News

Behold the Kingda Ka, the tallest roller-coaster in the world, the second fastest, and the second strata (extremely terrifying) coaster. The coaster launches to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds, climbs up 456 feet into the air, and whips around a 3,118 foot-long track. It's at the Six Flags in New Jersey... if you're brave enough.

It’s Tuesday, May 21

The Music Department of the Murray Woman's Club hosts "Red, White and Belue," an evening of dinner and entertainment, starting tonight at 6 at the clubhouse. Featured entertainers include the MWC Chorus, By Grace, and Ted Franklin Belue. Proceeds go to scholarships. For ticket availability call Bobbie at 759-4578.

Hopkins County Deputy Superintendent Linda Zellich will be the district's first female superintendent. The board of education selected Zellich yesterday to replace retiring superintendent James Lee Stevens. Zellich said she is ready to face the challenge of managing the 7,000 students and 1,000 employees. 

The Hopkinsville City Council will hear the first reading tonight of an amendment that would cut the fifty-year-old restriction that alcohol sales only be sold in the downtown area.

The move would essentially eliminate the four-by-fourteen-block boundary in which the sale of alcohol has been limited to since the mid-1960s.

Kentucky’s senior senator says no one knows the anguish and destruction of a tornado better than his bluegrass constituents.

Republican Mitch McConnell says it was just last year when he walked through the streets of West Liberty after much of its business district was leveled by a twister. However, he says, that experience, Monday’s tornado in Oklahoma and others across the country seem to have one thing in common.

From NPR: Tim Cook will address reports that his company pays billions less than it should in U.S. taxes each year at a Tuesday hearing in Washington. According to a report by the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Apple avoids the tax payments by shifting profits to subsidiaries in Ireland.

Parents of two Sandy Hook elementary students killed by a Connecticut gunman last fall testified in favor of limiting high-capacity ammunition magazines in Illinois. The Illinois Senate's Executive Committee voted 12-3 Monday to advance legislation banning magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Mark Barden is the father of seven-year-old Daniel Barden. Daniel was among 20 children fatally shot Dec. 14 in Newtown, Conn.

The University of Tennessee at Martin says it will offer a degree in nursing at its Decatur County location beginning next year.  The center will have openings for up to 30 students annually, with 20 slots designated for traditional students and 10 slots for licensed practical nurses. Program graduates will be eligible to take the National Council Licensure Exam for Registered Nurses. Initial funding for the program was included in this year's state budget.

More soldiers are returning to Fort Campbell this week from Afghanistan. Officials say about 240 of the 101st Airborne Division's 3rd Brigade Combat Team are due home tonight. The troops have been in Afghanistan for nine months. 170 members came home April 26th and an additional 90 returned Sunday night. Tomorrow, about 100 members of the 101st's 101st Combat Aviation Brigade will complete the unit's return.

Almost a month to the day after it closed, the Dorena-Hickman Ferry expects to resume service today.  The ferry was closed April 22nd due to flooding. During the past year, the ferry has also struggled to operate with low Mississippi River levels. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet says the water dropped enough yesterday that crew members were able to clear debris from landings on each side of the river.

Kentucky’s Executive Branch Ethics Commission has handed down public reprimands and fines to three former employees in the state Department of Agriculture. The panel took the action yesterday against Bruce Harper of Harrodsburg, Chris Parsons of Mount Vernon and George Begley of London.