Menu Close

#quicksie983

Buffalo Lake connector trail work progressing

WQXE News 0 Comments

Work is progressing on the Buffalo Lake Connector Trail, a joint project between the City of Elizabethtown and Elizabethtown Tourism.

“The trailhead is going to be located near the railroad crossing at Dixie, and will connect all the way to Commerce Drive,” said Elizabethtown Tourism Director of Marketing Krysta Souleyrette. “It’s going to be about a mile and a half long, and there will be paved sections so it’s accessible for everyone.”

The trailhead will include amenities such as a water bottle filling station, a bike repair station, and ample seating.

Souleyrette said the connector achieves a strategic goal of connecting Downtown E-Town with the hotels on or near Commerce Drive, and adds to Elizabethtown’s outdoor recreation offerings.

“We have a wide array of outdoor trails and wonderful outdoor activities in Elizabethtown, and this is only going to enhance this, our outdoor attractions and activities for community members as well as visitors,” Souleyrette said.

The connector trail is set to open in spring of 2025.

Kentucky ranks second in region, eighth in nation for economic development

WQXE News 0 Comments

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is highlighting new recognition of the commonwealth’s economic success.

The governor’s office says Site Selection magazine ranked Kentucky in second place for its South Central Region rankings and in eighth place nationally in its 2024 Prosperity Cup rankings. The Prosperity Cup “recognizes the competitiveness of state-level economic development agencies and their success in landing capital investment projects according to data from 2023.” Expanded facilities, new jobs created, and sales tax climate are among the criteria for the rankings.

The governor touted some of the state’s accomplishments during the ribbon cutting for the ECTC BlueOval SK Training Center Wednesday.

“We’ve now had over $30.6 billion of new private sector investment in us in just 4.5 years, a record by far, over a thousand new location and expansion projects, 52,700 new jobs,” Beshear said. “We’ve broken every export record, every tourism record. It is an exciting time to be a Kentuckian right now.”

Beshear has cited BlueOval SK as being the catalyst for making the electric vehicle industry a central part of new development in the state.

“We are leading this country in the EV sector with $11.7 billion announced in just 3.5 years, and 10,250 full-time jobs,” Beshear said.

More information on Kentucky economic development efforts can be found at ced.ky.gov.

KY Gives Day raises nearly $100K for area non-profits

WQXE News 0 Comments

The Central Kentucky Community Foundation facilitated the twelfth annual KY Gives Day for regional non-profits Tuesday.

Community Foundation Communications and Projects Coordinator Erin Hahn said the effort was a successful one.

“25 regional organizations participated and they had a great day,” Hahn said. “It was a 24-hour online giving day and we raised collectively close to $100,000, and that’s just due to the amazing and generous community that we live in.”

More than 600 donors contributed 771 gifts to regional organizations. Hahn said the individual support is a credit to the impact the nonprofits have across the community.

“Yes, it’s a 24-hour online one day of giving, but more importantly, it’s you give $5, you give $10, but every dollar counts, and it really does help to make a strong impact to all of the organizations that do so much good in our community.” Hahn said.

Participating organizations compete for state and regional prizes, which Hahn said is a way of adding friendly competition and encouraging more support.

“The organizations obviously are wanting to raise dollars for their organization, but we kind of help to throw in a little bit more fun with providing prizes for most dollars raised,” Hahn said. “We have a couple of power hours through the day, which some organizations actually take advantage of having matches during those periods.”

The leading recipients in the region were the Lincoln Museum, Bernheim Forest, and Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. More information and the complete leaderboard can be found at www.kygives.org.

ECTC and BlueOval SK host ribbon-cutting for training center

WQXE News 0 Comments

Government, business, and community leaders joined officials from Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and BlueOval SK as the ribbon was cut on the college’s new training center located just outside the battery park in Glendale.

ECTC President and CEO Dr. Juston Pate said cutting the ribbon on the facility is a testament to the investment, vision, and commitment of the many community partners that have helped bring the project to fruition.

“It is kind of hard to think that a year ago we were just breaking ground on this,” Pate said. “We were here not even really a full year yet. It was a nice, beautiful, warm day, and we were thinking about what could be, and here just a short year later we’re celebrating what is.”

The ECTC BlueOval SK training center is a 42,000 square foot facility that will host training with a primary curriculum focused on battery knowledge, roles, and skills.

“The ECTC BlueOval Training Center is going to serve trainees who are looking to enter an innovative, high-wage, high-demand career, and at ECTC we could not be more proud to serve such a critical role in preparing those employees for those careers, and we could not be more proud to support the historic investment that BOSK has made in not just Hardin County but the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Pate said.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said the investment of BlueOval SK and the partnerships that help support ECTC will help change lives.

“This is advanced manufacturing with cutting-edge technology, so even with a workforce second to none we knew we would have to rise to the challenge to make sure we could fill all of these good jobs,” Beshear said. “We are facing this head-on with three great Team Kentucky partners: Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, BlueOval SK, and Ford.”

The governor credited BlueOval SK with sparking development in the commonwealth that has revolutionized Kentucky’s image.

“We are the first call that world class businesses are making right now,” Beshear said. “We are the first destination they want to come to. Never a flyover state ever again. Never a place anybody looks down their nose at ever again. We are truly together building a new Kentucky home.”

Beshear recognized the center’s ahead-of schedule completion in part by honoring Trace Creek Construction Vice President David Milam and Superintendent Scott Dalton as Kentucky Colonels. The training center will start onboarding classes in June.

Real ID deadline less than a year away

WQXE News 0 Comments

Kentuckians have one more year to get their licenses upgraded to a Real ID.

Enforcement of the Federal Real ID Act begins on May 7, 2025, after which a Real ID state-issued driver’s license or ID or another federally-accepted form of identification such as a passport will be required for air travel and access to government or military buildings that require ID.

A state-issued Real ID must be requested in person at any of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet’s Driver Licensing Regional Offices. In order to get a Real ID, you must bring one proof of identity document, one proof of Social Security document, and two proof of residency documents.

Kentuckians can renew a driver’s license up to six months before the printed expiration date, and cards can be upgraded to Real ID at any time. Standard issue licenses will still be available and will still be valid for driving and proof of identity or age, but will not be valid for security checks.
A list of valid documents for registering and more information can be found at www.realidky.com.