WULF News

Governor Andy Beshear announced the awarding of more than $9 million in recycling program grants this week, and several local governments are among the recipients. 

The funding will support 73 projects across the commonwealth to support the expansion of recycling, the reduction of the amount of solid waste going into landfills, and improved handling of household hazardous waste.

The recycling program awards funds through three programs. Recycling grants provide funds for counties to purchase recycling equipment. Composting grants allow for the purchase of equipment to improve composting and promote creative solutions for solid waste. The household hazardous waste grant gives funds for counties to conduct annual drop-off events for disposal of waste such as chemicals and electronics.

The LaRue County Fiscal Court received about $71,000 and the Meade County Fiscal Court received more than $1 million in recycling grants. The Bullitt County Fiscal Court received about $42,000 and the Hardin County Fiscal Court received about $47,000 in household hazardous waste grants.

The grants are funded through the Kentucky Pride Fund, which is generated by fees for municipal solid waste disposed of at Kentucky landfills. 

Visit the Kentucky Division of Waste Management website for more information.

A former employee of the Hardin County Sheriff’s Office was convicted Tuesday on charges related to his participation in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Joseph Irwin of Cecilia was found guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of three felony charges, including Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building or Grounds with a Deadly or Dangerous Weapon, and three misdemeanor charges, including Entering and Remaining on the Floor of Congress.

According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, court documents state that Irwin and co-defendant John Joseph Richter of Port Charlotte, Florida, discussed plans to travel to Washington with the intent to obstruct the certification of the electoral college vote. The two discussed the potential for violence and possible supplies to bring, with both bringing wooden poles with all-black American flags. 

The two men attended the January 6th “Stop the Steal” rally and joined the march to the Capitol, and then joined efforts to breach the building. Irwin broke his pole into two pieces when he “aggressively smashed his pole on the ground in a threatening manner at the police officers.” After breaching the building and eventually making it to the senate floor, the two had fellow rioters take their pictures at senators’ desks while posing with their poles. The two left the Capitol after Metropolitan Police officers eventually directed the rioters out. The release says the two continued to celebrate their participation in the riot, with Irwin keeping his wooden pole in a shadow box.

Irwin was arrested on August 17, 2021. According to the criminal complaint from his arrest, Irwin was identified through an anonymous tip after he was seen in video recorded at the Capitol. Hardin County Sheriff John Ward identified Irwin and confirmed in the complaint that he was a former employee, having left the sheriff’s office in May of 2016.

Sentencing for Irwin is scheduled for August 9. More than 1,400 people have been charged for their participation in the January 6th attack, and the FBI continues to collect tips on other participants.

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

The fiscal court approved the county’s 2024-2025 budget ordinance, which was up for its second reading. The ordinance was approved on a 5-4 vote. No further discussion was held on the budget at this meeting, but at the previous reading the magistrates that voted against the budget expressed concern with using funds from the BlueOval SK Pilot Agreement to cover the budget deficit.

Deputy Judge-Executive Vicki Meredith reported on the county’s Public Works Department. Meredith said the county’s monthly shredding events continue to be well-attended with 224 bags shredded so far this year. The county’s recycling program is also well-used, with 30 trailer runs in March and 44 in April. The Hardin County Conservation District presented the county with a check for $5,000 for its dead animal removal program, which Meredith said has seen 76 animals removed so far this year.

“The point of this is to try to make sure that deceased farm animals are disposed of properly,” Meredith said. “Often, historically, they could be pulled to the back part of the farm or placed close to a stream or in a sinkhole and that’s just not appropriate, so we really commend all the farmers and property owners throughout Hardin County for working with us on this program.”

County Director of Planning Adam King said so far this year 163 building permits have been issued, 33 new plats have been recorded, and 52 new lots have been recorded. King also said the county’s new comprehensive plan has been well-received.

“We’re really excited about this document,” King said. “We’ve used it now at a few meetings, and it has a lot more meat on everything to justify zone change decisions. I think this document is going to serve us well for years to come.”

King said the comprehensive plan has been submitted for a state planning award.

Several magistrates took a moment to acknowledge the 36th anniversary of the May 14, 1988, Carrollton bus collision, and asked residents to remember the families of the 27 victims.

“We do need to continually remind the young people of the consequences of their decisions,” said Magistrate Fred Clem. “And those families, continue to remember them as well.”

The Hardin County Fiscal Court will next meet May 28.

The Radcliff City Council met for a special called meeting Monday.

The council approved a $60,000 bid from Helm Construction for HVAC units at the Colvin Community Center. The council also approved a $79,000 bid from Skyler Construction for the roof at Radcliff Fire Station No. 2. That project was re-bid at the request of Council Member Jerry Brown after only one bid was initially received. Brown said he was pleased re-bidding saved the city about $10,000.

“We don’t have the luxury of a really deep budget, so we’re always looking to save money for our Radcliff taxpayers, and by re-bidding we were able to do that,” Brown said. “We saved the taxpayers thousands of dollars.”

Feeding America Kentucky’s Heartland Executive Director Charles Dennis came before the council to discuss the organization’s work with 250 partner organizations across 42 counties, including 5 in Radcliff. Dennis said figures on food insecurity are expected to be released this week, which has Feeding America evaluating how to best serve those in need.

“We’re not doing away with the Backpack Program, but we’re going to be shifting to funding what we call a Feeding Kids Fund, and we have piloted a School Pantry Program,” Dennis said. “There are some instances where the need is so great that just a backpack is not going to fill that.”

Radcliff/Fort Knox Convention and Tourism Commission Treasurer Bob Moore discussed the organization’s budget, which he said is higher this year thanks to increased revenue from area hotels. Moore said the advertising budget will be increased for airports and Spotify after strong interest was seen in area attractions.

“Boundary Oak has gotten 300,000 visitors already,” Moore said. “Red Hill Cutlery talks about the turnover there, coming in to see the knife and the museum, and still the largest download of everything we have is Saunders Springs.”

The Radcliff City Council will next meet May 21.

The Elizabethtown Fire Department is expanding its training opportunities with the construction of their new fire training facility.

“We’ll be able to do live fire burns,” said Elizabethtown Fire Chief Mark Malone. “There are three rooms that are designed. One’s designed like a kitchen, one’s designed like a bedroom, and then there’s just a general purpose open room for burning. We have the ability to repel.”

The facility is constructed using modular units which allows for a diverse range of options.

“We have forceful entry doors, forceful entry windows,” Malone said. “The interior walls are movable so we can have different configurations for scenarios. It has a Nance Drill, which is a firefighter rescue drill, and also a Denver Drill mockup, which again is a firefighter rescue drill.”

Malone says the Elizabethtown Fire Department strives to be as prepared as possible to best serve the community.

“In Kentucky, it is required that they get 100 hours of training a year,” Malone said. “Elizabethtown tries to shoot for 200 hours of training a year. We’re a small department, so we have to do basically jack-of-all-trades. We do all the rescue disciplines, plus regular firefighting, plus we run first responder EMS, so we do a lot of different things for the community, and that takes a lot of training.”

The modular facility is being constructed next to the existing State Fire Rescue Training Area 5 tower on College Street.