Kentucky News Now – Friday April 11th 2014

MILTON-MADISON BRIDGE

Crews complete slide of new Ohio River bridge

MADISON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana and Kentucky highway officials say they've completed sliding into place a nearly half-mile-long bridge over the Ohio River.

The Indiana Department of Transportation said construction crews finished sliding the Milton-Madison Bridge 55 feet laterally Thursday from temporary piers onto five refurbished permanent piers.

INDOT says the bridge connecting Milton, Ky., with Madison, Ind., is now the longest bridge in North America to be slid laterally into place. The $100 million project is a joint effort with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.

The slide began Wednesday morning but was halted due to high winds. It resumed Thursday after contractor Walsh Construction brought in materials to deal with the windy conditions.

INDOT says it will take about a week to complete inspections and finish road connections before the bridge reopens to traffic.

CANNABIS OIL

Beshear signs cannabis oil bill

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Doctors at two university research hospitals can now prescribe oil derived from marijuana or hemp to treat patients.

Gov. Steve Beshear signed SB.124 into law on Thursday. It allows doctors at the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville research hospitals to prescribe cannabidiol to treat patients. Supporters note the oil has been particularly effective in treating seizures in children.

In a news release, Beshear said he signed the bill into law because it only allowed the oil with the permission from a doctor at a research hospital or if someone is participating in a trial administered by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

KENTUCKY REVENUE

Kentucky budget surplus less likely

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's general fund tax revenues increased 2.4 percent in March - enough to ward off a deficit but not enough to promise a surplus.

State Budget Director Jane Driskell announced the state collected $753.5 million in March, a $17.7 million increase from last year. State officials predicted Kentucky's revenues would grow 2.1 percent in the 2014 budget year that ends June 30. For that to happen, revenues must grow 3.9 percent in the next three months.

Driskell said she is confident the state will meet the estimate but said a surplus is becoming less likely.

Road fund revenues increased $22.8 million in March, an increase of 19.9 percent. Road fund collections must increase an additional 2.7 percent over the next three months in order to meet the estimate.

MINE SAFETY

Mining deaths up in 2013, injuries down

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Federal mine safety officials say the number of mining deaths in the nation totaled 42 in 2013, up six from the previous year.

The preliminary numbers were released Thursday by the Mine Safety and Health Administration. It reports that the 20 coal mining deaths last year were unchanged from 2012, but deaths at other mining operations were up by six, to 22.

The 2013 deaths were driven by 15 mining fatalities in the fourth quarter of the year. The overall injury rate dipped to a historic low.

The agency says mining death and injury rates have been on a downward trend. Record lows in both categories were marked in 2011, and dipped further in 2012.

Inspectors issued 118,759 citations and orders in 2013, a 15 percent dip.

UOFL FUNDRAISING

UofL surpasses fundraising milestone

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The University of Louisville has surpassed its $1 billion fundraising goal with a few months to spare before the capital campaign ends.

UofL President James Ramsey says the record-breaking campaign will continue the school's upward trajectory in academics, research and athletics.

Ramsey led a campus event Thursday to celebrate the milestone.

The money raised is earmarked for scholarships, endowed faculty chairs, research and new facilities.

When the fundraising campaign began in 2007, UofL set a goal of $750 million by 2013.

School trustees raised the goal to $1 billion and extended the campaign through June of this year.

Kentucky's public universities have endured a series of state spending cuts in recent years. The two-year budget passed recently by state lawmakers includes a 1.5 percent funding cut for universities in the first year.

HOSPITAL EXPANSION

Expansion at eastern Ky. hospital nearly complete

(Information in the following story is from: WYMT-TV, http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews)

HAZARD, Ky. (AP) — A $47 million expansion project at the Appalachian Regional Healthcare hospital in Hazard is nearly complete.

WYMT-TV reports the new three-story addition called the Joe Craft Tower has 50 patient rooms and 16 ICU beds. It also has a helipad on the top of the tower.

Hazard native Joe Craft helped fund the project with a large donation early this year.

The emergency department on the first floor is set to open next Thursday. The rest of the facility is slated to open later this spring.

Hospital officials say they hope the expansion decreases wait times for patients and serves as a model for other hospitals in the region.