WEKU

Ethics Panel Says Grimes Can't Oversee Elections And Run For Office

By Ryland Barton • 1 hour ago

An ethics panel issued an advisory opinion saying that Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes can’t run for statewide office and serve as the chair of the bipartisan board that oversees elections.

The opinion comes as Grimes, a Democrat, is mulling a possible run for governor or attorney general next year and allegations from elections staff that she improperly accessed voter registration data and addresses of the state’s 15,000 poll workers.

Community Rallying To Save Wild Fig Books

By Mary Meehan • 1 hour ago

A Lexington group is intent on saving Kentucky’s only Black-owned bookstore, Wild Fig.

Organizer April Taylor said the goal is to raise $25,000 to keep the store open. She said it will become a workers' cooperative where employees have a financial stake in the business and in business decisions.

The current owners, artist Ronald Davis and author Crystal Wilkinson, announced the closing a few weeks ago.

Solar Energy Pitch Made To Lexington Council Committee

By Stu Johnson • 12 hours ago

A Lexington city council committee Tuesday moved forward a resolution seeking to boost solar energy use within the central Kentucky community. The solarizing Lexington program involves incentives to bolster solar paneling of homes.

UK Freshman, Fraternity Suspended After DUI-Related Death Of Four-Year-Old Boy

By Stu Johnson • 19 hours ago

A University of Kentucky freshman and the fraternity he was pledging have been suspended following a fatal car-pedestrian crash last weekend. That information was released Tuesday in a campus-wide email by UK President Eli Capilouto.

Jacob Heil, 18, faces a driving-under-the-influence charge. Four-year-old Marco Lee Shemwell was struck while he and his family waited to cross Cooper Avenue last Saturday. The boy later died from his injuries.

Lexington Man Indicted For Series Of Fires

By Stu Johnson • 19 hours ago

A Lexington man has been indicted in connection with what fire officials label as “serial arson” . A Fayette Circuit Court grand jury indicted Robert Stevens Tuesday on 19 felony charges and two misdemeanor charges.

Fire Lieutenant Jessica Bowman said the charges stem from 12 fires, investigators believe Steven set on Goodloe and Warnock streets over a ten month period. “I think everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when we identified the person we believe was responsible for it,” said Bowman.

Depot Test Signals Chance To Create Personal Safety Plan

By Mary Meehan • Sep 18, 2018

People in Richmond should be on alert for alerts Wednesday morning as sirens across the community begin to wail during the annual safety test at the Bluegrass Army Depot.

Gary Folckemer is Director of Emergency Management and Security at Eastern Kentucky University. He said the test is a way practice action steps in the unlikely case of a chemical weapons leak.

He said the alarms sirens should sound sometime after 8 a.m. and that they also signal an opportunity to learn more about staying safe.

EKU Raising Awareness of Alcohol and Drug Medical Amnesty Policy

By Cheri Lawson • Sep 18, 2018

Officials at Eastern Kentucky University are working to raise awareness of an alcohol and drug medical amnesty policy.The medical amnesty policy is designed for the safety of students."

Sims Drug Store Tells Its History Each Day

By Stu Johnson • Sep 18, 2018

Since the 1880’s there’s been a drug store along Main Street in downtown Wilmore. There have been some major changes over the years in what medications wind up in customers’ hands, but Sims Drug Store itself has retained much the same look for decades.

It’s an interesting dichotomy. Sims Drugs is kind of split in half with today’s products and presentation on one side and yesterday’s atmosphere and appearance on the other. There’s the soda fountain shop along one wall.

Kentucky Supreme Court Hears Pension Case This Week

By Capital Report Ryland Barton • Sep 17, 2018

The challenge against Kentucky’s new pension law will be heard by the Supreme Court of Kentucky on Thursday. The hearing will pit Kentucky’s two preeminent political rivals against each other and puts retirement benefits for thousands state workers in the balance.

At issue is whether lawmakers broke the law by employing frequently-used procedures that allow them to pass bills quickly at the end of a legislative session.

Kentucky Nurses Helping Out in North Carolina

By Stu Johnson • Sep 17, 2018

A team of nine public health nurses and two administrative staff members from Kentucky is in North Carolina this week assisting with the care of Hurricane Florence affected citizens.

Ohio Valley ReSource

The New DARE: Schools Aim To Stop Next Generation Of Opioid Crisis

By Aaron Payne • Sep 16, 2018

New data from the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health show a rare bright spot amid the opioid crisis. Fewer high schoolers in the region appear to be using opioids.

School officials in the Ohio Valley want to continue that trend with more school-based programs designed to help prevent substance use disorders. But these are not the same drug prevention programs many people remember from their school days.

Federal Data Shows Scope of Substance Abuse, Mental Illness

By Mary Meehan • Sep 14, 2018

The federal government released today a report on substance abuse and mental illness across the country. Dr. Elinor McCance-Katz leads the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. She said there are some positive changes.

“One of the most important findings from this national survey and data set is the very steep decline in new users of heroin from 2016, 170,000 new users of heroin, this dropped by more than half to 81,000 new users in 2017.”

In spite of the good news, the study showed there are still nearly 900,000 heroin users in the United States.

Orphan Wells: States Wrestle With Soaring Costs For Oil & Gas Industry Mess

By Brittany Patterson • Sep 10, 2018

William Suan is no stranger to the problems abandoned oil and gas wells can cause.

“It’s just an eyesore,” he said, standing inside a barn on his cattle ranch near Lost Creek, West Virginia. “I had to fence one off because it’s leaking now.”

There are five inactive wells on his land, most installed in the ’60s and ’70s, and the companies that owned the wells have long since gone out of business.