Kentucky News Now

SENATE-KENTUCKY-BILL CLINTON

Bill Clinton returns to Kentucky to campaign for Alison Grimes

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — Former President Bill Clinton is asking Kentucky voters not to take out their anger at President Barack Obama on Democratic Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes.

Grimes is trying to unseat 30-year Senate Republican incumbent Mitch McConnell. Clinton campaigned Tuesday in Owensboro for Grimes, his third trip to the state on her behalf this year. More than 3,000 people turned out to see him as he tries to help the Democrats retain control of the Senate. The Kentucky contest is one of the nation's most closely watched races.

Clinton told the audience voters should choose Grimes for reasons that include her support for raising the minimum wage and easing the country's student loan debt.

McConnell and his allies have run millions of dollars' worth of TV ads depicting Grimes, Kentucky's secretary of state, as an Obama supporter. The ads have included highlighting her refusal to say whether she voted for Obama in 2012 despite being a delegate for him at the Democratic National Convention.

PADUCAH PLANT-HANDOVER

Energy Department officially retakes Paducah plant

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Energy has officially retaken control of the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant as decontamination and decommissioning work continues at the western Kentucky site.

United States Enrichment Corporation turned over control of the 750-acre uranium enrichment complex Tuesday morning.

USEC had leased the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant from DOE since it was privatized by the federal government in 1998 and enriched uranium for the global nuclear fuel market until May 2013.

DOE has responsibility for the decontamination and decommissioning of the 60-year old complex and has contracted with Fluor Federal Services, Inc. to begin deactivation activities at the site.

The Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant was built in the 1950's as a government owned and operated facility. It supplied enriched uranium for national security and energy production.

DAVIESS PLANT EXPANSION

Daviess company expanding, adding so jobs

OWENSBORO, Ky. (AP) — A western Kentucky company is expanding and expects to add 30 jobs in Daviess County.

Castlen Welding & Manufacturing LLC was started in 2008. The company makes material-handling equipment for the fertilizer and grain industries and erects and installs the equipment on-site. Castlen also builds grain storage tanks and liquid fertilizer facilities and offers welding and custom fabrication services.

Gov. Steve Beshear's office says the existing plant will continue to be used for custom fabrication and welding repair. Its new facility on U.S. 60 will involve a $3.9 million investment and will allow the company to expand into welding and manufacturing of conveyors, hoppers, conditioners, towers and bucket elevators.

The state has approved tax incentives up to $350,000.

The new plant is expected to be operational next year.

BOURBON BOOM

Kentucky bourbon makes its mark on state's economy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A new study shows Kentucky's bourbon industry is making a bigger splash in the state's economy, nearly doubling its workforce in two years and leading a $3 billion distilling sector primed for another round of expansion.

The report released Tuesday was done by the University of Louisville's Urban Studies Institute.

The findings show the number of licensed distilling companies have tripled in the past two years from 10 to 31. That's the most distilleries in Kentucky since Prohibition ended. The bourbon sector's workforce now tops 15,400, up from 8,690 workers two years ago, the report said.

Distilling now contributes $3 billion in gross state product to Kentucky's economy every year, up from $1.8 billion two years ago.

Gov. Steve Beshear says the industry's progress is "unrivaled and unparalleled."

TOBACCO FARMING-CHILDREN

Multiple efforts to ban tobacco farm child labor

WASHINGTON (AP) — Public health advocates and lawmakers are working anew to bar children from working on tobacco farms.

The campaign comes two years after the Obama administration backed off a rule that would have banned children from dangerous agriculture jobs — including harvesting tobacco plants.

The new efforts were jumpstarted by a Human Rights Watch report in May. The report said nearly three-quarters of children interviewed by the New York-based advocacy group reported vomiting, nausea and headaches while working on tobacco farms. Those symptoms are consistent with nicotine poisoning, often called Green Tobacco Sickness.

The new approach includes legislation to ban kids under 18 from working on tobacco farms, pursuit of a narrower rule than the one that was scuttled and public pressure on tobacco companies from lawmakers and health groups.

FUNERAL BURGLARIES

Louisville man gets 27 years for burglaries

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A man who pleaded guilty to breaking into homes while residents were attending funerals has been sentenced to 27 years in prison.

Jefferson Circuit Judge Audra Eckerle on Tuesday handed down the sentence for 34-year-old Michael Bennett of Louisville.

WDRB-TV in Louisville reported that Bennett pleaded guilty to burglarizing multiple homes around the city.

Bennett told prosecutors he up funeral times in the obituary section of The Courier-Journal and would use the White Pages as well as Google Maps to find the addresses of the victims

Officers caught up with Bennett in Aug. 2013. They say they found stolen property in his car, and other items had already been pawned or sold.

FAIR GROUNDS

Churchill Downs to put $2.7M into Fair Grounds

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Louisiana Racing Commission has ordered Churchill Downs Inc. to put $2.7 million back into the purse structure for the Fair Grounds' upcoming thoroughbred meet.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports Churchill Downs said it withheld the money from the purses as a result of pending litigation concerning payouts to the Fair Grounds' quarter horse meet.

The commission, which met Tuesday specifically to address the issue, said Churchill Downs did not have the authority to remove the purse money, and ordered it to be put back as soon as possible.

Churchill Downs had initially placed the money in escrow and said it planned to distribute the funds upon conclusion of the lawsuit. However, that timetable was unknown.

The thoroughbred meet begins Nov. 21.

KENTUCKY-SPECTATOR FALLS

Former Wildcat Brad Durham leaves UK hospital

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky says that former player Brad Durham has left UK Chandler Hospital after being seriously injured more than two weeks ago at Commonwealth Stadium.

The school confirmed via email that Durham was discharged from the hospital but did not specify a date. Kentucky has said a young adult male fell from the upper deck during the Wildcats' 45-38 victory over South Carolina on Oct. 4 but has not identified Durham as that person.

Durham played offensive tackle for Kentucky from 2007-10.