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Unemployment rates in Kentucky up from last year but down from last month

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Unemployment rates rose in 118 counties in Kentucky from April 2023 to April 2024, including in the Lincoln Trail District.

The Kentucky Center for Statistics says the state unemployment average for April 2024 was reported at 4.3 percent. That’s an increase from the 3.5 percent average that was reported in April of 2023. Unemployment rates across the commonwealth did, however, see a decrease from March of this year.

The unemployment average for the Lincoln Trail District in April 2024 came in at 4.3 percent. Three counties in the district are under the state average.

Hardin County unemployment for April 2024 was reported at 4.4 percent. That’s an increase from the 3.5 percent rate reported in April 2023 and a decrease from the 5.1 percent rate reported in March of 2024.

Breckinridge County posted the highest April unemployment rate in the district at 4.8 percent, while Washington County posted the lowest at 3.2 percent, which ties for the lowest in the state.

Visit the Kentucky Center for Statistics on the web for more information on unemployment data.

Elizabethtown and Bardstown sites among EV charging grant recipients

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Governor Andy Beshear announced additional funding for electric vehicle charging locations across the commonwealth, and area communities are among the sites.

The governor discussed the grant funding during his Team Kentucky update Thursday.

“Today’s awards represent an $11.8 million investment through a federal program known as the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program,” Beshear said. “In total, we’ve now awarded $27 million of grants through this program.”

The governor’s office says the chosen sites are selected from identified zones along Kentucky interstates and parkways that have been designated as alternative fuel corridors.

“Throughout Kentucky, we’re going to have access to at least 42 reliable and convenient places to charge vehicles that are located every 50 miles along our interstates and our parkways,” Beshear said.

Among the locations in the third round of funding are the Love’s Travel Stop along the Western Kentucky Parkway in Elizabethtown and the Americas Inn along the Bluegrass Parkway in Bardstown. The program requires that each charging station have at least four charging ports of 150 kilowatts each, be accessible to the public 24/7, and work with most EV models.

More information on the EV grant program can be found at evcharging.ky.gov.

Area law enforcement agencies carrying Special Olympics torch Monday

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Area law enforcement is taking it to the streets Monday to show their support for the Special Olympics as they participate in the annual Torch Relay for the Special Olympics.

“Law enforcement all across the state carry a torch to the opening ceremonies, which will be May 31 in Richmond, Kentucky, at the stadium at EKU for the Special Olympics, and we do it in support and to bring awareness and to prop those athletes up,” said Elizabethtown Police Department Communications Supervisor Chris Lee. 

The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office starts the county leg with the torch and is scheduled to hand it off to the EPD around 9 a.m.

“The Hardin County Sheriff’s Office will start their leg of the run, I believe they start on U.S. 62 West where it goes from two lanes to four lanes, and then they will run to the Cecilian Bank at Leitchfield Road and Ring Road by Central Hardin” Lee said. “We will take the torch from them there and we’ll run our leg, which is up Ring Road to Patriot Parkway and then northbound on Patriot to KY-220, where we will pass the torch off to the Radcliff Police Department and they will continue their leg, and I think they run from there to their station.”

Area residents can support the torch relay by cheering the officers on along the route, and you can make donations to the Special Olympics at each of the agencies’ offices.

Grayson County Sheriff’s deputy rescues man from burning vehicle

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Grayson County Sheriff Norman Chaffins is recognizing the quick action of one of his deputies Tuesday.

Body cam footage from Deputy Thomas Lane shows the deputy responding to a car on fire at the intersection of Shrewsbury Lane and Schoolhouse Road near Leitchfield shortly before midnight May 21.

The video shows Lane arrive on the scene to find the vehicle nearly fully engulfed in flames. After witnesses on scene told him the driver was still in the vehicle, Lane ran to the vehicle to assist.

The sheriff’s office says the driver appeared dazed in the vehicle, and witnesses on the scene said he initially was refusing to exit the vehicle. Lane pulled the man out of the car and got him away from the burning vehicle.

The sheriff’s office says: “Other than a few scrapes and scratches, no other injuries were reported.” The incident is under investigation.