Do you remember all that happened in 2023 locally, from Hopkinsville to Elkton to Clarksville and everywhere in between—don’t worry, because WHOP does, and we’ve put together some Year in Review highlights as we head towards 2024.
There were a lot of problems caused by the weather this year, especially in March and April, as severe storms with extreme straight-line winds and tornadoes caused significant damage in Christian and surrounding counties, including ripping the roof off of the Mixer on Sixth Street, damaging Big Fellaz, the Woody Winfree Fire Museum and downing numerous trees and roof damages to homes across the county, but especially in the downtown areas of Hopkinsville.
Richie Acevedo was on Sixth Street the night severe storms dealt a heavy blow to Hopkinsville, and says they were in his studio praying hard that night on March 30.
The Mixer was set to reopen at the end of the year, and Big Fellaz was able to reopen in the summer, with work still continuing to repair other structures in the city.
Even more severe storms crashed through the county in July, dealing damage to those same areas hit earlier in the year and causing extensive damage at Twin Lakes Campground. Then, in early December, a tornado traced its way through Clarksville, killing four and devastating homes and businesses. That same tornado made its way through Todd County, damaging parts of Trenton and Allensville—luckily, no one was injured in Todd County. Graves County also broke a state record for most rainfall in a 24-hour period in July at 11.28 inches of rain.
Speaking of structures, 2023 had both construction and demolition taking place in it, when the historic Phoenix Building was torn down completely by early November, marking the end of an era. It wasn’t the only building downtown to face demolition, as the addresses of 806, 808, 810 and 812 South Main Street also came down. They at one point housed Lee’s Pool Hall, Woods Pharmacy and the Main Street Café.
On the construction front, bids were accepted to the tune of $109 million—with a total project cost expected to be around $135 million—for the consolidated high school with Christian County Public Schools. The bids were approved by the school board in August and then on September 15, ground was officially broken off of Lovers Lane and Fort Campbell Boulevard where the new Christian County High School will one day stand.
At the ground breaking, Superintendent Chris Bentzel called it more than just a school, saying it represents the future education of the generations to come.
In December, the school board voted to close Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, move the Hopkinsville Middle School students and staff to the MLK campus, move Indian Hills Elementary to the Hopkinsville Middle location, and established a pre-k center and early learning academy at the Indian Hills campus.
The community had its share of tragedy in 2023, especially on March 29, when two Blackhawk HH helicopters collided and crashed in Trigg County during a routine training exercise, killing the nine soldiers on board. They were 33-year-old Warrant Officer Jeffery Barnes of Florida, 23-year old Corporal Emilie Marie Eve Bolanos of Austin, Texas, 36-year-old Chief Warrant Officer Zachary Esparza of Jackson, Missouri, 27-year-old Sgt. Isaacjohn Gayo of California, 25-year-old Staff Sgt. Joshua Caleb Gore of North Carolina, 32-year-old Warrant Officer Aaron Healy of Florida, 30-year-old Staff Sgt. Taylor Mitchell of Alabama, 32-year-old Chief Warrant Officer Rusten Smith of Missouri and 23-year-old Sgt. David Solinas Jr. of New Jersey.
During a memorial sign unveiling at the location of the crash in October, Charlie Company Commander Major Garrett Kuipers said that while one day there will be soldiers who did not know those who died, the surrounding communities will make sure they’re never forgotten.
Then, in November, five service members from Fort Campbell as part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, died following a crash of their helicopter in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during training. One of those was Hopkinsville resident, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Shane Barnes, along with Chief Warrant Officer 3 Stephen Dwyer, Staff Sargeant Tanner Grone, Sergeant Andrew Southard and Sergeant Cade Wolfe.
Christian County had three Commonwealth Attorneys in 2023, after Rick Boling resigned in February—Stephanie Bolen was appointed to that position in early March, and in November, Maureen Leamy won her bid for election to that seat, where she is currently serving. In that same election, Andy Beshear was re-elected as Kentucky’s governor, and the Republican ticket swept the other state offices, including State Auditor, Treasurer, Agriculture Commissioner, Attorney General and Secretary of State.
In spite of a changing Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, there were three murder trials held in the county during the last year—Terrence Stepp was found not guilty in relation to the 2018 King’s Court Motel murder case, Joshua Cotton was found guilty in the 2022 shooting death of Alijah Watts and the murder case against Robert Torian, the man accused in the murder of Terrill Moore, ended in a mistrial. He’s set to go back in front of a jury in February. In Todd County, Billy Jo Faughn was found guilty in the murder of Sarah “Janie” Barrow, after he struck her with a car on Blue and Gray Park Road.
During her time as Commonwealth’s Attorney, Stephanie Bolen called for an investigation by the Department of Justice into what she called unconstitutional and unethical acts in the local justice system.
In October, the Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed the murder convictions of Christian “Kit” Martin, the man serving three life sentences in relation to a triple-homicide in Pembroke in 2015 in the deaths of Calvin and Pamela Phillips, along with Ed Dansereau, after his attorneys appealed the guilty verdicts reached at trial in 2021.
Hopkinsville Police Officer Jeremiah Kline came under scrutiny in August after videos on TikTok surfaced that were found by some residents to have racist and unprofessional implications. Fifteen people spoke at Hopkinsville City Council about the matter, with several calling for disciplinary action. Police Chief Jason Newby, who was sworn in earlier this year, said he was working with their Human Resource Director and City Attorney to update Department policies regarding the use of social media.
2023 also saw a significant amount of economic development locally, especially with Toyota Boshoku announcing in March they would be locating in Hopkinsville, bringing 157 jobs along with their $225 million investment. They then broke ground in early October, with Southwestern Kentucky Economic Development Council Executive Director Carter Hendricks saying it was more than just an investment in the economy—it was an investment in the community and its families.
Work continues on the construction of Ascend Elements, the biggest economic investment in western Kentucky history, and they announced this year that they’d be partnering with SK ecoplant to build a lithium-ion battery recycling facility here, creating 60 new jobs with a $65 million investment.
County and City government unveiled the statue of former Governor Ned Breathitt, a son of Hopkinsville and the Christian County Baptist Association celebrated 100 years in October. The Hopkinsville Rotary Club raised over half a million dollars—$523,671 to be exact—during the 73rd Rotary Auction in April and Christian County Relay For Life raised upwards of $80,000 during their yearly fundraising campaign.
We lost several beloved figures in 2023, including former Christian Fiscal Court magistrate and longtime WHOP Gospel Show host Kenneth Bates. Bates succumbed to a sudden illness in February, and then in August, the Second Street Community Center was renamed in his honor.
At the ribbon cutting, Magistrate Magaline Ferguson says Bates will always be remembered as a brave, compassionate leader in the community.
Also lost to us this year was former Elkton Mayor John Walton, who was involved in nearly every major industrial and economic development for Todd County the last several decades, who passed away in June.
Dr. Wade Kadel, Alfred “Bobo” Cravens and Ben S. Wood III join the list of Christian Countians lost to us in 2023.
There’s undoubtedly something or someone that we missed during this year in review, but we can all reflect on 2023 and what happened locally as we move forward into what 2024 holds for the community. Just know that WHOP will do our best to cover the news in the year to come, just as we have for nearly 84 years.