WQXE News

Kentucky Second District Congressman Brett Guthrie is inviting students to submit for the district’s annual Congressional Art Competition.

According to a release from Guthrie’s office, student submissions from the Second District “will be judged by an independent and local panel of art professors from colleges and universities and professional artists.” The winning entry will be featured in the U.S. Capitol Building while the second and third place entries will be displayed in Guthrie’s offices in Washington D.C. and Bowling Green.

District residents are invited to vote in the “Facebook Favorite” competition. All student works will be posted to Guthrie’s Facebook page, and the work which receives the most votes between April 6 and 10 will also be displayed in the Bowling Green office.

The deadline to submit is April 1. Students may bring their work to Guthrie’s Bowling Green office (996 Wilkinson Trace, Suite B2 Bowling Green, KY 42103), mail it to the Bowling Green office, or contact the Bowling Green office (270-842-9896) to arrange for work to be picked up at the student’s school.

Winners will be honored during a reception in April. Visit guthrie.house.gov for more information.

Elizabethtown Tourism Director of Marketing Krysta Souleyrette says when the organization moved their office to 201 North Main Street, they wanted to celebrate the history of their new home.

“Whenever we moved into the home, it was listed as David May House on the Historic Registry,” Souleyrette said. “We didn’t know who David May was. We looked it up, and his story was so unique, and so we really wanted to share that with the community.”

Souleyrette came up with the idea for a children’s book as a way of talking about David May from a different perspective, and to involve young residents and visitors to E-Town in the city’s history.

“There’s so much history in Elizabethtown, and I think it’s a great way to get locals involved and our visitors, as well as getting the entire family involved, and who doesn’t love a children’s book?” Souleyrette said. “They’re fun and exciting, and a different way to learn about some of the great history that we have in our community.”

Souleyrette wrote the story while Jeff Dehut created the illustrations. She says creating the book was a good exercise in creativity.

“Being able to tell David May’s story was so exciting, and being able to look at it through a children’s lens was very fun and exciting for me,” Souleyrette said.

The book, Betty Visits the David May House, is available now for free at the David May House. Visitors and community members are invited to stop in and get a copy.

Lawyers for Dustin Caudill, the Elizabethtown man accused of shooting and killing two men and then setting the Henon Lane residence they were in on fire in October 2024, made their case for the removal of death penalty consideration in Caudill’s upcoming murder trial.

The defense called two witnesses during a hearing in Hardin Circuit Court Wednesday. The first was Dr. Jean Hinkebein, who is currently a military psychologist at Fort Campbell. Hinkebien testified that she was Caudill’s therapist at the Central Kentucky Treatment Center when he was brought in at 15 or 16 years old, stating that he struggled with mood symptoms, and Hinkebein said she was worried about Caudill going from juvenile to adult facilities because she did not think he was “criminally minded”. 

Hinkebien said when Caudill entered the Department of Corrections as an adult he was depressed and “pretty well shut down emotionally” and noted he made a suicide attempt in 1998. Hinkebein said she diagnosed Caudill with post-traumatic stress disorder, based on childhood trauma, while he was under her care.

The defense’s second witness was neuropsychologist Dr. Sidney Binks, who testified that based on his interviews with Caudill, behavioral analysis, and review of his medical history, he “concluded that he does have a severe, serious mental illness” and diagnosed him with severe bipolar disorder with psychotic features and anxious distress. Binks testified that Caudill’s medical history shows he was first diagnosed as bipolar in 1996, with the diagnosis being noted multiple times between then and 2023. When asked if Caudill meets the criteria for state statutes, Binks said: “My opinion is very solid in believing that he had a mental illness, that it was involved in the commission of the incident offense, and that he meets the standard as written.”

9th Judicial Circuit Commonwealth’s Attorney Shane Young said his office needed time to request specific documents in the case. The commonwealth will proceed with its arguments on the defense’s motion when the court reconvenes for another hearing on February 26.