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County unemployment rates in December trending higher than a year ago

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Unemployment rates across the Lincoln Trail District continue to trend a little higher than they did a year prior.

The Kentucky Center for Statistics says unemployment rates rose in 115 counties from December 2022 to December 2023, with the state unemployment average for December 2023 reported at 3.8 percent.

All eight counties in the Lincoln Trail District did see unemployment rates come down a bit from November to December 2023, but all eight counties saw increases from rates reported in December 2022.

The unemployment rate for Hardin County in December 2023 was reported at 3.9 percent. That’s down from the 4 percent rate reported the month prior, but up from the 3.4 percent rate reported in December 2022.

Marion and Washington counties tied for the lowest rates in the region at 3 percent, while Breckinridge County posted the highest unemployment rate in the region at 4.6 percent.

The national unemployment average for December 2023 was 3.5 percent.

Visit the Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet online for more information.

KYTC District Four working to fill potholes

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Kentucky Transportation Cabinet District Four is actively working on repairing potholes that sprung open after the recent bout with winter weather.

The KYTC says frigid temperatures and precipitation followed by freezing and thawing cycles, and combined with traffic and snow removal operations, can turn small cracks in the pavement into potholes.

KYTC District Four Public Information Officer Chris Jessie says crews are doing their best, but road repair options are limited during winter.

“Pothole repair is one of the toughest actions our maintenance crews have to perform,” Jessie said. “We can go out and put cold mix in the hole, but we’re really limited to anything else that we can do. Asphalt plants are not open this time of the year, so we’re really dependent upon what we can tamp down as we put that cold mix in there and then traffic kind of compacting it.”

Pothole repair will be a battle throughout the season, so drivers should keep an eye out for them when hitting the roadways.

“With additional winter weather, potentially, by the end of the season, and certainly heavy rain as we’re experiencing here in this forecast stretch, many pothole fills will come back out, and it’s kind of a ‘chasing our tail’ kind of thing,” Jessie said. “We’re doing the best we can.”

Anybody that wants to report a pothole can do so by visiting transportation.ky.gov, go to the “Contact Us” link on the website, and click on “Report Hazard” on the dropdown menu.

You can get updates from KYTC District Four by following the office on social media.

Elizabethtown hosting recovery residence ordinance meeting Monday; Hardin County hosting Comp. Plan open house and Town Hall Forum Tuesday

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Area government officials are inviting the public to several meetings this week.

The City of Elizabethtown is hosting a meeting at 10 a.m. Monday at the Elizabethtown Police Department to discuss the ordinance recently approved by the city council for regulations for recovery residences.

“It’s going to include city administration as well as anybody else that would like to come down there and sit and listen in, and we’re going to invite all of the recovery residence owners in the city of Elizabethtown,” said Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory. “That goes for owners, operators, and even people that own the ground that these recovery centers are located on.”

The ordinance is modeled on state legislation and gives the city some oversight on the facilities, of which there are already more than 150 in the city.

“We’ve had some issues with them, and we want to make sure that they’re doing what they’re supposed to do,” Gregory said. “A lot of them are. We feel that some of them aren’t, but we’re going to have an inspector that’s going to be going in and he’s going to be making sure that they’re following what they call NARR certification, which is the National Alliance for Recovery Residences.”

The meeting is primarily to explain the ordinance to facility owners and operators, but the city also wants to answer questions from the public.

“We know that it’s been an issue with a lot of people,” Gregory said. “A lot of people don’t understand what’s going on and what the regulations are, and what federal law is that kind of handcuffs us on some of the things that we can do, and we’re going to lay all of that out and let everybody understand it and ask any questions that they have just so we can do a better job here in Elizabethtown of handling those folks that are the most vulnerable.”

Meanwhile, Hardin County government has two public meetings happening Tuesday.

“The Town Hall Forum will be here (the Hardin County Fiscal Courtroom) on January 30 at 5:30 p.m.,” said Fourth District Magistrate Fred Clem.” We encourage the public to attend. We will have a little bit of a traffic problem, maybe, that day because that’s the day we’re going to have the open house for the (Hardin County Comprehensive Plan) too. That’s going to be moved down to the second floor, so they’ll be going from 4:30 to 6:30, and we’ll be starting at 5:30. We that encourage that folks to come to the Comp. Plan early come up here and join us at 5:30, and we look forward to having everyone attend that can possibly attend.”

Visit hcky.org for more information.

Fort Knox MWR hosts focus groups to discuss return of summer concert

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Fort Knox MWR is looking to revive the Fort Knox Summer Concert for the first time since 2016, and the decision was made to get beyond the Fort Knox gates for feedback.

“We’re looking to be good community partners,” said Fort Knox NAF Support Services Chief Brian Prokes. “We’re looking for community engagement, and we wanted to get the beat of the community and what they’re looking for for programs that we offer on Fort Knox.”

Participants were asked for opinions on potential artists they would like to see perform at the concert and other logistical decisions such as prices, parking, and experience.

“This was the sixth session that we’ve had, so we had over 100 folks engaged in these focus groups, and we feel like we’ve got a pretty good data set,” Prokes said.

Prokes said Fort Knox MWR wants an event like the concert to be about partnership rather than competition.

“We’re not looking to replace what’s going on outside of our gates, but we’re looking to augment on things that are not necessarily offered in the communities, and so this way with interacting with the folks that are outside the gates we feel like that we’re offering them something and we can be another resource for entertainment for them,” Prokes said.

The feedback from the focus groups puts the selection of a headliner one step closer.

“We’re close to a decision point on who we’re going to tailor our search for for talent, and I expect that in the coming weeks that will be identified and we’ll be full-scale marketing with specific names,” Prokes said.

Fort Knox says all proceeds from the concert “are directly reinvested into quality-of-life programs here at Fort Knox, positively impacting the lives of those who dedicate themselves to serving our nation.”

Juvenile in custody after FBI identifies threat made against Central Hardin High School

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The Elizabethtown Police Department quickly responded to an alleged threat made against Central Hardin High School Wednesday.

At shortly before 10:30 p.m.Wednesday, the EPD was contacted by the FBI’s Threat Assessment Center concerning a threat that had been made toward students of Central Hardin High School. 

“Within five minutes of receiving the initial report, we located and made contact with the suspect,” said EPD Public Information Officer Chris Denham. “Following an investigation, the juvenile suspect was charged with second degree Terroristic Threatening and lodged in a juvenile detention facility.”

Denham said throughout the investigative process officers were in frequent contact with the leadership team from Hardin County Schools, and at no time was the safety of any students or staff compromised.

“This positive outcome is a direct result of open dialogue between our local and federal partners,” Denham said, “I hope it sends a strong message that this type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

Central Hardin Principal Tim Isaacs sent a voicemail out to parents Thursday to tell them that the district takes every potential threat to safety seriously.

“The situation has been investigated and the necessary steps have been taken by law enforcement,” Isaacs said. “Ladies and gentlemen, I truly appreciate our friends at the Elizabethtown Police Department and the FBI for dealing with this threat quickly and immediately. The appropriate consequences will now follow, as with all threats that are made against a school.”

The EPD’s investigation into the incident is ongoing.