Kentucky News Now

OBAMA BUDGET-COAL

Obama's budget includes billions for coal states

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — President Barack Obama's new budget proposal includes more than $3 billion worth of tax credits and other spending to help the Appalachian region recover from the declining coal industry.

The largest new spending would be $1 billion to redevelop abandoned coal mines. The money would go to states and tribes in $200 million increments over five years.

The budget proposal released Monday also includes $20 million from the Department of Labor for states to help workers who lost their coal mining jobs by training them for other professions and $25 million to the Appalachian Regional Commission to help coal communities develop economic development plans.

Republicans in Congress blame Obama's energy policies for the job losses in coal states. Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pledged to continue to fight those policies by joining the budget subcommittee that oversees the EPA's budget.

CLEANING UP BROWNFIELDS

Cleanup grants available for brownfield sites in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky communities can apply for grant money to help clean up brownfield sites.

Officials with the Kentucky Brownfield Redevelopment Program say $182,000 is being released to assist with cleanup projects in the state.

Brownfields are properties that are abandoned or underutilized due to real or perceived environmental contamination. The sites can include old factories, former gas stations, mine-scarred lands and abandoned dry cleaning establishments.

Officials say that in the new round of grants, applicants can seek up to $50,000 for an eligible hazardous waste or petroleum contamination cleanup project. Applicants can include local governments, nonprofits and quasi-governmental agencies.

Application documents can be found on the Kentucky Brownfield Redevelopment Program website at http://dca.ky.gov/brownfields/Pages/Cleanercommonwealthfund.aspx .

Funding announcements will be made in April, and projects will start in July.

HEALTH CARE COMPANY

Health care company picks Louisville area for headquarters

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A health care company has chosen suburban Louisville as the site for its headquarters.

State and local officials say OncoMed Specialty is expected to create up to 150 new jobs and invest $2 million in the project to open its headquarters in Jeffersontown. The company provides oncology and hematology pharmacy services.

The company plans to locate its headquarters in the PharMerica building on Campus Place, near Bluegrass Parkway.

The new headquarters will be operational this summer.

The recent announcement was made by Gov. Steve Beshear and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer.

HCA-CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

HCA appoints new chief operating officer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Nashville, Tennessee-based HCA has a new chief operating officer.

The company recently appointed Sam Hazen, a 32-year veteran of HCA.

Hazen has served as president of operations for HCA since 2011, overseeing the operations of the company's 166 hospitals and 113 freestanding surgery centers, domestically and in the United Kingdom.

Hazen has also served as chief financial officer for hospitals in Georgia and Nevada, and as a regional CFO in Kentucky.

Before that, he served in a number of leadership roles at the company, most notably as president of HCA's Western Group. In that role, he was responsible for seven divisions and 63 hospitals in nine states.

CENTRE-DONATION

Centre College announces $20 million gift

Centre College has landed a $20 million gift as part of an ongoing $200 million fundraising campaign that would approach the amount of a single donation the liberal arts college thought it was receiving but ultimately lost out on.

The nearly 1,400-student college in Danville, Kentucky, said Monday that the $20 million gift given by an anonymous donor will help create a new full-ride-plus scholarship program. It's the lead gift for the $40 million scholarship program that will support 40 students by the fall of 2019.

Centre says its fundraising campaign will end in 2019, the 200th anniversary of the school's founding.

The school lost out on a $250 million donation that was withdrawn in 2013. The all-stock gift would have been one of the largest gifts in U.S. higher education history.

CINCINNATI BRIDGE-CRASH

Multi-vehicle crash blocks access to bridge over Ohio River

COVINGTON, Ky. (AP) — A multi-vehicle accident on an interstate highway has injured at least four people and blocked access to an Ohio River bridge between northern Kentucky and Cincinnati for about three hours.

Media outlets report a car was crushed under a tractor-trailer and another truck overturned just south of the Brent Spence Bridge in Covington, Kentucky, where Interstates 71 and 75 run together. Kenton County dispatchers said they had no details on what caused the Monday afternoon accident or the extent of the injuries.

Traffic was backed up south into Kentucky for several miles before the accident was cleared during the evening commute.

TOBACCO STORIES

Project collects tobacco stories

GLASGOW, Ky. (AP) — An online oral history project has finished a project to collect stories about tobacco from south-central Kentucky.

The Glasgow Daily Times reports those who grew the crop and those who worked in warehouses that sold it were interviewed for the project, which began in 2013. Officials in Horse Cave's cultural district invited the Kentucky Folklife Program at Western Kentucky University to collect the stories.

Ken Russell, treasurer of the cultural district, said tobacco is an important part of the city's history, so officials wanted to make sure the stories were recorded so they could be shared with tourists and future generations.

The recordings were added to the Horse Cave Stories website, http://horsecavestories.com .

ONLINE GUN PERMITS

Ky. accepting online concealed-carry permit applications

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Gun owners in Kentucky can get permits to carry concealed weapons under a new online application process.

The Courier-Journal reports that the process requires state police to either issue or deny a license within 15 days of receiving an electronic application. That's quicker than the 60-day processing period allowed for paper applications.

Supporters say the change improves access to concealed-carry permits at a time when demand is high. The newspaper reports that Kentucky issued more than 59,500 permits in 2013, compared with 10,900 in 2004.

Critics say it endangers the community and invites more opportunities for violence.

Applicants still must complete an in-person training course on Kentucky law and gun safety. They also must pass a background check.

State police are still accepting paper applications.

HEALTH OVERHAUL-STUDY

Study examines impacts of Medicaid expansion

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Consultants are finishing a report that examines how Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act has impacted Kentucky's health care system.

The Courier-Journal reports the Cabinet for Health and Family Services plans to release the study in coming weeks. The report is expected to explore issues including provider reimbursements, uncompensated care, job creation, tax revenue and future enrollment projections.

In the year since Kentucky enacted expanded Medicaid, enrollment has climbed from about 850,000 in 2013 to nearly 1.2 million.

Advocates and critics of the law both say they are looking forward to seeing results of the study, which is being done by Deloitte Consulting, as well as Aon Consulting and the University of Louisville.