The industrial hemp debate will resume in Frankfort later this morning. A bill seeking a pilot project for hemp in Kentucky will be discussed in a Senate committee. Carrying the ball for putting hemp in farmer’s fields is Agriculture Commissioner James Comer.
“We find new uses every day for industrial hemp," he says. "It’s a green crop. It’s something that is replacing plastic in the automotive industry. You can make paper with industrial hemp, textiles, cosmetics and lotions, bio fuels.”
It’s been more than 200 years since a major earthquake rocked portions of the Midwest including western Kentucky. David Davis, with Kentucky Emergency Management, says there were actually a series of quakes in 1811 and 1812.
A national anti-poverty organization ranks Kentucky 34th nationally in the ability of its citizens to achieve financial security. The report was compiled by the Corporation for Enterprise Development. Casey Wiedrich is senior program manager for applied research for CFED.
“You know less than 60 percent of households in Kentucky have a savings account," she says.
For the first time since its inception, over a half million people last year traveled the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. The new attendance record represents a 15 percent increase over 20-11. Kentucky Bourbon Trail Experience Director Adam Johnson says there were visitors from all 50 states and over 50 countries.
Pressure’s building on Kentucky lawmakers to refine their “Pill Mill” legislation. Since it was enacted last year, some physicians, pharmacists and other health care providers complain its provisions are overly cumbersome.
Some 1,500 activists have gathered, hoping to break down political gridlock. Organizers say their ‘Meeting to Make America Work’ in New York City attracted Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. They want to send a message to the President and Congress to ‘stop fighting and start fixing.’ So far, former Kentucky Treasurer Jonathan Miller says more than half million people and 25 members of Congress are involved in the effort.
Money coming into Kentucky’s state accounts recently indicates a positive trend, but an official who studies the figures warns against reading too much into them. For the first six months of the fiscal year, receipts have increased almost four percent. The official revenue forecast for the entire year calls for two point four percent growth.
With winter weather comes another opportunity to save energy around the home. In so doing, it can also help utilities conserve electricity. Old power hungry and heat generating appliances can drive up the monthly electric bill. Kentucky Utilities Spokeswoman Liz Pratt says it can be a sizeable cost.
“In about 70 percent of the home energy use can be used in the heating and cooling of appliances. So, that is a significant amount of monthly energy usage going to heating and cooling appliances,” said Pratt.
Kentucky retailers are hoping for an ‘end of the year’ rush between now and Tuesday. The 2012 holiday shopping period is certainly not one for the record books. Laura Leigh Goins with the Kentucky Retail Federation says businesses gauge sales from November through the end of December.
Thanksgiving is often the biggest, most complex home cooked meal of the year, which means there are a lot of mistakes. It can also be a busy day for firefighters. The National Fire Protection Association says Thanksgiving is the leading day for home cooking fires.
