Bardstown police officer Jason Ellis has been buried at a Nelson County cemetery following an emotional funeral service Thursday.

Ellis was shot to death last Saturday after he got out of his cruiser to pick up debris on the Bluegrass Parkway in Nelson County. The murder remains unsolved, with investigators not publicly identifying any suspects or motives in the case.

Hundreds of mourners--many of them police officers from across the state and nation--came to Bardstown Thursday for Officer Ellis' funeral. Friends remembered Ellis as a fun-loving family man who was proud of his work taking drugs off the street with his canine partner.

During the funeral service, a friend spoke of Ellis' previous life as a minor-league baseball player who decided to hang up his cleats and pursue law enforcement once he got married and became a father.

Ellis leaves behind a wife, Amy, and two sons, ages six and seven.

Meanwhile, a Louisville businessman is giving $50,000 to a reward fund set up to find the person or persons responsible for killing Officer Ellis.

Gus Goldsmith is also giving $10,000 to a fund to help the Ellis family.

Goldsmith says Ellis' death "hit home". Goldsmith's brother was murdered during a pawn shop robbery 38 years ago, and police never found the killer.

Gov. Steve Beshear joined local and company officials Wednesday in announcing that Gibbs Die Casting is expanding operations at its world headquarters in Henderson, adding 160 jobs and investing more than $22.8 million.

Gibbs Die Casting, established in 1965 and owned by Koch Enterprises, has grown into one of the world’s largest die casting companies, operating eight factories for aluminum and magnesium casting, machining, assembly and die building with facilities in Hungary, Brazil and China. The Henderson facility currently employs more than 560 people.

The expansion project includes adding new manufacturing lines for eight-speed transmission parts and rear axles for the automotive industry.

Three former officials at an eastern Kentucky mine where a coal miner was killed in 2011 have been fined in federal court and ordered to spend time on probation for violating federal mine safety standards.

U.S. District Judge Gregory van Tatenhove scheduled a hearing to determine whether to impose a fine for Manalapan Mining Co.

The men were supervisors at Manalapan's P-1 Mine in Harlan County during a June 2011 underground collapse that killed miner David Partin.

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence pledged Wednesday that a new Ohio River bridge east of Louisville will be built under budget and on time, as decades of talk is turning into action with construction starting on the span that will connect Indiana and Kentucky.

Standing on a bluff overlooking a wide stretch of river where the East End Bridge will go up, Kentucky and Indiana officials applauded the cross-river cooperation that overcame financial obstacles for a project that has been discussed since the late 1960s. Pence said the bridge, carrying a construction price tag of $763 million, will promote job growth and opportunities that play to the region's strengths.

"It was a dream that two states could come together, could put aside regional competitiveness and political differences and accomplish something that would benefit all of the people of our region," Pence said. "Today that dream is finally beginning to become a reality."

After months of site preparation and pre-construction work, crews will begin actual construction work next week, officials said.

A slain Bardstown police officer will be laid to rest Thursday, even as the person responsible remains undetected.  Colleagues will bury Officer Jason Ellis who investigators say was ambushed on the job. 

The 33-year-old Ellis was on his way home from work Saturday morning when he stopped to move debris on the Bluegrass Parkway in Nelson County.  He was shot multiple times after getting out of his cruiser.  Bardstown Police Chief Rick McCubbin believes Ellis was targeted, saying the planning and execution of the attack was "methodical and precise." 

Compunding the sadness of Ellis' colleagues is the fact there remains no suspects or motive for the crime.  Chief McCubbin says he will not rest until there is justice.

"The happiest day will be, cause this is certainly the worst day, but the happiest day will be when we've got this person or persons, in whatever fashion we get them.  We will get them," says McCubbin emphatically.

Ellis leaves behind his wife and two sons, ages six and seven.  Following the funeral Thursday morning, a procession will go through Bardstown on the way to the cemetery for the community to pay respects along the route.  

The Fraternal Order of Police has set up two accounts at a local bank.  Wilson and Muir Bank and Trust is accepting donations to a memorial fund for the officer's family and a reward fund for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

Henderson County is the recipient of $1.4 million in grants aimed at improving recycling efforts in the region.

More than $900,000 will go towards the Tri-County Alliance Recycling Center, which covers Henderson, Webster, and Union counties. The Center’s goal is to reduce the amount of recyclables that are dumped in area landfills.

The new funding will go to create one large, centralized recycling center that will collect, process, and market recyclables. The new 3,000-square-foot recycling center is currently under construction in Henderson.

As part of the grants announced Wednesday, the Hugh Edward Sandefur Training Center is receiving $500,000. The nonprofit serves Daviess, Henderson, Union, and Webster counties and provides employment training to those with disabilities.

The Center recently signed an agreement to reclaim and recycle electronic waste in western Kentucky and southern Indiana.

A new online advertisement from U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's reelection campaign focuses on the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS—an issue the campaign says it's not going to let slip out of the public discourse.

The nearly three minute ad uses speeches from McConnell on the IRS issue before it became a national controversy, as well as media reports and testimony from IRS officials to Congress.

It also includes a sound bite from former President Richard Nixon speaking in an interview he did on the Watergate scandal during his term as president—a comparison between Nixon and President Barack Obama.

In an interview, McConnell campaign manager Jesse Benton says that  neither the senator nor his campaign will allow the IRS targeting to stray too far away from the 24/7 news cycle nationally or in Kentucky.

Kentucky State Police say mowing crews discovered a woman's body along Interstate 65 in Hardin County Wednesday morning.  Trooper Norman Chaffins says the body was found on northbound I-65 in a grassy area near the 99 mile marker. 

"We do know the body had been there for some time.  We don't know the exact time the body had been there.  That's something we'll determine with some accuracy once the body has been examined by the medical examiner," said Chaffins.  "Once we get a description of the body, we'll be able to put that out and compare with any missing persons reports."

Investigators do suspect foul play.  As police process the scene, the right lane of I-65 from mile marker 98 to just pass mile marker 99 will be closed for several hours.

Former Miss America Heather French Henry has voiced her displeasure with a GOP statement calling her a "bottom-of-the-barrel pick" to run for U.S. Senate against Republican Mitch McConnell.

French Henry said in a blog post that she'll make a decision on the race soon.

Republican Party of Kentucky spokeswoman Kelsey Cooper made the statement about French Henry last week when she announced that she is considering taking on McConnell.

French Henry likened the behavior of politicians to children, and said they need to get "a real time-out."

Several Democrats have been mulling a run against McConnell, including Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes and former Democratic Party Chairman Bill Garmer.

Actress Ashley Judd, a former Kentucky resident, had considered a run, but decided earlier this year against it.