Two big stories topped Hardin Local Weekly this week — and the second one means you don't need Facebook to follow us anymore. HardinLocal.com is officially LIVE. Phil and Rachel did a live screenshare walking through the brand-new website: every Election Interview organized by race with a Find Your Ballot tool, weekly articles for every segment, a searchable archive of every past episode, and a direct email newsletter that bypasses the social-media algorithm entirely. It's the first real Hardin Local website since 2018.

It was also primary election day in Hardin County, and we head into Memorial Day weekend with a full slate — the Gold Star Tribute Wall Traveling Memorial, plus Nate's Business Buzz, Rachel's housing market read, and The Experienced Eater's revisit to Little Charlie's Pizza.

Chapters
0:00 Introduction & Roll Call
5:09 Tektel Sponsor Spotlight (Open)
7:36 HardinLocal.com Website Reveal
16:48 Primary Election GOTV + Memorial Day Tribute Wall
21:23 Memorial Day Icebreaker
26:06 Events with Jon O'Brien
35:08 Business Buzz with Nate Bryan
45:35 Housing Market Update
55:46 The Experienced Eater — Little Charlie's
1:08:26 Closing & Final CTAs
1:12:32 Tektel Sponsor Spotlight (Close)
1:13:52 Shoutouts & Sign-off

In this episode
HardinLocal.com goes live — the first real website since 2018: articles for every segment, an Election Interview library by race, a searchable episode archive, a weekly events calendar, and a direct email newsletter. Built in-house on self-hosted Ghost. Bookmark it: https://hardinlocal.com
Primary day & Memorial Day weekend — strict GOTV coverage as polls closed at 6 PM, and the Gold Star Tribute Wall Traveling Memorial opens Friday 4 PM through Monday 11 AM at the Elizabethtown Nature and Veterans Park (free, hosted by Cameron Ponder VFW Post 12237).
Events with Jon O'Brien — Shakespeare in the Park at Freeman Lake, Ben Palmer comedy at Fort Knox Saber & Quill, The Reckless Strings at Social Food Hall, Super Saturday at the F.A.B. Lab, the Biker Bluegrass Bash, the Memorial Day ceremony at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery Central in Radcliff, and Landon Bagley's annual hot dog throwdown at Flywheel on Monday.
Nate's Business Buzz — the new Kroger Marketplace at Ring Road and Patriot Parkway has a name: Patriot Center at Cox Farm, opening July 9 (hiring event May 30 at the Dolphin Drive Kroger). Publix opening earlier than expected, ANU Face·Mind·Body opens May 26 on Buford Lane, and Bluegrass Meats moves downtown the second week of June.
Housing Market Update with Rachel Brantingham — a strong seller's week: 40 new listings, 34 under contract, 21 closed. Days on market down to 72 (off 23 days year-to-date), ~3.4 months of inventory, rates back to ~6.75%, and luxury homes that had been sitting are finally going pending.
The Experienced Eater — Britten and Michele McDowell revisit Little Charlie's Pizza in Elizabethtown to make the case for the sandwich menu: the Buffalo Chicken Calzone, the Chicken Parm Garlic Knot, and the Reno Sub with a Diablo sauce Britten called "legit."

Episode sponsor: Tektel — managed cybersecurity for local business and AI-Enhanced Cloud Voice. Visit tektel.net or call/text Phil at 270-505-8002. Hardin Local founder Phil Taul is a partner at Tektel.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://youtube.com/watch?v=bLUZL3xv0A8