Kenucky News Now

BABY FOUND

FLORENCE, Ky. (AP) — Officials in northern Kentucky say a 20-day-old boy has been found inside the car that had been taken from a gas station with him inside.

An Amber Alert was issued Thursday afternoon for Henry Flores.

The alert said the vehicle was stolen from a Speedway gas station in Florence with the boy inside.

A dispatcher for the Boone County sheriff's department said the car with the baby inside was found at a gas station in nearby Fort Mitchell in a neighboring county. He said someone recognized the car from the description and notified local authorities.

The dispatcher said no suspect was found, and the case remained under investigation.

DRUG PENALTIES

Top prosecutor calls for higher penalties for heroin dealers

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky's top prosecutor has joined other law-enforcement officials to call for higher penalties for heroin dealers and better treatment options for overdose victims.

Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway, who is running for governor in 2015, made the announcement on Thursday, a few weeks before state lawmakers return to Frankfort for the 2015 legislative session. Earlier this year, lawmakers were unable to pass a heroin bill despite widespread support from both political parties.

Conway said any heroin legislation in 2015 should allow first responders to give Naloxone to overdose victims without fear of civil liability. He also called for a Good Samaritan law that could allow people to avoid drug possession charges if they call for help during an overdose.

Kentucky's heroin overdose deaths increased 60 percent in 2013.

STATE HEALTH EXCHANGE

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A Kentucky nonprofit that is one of the largest insurance providers on the state's health exchange received a $65 million federal loan last month to keep it afloat just days before the second open enrollment period began.

The Kentucky Health Cooperative received the loan from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Nov. 10. The loan drew sharp criticism from Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who said it raises serious questions about the stability of the program.

CEO Janie Miller said the cooperative needed the money because it enrolled twice as many people as it had predicted when the company started last year. The company has 15 years to repay the loan, with interest, to the federal government.

MOUNTAIN LION KILLED

PARIS, Ky. (AP) — An examination of a mountain lion killed by a Kentucky Fish and Wildlife official has found that it was a 125-pound male that appeared to be young and healthy.

But Fish and Wildlife officials still don't know whether it was a wild animal or one that escaped from captivity.

Agency spokesman Mark Marraccini says it didn't appear to have traveled long distances on foot.

An agency officer shot and killed the mountain lion after a concerned caller spotted it in northern Bourbon County.

Marraccini says the lion was killed because it was roaming free near a populated area, making it a public safety issue.

He said if the mountain lion was a wild animal, it apparently would be the first one confirmed in Kentucky since before the Civil War.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky officials say the state's unemployment rate dropped to 6 percent in November, the lowest rate in more than six years.

The state Office of Employment and Training said Thursday that last month's seasonally adjusted rate was down from a revised 6.2 percent jobless rate in October. Officials say last month's rate was Kentucky's lowest since April 2008, when the rate was 5.9 percent.

They say the preliminary November rate was 2.1 percentage points below the state's 8.1 percent jobless rate in November 2013.

Officials report broad employment gains in Kentucky. The trade, transportation and utility sector added 2,300 jobs in November from a month earlier.

Manufacturing jobs in the state held steady from October to November, while employment in the mining and logging sector dropped by 400 in November.