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(1.) MURRAY ALCOHOL VOTE–- This July 17th, Murray residents will head to the polls to decide whether or not the city should go wet. That is, whether to allow the sale of alcohol within the city limits. Murray’s current alcohol status could be described as “moist”, as restaurants can sell alcoholic beverages, by-the-drink with some restrictions. Gary Pitts looked into the upcoming vote to find out about possible outcomes.
(2.) TRIGG COUNTY JUDGE EXECUTIVE ON 2009 WET VOTE: In Trigg County this debate is nothing new. In 2009 residents there voted to allow alcohol sales both at restaurants and at package stores. Only 36 votes separated the pro alcohol votes from opposition votes. Judge Executive Stan Humphries has watched Trigg County change from dry to wet. He join the program to talk about those changes.
NOTE: Judge Executive Humphries couldn’t site specific crime statistics so we checked with the Kentucky State Police. DUI convictions in Trigg County went down in their first year of being wet. There were 85 DUI convictions in 2010. There were 110 in 2009.
(3.) RESTORING OBION CREEK -- The Earth’s ecosystems operate on a fragile balance between soil, water and wildlife. In the early 20th century, a local drainage district upset this balance when it straightened and widened a Hickman County stream. It hoped to drain the land to add farmable soil to the area, but the stream clogged and farmers wound up with more water instead of less. Casey Northcutt reports on the Stream Institute from the University of Louisville and its work returning nature to normal.
(4.) COLSTON ON THE CAPITOL–- This week, Kentucky’s Senate passed their budget proposals for state government, approved a measure supporting Paducah’s Gaseous Diffusion Plant, and decisively put an end to pensions for Confederate veterans. Kentucky Public Radio Capitol Bureau Chief Kenny Colston speaks with Rick Howlett about what else happened this past week in Frankfort.
(5.) RNC CO-CHAIR 2-WAY -- Earlier this month, Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day spoke in Murray at the Purchase and Lakes Area Lincoln/Reagan Day Dinner. She rallied the party in advance of Kentucky’s May 22nd GOP primary. Before Day arrived, I spoke with her by phone about her message for Commonwealth Republicans and about the rise in profile of smaller GOP primaries, like Kentucky, in light of a bruising presidential nominating contest.
