Kentucky News Now – July 28th 2015

GOP 2016-PAUL-MONEY

Libertarian donors put up $6 million for Rand Paul GOP bid

WASHINGTON (AP) — Wealthy libertarians are giving big to Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul.

Three super PACs supporting the Kentucky senator say they raised a combined $6 million through June 30.

That's on top of the $7 million Paul's campaign reported raising between his April announcement and the end of last month.

Super PACs have no limits on how much they can raise, but they cannot directly coordinate with the candidate they're helping.

Donors to the super PACs include Jeff Yass, a high-frequency trader and board member of the libertarian Cato Institute, and George Macricostas, head of a data center company called RagingWire.

Paul is one of the expected 17 major GOP candidates for president. The total raised by his campaign and allied groups puts him in the top six for fundraising.

PRESCRIPTION DRUGS-LAWMAKERS

Study sees positive gains from 2012 prescription drug law

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A new study says prescriptions for commonly abused medications and doctor-shopping by pill seekers have decreased since Kentucky passed legislation targeting prescription drug abuse.

The 2012 law expanded the state's prescription drug monitoring system and mandated that pain management clinics be owned by licensed doctors, among other initiatives. Researchers at the University of Kentucky found that the number of opioid prescriptions to people who were doctor-shopping fell by more than 50 percent after the law was passed. Doctor-shopping occurs when a patient receives similar prescriptions, typically painkillers, from multiple doctors.

The study also found that 24 pain management clinics that were not owned by doctors have shut down in the state.

Gov. Steve Beshear, Attorney General Jack Conway and legislative leaders announced the findings at the Capitol on Monday.

BUS WRECK

15 injured when church bus, SUV crash on I-64 in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Fifteen people have been taken to hospitals in central Kentucky after a bus carrying teenagers from a suburban Indianapolis church crashed.

Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton says the wreck happened shortly after 10 a.m. Monday on eastbound Interstate 64 as the 36-passenger bus approached slow traffic from an earlier wreck. Melton says the bus rear-ended a sport-utility vehicle, injuring 13 people from the bus as well as a woman and child in the SUV.

Melton says the injured were taken to Frankfort Regional Medical Center and University of Kentucky Hospital with mostly minor injuries.

The bus was carrying a group from Hamilton Hills Baptist Church of Fishers, Indiana, to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Those who weren't injured were taken to a Frankfort church to await another bus to carry them home.

HUMMINGBIRD FESTIVAL

Land Between The Lakes Hummingbird Festival is this week

GOLDEN POND, Ky. (AP) — Ruby-throated hummingbirds are starting to make their annual journey south for the winter, and Land Between The Lakes National Recreation Area has some events planned.

This week, Land Between The Lakes will host its Hummingbird Festival. Highlights include hummingbird banding demonstrations, a wildlife art show, staff-led programs, a native plant sale, live animal encounters, local wildlife experts and activities for kids. The event runs this Saturday and Sunday with admission set at $7 for ages 13 and up, $5 for ages 5 to 12 and free for children 4 and younger.

On Aug. 15 and 29, the Nature Station opens early for Hummingbird Cafe, with breakfast served while diners enjoy native wildflower gardens and the hummingbird feeding frenzy. Cost is $10.

Other events are set through August.

AG CAMPAIGN-CHILD ABUSE

AG candidate Beshear offers plan to combat child abuse

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Democrat Andy Beshear says he would create a division in the attorney general's office to crack down on child abuse if he is elected as Kentucky's top law enforcement officer in November.

Beshear presented a seven-point plan Monday to combat child abuse. He says Kentucky has one of the nation's highest child abuse rates.

Beshear says the child abuse division would bring together investigators, prosecutors and policy experts. The division would work with local prosecutors and law enforcement to punish child abusers, sexual predators and human traffickers.

The Democrat says state law regulating caretakers should be extended to include summer camps.

His plan also calls for a review of the state's foster care system.

Beshear, the son of Gov. Steve Beshear, is facing Republican Whitney Westerfield in the race for attorney general.

LAWMOWER DEATH-HUBER

Lawnmower accident kills member of Huber farm family

STARLIGHT, Ind. (AP) — Authorities say a lawnmower accident has killed a member of the family that owns Joe Huber's Family Farm and Restaurant.

The Clark County Sheriff's Office says a coroner pronounced Joe Huber III dead at the scene Monday morning after his lawnmower apparently rolled down an embankment and into a pond on his southern Indiana property. It says a neighbor found the 59-year-old Huber under the mower in the pond.

The cause of death was pending autopsy results.

Joe Huber's Family Farm and Restaurant outside Starlight, about 15 miles northwest of Louisville, Kentucky, has been a regional destination for families for more than 40 years. The restaurant seats more than 400 diners.

Huber's father, Joe Huber Jr., died in 2008 after battling acute leukemia at age 74.

RIVER ROAD

Mississippi River counties pool resources to bring tourists

(Information in the following story is from: WPSD-TV, http://www.wpsdlocal6.com)

BARDWELL, Ky. (AP) — Carlisle, Ballard, Hickman and Fulton counties are combining resources to promote tourism along the Kentucky Great River Road National Scenic Byway.

Norma Pruitt is executive director of the Kentucky Great River Road Region Organization, or KYGRRO, pronounced "Kentucky Grow."

She told WPSD-TV she wants to lure people driving from Illinois or Missouri toward Memphis away from Interstate 55 and onto the byway instead. The goal is to have outdoor recreation all along the scenic byway from canoeing in Ballard County, ATV trails in Carlisle County, hiking and horseback riding in Hickman County, to cycling in Fulton County.

New highway signs should be up by the end of the year, and KYGRRO has created a map highlighting more than 120 sites, businesses, and activities in the region.

JOCKEY MOM

Apprentice jockey back in the saddle after giving birth

(Information in the following story is from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — As a new mom, apprentice jockey Ashley Broussard says she knows how dangerous her line of work is. But she also needs to make money to support her 4-month-old son, and one of the things she is best at is riding racehorses.

The Courier-Journal reports the 22-year-old ranked among Penn National's leading riders when she became pregnant last year. Nausea and fainting spells forced her to quit riding before she might have otherwise.

Broussard didn't plan to return to the racetrack. But then she needed a job.

In a first, she was granted a 159-day extension of her apprenticeship by the Kentucky stewards because she was out due to pregnancy. It began June 3, the day Broussard resumed riding. She won her first race two days after her return.