy Walk is Saturday, September 21.”

The event will be held at the Heartland Golf Club. Participants in the golf scramble get their lunch included, but all who wish to participate are invited to the lunch and silent auction.

“If you just want to come and have lunch with us, you can buy tickets,” House said. “They’re $30. You can go to our website, dshartland.org, to get those, you can click ‘Support’ and then you’ll see all the options, all the things we have going on. You can get your tickets there, or you could always show up and just say ‘Hey, I want to have lunch.’”

All are also invited to participate in the Buddy Walk Saturday at Elizabethtown High School. Registration is at 9 a.m. with the walk at 10.

“We’re going to do a morning walk this year,” House said. “We will have festivities until noon that day. Bounce houses and face painting, we have Disney princesses coming, we have a DJ, so lots of things scheduled.”

Visit Down Syndrome Association of the Heartland on their website and Facebook page for more information on their mission and the events.