Society

This week, an estimated 30,000 quilters descend on Paducah for the American Quilters Society’s Quilt Week. Many of these quilters are women, but a new voice in quilting, steadily grows stronger as decades pass and as gender roles become more fluid.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is reviewing bids this week for a planned project impacting truck traffic on the U.S. 51 Ohio River Bridge between Wickliffe and Cairo, Ill.

Trucks will be have to be rerouted for approximately 70 days beginning in June while workers make repairs on deck stringers and replace several bridge decking joints. KYTC District 1 Chief Engineer Jim LeFevre says the maintenance will begin sometime after June 10.

Gov. Pat Quinn is touring areas hit hard by the floods and has declared 44 Illinois counties as disaster areas.

The designation means expanded access to emergency resources. Sunday, Quinn visited Marseilles, where more than 200 people have been evacuated along with 60 nursing home residents. An elementary school has also been closed.

Some Kentucky parents of autistic children say they've received little or no insurance coverage for treatment despite a 2010 state law mandating benefits.

Kentucky insurers say the law has required a smoothing-out period to address legal gray areas and other unforeseen challenges. But autism advocates argue insurers have had plenty of time. Meanwhile, parents say they can't sustain the tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket treatment costs. 

For the first time, a Lexus vehicle will be produced in the United States and it will be made at the Georgetown Toyota plant.  The formal announcement came this morning from officials in New York and Scott County.  Governor Beshear says it means 750 new Kentucky jobs at Toyota.