Author: Associated Press

10 more Kentucky counties join regional driver’s licensing

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — More counties are being changed over this week to regional driver’s licensing offices operated by the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. The cabinet says Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Garrard, Hickman, Livingston, Magoffin, Martin, Morgan and Muhlenberg counties are making the transition. Circuit court clerk offices in those counties ended in-person driver licensing services Monday. The cabinet has also begun…

Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential campaign committee fined $21K

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A newspaper is reporting that U.S. Sen. Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential campaign committee has been fined $21,000 by the Federal Election Commission for improperly handling contributions. The Courier Journal obtained an FEC letter and revealed details of the fine on Thursday. The penalty follows a complaint made by J. Russell Lloyd, the former chairman of the…

Longtime Kentucky state senator will not seek re-election

FRANKFORT, Ky (AP) — Kentucky state Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr has announced that she will not run for reelection in 2022. The Lexington Republican has represented the 12th Senate District in Fayette County since 1999. Kerr did not elaborate on the reasons behind her decision in a statement Wednesday on social media. She said she made the decision “knowing that…

Kentucky State receives federal grant for ag research

FRANKFORT, Ky (AP) — The U.S. Agriculture Department says Kentucky State University has been awarded $249,583 in federal funding through a program that supports research projects at historically Black land-grant universities. The funds will help train small-scale, minority and socially disadvantaged farmers and producers to develop strategies for handling produce and developing products that comply with federal regulations. Other projects…

Dorena-Hickman Ferry reopening after engine maintenance

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — Officials say a ferry that carries vehicles across the Mississippi River between Kentucky and Missouri is reopening after a one-day closure for engine maintenance. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said the work was completed earlier than expected, allowing the Dorena-Hickman Ferry to reopen Thursday morning. Capt. Jeremy Newsom had anticipated the closure to last for a few…

New passenger terminal on track for Kentucky airport

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — A $42 million project to build a passenger terminal at a western Kentucky airport will replace a structure that has been in use since the 1950s. Officials with Barkley Regional Airport received an update on the project. The new terminal will replace a structure that has been in use for 67 years. The airport is near…

Man gets life sentence for stalking, killing estranged wife

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — An Indiana man has received a life prison sentence for stalking his estranged wife to Florida, shooting her and burying her body in Tennessee. Court records show 62-year-old Jarvis Wayne Madison, of New Albany, Indiana, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Orlando, Florida. He pleaded guilty in March to one count of interstate stalking resulting…

Meeting planned to discuss options for dam on Elkhorn Creek

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources says a public workshop is planned to discuss options for an aging dam on the north fork of Elkhorn Creek. The agency said it will lead a discussion on Aug. 3 about the Great Crossing Dam near Georgetown. A study commissioned by Scott County officials found the low-head…

Timeline remains the same to update unemployment system

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s labor secretary says he hopes to stay on course to overhaul the outdated technology for processing jobless claims in two to three years. Labor Secretary Jamie Link appeared before a legislative panel Tuesday. He fielded questions about a decision to go through a rebidding process in search of a vendor to modernize the pandemic-stressed unemployment…

3 projects receive funding to preserve Black history

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Officials say three projects in Kentucky are receiving $150,000 in federal funding to help preserve African American history. State officials say the funding will help projects at Cherokee State Park in Hardin, the Hotel Metropolitan in Paducah and the Palmer Pharmacy Building in Lexington. Each project will receive $50,000 to continue preservation efforts. Gov. Andy Beshear…