Kentucky News Now – February 26th 2014

OBAMA-MANUFACTURING-KENTUCKY

2 largest Ky. universities involved in institutes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's two largest universities are involved in two Pentagon-led institutes to boost advanced high-tech manufacturing announced by President Barack Obama on Tuesday.

A center in Chicago will concentrate on high-tech digital manufacturing and design, with manufacturing partners and research sites across the country, including one at the University of Louisville.

The University of Kentucky in Lexington is one of nine universities joining with companies and organizations for a hub outside Detroit specializing in light metal manufacturing.

U of L said being chosen is expected to help its efforts to build an applied science and engineering park on a 39-acre site south of the Belknap Campus as well as help Kentucky manufacturers compete, provide opportunities for students and create jobs.

UK Engineering Dean John Walz says participation will benefit UK as well as the partnership and the state.

HEALTH CABINET

Kentucky Senate OKs cabinet change

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would increase legislative influence over the Cabinet for Health and Family Services in the executive branch.

The measure would create a nine-member board, chosen by the governor and confirmed by the Legislature. The board would select three candidates from which the governor would pick an undersecretary for the cabinet.

Sen. Julie Denton, a Republican from Louisville, is sponsoring the bill. Denton says the bill will bring more transparency to the functions of the cabinet.

Minority Leader R.J. Palmer of Winchester expressed concern that the measure goes too far in micromanaging the executive branch.

The bill passed on a 23-15 vote down party lines and now moves to the House for consideration.

PATENT TROLLS

Kentucky Senate seeks to stop patent trolls

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A bill that would make it harder for companies that hold large numbers of patents to sue for patent infringement when they don't produce the patented goods has been passed by the Kentucky Senate.

Bill sponsor Sen. Christian McDaniel, a Republican from Taylor Mill, calls this process "patent trolling" and says that it can drive up startup costs for small businesses.

McDaniel says patent trolls have created a profitable business model preying on the intellectual property industry.

Opposition to the measure came from Sen. Ray Jones, a Pikeville Democrat. Jones says the measure could allow large businesses to wrest patent ownership from individual Kentuckians by subjecting them to costly litigation.

The measure passed the Senate 31-7 and now moves to the House.

DRUG TRAFFICKING SENTENCE

2 Florida men sentenced in drug trafficking scheme

ROME, Ga. (AP) — Two Florida men have been sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in a drug trafficking conspiracy prosecutors say spanned at least five states.

Prosecutors said Tuesday that 69-year-old Gerald Young of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. was sentenced to 10 years and 58-year-old Rodney Strachan, of Pompano Beach, Fla., was sentenced to nine years in the scheme.

Authorities say the Rossville, Ga.-based drug trafficking operation was centered on recruited runners making monthly trips to Florida to pick up oxycodone pills from Young and Strachan.

Authorities say the drug ring extended to Tennessee, West Virginia and Kentucky and the two were responsible for trafficking hundreds of thousands of oxycodone pills.

Prosecutors say Young and Strachan are the last of 13 people involved in the scheme to be sentenced.

HEALTH OVERHAUL-KY

Ky. health care system not at high security risk

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky is not among the more than two-thirds of states that were rated as "high risk" for security problems related to its computers tapping into the federal health insurance exchange system.

The federal data hub is used to check Social Security, Internal Revenue Service and Homeland Security records to verify key personal information for determining coverage eligibility under the Affordable Care Act.

Federal cybersecurity experts worry that the identified state computer systems could become a back door for hackers and identity thieves.

The Obama administration says the issues have been resolved or are being addressed through specific actions and that no successful cyberattacks have occurred.

KENTUCKY SENATE-CLINTON

Bill Clinton tries to boost McConnell challenger

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton says Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's opposition to raising the minimum wage is reason enough for Kentuckians to replace him with Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, a longtime Clinton family friend.

The former president is lending political muscle to Grimes' bid against the 30-year Senate veteran, known as a fundraising powerhouse and fierce competitor. The speech in Louisville, Ky., Tuesday was Clinton's debut on the 2014 midterm election campaign trail. Clinton said that Grimes' support for raising the minimum wage is evidence that she cares about the middle class. McConnell's opposition, he said, is part of the GOP's strategy to "just pout" when Republicans are not in the White House.

For his part, McConnell pointed out that he's handily defeated other rivals when Clinton has visited Kentucky.

NO PHONE ZONES

Kentucky panel creates 'no phone zones'

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A bill that would restrict the use of cell phones in Kentucky's school and construction zones has cleared its first panel Tuesday.

Rep. Terry Mills, a Democrat from Lebanon, sponsored the bill. Mills says it would be illegal to initiate a call or input a phone number while in one of the "no phone zones."

Current state law forbids texting while driving, but the bill would also increase fines for those found doing so.

The bill was amended in committee to exempt drivers using hands-free devices.

The measure cleared the House Transportation Committee on a 17-3 vote. It now moves to the House for consideration.

INNOVATION DISTRICTS

Kentucky panel OKs alternative school testing

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A bill allowing those Kentucky school districts known as Districts of Innovation to develop new standardized testing models cleared its first panel Tuesday.

House Speaker Pro Tem Larry Clark, the bill's sponsor, says it would affect 10 Kentucky school districts.

Clark says the measure is an outgrowth of the 2012 Districts of Innovation law allowing schools to apply for waivers of regulation as they develop alternative curriculum models.

Clark says his bill builds on this by exempting those schools from statewide assessment testing and allowing them to develop alternative assessment methods that meet state standards.

The bill cleared the House Education Committee on a 23-0 vote. It now moves to the full House for consideration.