Kentucky

The number of sweltering summer days will only increase as climate change takes its toll on Kentucky, according to a study released Tuesday.

A statewide forum on medical marijuana will take place in Kentucky this fall. 

The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky will host the forum on September 23 in Lexington.  The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. 

Foundation CEO Ben Chandler said in a statement that it will be a 'balanced' forum designed to answer a lot of questions with experts on all sides. 

Democrats in Kentucky’s House of Representatives have unveiled two bills to try and address surging pension costs currently being experienced by the state’s regional universities and small agencies like health departments.

The proposals come as Gov. Matt Bevin has been trying to rally support for his own bill and has promised to call a special session for state lawmakers to vote on it.

The woman hoping to challenge U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell in this fall’s general election is off to a record-setting fundraising start.  

Amy McGrath, a former Marine fighter pilot, took to MSNBC Tuesday morning to announce her bid for the Senate seat held by McConnell since 1985.

Within 24 hours, McGrath’s campaign raised $2.5 million. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee says that dwarfs the previous record of $1 million dollars raised during the first 24 hours of a Democratic Senate bid.

Non-profits in Kentucky are being urged to take steps that will help ensure an accurate count in the U.S. census. 

From health and education to nutrition and housing assistance, Kentucky has many statewide programs supported by federal funding that’s appropriated based on census results. 

One study finds that an inaccurate count may cause the commonwealth to lose more than $2,000 per person, per year in federal funding. 

Charles Bowers takes long, quick strides down a worn, dirt path and stops in front of a tall thicket of bushes. He lifts a hand to signal that he's spied something.

He's leading me on a tour of camps made by homeless people in wooded corners of Fayette County, Kentucky, and there, slightly up the hill, is a patch of blue. A tent.

He keeps his voice low to avoid startling those inside.

Rows of silver and pink plastic packages sit on the bathroom counter inside Bean, a Louisville coffee shop. Each package carries these words: emergency contraception.

The medication? It’s called Preventeza, from the company that also makes Vagisil. It was on the market for less than a year and didn’t do well, and now the company has donated $2 million worth of the pills to advocacy groups in Kentucky, Indiana and other states. 

These “morning after” pills have made their way into places like Bean, as well as community centers in eastern Kentucky, festivals in Lexington — even the trunks of ride-share drivers.

The Kentucky Distillers Association has added four distilleries to the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour, bringing the total to 20.

Those 20 distilleries are now grouped into four regions across the state and the distillers association has added incentives, including collectible coins and a tasting glass, to encourage visiters to stop at all the sites on the Craft Tour.

Those four distilleries new on the Craft Tour are Dueling Grounds in Franklin, Casey Jones in Hopkinsville, Boundary Oak in Radcliff and Second Sight in northern Kentucky.

Dueling Grounds founding owner Marc Dottore said being on the Bourbon Trail Craft Tour is important for his distillery.

A Murray State University biology professor has named a new insect species after her daughter, who helped make the discovery while they were planting flowers in their backyard. Sydni Anderson spoke with Laura Sullivan-Beckers and her five-year-old daughter Sylvie about the little green treehopper species they’ve named “Hebetica sylviae.”

Nearly 200 bills passed out of the Kentucky legislature this year and most of them will go into effect on Thursday.

With Kentucky’s regional universities and other agencies facing a massive spike in pension costs starting July 1, Gov. Matt Bevin’s office says he won’t call a special legislative session to address the issue until later in July or August.