Lisa Autry

Western Kentucky University is making another leadership change in the Potter College of Arts and Letters. 

In an email on Wednesday afternoon to faculty and staff, Acting Provost Cheryl Stevens announced that Dr. Larry Snyder will resume serving as dean effective April 15.  He will finish his term which ends June 30, 2021.

Dr. Merrall Price, who was serving as interim dean, will remain as Special Assistant to the Provost until she begins her role as Associate Dean in Potter College effective July 1. 

Barren County is partnering with a local industry to train jail inmates for life outside the fence.

Johnson Controls is establishing a training program for inmates to become certified HVAC technicians. The company and inmates will work to reduce energy costs in county-owned facilities.

Kentucky Labor Secretary and former Barren County Judge-Executive David Dickerson says the results will be two-fold.

Police in Owensboro are investigating a burglary that occurred at a local school. 

Apollo High School canceled classes on Thursday to allow a thorough search of the building and to investigate the scene. 

According to the Daviess County Sheriff’s Office, the vice principal went to open the school just after 6:00 a.m. when he saw someone run from the building dressed in all black and wearing a mask.  As of late Thursday afternoon, law enforcement was still searching for the suspect.

Economic development opportunities are opening up for Warren, Butler, Ohio, and Daviess counties along the new Interstate 165, formerly known as the William H. Natcher Parkway. 

Governow Matt Bevin joined local elected leaders and business representatives in Bowling Green on Tuesday to celebrate the designation.

The project, announced in 2016, will upgrade the 70-mile corridor between Bowling Green and Owensboro to an interstate spur. 

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and Federal Highway Administration agreed last fall to officially designate the Natcher Parkway as I-165. 

If Kentucky implements new Medicaid rules this summer, hospitals could see their revenue drop by 20 percent.  That’s according to an analysis of hospital finances in states that have approved or pending Medicaid waiver applications. 

According to estimates, about 95,000 Kentuckians over five years could lose health coverage if the state implements Medicaid rules that would require most recipients to work, attend school, or volunteer as a condition of receiving benefits. 

An automotive supplier is leaving Simpson County and eliminating more than 100 jobs. Harman is closing its manufacturing plant that produces amplifiers, speakers and radios for vehicles.

"HARMAN is encountering intense competition and is adapting to the changing dynamics in the automotive industry," the company said in a statement. "While extremely difficult, these actions are necessary and an essential step to ensure the long-term competitiveness of our business."

A judge has upheld a more than half-a-million dollar award in the civil case between U.S. Senator Rand Paul and the neighbor convicted of assaulting him over a yard dispute. 

A ruling issued on Thursday afternoon denies Rene Boucher a new trial.

A jury on Jan. 30 awarded Senator Paul more than $582,000 in damages stemming from the 2017 attack outside his Bowling Green home.  Boucher’s attorney Matt Baker appealed the judgment, claiming the award was excessive. 

Kentuckians are being urged to take 20 minutes in 2020 to fill out their census questionnaire which will directly impact the commonwealth. 

One year from now, the U.S. Census Bureau will start mailing questionnaires to every household in the nation. 

The U.S. Constitution mandates that a census of the population be conducted every ten years to determine the number of congressional delegates for each state. 

Census data is also used to determine how federal money is distributed to states and local communities for things like roads, schools, and health care.

The war in Afghanistan reaches a watershed moment this year when American service members will deploy to fight a war that began before they were born.  Now, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is pressing Congress to approve a bi-partisan bill ending the nation’s longest war. 

With Osama bin Laden dead and Al-Qaeda nearly eliminated, Paul says it’s time to declare victory and leave Afghanistan.

The Bowling Green Republican is co-sponsoring legislation with Democratic Senator Tom Udall of New Mexico that would bring all American service members home from Afghanistan.

While Kentucky hospitals use electronic health records, that data typically stays in-house, but a new partnership is allowing hospitals to share the information with each other. 

The Kentucky Hospital Association and the Kentucky Office of Rural Health have partnered with the company Collective Medical to develop a statewide care coordination network. 

Chief Medical Officer Dr. John Godfrey at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown says the system gives providers real-time information to identify at-risk and complex patients.

More than a decade after his death, a Daviess County family has the medals belonging to their World War II veteran. 

PFC Isaac Taylor of Owensboro was a decorated member of the Army during World War II, deploying to New Guinea and the South Phillipines, among other places.  Over time, those medals became lost. 

After his death in 2007, his family began a quest to replace his commendations with assistance from Senator Rand Paul’s office. 

The Catholic Diocese of Owensboro has temporarily suspended a priest while he’s being investigated on child sexual abuse allegations.

Fr. Joseph Edward Bradley was suspended as the volunteer chaplain at Owensboro Catholic High School after a complaint was received on Tuesday.  The allegation refers to sexual abuse by Fr. Bradley in the 1980s while he was principal at Owensboro Catholic High School. 

A statement from the diocese says the allegation was immediately reported to the local Commonwealth Attorney's Office and the Diocesan Review Board which removed Fr. Bradley from his volunteer role until the investigation is complete.

Western Kentucky University’s Helm Library will no longer be a repository for books and quiet learning.

The library is preparing to close for a remodel that will take about two years to complete.  The $35 million project will transform Helm Library into a place where students, faculty, and staff can eat, study, and socialize. 

A collaboration between Aramark Restaurant Group and University Libraries is reinventing the space to include dining options and meeting areas. 

WKU President Timothy Caboni calls  The WKU Commons at Helm Library the “intellectual hub” of the campus.