The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for parts of South Central Kentucky, in effect from Saturday morning through Sunday evening.
Tonight, a strong upper level disturbance will bring a steady and slow-moving bands of moderate rains into the area, which as already received significant rainfal in the past month. Two to three inches of rain is forecast, and could cause some streams and rivers to rise to near flood stage.
A proposed budget for Daviess County includes a $1 million increase in spending on general fund operations, and a two-percent cost of living increase for county employees.
Daviess County Judge-Executive Al Mattingly presented an 87 page document outlining a $23.5 million dollar plan for general fund spending next fiscal year, a nearly 5 percent increase over the current year.
The Messenger-Inquirer reports the new budget keeps property and payroll tax rates at the same levels, and contains one-million-dollars less for the Daviess County Detention Center. The facility has generated more revenue on its one, and that $1 million will instead be freed up for capitol projects.
Mattingly says he’s happy the proposed county budget contains $2.5 million less in overall debt than the current fiscal year, with no new debt taken on next year.
Century Aluminum in Hancock County and Big Rivers Electric Corporation have reached a tentative agreement that will allow the electricity supplier to buy market-priced power for the Hawesville smelter.
The Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reports Century Aluminum also announced today that it is purchasing the Webster County smelter Sebree Works-Rio Tinto Alcan.
The moves appear to at least stabilize the aluminum industry in the northwestern Kentucky region, which employs about 1,200 people.
According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, the Princeton Fire Department reports a semi-truck overturned on I-69/Former WKY PKWY at the 74.2 mile marker Southbound between the Princeton and Eddyville Exits.
I-69 will be closed for at least an hour at this site to allow removal of the truck. The detour will be via KY 91 and US 62 which parallels I-69 in this area.
The crash has damaged the right of way and thrown mud on the driving surface, so there will likely be an extended cleanup effort which will require a lane restriction through the afternoon at this site.
A federal HIV vaccine trial that Vanderbilt University is being halted because of poor results. The nation’s most advanced clinical trial was stopped this week when an independent review discovered that more people who got a vaccine tested positive for HIV than those who received a placebo.
The trial involved 19 cities and had enrolled individuals marketed to people considered at high risk for contracting the virus.
