On Tuesday night, the Berea City Council announced it will take longer than expected to come to a decision about the possibility of a city fairness ordinance.  The council has held public forums on the ordinance, which would prohibit discrimination in the workplace and housing market due to sexual orientation and gender identity.

More than 3,000 Kentucky nonprofits recently lost their tax-exempt status with the IRS and a few are working to reverse that. The thousands of nonprofit organizations that lost their tax-exempt status with the IRS represent a wide range of interests, including county fair associations, American Legion chapters, and religious groups. Danielle Clore of the Kentucky Nonprofit Network says the groups were affected by the 2006 federal Pension and Protection Act.

A Kentucky attorney who has worked extensively in employment litigation says he agrees with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in a sexual discrimination case against Wal-Mart. The court ruled this week that the case involving more than 1.5 million plaintiffs cannot proceed as a class action.

Congressman John Yarmuth of Louisville is among a bi-partisan group of House lawmakers who signed a letter to President Obama urging him to begin a “significant and sizable” reduction in U.S. forces in Afganistan starting next month. The president will detail his troop drawdown plan in an address to the nation tonight. Defense officials have said that Mr. Obama plans to call for an initial withdrawal of 5,000 troops, followed by 5,000 more by the end of the year.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem lashed out Wednesday at new economic sanctions from Europe, but promised democracy in Syria within months.

In a television address, Moallem accused Europe of playing with fire for imposing a new round of economic sanctions. We will forget that Europe is on the map, he said.

But Moallem also called on Syrian dissidents to come to Damascus for talks. He invited political exiles home and promised constitutional change, adding meat to the bones of President Bashar Assad's speech Monday.

Today the Food and Drug Administration said that silicone breast implants are generally safe, when used as intended. And the devices don't seem to cause autoimmune disease, breast cancer, or reproductive problems, as some previous reports had suggested.

But the agency also said that women frequently have problems with the implants, so much so that they often have to have surgery to remove or replace them.

Law enforcement conducted a sweeping roundup of drug offenders Tuesday that so far has netted 19 people in Mercer County. Sheriff Ernie Kelty said officers from his agency and Harrodsburg and Burgin police departments got an early start, executing warrants stemming from 34 sealed indictments on drug-trafficking charges. The raids started about 5 a.m., and all those arrested were in custody by 10 a.m.

A Harrodsburg police officer indicted on 146 counts related to an alleged three-year sexual relationship with a juvenile pleaded not guilty to the charges Tuesday in Mercer Circuit Court. Jason Elder, 31, entered the not guilty plea in his first appearance before Judge Darren Peckler, who set a $10,000 bond releasing Elder on his own recognizance and prohibiting him from any contact with the girl or her family.

A military court in Bahrain handed down life in prison sentences for eight activists. Bahrain's state news agency said the Lower National Safety court said the activists were charged with "plotting to topple the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and exchanging intelligence information with a terrorist organization working for a foreign country."

Temperatures climbed to 90 degrees Tuesday, but the heat didn’t stop nearly 100 motorcycle riders from showing up for the fourth annual “Motorcycle Safety Awareness Event” in Frankfort. In the parking lot of the Kentucky State Police headquarters, police, vendors and citizens gathered to spread the word about motorcycle safety. Officer Larry Farris, with KSP’s commercial vehicle enforcement division, shared his personal story about the dangers of motorcycles with those gathered.