Bowling Green is raising its occupational tax rate for the first time in 20 years.

The Board of Commissioners voted 3-2 Tuesday to raise the rate from 1.85% to 2%, effective next January.

The 1.85% figure had sat steady since 2007 when it was brought down from the 2% rate set in 2003.

Commissioners Melinda Hill, Sue Parrigin and Mayor Todd Alcott voted yes on the 0.15% increase. Commissioners Dana Beasley-Brown and Carlos Bailey voted no.

-Jake Moore, Bowling Green Daily News

-Photo: Grace Ramey, Bowling Green Daily News

Replacement named for retiring manager of Bowling Green's Corvette Assembly Plant

The manager of the Corvette Assembly Plant in Bowling Green is stepping down from his role this summer.

Kai Spande announced last week at the NCM Bash that he accepted a buyout offer from General Motors and plans to take early retirement.

GM has tapped Ray Theriault to succeed Spande, effective June 1. A 27-year veteran of the company, Theriault is currently senior manager of EV supplier integration at the automaker’s Spring Hill, TN plant.

-Lisa Autry, WKU Public Radio

-Photo: Bowling Green Assembly Plant

Area students hold signing ceremony for their heavy machine operating careers

Students from Warren County Public Schools and Bowling Green Independent Schools accepted internship and career offers from Scotty’s Contracting and Stone, and Scott & Murphy after a rigorous 8 months of training at the Warren County Area Technology Center.

The seniors that accepted full-time jobs are now certified to operate forklifts, excavators, bulldozers, backhoes, and graders.

This is the program’s first year, but many of the students and organizers of the signing hope that this tradition grows in the coming years. At the signing, the students were joined by teachers, family, and their new coworkers as they signed their contracts, similar to an athletic signing event.

-Derek Parham, WBKO-TV

-Photo: Bowling Green Area Chamber if Commerce

Video: Precision Group Celebrates Groundbreaking of New 82,000 SF Office and Warehouse in Franklin, KY

-Video & Photo: Monarkk Studio