Hardin Local Weekly E33: White Mills Days & Off The Clock

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What We Covered This Week

Six hosts on screen, one of them standing on a roof in August heat holding a phone. That is roughly the shape of E33.

The week belonged to White Mills. The 51st annual White Mills Days lands Friday and Saturday, and it is the payoff on a drumbeat that started back in E30 when Laura Nall came on to walk us through it. Jon gave it the time it deserved, right down to the pedal pull registration and the fact that there is a lifeguard on duty at the swimming.

But the segment people will talk about is Nate's. He took Business Buzz out of the studio entirely and reported live from inside Off The Clock, a bar that has not opened yet, on the second floor of a building most of us have parked underneath for years. The rooftop up there holds around fifty people, and it has been sitting above downtown Elizabethtown quietly waiting for somebody to point a camera at it.

Rachel's housing update carried the sharpest single line of the hour, which is that buyers have changed the question they are asking. Britten was live in studio rather than video-only, testing a restaurant on the thing that actually matters. Jon and Phil introduced the statewide show we have been building. And Phil took a few minutes to say something plainly about our own comment section that was not comfortable but needed saying.

In This Episode

After the Flock Report: Our Comment Policy

Phil Taul

Our Flock camera special report drew close to 7,000 comments, more than 100 of which crossed into threats, slurs and attacks on neighbours, and they stayed up for nine days before a viewer flagged them. Phil addresses what happened, the eleven comments we had hidden by mistake and have restored, and where the line sits from here.

Hardin County This Week

Hardin County This Week — with Jon O'Brien

White Mills Days turns 51 this Friday and Saturday, and Jon has the whole two days: Touch a Truck, the Hog and Husband Calling Contest, the fourth annual rubber duck race on the Nolin River, a free concert and fireworks Friday, then the bike ride, parade, barbecue chicken dinner and car show Saturday. Plus a Michter's tasting at Cavern Club on Wednesday and NWTF Jake's Day, free for every kid 16 and under.

Nate's Business Buzz

Nate's Business Buzz

Nate went live on location from inside Off The Clock, the new elevated cocktail and curated bourbon spot opening this month on the second floor of The Assembly, above the Social Food Hall. Owners Cameron Davis and Todd gave him the tour before the doors open, including the rooftop space that holds around fifty people and the separate outside entrance you will actually use.

Hardin County Housing Market

Hardin County Housing Market — with Rachel Brantingham

Homes under contract jumped from 15 to 28 in a single week, an 87 percent increase, on 408 active listings and about 3.9 months of inventory. Rachel's read is that buyers are no longer asking whether they like a house, they are asking whether it is a good investment, and the five price tiers underneath the county average tell five different stories.

The Experienced Eater

The Experienced Eater — Britten & Michele McDowell

Britten was live in studio with a revisit to Sabor Cubano in Radcliff, the Cuban and Puerto Rican counter service spot he first covered at its grand opening. His test is whether a place is better in month six than it was in month one, and the braised beef, the Cuban sandwich and the empanadas made his case.

Event Spotlight: Bourbon Local

Event Spotlight — Bourbon Local

In place of the usual guest interview, Jon and Phil introduced Bourbon Local, a statewide show built on the Hardin Local model with bourbon as the connective thread. Hosted by Jessica Zimlich, Jon O'Brien and Phil Taul, the pilot airs Sunday, August 16 at 9:00 PM Eastern on Facebook and X.

Episode Highlights

"They're not simply asking, do I like this house? They're asking, is this a good investment? And those are two very different questions." — Rachel, Host

"Nate is live at Off The Clock, the newest and hippest spot that they allowed me to invade." — Nate, Business News

"It is something that you've seen all the time when you park here, but you don't really recognise until you're here." — Nate, on the rooftop

"You want to see the product in month five or six be better than the product in month one or two." — Britten, The Experienced Eater

"Come at the cameras. Come at the police. Come at us and our reporting. Blunt as you want. That stays up." — Phil, Creator