Kentucky News Now

KENTUCKY SENATE

Ky. Senate passes bills in flurry of action

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Senate Republicans have passed bills dealing with abortion, medical malpractice and the prevailing wage in a flurry of action that drew objections from Democrats.

The measures could face long odds in the Democratic-led House.

Senate Democrats accused the chamber's Republicans of hastily ramming through the bills on Thursday.

One measure clearing the chamber would exempt school construction projects from the state's prevailing wage law. Supporters said the bill would ease construction costs for school districts. Opponents said it would lead to pay cuts for some construction workers.

Another bill that passed would set up a panel of medical experts to review proposed medical malpractice claims against health care providers.

The abortion-related bill would require doctors to perform ultrasounds prior to abortions and describe what the procedure shows to pregnant women.

ABORTION

Abortion-related bill clears Kentucky Senate

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Senate has passed a bill aimed at requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds prior to abortions and describe what the procedure shows to pregnant women.

The measure cleared the Republican-led Senate on a 31-5 vote Thursday. The vote came hours after the bill was approved by a Senate committee.

Similar proposals passed the Senate in past years but died in the Democratic-led House.

Republican Sen. Julie Raque Adams of Louisville said Thursday the bill deals with an important women's health issue.

Doctors failing to comply with the bill would face fines of up to $100,000 for a first offense and up to $250,000 for subsequent violations.

Derek Selznick, representing the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky, said the bill is an attempt by politicians to interfere in doctor-patient relationships.

MINIMUM WAGE

House panel passes bill to boost Kentucky minimum wage

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky House committee has approved a bill to increase the state's minimum wage as House Speaker Greg Stumbo renews his push to boost pay for low-wage workers.

The bill cleared the House Labor and Industry Committee Thursday. It's similar to last year's proposal that passed the House but died in the Senate.

This year's bill seeks to gradually raise the minimum wage from $7.25 an hour to $10.10 per hour in July 2017. Stumbo says about 400,000 Kentuckians earn less than $10.10 an hour.

He says many minimum-wage workers are women trying to support their families.

The bill would exempt retail stores, service businesses, hotels, motels and restaurants with annual gross sales under $500,000 per year. Still, business representatives said the bill would be a hardship for employers.

LANDLINES

House committee advances telephone landline bill

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Telephone companies would not be forced to provide traditional landlines to Kentucky's urban areas under a bill that passed a state House committee on Thursday.

The bill would stop requiring companies like AT&T from providing landlines in areas that have more than 15,000 housing units. Hood Harris, president of AT&T of Kentucky, said federal regulations would not allow AT&T to remove existing landlines. And he said the bill would free AT&T to spend more money on increasing high speed Internet access for the state's rural areas.

But opponents say telecommunications trade groups are lobbying the Federal Communications Commission to remove those protections. Kentucky Resources Council Director Tom Fitzgerald said it is too early for lawmakers to remove landline protections because alternative connections often do not work well with home security systems and some health monitoring services.

DUI

Bill would count DUI offenses for 10 years instead of 5

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Drivers convicted of DUI in Kentucky would have it on their record for 10 years under a bill the Senate Judiciary Committee approved Thursday.

It takes four driving under the influence convictions within five years to be charged with a felony in Kentucky. Thursday, state Senators heard testimony from an Elizabethtown couple whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver. The driver had five prior DUI offenses, but because they were more than five years old he was charged with DUI first offense.

In the last year, nearly 24,000 Kentuckians were convicted of a DUI offense. Most of those were for first-time offenses, but 137 were convicted for the fourth time in a five-year period. This bill would likely increase the number of DUI fourth offenses.

CONWAY-CAMPAIGN MANAGER

Democrat Jack Conway hires campaign manager for governor

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Democrat Jack Conway has hired an experienced political operative to manage his 2015 campaign for governor.

It is the second Kentucky campaign for Adam Sullivan, who was the statewide field director in 2007 for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bruce Lunsford. Lunsford lost to current Gov. Steve Beshear in the primary that year. But in a news release from the campaign, Beshear's 2011 campaign manager praised the hire and said Sullivan knows what it takes to win in Kentucky.

Conway said he hired Sullivan because he has a proven record of success. Sullivan most recently worked for former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu in Louisiana and has four successful congressional races under his belt, including a campaign for now U.S. Sen. Kristen Gillibrand of New York.

Conway faces former congressional candidate Geoff Young in the May 19 primary.

NOAH'S ARK PARK-SUIT

Kentucky sued over lost tax incentive for Noah's Ark park

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The Christian ministry building a Noah's Ark theme park is arguing in a federal lawsuit that Kentucky tourism officials violated the group's First Amendment free speech rights by denying an $18 million tax incentive.

The tourism incentive was meant for the Ark Encounter, a theme park plan that will be built around a 500-foot-long wooden ark modeled after the Bible's story of Noah. State officials said in December that the project's mission had changed from tourist attraction to ministry, and denied the benefit.

The Answers in Genesis ministry says in the lawsuit filed Thursday that religious beliefs should not bar the group from participating in the tax incentive plan.

The suit names the tourism cabinet and Gov. Steve Beshear. A spokeswoman in Beshear's office declined to comment.

BUS CRASH-CHEERLEADERS

Bus with Kentucky cheer team hit by driver going wrong way

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A charter bus carrying a high school cheerleading team from Kentucky has been struck head on by a motorist going the wrong way on Interstate 75 in Georgia.

Police say a woman was driving the wrong way in the southbound lane early Thursday when she hit the bus carrying students from Bullitt Central High School. WDRB-TV in Louisville reports three coaches and 29 cheerleaders were aboard the bus, but no one was hurt.

Bullitt schools superintendent Keith Davis says they were on the way to Orlando for a cheer competition.

Officials say 22-year-old Alissa Mills of Atlanta has been charged with driving under the influence and reckless driving. Mills wasn't seriously hurt.

Davis says the team was checked for injuries, then placed on other buses headed to the competition.

MISSING TEENS-CRIME SPREE

Kentucky teen who ran away indicted on crime-spree charges

LEITCHFIELD, Ky. (AP) — A teen who ran away from his Kentucky home with a 13-year-old girl and was later captured in Florida has been indicted on charges related to what police call a two-week crime spree.

A grand jury indicted 18-year-old Dalton Hayes on a dozen charges this week. He faces up to 10 years in prison on a charge of second-degree rape, with no force. In Kentucky, a second-degree rape occurs when an adult has sex with a minor under 14, even if it's consensual.

The grand jury indicted Hayes on two thefts that occurred in early December, before the two went missing. He also faces custodial interference, criminal trespassing and criminal mischief charges.

Police say the teen girl will face charges in juvenile court.