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Unemployment rates across the Lincoln Trail District were up in December from where they were the year prior.
The Kentucky Center for Statistics says unemployment rates increased in all 120 of the state’s counties in December.
The state unemployment average for December was reported at 5.1 percent. That is a slight increase from the 4.9 percent average seen in November, and it is up from the 3.9 percent average that was reported in December of 2023. Five counties in the Lincoln Trail District had December unemployment rates higher than the state average, with three counties below the state average.
Hardin County’s unemployment rate for December 2024 was slightly above the state average at 5.4 percent. That’s an increase from the 4.9 percent rate reported in November and an increase from the 3.8 percent rate reported in December 2023.
Breckinridge and Grayson counties posted the highest unemployment rate in the Lincoln Trail District for December at 5.9 percent. Washington County had the lowest rate in the district, and tied for the second-lowest rate in the state, at 4.0 percent.
Learn more about how the unemployment rate is calculated and find more labor market information by visiting kystats.ky.gov.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said there is still work to be done, but Kentucky highways were statistically safer in 2024.
“We lost fewer people in 2024 on our highways than we did in 2023, so the positive news is that deaths in highway crashes dropped 14 percent last year as compared to 2023,” Beshear said. “Right now, the transportation cabinet believes we are at a 10-year low, and in even more positive news we had 200 fewer injuries.”
The governor discussed the preliminary reports on highway safety during his Team Kentucky Update Thursday. Beshear said an investment in infrastructure improvements across the commonwealth has led to more highway safety projects.
“We’re installing innovative intersections, which are proven to reduce crashes,” Beshear said. “We’re piloting wrong-way crash technology to deter and detect drivers going the wrong way on interstate ramps. We’re administering grant funding for law enforcement campaigns like Click It or Ticket, and just this month we announced the Safe Teen Driving Challenge to encourage more young drivers to travel safely.”
Beshear said he is asking all Kentuckians to do their part to keep the roadways safe.
“Your simple choices can save lives like buckling up, putting the phone down, driving sober, and following the speed limit,” Beshear said.
More information on highway statistics can be found on the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s website.
Kentucky drivers with vehicle renewals in January may have forgotten about their due date following an error with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Kentucky Department of Revenue.
“On the 14th of this month, I was in a meeting with transportation cabinet officials,” said Hardin County Clerk Brian D. Smith during last week’s Hardin County Fiscal Court meeting. “We were told on the 14th, two weeks ago, that the notices would go out that following Friday, which is the 17th of January. That turned out to be false information.”
Smith said clerk’s offices were initially informed that the renewal notices were delayed due to mailing issues, but he was informed Tuesday afternoon that the notices still hadn’t been mailed.
Smith encouraged drivers to check their registrations to see if they have a January renewal, and if they do they need to get to the clerk’s office to renew as soon as possible.
“By law, the renewal notices are considered a courtesy notice,” Smith said. “They’re not a legal requirement for you to have that to come in and renew. We have seen a huge drop off in January renewals. We knew this was going on. The state had to know. They monitor the collections on a daily basis. They had to know renewals were down.”
Smith said he will post updates as he gets them to the Hardin County Clerk’s Office Facebook page.
The prosecution in the Crystal Rogers investigation cases wants to ensure the trial for Steven Lawson sees no further delays.
Special Prosecutor Shane Young on Friday filed a notice of victim’s invocation of rights pursuant to Section 26A of the Kentucky Constitution. The notice states that the family of Crystal Rogers is invoking their right to a trial without unreasonable delay, as established in a 2020 amendment to the state constitution that added that the rights to victims of crime “shall be respected and protected by law in a manner no less vigorous than the protections afforded to the accused.”
Attorneys for Lawson asked for his trial, which was due to begin in February, be moved to late summer in order for them to properly review the extensive discovery in the case after they were assigned as public defenders to Lawson in August. Nelson Circuit Judge Charles Simms III continued the trial to May 27. A pre-trial conference in the case is scheduled for February 27.