A union-backed approach for dealing with Illinois' nearly $100 billion pension crisis is getting its first full airing.  A Senate committee will hold a hearing today on the new legislative proposal. The measure gives workers and retirees a choice of benefit packages. Senate President John Cullerton says the plan saves money and would survive a court challenge.

Paducah residents could be paying a new user fee for certain fire department services in the future. Fire Chief Steve Kyle presented the mayor and city commission with a cost recovery proposal yesterday. He suggests using a vendor service to pass along the fees to insurance companies after the department responds to vehicle fires or extrication incidents.  In cases of burning without a permit, the fees are levied on private citizens.

The price for a president is going up at Eastern Kentucky University.  EKU’s new President will earn two-thirds more than its outgoing CEO.

The new president at Eastern Kentucky University will earn 400-thousand dollars a year…a big increase over what Dr. Michael Benson earned at Southern Utah University.  His job there as president  grossed over 281-thousand dollars a year. 

It’s also more than the $250-thousand paid to EKU’s current president, but a hundred thousand dollars less than the annual salary earned by the president at the University of Kentucky.  

Beekeeping in Madisonville may no longer be illegal, thanks to a proposed city ordinance that passed its first reading Monday.

Councilman Mark Lee sponsored the ordinance and says bees are an important part of the local ecology and hopes, if passed, the ordinance would slowly reintroduce private operations in the city.

The Cadiz City Council is exploring a three percent restaurant tax. Cadiz and Trigg County Tourism Commission Executive Director  Bill Stevens says the revenue would go towards the commission’s marketing budget to promote local business and tourism which has been struggling to compete with neighboring counties' budgets in recent years.

Kentucky Transportation Cabinet crews are taking the first step toward replacing the Eggners Ferry Bridge by clearing brush ahead of constructing a secondary bridge to span a lagoon adjacent to Kentucky Lake.

It was called "a merger of equals" and one of the biggest in the history of modern industry. On this day in 1998, Daimler-Benz purchased 92% of Chrysler for nearly $40 billion. Despite being one of the "Big 3" US automakers, Chrysler was sold off in 2007, declared bankruptcy in 2009, and is currently owned by Fiat.

It’s Tuesday, May 7

The Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive takes place this Saturday in Mayfield and Graves County. Residents can leave canned or boxed food items at their mailboxes for postal carriers to pick up for Need Line. No glass containers, please, and items must be at the mailbox by 8:30AM. Cards should arrive in the mail today with more information.

From NPR: The Pallas's long-tongued bat has a neat trick at the tip of its tongue — tiny hairlike structures that fill with blood and stand straight out. This turns the tongue into a nectar-slurping mop at just the right time.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has announced that federal grants worth $28 million will be distributed to qualifying community groups that want to help educate consumers about the new online marketplace for health insurance. The state will accept applications through May 30. The national health overhaul law requires insurance marketplaces to be operating in every state by October 1.

The Tennessee Department of Education plans to use nearly $4 million in federal education funds to pay for eight leadership development programs. The grants are part of the $500 million the state won three years ago in the national Race to the Top education grant competition. Officials say eight recipients received grants, which were awarded to organizations in partnership with one or more school systems.