Kevin Willis

Update at 9:00 a.m.:

A Kentucky State Police dispatcher in Elizabethtown told WKU Public Radio all lanes of I-65 southbound in Hardin County have been re-opened following a Saturday morning wreck that involved a tractor trailer.

The tractor trailer lost control and went through a guardrail, striking several vehicles in the process.

There is no word yet on any injuries resulting from the accident.

U.S. Bank plans to expand its mortgage operations in Owensboro, adding a new facility and 332 jobs to its operations in Daviess County.

The bank’s investment, announced Friday afternoon, comes at a time of increased demand for mortgage services in the area, and represents a $15.2 million commitment. U.S. Bank is the fifth-largest bank in the country, and currently has 1,900 employees in Owensboro.

As part of the expansion, U.S. Bank has been given preliminary approval for $2.8 million dollars in tax incentives through the Kentucky Business Investment program.

WKU has released its 2013 football schedule. Highlights include the opening game against Kentucky in Nashville, a home game versus Navy, and an early fall game at Louisiana-Monroe.

The Hilltoppers will open their first season under new head coach Bobby Petrino Aug. 31 against the UK Wildcats, a team WKU beat last season in overtime at Commonwealth Stadium.

A second SEC opponent follows the opener, with WKU traveling to Knoxville to take on the Tennessee Volunteers Sept. 7. WKU's Sun Belt opener is in week three at South Alabama.

You can see the team's complete 2013 schedule here.

The superintendent of Mammoth Cave National Park says she's prepared to carry out the first cuts that would take place under sequestration. If Congress and the White House don't work out a deal by Friday, all national parks have been instructed to prepare for five-percent budget reductions.

"Those measures would include a variety of things, including not filling some permanent positions, such as the park electrician, and a variety of other seasonal positions," Sarah Craighead told WKU Public Radio Wednesday.

The Barren County native says the first change the public would experience if sequestration happens would be a delay in the opening of Houchen's Ferry, which had been scheduled for March 10th. The ferry shuttles vehicles across the Green River near Brownsville.

Craighead says hiring will be delayed for at least 11 seasonal positions unless a deal to end the sequester happens soon. Some of those seasonal positions would be for cave guides this summer. The Grand Avenue and Snowball cave tours would also end unless a deal is reached.

New data released by the Tennessee Department of Health show that one-third of child fatalities in the state in 2011 could have been prevented. The list of preventable deaths includes those children that died by abuse, murder, drowning, suicide, and suffocation.

The Volunteer State’s annual report on child mortality comes at a sensitive time, as state lawmakers are scrutinizing the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services for its role in investigating child abuse cases where the child later died.

The Tennessean reports children are more likely to die in the state before they reach their 18th birthday than in most other states, surpassing the national average of 52 deaths for every 100,000 children.

Still, Tennessee health officials also noted the 802 children who died in 2011 represent the lowest number of youth deaths reported in the state in five years.