The Latest Kentucky News

BLUEGRASS PIPELINE

Watchdog group wants special session on pipeline

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A government watchdog group is urging Gov. Steve Beshear to call a special session this fall to pass legislation to protect private landowners from companies that have said they may use eminent domain to get right of way for a controversial pipeline project.

Common Cause of Kentucky delivered a letter to Beshear's office on Wednesday.

The Bluegrass Pipeline, being built by Williams Co. and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners of Texas, would cross northern and central Kentucky.

The material to be carried by the pipeline is a liquid byproduct of the natural gas refining process that is used to make plastics, medical supplies and carpet, among other products.

Richard Beliles, chairman of Common Cause Kentucky, said the pipeline would pose a hazard risk to the state.

GAS LEAK

Gas leak resolved, Henderson residents go home

HENDERSON, Ky. (AP) — Some Henderson residents who had to leave their homes due to a gas leak have been allowed to return.

Officials in the western Kentucky town evacuated 10 homes for about three hours Wednesday afternoon. Henderson Assistant Fire Chief Jerry Vanden Brook told The Gleaner in Henderson that a squirrel running along a power line caused a short, and power eventually went into the ground and pierced a gas line.

Officials said no one was injured, and no property damage was reported.

Henderson County Emergency Management Director Larry Koerber (KURB'-uhr) said the ruptured line was about 1 ¼ inches and made of metal. He said several hours passed after the power line short before someone smelled gas and reported it.

Green River Road was blocked for a while as workers dug to find the leak.

MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Stumbo leaning toward supporting medical marijuana

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A leading Kentucky politician is weighing the idea of legalizing medical marijuana in the state.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Wednesday that research shows marijuana can have a positive impact on health and that he's leaning toward supporting the notion of allowing people to use it medically.

Stumbo said the topic is worth debating.

Legislation to legalize medical marijuana has been introduced in the General Assembly in the past but has never received the support needed to pass.

Stumbo raised the issue after Attorney General Jack Conway released an advisory letter Wednesday informing state leaders that growing industrial hemp remains illegal in Kentucky.

DESTROYED DOCUMENTS

House speaker turns memos over to state police

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — House Speaker Greg Stumbo has turned memos regarding documents shredded by the former head of the Legislative Research Commission over to the Kentucky State Police for a possible investigation.

Stumbo provided the documents to legislative security specialist Rick Devers along with a request for state police to take whatever action is deemed appropriate.

House Republican Floor Leader Jeff Hoover asked for an investigation after former LRC Director Bobby Sherman returned to his office with other LRC staffers on Sunday, two days after he resigned, and shredded documents.

One of the staffers, Deputy Director Robert Jenkins, said the documents that were destroyed were either duplicates or were of a personal nature, including junk mail, mortgage papers and salary comparisons for LRC staff.

INDUSTRIAL HEMP

Conway: Growing hemp would violate federal law

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Attorney General Jack Conway is advising Kentucky leaders that industrial hemp farming remains illegal in Kentucky.

Conway issued an advisory letter on Wednesday to Gov. Steve Beshear, Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and others to clarify current law related to hemp. The letter deflates hopes of hemp farming proponents who have said they'd like to begin planting next year.

Kentucky lawmakers have passed legislation that would allow farmers to grow the crop if the federal government ever lifts a longstanding ban. Conway said that ban remains firmly in place.

Hemp once thrived in Kentucky but hasn't been produced here since the federal government classified it as a controlled substance decades ago.

Comer insists the crop could be an economic boon for Kentucky.