We don’t wanna jinx it but is this… fall weather?! We can’t remember the last time our weekend weather looked this nice. High temps will potentially be just below 80, air will be a little more dry and the temperatures each morning may be low enough for a hoodie if you have to get up to walk the dogs. [WxOrNot]
We’re pretty sure this is a program that everyday Kentuckians need in general. Agriculture is a big part of life in Barren County, but local leaders say students may not always realize just how much it affects them. This week, they are bringing those lessons straight to the classroom through All In for Ag Education Week, a statewide effort to show students how agriculture connects to their communities and their futures. [WBKO]
For thousands of years, people have ventured into the caves beneath the rolling hills of central Kentucky. More than 426 miles have since been surveyed, making Mammoth Cave National Park the world’s longest known cave system. It’s a landscape so unique that it has been designated both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Region. Now, looming above this ancient world is a behemoth of the future: a $4.8 billion hyperscale data center sprawling across 600 acres. [The Tennessean]
No, nope, he’s not going to be president. That’s delusional. Two-term Kentucky governor, published author … U.S. president? Gov. Andy Beshear can list two of those titles on his resumé as “Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken Country” hits shelves. [Courier-Journal]
The Kentucky Court of Appeals has reversed a Barren County court’s ruling that directed Scotty’s Contracting and Stone to pay more than $22 million to the victims of a 2012 road construction accident and has recommended that all claims be dismissed. A three-judge panel for the state appeals court unanimously found in August that irregularities at a 2023 trial in Barren Circuit Court to determine liability in relation to the death of one worker and injuries to three others were enough to nullify the judgment against Scotty’s Contracting and Stone. [BG Daily News]
We always hype up free movies at The Capitol downtown but this week we’ve gotta press you to go see The Melting Pot, as it’s a pretty important work these days. It’s tonight and Saturday at 7:00 P.M. and Sunday at 2:00. Tickets range from $15.04 to $22.06. Having lost his immediate family to a massacre in Russia, Jewish musician David Quixano immigrated to America to live with his uncle and grandmother in New York. David is entranced by Lady Liberty and the democratic ideals of America, which has inspired him to write an American Symphony. While trying to finish his symphony, he falls in love with a Russian Christian, Vera, who has her own dark past. Can they carve out a life together, despite opposition from both of their families? [Capitol BG]
The Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet released unadjusted unemployment data for August and you won’t be surprised. Despite the unemployment rate technically falling in 96 counties, rising in 11 and remaining the same in 13, not much changed. The best: Woodford: 3.2%; Cumberland: 3.4%; Scott and Todd: 3.5%; Boone, Fayette, Franklin and Kenton: 3.6%; Clark, Harrison, Jessamine, Oldham and Shelby: 3.7%. The worst: Martin: 8.5%; Magoffin: 7.6%; Wolfe: 7.1%; Elliott: 7%; Lewis: 6.9%; Carter and Jackson: 6.5%; Lawrence: 6.3%; Pike: 6.1%; Harlan: 5.9%. [Press Release]
There are Halloween events and then there is the Southern Lanes Trick or Treat — and after twelve years, Bowling Green knows the difference. Sunday October 25th from 4PM to 7PM, Southern Lanes opens its doors for one of the most beloved community Halloween traditions in Warren County. Safe. Fun. Festive. The kind of event that parents actually look forward to as much as the kids do. [BLBG]
Student journalists should dig deeper when reporting about data centers and invasive surveillance systems. No, the SpaceX AI data center in Memphis didn’t “[take] away all the power” because it operated on its own private grid. Your writer here loathes Elon Musk but it took us less than five minutes to verify his data center did not consume all the town’s electricity, leaving many in the dark in the aftermath of a storm. This is misinformation and publishing it without verification leads to ignorance and more. [WKU Herald]
Is Kentucky a happy state? Not really, according to WalletHub’s annual Happiest States in America report. Kentucky ranked near the bottom for US states in the categories for emotional and physical well-being (48th) and work environment (41st). The state ranked slightly higher in community and environment, at 25th. [WalletHub]
September is Hunger Action Month — the key word being action. We know 837,000 Kentuckians don’t have the food they need to lead a healthy, active life. That’s 1 in 5 Kentuckians, and worse, 1 in 4 of our kids. Anytime you have a food-insecure household and you have children, there is an adult behind them potentially going hungry. [Herald-Leader]
Kentucky lawmakers on Tuesday learned about details surrounding a legal settlement between the commonwealth and Meta technology company that’s expected to result in at least $358 million in payments to the state. During a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Health Services, two officials from the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General explained how the case originated, what Meta must do now and how the multistate consent judgment measured against New Mexico’s trial judgment. [WCLU]
The Medical Center at Bowling Green says it is the first hospital in the region and the seventh hospital in the state to offer a new treatment for metastatic prostate cancer. According to Med Center Health, Pluvicto is a “targeted radioligand therapy used to treat advanced prostate cancer in patients who have been previously treated with androgen receptor pathway inhibition.” [WNKY]
Can we please just not go through this ridiculous mess again? It’s no secret Andy Beshear is weighing a presidential campaign in 2028, but the Democratic governor may not be the only Kentuckian eyeing the White House. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Itty Bitty Thing) says he is closely watching the outcome of the November midterms as he considers another presidential campaign. [WHAS11]
Chalk this up as something the General Assembly isn’t going to take seriously. Gov. Andy Beshear said a projected budget surplus could go toward funding needed state programs. The Kentucky General Fund estimated a revenue surplus of somewhere near $1.7 billion over the next two fiscal years. [WDRB-WAVE3]
Hi, it’s your weekly roundup writer hollering at you to pay attention to everything that’s going on with your local government. Start with something simple like this week’s Code Enforcement and Nuisance Board meeting that took place on Tuesday. Let it play in the background while you do other work or whatever. But building a better community and having a better life starts here at home. [YouTube]