Louisville’s cost of living is about 11 percent below an average of 306 cities, according to the latest release of the Council for Community and Economic Research (also known as C2ER) Cost of Living Index, reports the Courier-Journal.
Louisvillians get the most value in housing, which is 22.5 percent cheaper here than nationally, according to the index’s latest data covering the first three months of 2012.
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Some motorists might scratch their heads and wonder what’s going on at the intersection of Industrial Road and Foundation Drive in Florence.
Buildings on three of the four corners (the fourth is grass and trees) are emblazoned with the bright orange logo of Mazak, the Japanese-owned machine tool maker that is one of the dominant players in an industry once dominated by U.S. companies – many of which were based some 20 miles north in Cincinnati.
Today Mazak, the first Japanese-owned company to actually make a product in Kentucky, is deeply immersed in its 15th expansion since the company opened its doors in the commonwealth with about 35 employees in 1974.
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Police in Laurel County busted an illegal gambling spot last week, taking numerous gambling machines and equipment along with cash and drugs.
The walls of a back room in a business on U.S. 25, one mile north of London, across from Green Roof Plaza were lined with various gambling machines, accompanied by an ATM machine and nearly $10,000 in cash, the London Sentinel-Echo reports. Sheriff John Root said the gambling facility was located in a strip mall and the facility had been petitioned off for a front office with blinds covering the windows. But once past the front area, entrance into the back room hosted a variety of machines and even a sign boasting the current jackpot.
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The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in April, but only because a big drop in imports offset the first decline in U.S. exports in five months, the Associated Press reports.
The Commerce Department says the trade deficit narrowed 4.9 percent in April to $50.1 billion.
The trade gap remains wide and could weigh on growth in the April-June quarter. A wider trade gap slows growth because it means the United States is spending more on foreign-made products than it is taking in from sales of U.S.-made goods, the AP says.
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