Menu Close

QUICKSIE98.3

Beshear says 2025 was another record year for Kentucky exports

WQXE News 0 Comments

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear says the commonwealth broke its record for exports once again in 2025. 

The governor announced Wednesday that Kentucky shipped $50.6 billion worth of products globally in 2025, an increase of 5.65 percent from the year prior and the third straight year the state has broken its record for exports.

According to a release from the Governor’s Office, aerospace products and parts were Kentucky’s top export in 2025, with nearly $24 billion in products shipped out. Industrial machinery saw $5.7 billion in products shipped, motor vehicles and parts saw $4.6 billion in shipments, and pharmaceuticals saw $3.5 billion.

The Governor’s Office says Canada was once again Kentucky’s top destination for exports, with $9.3 billion in products going north of the border. The United Kingdom, France, China, and Mexico remained in the state’s top five. Other trade partners included Brazil, Malaysia, Singapore, the Netherlands, and Austria.

Beshear said in the release: “The commonwealth’s commitment to developing partnerships all over the globe is critical for our long-term economic success. Now more than ever, the rest of the world is realizing that you just can’t beat a Kentucky-made product.”

Visit www.kyexports.com for more information.

Furever Friends #383

Quicksie 98.3 0 Comments

This week we meet Darla, a petite brown and white shepherd mix weighing 26 pounds, and Ody, a 5 year old brindle and white beagle mix, weighing 40 pounds, 2 dogs looking for new Furever homes. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the shelter at 270-769-3428, visit their Facebook page at Hardin County Animal Shelter – Elizabethtown or stop by in person at 220 Peterson Drive in E-town, Monday to Saturday from noon through 4pm. Furever Friends is brought to you by locally veteran-owned, Pet Supplies Plus, at 209 Towne Drive in Elizabethtown.

Podcast: Download (Duration: 3:07 — 357.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS | More

KYTC District Four prepping for repairs to Bardstown’s Sympson Lake Dam

WQXE News 0 Comments

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is planning repairs to the embankment of U.S. 62 that serves as a dam for Sympson Lake on the west side of Bardstown.

According to a release from KYTC District Four, while there are no imminent structural concerns, minor seepage was detected during routine monitoring of the dam. The KYTC says: “The levels detected do not impact the public or nearby facilities and minor repairs are underway to slow the seepage, along with increased monitoring while engineers develop a plan for a more permanent fix.”

“We’re early on in this entire process, and it’s going to involve several phases, and right now we’re in that preliminary stage where we’re getting those core samples from below the road,” said KYTC District Four Public Information Officer Chris Jessie. “That’s why we have that lane closure up right now on U.S. 62, and we’ll keep folks informed as we go. We’re likely looking at April for letting of a contract to do the majority of work that needs to be done there, and as of right now it looks like that work will take approximately nine months to a year to finish once everything gets going.”

Crews within the next few weeks will begin temporarily reducing the lake level ahead of annual peak rainfall to make it easier to access areas of the embankment for repair work. This will not impact water treatment operations.

The KYTC says through the City of Bardstown’s water treatment facility, Sympson Lake supplies drinking water to more than 46,000 people in Bardstown and the surrounding communities.

Follow KYTC District Four on social media for updates.

CASA of the Heartland keeping up with growth amidst expansion

WQXE News 0 Comments

CASA of the Heartland Executive Director Michelle Kail says expanding to cover a six-county service area has its challenges, but the organization is up to the task, and is still growing in Hardin County.

“We’ve gone from serving about 120 children in our community in 2022 to 185 this last year, so we’ve seen an increase in need and an increase in services, and we’re happy to be able to step up and provide that service and meet that need,” Kail said.

Kail provided an update on the organization to the Elizabethtown City Council during their work session Monday. She said 983 child dependency, neglect, and abuse petitions were received in 2025, with about 60 percent coming from Hardin County. Court-appointed special advocates from the organization served 312 children last year.

Kail said 129 children are currently on the waitlist.

“We’ve seen those numbers steadily increase over the last several years,” Kail said. “When I started, we had about 98 kiddos on the waitlist. We got it down to 50, and we’ve seen a heavy increase in educational neglect cases in the last year and a half, so those numbers have gone back up.”

Kail said in terms of geography CASA of the Heartland covers the fifth-largest region in the state, but in terms of services provided the organization is the third-largest CASA organization in the state. She said the cost of foster care per child for the state is about $2,300 a month, while CASA advocacy per child is about $2,100 a year.

“CASA is a wise investment for our community leaders because the children that we’re working with are reunified or find permanency much more quickly than kiddos without CASA, and that number for us in the last several years has decreased,” Kail said.

Learn more about how to become a CASA, or about other ways to support the organization, at www.casaheartland.org.