Kentucky News Now – March 19th 2014

House panel approves $4.5 billion road plan

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky House budget committee has approved a plan to spend $4.5 billion on road construction during the next two years.

The plan includes $1.26 billion of state money and $2.5 billion in federal dollars. Lawmakers trimmed about $800 million from Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear's initial proposal.

The state money includes an extra $107 million from an increase in the gas tax House Democrats approved last week.

Most Republicans on the committee voted against the road bill. House Minority Whip John Carney accused Democrats of cutting projects in Republican districts to punish the minority party for voting against the gas tax increase.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said he expects the road bill to pass the House either Tuesday or Wednesday.

RAND PAUL-2016

Election bill benefiting Paul passes Ky. Senate

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Republican Rand Paul could run for president and another Senate term at the same time under a bill passed by the Senate in his home state.

Paul is weighing whether to run for president in 2016 or focus solely on re-election to his Senate seat.

The legislation would clarify that current Kentucky law preventing someone from running for multiple offices does not apply to people running for president or vice president. The bill passed the GOP-led Kentucky Senate on a near party-line 25-13 vote Tuesday.

The bill could face an uphill struggle in the Democratic-led Kentucky House.

Paul senior adviser Doug Stafford said the state Senate's vote is a step forward in clarifying that Kentucky law does not apply to federal elections.

COAL INCENTIVES

Bill would allow coal sector to seek incentives

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A House panel has advanced a bill that would allow Kentucky's coal industry to apply for economic incentives doled out to other businesses.

The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee approved the measure Tuesday.

The bill would allow coal mining or processing companies to seek approval for various tax incentives rewarding job creation and investments.

Its sponsors include Democratic House Floor Leader Rocky Adkins and House Speaker Greg Stumbo.

Adkins says the bill aims to help reverse job losses in Kentucky's struggling coalfields.

Thousands of mining jobs have been lost in the state's Appalachian coalfields.

Under the bill, coal-related companies would apply for the incentives like any other businesses.

SCHOOLS-ACCOUNTABILITY

Bill to strengthen school accountability advances

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A bill aimed at strengthening accountability standards for Kentucky's school districts is advancing in the General Assembly.

The Senate Education Committee approved the House-passed measure Tuesday, sending it to the full Senate.

The bill would require school finance officers to make monthly reports to local school boards and provide annual reports to the state Education Department. It also would increase training for some school board members.

Another section would require state education officials to set minimum qualifications for school finance officers.

The bill comes in the wake of audits that uncovered problems in some districts. State Auditor Adam Edelen has said his office found hundreds of thousands of dollars abused and misspent in school district audits in the past year and a half.

MISSING WOMAN

Trial begins for woman in Richmond slaying

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — The trial has begun for a Richmond woman charged in the 2011 slaying and dismemberment of her ex-boyfriend's wife.

Media reports say attorneys gave vastly different accounts of what happened during opening statements Monday in Madison Circuit Court.

Prosecutors said Christina Marcum is a "masterful manipulator" and conspired with Jason Singleton to kill his wife, Angela Frazier Singleton.

Defense attorneys said Singleton acted alone to kill his wife. They said Marcum witnessed the slaying, but didn't help and didn't go to police because she feared she might be targeted.

Singleton pleaded guilty to complicity to murder in May and is serving a 30-year sentence.

Investigators found Frazier-Singleton's body in trash bags Jan. 19, 2011, about a week after she was last seen alive.

BUS STABBING

Louisville boy stabbed on bus dies of injuries

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A 14-year-old Louisville boy who was stabbed on a city bus over the weekend has died from his injuries.

The Courier-Journal reports that Me'Mequale Offutt died from his injuries on Tuesday afternoon He was stabbed in the heart on a bus near Broadway and 28th Street early Sunday morning.

He was placed in a medically induced coma at University of Louisville Hospital and suffered seizures, community activist Christopher 2X said Monday.

A 13-year-old girl who was also stabbed during the incident was in stable condition at a local hospital Tuesday.

Anthony Rene Allen has been charged with two counts of assault and tampering with physical evidence. Police say he ran from the bus after the incident but was arrested five blocks away.

WHISKEY WAR-TENNESSEE

Tenn. lawmakers to consider efforts to change legal definition of Tennessee whiskey

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The owner of the Full Throttle moonshine distillery wants to add Tennessee whiskey to his product list. But Michael Ballard doesn't want to have to make his spirits in the style of Jack Daniel's, the world's most famous Tennessee whiskey.

Ballard says a state law enacted last year to establish a legal definition for Tennessee whiskey hurts his ability to grow his business located in Trimble in northwestern Tennessee.

Ballard and Jesse James Dupree, the Jackyl lead singer who is building a distillery next to the Full Throttle facility, plan to attend legislative hearings Tuesday on dialing back the Tennessee whiskey rules, which include proposals to do away with rules requiring charcoal filtering and storing whiskey only in new oak barrels.

Jack Daniel's is fighting the proposed law change.

NCAA-E KENTUCKY

No. 15 seed E. Kentucky preparing for No. 2 Kansas

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Eastern Kentucky's chances of upsetting second-seeded Kansas in Friday's South Region game depend on whether its seasoned, guard-heavy lineup can continue forcing mistakes.

The 15th-seeded Colonels (24-9) will need everything clicking to beat the Jayhawks (24-9) and earn their first tournament victory in eight tries. Guard Glenn Cosey and five fellow seniors must slow down a Kansas offense featuring heralded freshman Andrew Wiggins and maintain the offensive consistency that helped clinch the Ohio Valley Conference tournament title.

Scoring isn't an issue for EKU, which has matched or exceeded its 79-points-per-game average five times while winning seven straight. But beating the heavily-favored Jayhawks could require at least that many points along with the Colonels' best defensive effort this season in their first tournament appearance since 2007.