Local/Regional News

By Tony McVeigh

Frankfort, KY –
With the state searching for ways to generate new revenue, tax amnesty is on the minds of some Senate budget committee members. Previous amnesty efforts have raked in millions of dollars for the state, but Finance Secretary Jonathan Miller says it works best when used sparingly. "Otherwise, you get a system where too many taxpayers just wait for the next amnesty, to pay their taxes."

By Kentucky Public Radio

Frankfort, KY – A recent article in the Lexington Herald-Leader questioned whether some of Rep. Greg Stumbo's business relationships posed conflict of interest problems, since he's now Speaker of the House. Stumbo said they didn't and immediately sought an opinion from the Legislative Ethics Commission.

By Tony McVeigh

Frankfort, KY – Legislative hearings on Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear's budget-balancing plan continue in Frankfort. Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeigh zeroes in on how budget cuts are affecting one particular agency, Kentucky State Police.

By Alan Lytle

Lexington, KY – The Fayette County Health Department has confirmed that a recent case of salmonella has been linked to the nationwide outbreak that has sickened more than 400 people, including three in Kentucky.

By Kentucky Public Radio

Georgetown, KY – The Toyota assembly plant in Georgetown, Kentucky has scheduled additional shut-down days to deal with an inventory surplus. Stephanie Sanders reports.

By Tony McVeigh

Frankfort, KY – After a nationwide search, the Council on Postsecondary Education hired Robert King, former chancellor of the State University of New York, as its new president. King, who headed an Arizona charitable foundation after leaving New York, had until April to report to work in Kentucky, but he's already on the job. "Governor Beshear had made it clear to me when I met with him in December, that the sooner I could get here, the better."

By KPR Capitol News Connection

Washington, DC – The drive to stop global warming is at an all time high in Congress. That could mean a costly tax on electricity from carbon emitting fuels like coal. Congressman Ben Chandler doesn't want to see that happen. He is pushing for Congress to invest money in so called "clean coal" technologies. One idea is carbon capture and sequestration . . . where coal emissions are stored underground.

By Bryan Bartlett

Lexington, KY – Whether he likes it or not journalist and author Terry Anderson is probably best known for the nearly seven years he spent as a hostage in the Middle East. Beginning this week, the former Associated Press Middle East correspondent will teach a mass-media diversity class at the University of Kentucky. Anderson tells WUKY's Bryan Bartlett that his class will emphasize a study of journalism with an international focus.

By Rick Howlett

Louisville, KY – Forty-two year old Mark Johnson was among five finalists for the job. All of

them were given a week's audition during the Churchill Downs fall meet.

Johnson's biggest test will come on the first Saturday in May, when he'll

call his first Kentucky Derby. He's never attended the event, but says he

has long appreciated the spectacle from afar, particularly the playing of

"My Old Kentucky Home,"

By Kentucky Public Radio