Kentucky News Now

HEALTH OVERHAUL-KENTUCKY

Kynect's first weekendnets more than 1,100 plans

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The governor's office says more than 1,100 people purchased a health insurance plan or renewed their current plan during the first weekend of kynect's open enrollment.

Kynect is the health insurance exchange Kentucky officials set up after the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act. People who qualify can use the website http://kynect.ky.gov to purchase health insurance plans with the help of a federal discount. People can also use the website to sign up for Medicaid.

The second open enrollment period started Saturday and ends Feb. 15. Gov. Steve Beshear said 735 people used kynect to sign up for Medicaid this weekend.

More than 521,000 people used kynect during the first open enrollment period, with about 85,000 of those purchasing discounted health insurance. The rest signed up for Medicaid.

SOLDIER-FRAGGING DEATHS

Military court to hear appeal in fragging attack

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A former U.S. soldier sentenced to death for killing two fellow soldiers and injuring 14 others in an attack in Kuwait will get a hearing before a military appeals court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces in Washington will hear the case of 43-year-old Hasan Akbar on Tuesday. Akbar was a sergeant with the 326th Engineer Battalion of the 101st Airborne Division based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, when he was sentenced to death in 2005 for killing Army Capt. Christopher S. Seifert and Air Force Maj. Gregory L. Stone in Kuwait two years earlier.

Akbar is challenging the performance of his trial counsel.

Akbar is currently at the U.S. Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and is among five ex-soldiers facing a death sentence.

TROOPER SHOOTING

Trooper fatally shoots suspect

SHELBYVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police have identified a man fatally shot by a trooper in Shelby County.

Police say the man was 42-year-old Christopher Horine of Shelbyville.

Police said in a statement that Trooper Eddie Whitworth was dispatched Sunday night to check on a trespassing complaint in Shelbyville. The statement says after the trooper arrived, the suspect began firing a gun from the porch, and then began coming toward the officer.

Police say the trooper returned fire and hit the man, who was taken to a local hospital and pronounced dead. The trooper, a six-year state police veteran, wasn't injured.

The shooting is under investigation.

UTILITY RATES

Surcharge rising for utilities' efficiency plan

(Information in the following story is from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com )

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Public Service Commission has approved a new energy efficiency plan for Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas & Electric that will mean an increase in the monthly surcharge for the conservation program.

The PSC approved continuation or expansion by the utilities of 10 existing programs for residential or commercial customers, such as incentives for high-efficiency air conditioners, heat pumps and appliances. Four programs will be dropped, including mailing free compact fluorescent bulbs to residential customers. A new program will be started that involves using "smart" meters to track details of a customers' usage.

The Lexington Herald-Leader said the plan approved Friday means that a KU or LG&E customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity per month will see a 29-cent increase in the monthly surcharge. That would bring the amount to $3.78 a month for KU customers and $4.68 a month for LG&E customers.

EBOLA-MILITARY

Hagel credits US military with Ebola progress

FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (AP) — Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says there are encouraging signs of progress against the Ebola virus in West Africa, and he says the U.S. military can take some credit for containing it.

Hagel told a group of 101st Airborne Division soldiers Monday that it is too early to say when the U.S. military's Ebola mission in Liberia and Senegal will be finished.

He said, "We're not at the end yet."

Hagel toured the pre-deployment training that is given to soldiers before they go to West Africa. The soldiers are providing logistics and other support there but are not in direct contact with people infected with the virus. Nevertheless, soldiers are required to undergo 21 days of quarantine upon their return.

ELK RESTORATION

Public shows support for W.Va. elk restoration

(Information in the following story is from: The Register-Herald, http://www.register-herald.com )

BECKLEY, W.Va. (AP) — A proposed restoration West Virginia's elk population is drawing support from the public.

The Division of Natural Resources held the first of a series of public meetings on the plan last week at Chief Logan State Park. DNR wildlife chief Curtis Taylor tells The Register-Herald that the meeting drew about 175 people from 15 counties. He says the crowd was overwhelmingly in favor of the project.

West Virginia's last native elk was killed around 1875.

Taylor says the state hopes to bring elk from nieghboring Kentucky to restore the state's herd. He says some elk already are crossing the border. Most are young males that return to Kentucky if they can't find food or companionship.

REYNOLDS AMERICAN-CIGARETTE ALTERNATIVE

Reynolds launching heat-not-burn cigarette

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The nation's second-biggest tobacco company is launching a cigarette that heats tobacco rather than burning it.

Reynolds American Inc. announced Monday it is launching Revo in Wisconsin in early 2015. The cigarette uses a carbon tip that heats tobacco after being lit by a lighter.

The Winston-Salem, North Carolina-based company says it's a "repositioning" of its Eclipse product first launched in the mid-1990s.

Eclipse had minimal success but has remained in very limited distribution and is one of the top-selling brands at the company's headquarters.

Officials have said that the growth of electronic cigarettes has reinvigorated the appetite for alternatives to traditional cigarettes, including products that smokers once considered foreign.

Unlike popular e-cigarettes that use liquid nicotine, Revo contains real tobacco, which could make them more attractive to cigarette smokers.