The Associated Press

A fire has destroyed a former antique mall near downtown Paris.  The blaze broke out shortly after 6 p.m. yesterday on north Market Street.

The Illinois House adjourned its lame-duck session without taking action to solve the state's multibillion pension problem.

More than 260 Kentucky teachers were awarded national certification in 2012, ranking the state seventh for the number of teachers earning the achievement.

Kentucky House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins is expecting work to be completed in the next couple of days on committee appointments, including chairmanships.

A new poll shows more than half of Kentuckians interviewed last fall support a state law to ban smoking in indoor public places. The poll from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky and the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati finds about 6 out of 10 would support such a ban. That’s up from fewer than half of those polled in 2010.  However, the measure isn’t getting much political support because so much of the region depends on tobacco farming.

Two separate measures for expanding the state’s Medicaid program and allowing illegal immigrants to get driver’s licenses are ready for an Illinois House vote. The Human Services Appropriations Committee voted 9 to 5 Monday to make up to 600,00 uninsured residents eligible for Medicaid. The measure is necessary to implement the national health care law next year. The federal government would pay all costs of the new Medicaid recipients for three years starting in 2014. The Medicaid expansion would also need Senate approval.

A Tennessee judge will decide whether the state Department of Children's Services must release the case files of children who have died or nearly died after being in contact with the agency. The Tennessean requested the records in September, citing the state's Open Records law. The department gave the paper only a spreadsheet with minimal information. The newspaper sued to force the release of the files. The Associated Press and other media sources are joining the suit that will be heard today.

A plan to rescue Illinois' worst-in-the-country pension problem faces uncertainty in the final full day of the lame-duck legislative session. The House adjourned with a floor vote Monday on the contentious plan to reform the pension system. House committee members approved a proposal calling for more employee contributions and freezing cost-of-living increases to close the $96 billion deficit. Backers say it's a compromise on a complex problem that addresses many concerns. But opponents question whether it's constitutional.

Kentucky lawmakers start their legislative session today where they're expected to consider tax reforms and search for ways to shore up the financially troubled pension system for government retirees. A task force appointed by Gov. Steve Beshear has recommended a series of changes to the state tax code that could generate more than $600 million in additional revenue. A separate legislative task force has recommended pumping more money into the pension system, which has a $33 billion unfunded liability.

Some Kentucky lawmakers say they’ll push to strengthen the Commonwealth's human trafficking law during the upcoming legislative session.  Democratic State Rep. Sannie Overly tells the Lexington Herald-Leader she plans to sponsor a bill similar to one she introduced last year to increase training for law enforcement.  The measure would also use money from those convicted of such crimes to pay for victim services.