Kentucky News Now – January 30th 2014

SCHOOLS-ACCOUNTABILITY

House OKs bill to bolster school accountability

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Kentucky House has voted to strengthen accountability standards for public school districts in the wake of financial misdeeds among some school officials.

The measure requires school finance officers to make monthly reports to local school boards and provide an annual report to the state Education Department.

It would increase training for some school board members, depending on length of service.

That provision drew objections from a number of lawmakers who praised other parts of the bill. They worried the increased training would add more expenses for school districts.

The bill cleared the House on a 58-41 vote Wednesday and now goes to the Senate.

State Auditor Adam Edelen praised the House action. He said his office has found hundreds of thousands of dollars abused and misspent in school district audits in the past year and a half.

HEMP-KENTUCKY

Comer says Ky. will have hemp crop this year

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer says industrial hemp will make a comeback in Kentucky after decades of being banned if Congress finishes work on a farm bill that includes hemp language.

With the federal go-ahead, Comer said Wednesday the state Agriculture Department will issue an undetermined number of licenses to farmers wanting to grow the crop that once thrived in the Bluegrass state. Comer says the crop will likely be small this year.

Hemp was banned decades ago when the government classified it as a controlled substance related to marijuana. Hemp contains a negligible amount of the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

A federal farm bill agreement reached this week allows pilot growing programs to be set up. Kentucky lawmakers passed a bill last year to allow industrial hemp's reintroduction if the federal government lifts its ban.

VANDERBURGH ROBBERY-FATALITY

Kentucky man gets 40 years in deadly home invasion

(Information in the following story is from: Evansville Courier & Press, http://www.courierpress.com )

EVANSVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Kentucky man critically injured in a crash while fleeing a southwestern Indiana burglary to 40 years in prison.

The Evansville Courier & Press reports 24-year-old Jeton Hall of Henderson, Ky., was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty last month to burglary resulting in bodily injury, criminal confinement and theft. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss a sentence enhancement that would have added more prison time for committing the crimes as gang activity.

Hall was one of four men arrested after allegedly breaking into the northern Vanderburgh County home of Ira Beumer on Feb. 19, 2012. Beumer is charged with murder, attempted murder and aggravated battery after allegedly ramming his truck into the car of the four fleeing his home, killing one and injuring Hall.

REGULATIONS

Senate panel OKs proposal to rein in regulations

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Senate Republicans in Kentucky have started pushing one of their top priorities — a proposed ballot measure seeking to put restrictions on the governor's power to issue administrative regulations.

The proposed constitutional amendment cleared the Senate State and Local Government Committee on a 7-4 party-line vote Wednesday. Democrats on the committee voted against the proposal.

The measure seeks to amend the state's constitution to give lawmakers more power to rein in regulations. It would enable lawmakers to block an executive branch regulation from taking effect by declaring it deficient.

The issue would be decided by Kentucky voters if it reaches the ballot.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo says he's sympathetic to the effort but questions whether a constitutional amendment is the right approach.

COLD WEATHER-PROPANE

Propane shortages prompting state officials to act

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Supply problems in several states where propane is a crucial heating source have prompted governors and other officials to take action against vendors, investigate claims of price gouging and increase aid to low-income customers.

The propane drain coincides with extreme cold temperatures in several Midwestern and Southern states where residents and business owners are struggling to keep heating tanks filled due to increased costs or supply cut-offs.

Supplies of propane were depleted by a late harvest that increased demand from farmers who needed to dry large amounts of grain before storage.

Kentucky's attorney general was granted an injunction against a major propane supplier that had stopped delivering to commercial customers in several states. And in Missouri, lawmakers are asking the Justice Department to investigate rising prices in that state.

LAKE CUMBERLAND-ENDANGERED FISH

Endangered fish delays raising water level

JAMESTOWN, Ky. (AP) — An endangered fish found in headwaters of Lake Cumberland has federal officials trying to decide what to do about the lake's water level, which was due to rise this year after dam repairs kept the water lowered the last few years.

The Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are delaying an increase until determining how to minimize the effect on the duskytail darter.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said in a news release Wednesday the local economy has been hurt by the lower water level and resulting decline in visitors and he wants the agencies to reconsider the delay. U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Ky., said he has asked for updates to make sure there are no further delays.

The agencies said in a news release the lake will operate at last year's increased level until a determination is reached.