06-04-2025
Bourbon Trail sees 2.7 million visitors
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail saw a record 2.7 million visitors last year as it celebrated its 25th anniversary.
In Owensboro, Green River Distilling more than doubled its number of visitors from 8,142 in 2023 to more than 16,000 last year.
The Kentucky Distillers' Association said visitors to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail came from all 50 states and more than 20 counties on six continents.
Today, the trail has more than 60 distilleries.
The report said that 62% of visitors have incomes above $100,000 and 76% were from outside of Kentucky.
It said that most spend three to five days in communities with a distillery and spend between $600 and $1,400 on dining, entertainment, lodging and transportation.
The report said that last year the Trail saw a surge of visitors from states including California, Colorado, Florida, Louisiana, New York and Pennsylvania.
• That indoor sports complex at 500 W. Third St. that we've been talking about for a couple of years now is moving forward.
Envision Contractors picked up a building permit for a $10.8 million, 94,599-square-foot building.
The total cost is expected to be $16.579 million.
The building will have seven full-sized basketball courts that can be converted for use as volleyball, pickleball or other sports and have an area suitable for futsal, a mezzanine, concessions and offices.
• After months of rising unemployment rates, some counties, like Daviess, are seeing falling rates.
The state reported this week that unemployment rates rose in 83 counties, fell in 33 counties and stayed the same in Grant, Graves, Knox and Pulaski counties between February 2024 and February 2025.
Woodford County had the lowest at 3.9%.
Magoffin and Wolfe counties had the highest at 11.1%.
In this area, Daviess reported a rate of 5.1%, down from 5.2% in both this January and last February.
Hancock was at 6% in February, down from 6.4% in January but up from 5.3% a year earlier.
McLean saw a rate of 5.7%, down from 5.8% in January and 6% the previous February.
Muhlenberg reported 7.1% in February, down from 7.3% in January and 7.5% a year earlier.
And Ohio saw a rate of 6.9% in January, down from 7.2% in January and 7.1% the previous February.
• The Owensboro Convention Center is a nominee for Meetings & Conventions and Successful Meetings magazines' ninth annual Stella Awards as the Best Stand-Alone Facility in the Midwest Region.
The center has won one of the awards in each of the past eight years.
Voting is open now through May 2.
They can be cast at
• Shorter people can now ride Holiday World's Thunderbird roller coaster.
The theme park has lowered the height requirement from 52 inches to 48.
The Thunderbird opened in May 2015 with the 52-inch requirement.
But the manufacturer has since lowered it to 48 inches and the theme park agreed.
Leah Koch-Blumhardt, director of communications and a fourth-generation owner of the park, said, 'We strive to choose attractions the whole family can ride together, so this was exciting news. However, we do apologize to all the parents who were planning to use the 52-inch height requirement as motivation for their children to eat their veggies this year.'
Holiday World will open on May 10 and Splashin' Safari will open a week later.
