Dan Conti (KPR)

Mammoth Cave in Kentucky has become the first national park to be powered entirely with alternative fuel. That’s what the executive director of the Kentucky clean fuels coalition told state lawmakers in Frankfort Wednesday. 

When the Kentucky general assembly tackles tax reform next year, State Representative John Will Stacy says lawmakers might want to take a look at companies that do a lot of business in the state but don’t have much of a presence here. The Democrat says there are many of them. He says,

The Obama administration is making $17.5 million available to Kentucky infrastructure projects. Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood says the money is from a pool of more than $470-million in unspent highway earmarks from fiscal years 2003 through 2006. Lahood says governors and state departments of transportation can use their unspent earmarks on any eligible highway, transit, passenger rail or port project. He says they must identify those projects by October 1st and obligate them by the end of the year. Lahood says,

A Hopkins County lawmaker is among some state house Republicans questioning whether evolution should be a part of Kentucky’s standardized science tests. The Kentucky interim joint Education Committee debated the topic this week during a discussion of “end-of-course testing.” Republican State Representative Ben Waide of Madisonville says test questions about evolution help promote it as scientific fact and not theory.

Kentucky House Majority Leader Rocky Adkins says Mike Haydon was a wise and thoughtful man. Haydon was Governor Steve Beshear’s chief of staff. He died unexpectedly Sunday an apparent heart attack at his Springfield home. He was 62. Haydon was also chief of staff to Adkins before coming to work for Beshear’s office in 2007.

Kentucky Coal Association President Bill Bissett is applauding a federal court ruling that found the EPA overstepped its authority in establishing water quality criteria for consideration of mining permits. He calls the decision Tuesday by U. S. District Judge Reggie Walton “a victory for all of Kentucky and West Virginia.”

One of Governor Beshear’s top economic advisors said Kentucky’s coal industry should probably brace itself for a bad year. He said the outlook for this year leaves a lot to be desired.

"We sort of got used to an upward trend in the last decade, but the foreseeable future for coal and the next three quarters, I'm afraid are going to be decidingly negative," said Deputy Director Greg Harkenrider.

The severity of the drought in the Ohio River basin has officials with the US Army Corps of Engineers monitoring water sources in Kentucky and surrounding states. 

Kentucky is a business-friendly state when it comes to taxes. That’s according to a study authorized by the Legislative Research Commission and conducted by the Anderson Economic Group of Chicago. 

State Representative Mike Denham of Maysville would like to see some economic development incentive programs that benefit rural districts like his.