Kentucky News Now – June 16th 2014

Ohio River pedestrian bridge's formal opening set

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A popular pedestrian bridge across the Ohio River will have its formal opening next week.

Half of a parade beginning in Jeffersonville, Indiana, and half beginning in Louisville, Kentucky, will meet in the middle of the Big Four Bridge on June 25.

The Courier-Journal of Louisville reports (http://cjky.it/1oVBbju ) Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer will lead the Kentucky units. Jeffersonville Mayor Mike Moore will head the Indiana group.

More than 500,000 pedestrians and cyclists have been recorded on the bridge since measuring began a year ago. The Kentucky ramp opened in February 2013 and an Indiana approach opened last month.

The renovation of the bridge cost Kentucky more than $12 million and Indiana about $10 million.

Murray State offering new master's degree

MURRAY, Ky. (AP) — Murray State University will offer a new graduate-level program in sustainability science this fall.

The school says the decision to offer a new master's of science degree in sustainability science comes as students show an increased interest in a cleaner earth and a healthier environment.

Robert Pervine, the school's associate provost for graduate education and research, says the program will include mandatory core courses and electives.

The school says elective courses will be in agriculture, chemistry, biology, mathematics, geology, occupational safety and health and education.

Pervine says the program can be tailored for a variety of interests, including environmental or agricultural sustainability.

Garden party planned at Governor's Mansion

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Governor's Mansion Centennial Celebration is hosting a Summer Solstice Garden Celebration next weekend.

The June 21 event will include several sessions featuring experts in horticulture, garden design, culinary arts and entertaining.

There will be a breakfast session hosted by Kentucky floral designer Roiann Ridley and lunch session hosted by chefs Christopher Hirscheimer and Melissa Hamilton.

Other sessions will feature Katy Moss Warner, president of the American Horticultural Society; Stacy Hirvela, former garden editor for Martha Stewart Living and bestselling garden author; and Beth Sebastian, Kentucky Governor's Mansion floral designer; among others.

The event will take place at the Kentucky Governor's Mansion from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. with a continental breakfast and lunch provided.

Stivers making trip to western Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers is taking a trip to western Kentucky to hear more about issues important to the region.

The Republican lawmaker from eastern Kentucky says it's important to visit other areas of the state.

Stivers is scheduled to meet with business and community leaders during the trip beginning Monday.

He will be in Bowling Green on Monday for a visit that will include a tour of Western Kentucky University's health sciences complex.

The Senate's top leader will be in Hopkinsville on Tuesday, followed by visits to Cadiz, Eddyville, Murray, Hickman, Clinton and Mayfield on Wednesday. The tour goes to Paducah on Thursday and Owensboro on Friday.

NKU tries to fill need for small-town lawyers

HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. (AP) — Northern Kentucky University has started a new program to help connect graduates of its Chase College of Law with opportunities in small cities.

The Kentucky Enquirer (http://cin.ci/Uou76d) reports that officials at NKU say they hope the regional placement program leads graduates to make choices similar to those of Heather Tackett, who graduated in 2012, served a year at Legal Aid in West Virginia, then started the Children's Law Center in Berea.

The school says residents of some small towns and farming communities don't have easy access to basic legal services and the hope is that the new program helps bring about change.

The move comes as the number of legal jobs decrease and schools, including Chase, are cutting enrollment.

Gearheads, gawkers drawn to 'Vette museum sinkhole

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (AP) — For years, just enough classic car lovers and curious travelers wandered through the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky to keep the doors open. Now, after a massive sinkhole swallowed eight pristine models of vintage muscle, attendance has skyrocketed.

And visitors are as eager to peer into the chasm as they are to see the 'Vettes, if not more so.

Museum spokeswoman Katie Frassinelli says the response has been bigger than anyone imagined.

In the months since the earth opened up in February, business has shifted into over-drive.

Since reopening after a one-day closure, attendance is up nearly 50 percent from the same period a year ago. Sign-ups for museum memberships are rising fast. And the merchandising has started, with sinkhole-related shirts, postcards and prints.

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