Bowling Green

The leader of a Kentucky LGBTQ-rights group is optimistic another city in the state will pass a Fairness Ordinance by the end of August.

Chris Hartman, executive director of the Fairness Campaign, made the prediction on the heels of the Henderson City Commission adopting a Fairness Ordinance at its meeting Tuesday night.

Hartman said advocates in other cities are encouraged whenever laws are passed that expand legal protections for the LGBTQ community.

Fruit of the Loom says it is cutting about 100 jobs, mostly at its headquarters in Kentucky.

News outlets report the Bowling Green-based company said it is transferring information technology services to Wipro Ltd., an India-based company that specializes in IT, consulting and business process services.

The company said in a news release Wednesday that the transition starts immediately and continues through March. The move will result in the loss of about 100 positions, most of which are in Bowling Green.

The final reading of an LGBTQ protection measure known as a Fairness Ordinance at Tuesday's Bowling Green City Commission meeting failed on a 3-2 vote.

It marked the latest rejection in a statewide effort to have local governments ban discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on gender identity or sexual orientation. The Bowling Green City Commission also rejected the Fairness Ordinance during its first reading at a meeting in April. 

Commissioner Brian "Slim" Nash played a nasty voicemail he received for supporting the measure prior to opening the floor for open comment.

General Motors is making a major investment in the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green. 

Top executives from the automaker held a news conference at the factory on Thursday afternoon to announce that GM is adding a second shift and more than 400 hourly jobs to support production of the new production of a new Corvette model, known as the C8.

Despite criticism from President Trump over GM closing the Lordstown, Ohio plant earlier this year, CEO Mary Barra said GM is committed to keeping production in America.

“Since 2009, we’ve invested more than $22 billion," stated Barra. "In this plant alone, more than $900 million.  We’re investing in this country, creating in good paying jobs, and we’re really proud of that.”

A new program called ‘Fresh RX for Moms’ is for pregnant women who are on Medicaid and seeing a doctor or a certified nurse-midwife. 

The Community Farmers Market in Bowling Green  began the program on July 7. The goal is to provide fresh produce for pregnant women so they maintain good nutrition during their pregnancy.

Community Farmers Market spokeswoman Nikki Gray said it’s a quick and simple process for women to join the program.

“All they’ll need to do is come to the market, show us their ID, as well as their Medicaid card, fill out a short informational survey and then from there they get $20 in tokens each week to spend on fresh food at the market.”

The city of Bowling Green is partnering with Habitat for Humanity on a community of affordable homes. 

There are already nine homes in Durbin Estates west of downtown Bowling Green. The community is being developed by Habitat for Humanity.

The city has designated $500,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds for infrastructure at Durbin Estates.

Brent Childers is Bowling Green's director of neighborhood and community services. He said affordable housing is a challenge in every market.

A new program in Bowling Green is aimed at increasing the diversity of the city’s legal and law enforcement communities.

The Legal Diversity Pipeline Project involves the Bowling Green Police Department, Warren County Courts, a Bowling Green law firm and two local high schools.

About 60 freshmen from Bowling Green High and Warren Central will meet Friday with Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice John Minton, Jr. and U.S. District Judge Robert Stivers, visit the 911 dispatch center at the city’s police department, and tour the Warren County Jail.

An 18-year-old student at Bowling Green High School was arrested Thursday on charges of terroristic threatening.

According to the arrest record from the Bowling Green Police Department, Rosalio Grajeda confessed to being involved in a plan that “would have likely resulted in death or serious injury to students and teachers at the school. He acknowledged that there was a plot to cause harm and confessed to researching past school shootings.”

Police department spokesman Ronnie Ward said no weapons were found and no students or staff were injured.

Grajeda is in the Warren County Reginal Jail.

Bowling Green School Superintendent Gary Fields said in a letter made available to the media Thursday that students reported the potential threat to administrators at the high school.

Friday morning rain has led to flooding in parts of the region, causing some school systems to call off classes, and low-lying areas to be inundated with water. 

A flash flood warning was in effect for Bowling Green and surrounding counties in southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee until Friday afternoon. Water crossed over roadways and heavy winds knocked down trees across some streets.

Warren County Road Division removed 15 trees blocking roadways as of early Friday afternoon.

Bowling Green Warren County Regional Airport has recorded more than five and a half inches of rain. The Kentucky Mesonet, based at Western Kentucky University, recorded rainfall amounts of more than seven inches in Todd and Logan counties.