Lisa Autry (KPR)

Kentucky lawmakers will go into special session later this year to craft new maps of political districts based on the most recent U.S. Census data.  Legislative leaders want a tentative agreement in place before returning to Frankfort and one of the hang-ups is whether to include federal prisoners being held in the commonwealth.

Army installations in Kentucky and elsewhere began receiving furlough notices this week. 

Under across-the-board spending cuts in the federal budget, civilian Defense Department employees must be furloughed 11 days between July and September. At Fort Campbell, that affects about 4,000 workers in support roles such as schools and the commissary.

One week from today is the tax filing deadline. More than one million of the expected 1.8 million Kentucky returns have been filed and processed. 

Pamela Trautner in the Kentucky Finance Cabinet said the vast majority of taxpayers are filing their returns electronically.

“Electronic filing has grown in popularity since Kentucky implemented that in 2003,” she said. “I think that year there were 50 percent who filed online. Last year there were 77 percent.”

April 18 is National Tax Freedom Day, the point at which Americans will have earned enough money to pay this year's tax obligations at the local, state and federal levels. Elizabeth Malm is an economist with the Washington-based Tax Foundation. She said Americans this year will work five days later than in 2012 to pay all their taxes.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear says he still has concerns about the only bill to get a veto over-ride in this year's legislative session and doesn’t know if he’ll allow hemp legislation to become law. 

The so-called religious freedom bill gives stronger legal standing to people in court who claim the government infringed on their religious beliefs. Opponents fear someone's claim of religious freedom could undermine civil rights protections for gays and lesbians.

A hospital in Daviess County is looking to bring additional primary care physicians to the region. Owensboro Medical Health System is recruiting two dozen doctors this year to meet the needs of the hospital's service area in western Kentucky and southern Indiana.

Kentucky's U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell has been re-elected as leader of that body’s Republicans. Colleagues unanimously chose the Commonwealth’s senior senator yesterday to lead the GOP team.  McConnell was nominated by Senators Marco Rubio of Florida and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. 

Thirty-four states and the District of Columbia allow no-excuse early voting, but Kentucky isn't one of them.  Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes says early voting has its advantages. 

How does a small college in central Kentucky get noticed by millions of people across the nation and world? Host a debate. Centre College in Danville is preparing to host the Vice-Presidential debate between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. Lisa Autry recently traveled there to get a look at all the preparations and has this report. 

14 counts of criminal abuse and five counts of wanton endangerment have been filed against a Warren County couple who left 19 children unattended for nearly a week.