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Governor Beshear has some strong words about the state's senior U.S. Senator. During a visit to Bowling Green Wednesday, Beshear told WKU Public Radio that he thinks Republican Mitch McConnell symbolizes the partisan bickering and obstructionism that has plagued Washington D.C. recently.

"And of course Sen. McConnell has been a part of that for the past 30 years. It's gotten worse, it hasn't gotten better. And he's gotten to be part of the problem and not part of the solution. So I think people are looking for a change," said Beshear. "We just have to give them a good alternative."

Beshear says he believes Senator McConnell would be "vulnerable" against a strong Democratic challenge next year.

McConnell has said he's ready to defend his record against any challengers during the 2014 Senate contest, and believes the majority of Kentuckians support his efforts to block key parts of President Obama's agenda.

McConnell has been amassing a campaign war chest and staffers to help his re-election efforts. Scott Jennings, a longtime Kentucky GOP operative who is working with two SuperPacs that support McConnell, says the Republican incumbent has attracted a great deal of support based on his legislative work in Washington.

"And I think that's why you're seeing such an early formation of a political apparatus designed to re-elect him, because he's done a good job and he's done right by the state of Kentucky and that's why you have some of these folks doing what they're doing," Jennings recently told Kentucky Public Radio.

Democrats have yet to land a high-profile challenger to take on McConnell next year.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear Wednesday announced a $66 million expansion at Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products in Warren County.

The move includes 100 new full-time jobs and an additional 87,000 square feet at the plant outside Bowling Green, where employees build aluminum suspension products for the automotive industry.

Bowling Green Mayor Bruce Wilkerson said Kobe's announcement is a shot in the arm for the region.

"Kobe has been a great corporate citizen for the past eight years, and we look forward to continuing this relationship long into the future," said Wilkerson. "We congratulate them on their decision to expand here again and send well wishes for their continued growth."

Kobe first opened its Warren County facility in 2005, and currently employs 270 full-time workers.

The Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center is bringing musician Darius Rucker to Bowling Green this summer.  The pop-turned-country artist will headline The Sounds of Independence Music Festival on July 27th.  SKyPAC Executive Director Tom Tomlinson believes Rucker will be a big regional draw.

"I think without a doubt he's one of the biggest names to appear here in a number of years," says Tomlinson.  "He's at least one of the biggest names we've brought here since the opening night with Vince Gill."

The downtown music festival will be a fundraiser for SKYyPAC.  Tickets go on sale Friday to the general public.  The festival will be held outside the SKYyPAC facility and will feature a number of artists, including Justin Rivers from this season of "The Voice."

Kentucky's new exchange for people on the market for healthcare now has a name and  a website.

It'll be called Kynect—pronounced "connect." People can access it at kynect.ky.gov. A phone line will be running in August.

Kynect will be fully operational in time for October open health insurance enrollment.

Once running, Kynect will help Kentucky residents or employers find and compare prices for health insurance coverage. It's part of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Carrie Banahan, the health exchange's executive director,  says the online portal will work much like online shopping.

Federal investigators have concluded that the crew of a cargo ship ignored radioed and visual warnings about lights being out on a western Kentucky bridge in the moments leading up to a wreck. 

National Transportation Safety Board investigators said on Tuesday that the crew of the Delta Mariner used only visual cues and went under the wrong span of the Eggner's Ferry Bridge near Aurora, Ky., in January 2012.  The wreck tore down a 322-foot span of the bridge over the Tennessee River. 

Investigators also concluded that white warning lights on the bridge had been out for several years and other lights shorted out before the wreck.  The missing span halted traffic on U.S. 68 between the western shore of Kentucky Lake and the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area.