The Louisville Orchestra named arts consultant and orchestra veteran David Hyslop interim CEO at a board of directors meeting today. Hyslop will serve as interim CEO while the Orchestra conducts a national search. Current CEO Robert Birman announced his resignation earlier this month. Birman's last day in office will be Friday, after which Hyslop will begin his interim term.

Many big food companies are caught in a dilemma these days. They want to rebrand themselves as merchants of health — Coca-Cola's new anti-obesity ads are just the latest example — but many of their profits still come from products that make nutritionists scowl.

If there's one person who symbolizes this tension, it's Derek Yach.

A new poll shows Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is struggling to retain support among voters.

The Courier-Journal Bluegrass Poll shows that twice as many voters are against McConnell as there are supporting him. It also finds that only one-third of Republicans support him in the 2014 election.

In recent weeks, Kentucky's senior senator has been besieged by liberal and Tea Party groups alike.

From The C-J:

According to the poll of 609 registered voters, 34 percent said they plan to vote against McConnell while just 17 percent say they will vote to give him another six years. The poll found that 44 percent said they will have to wait and see who is running against him and 6 percent said they are not sure.

On the night of the shootings in Newtown, Conn., a woman named Aline Marie attended a prayer vigil at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which was packed with local residents and the media. After about 45 minutes, Marie saw the statue of Mary and knelt down to pray.

"I sat there in a moment of devastation with my hands in prayer pose asking for peace and healing in the hearts of men," she recalls. "I was having such a strong moment and my heart was open, and I started to cry."

FRANKFORT — A senate committee chairman is sounding upbeat about prospects for a bill that would regulate industrial hemp production in Kentucky if the federal government lifts its ban on the crop.

The Kentucky Narcotic Officers' Association's director says his organization is opposed to the legalization of industrial hemp because of concerns that hemp may overwhelm labs used to differentiate the plant from its cousin, marijuana.

"Every time we find somebody with marijuana, they're going to say, 'Oh, no—that's hemp,'" said Tommy Loving, the association's director. "So it'll have to go for a lab test. So the other problem there is that we're going to overwhelm the state police lab system, which is already a busy place to start with."

After several delays, the founder of USA Harvest is scheduled to return to federal court this week to answer charges of misusing the charity’s funds.

Stan Curtis was expected to plead guilty last month, but his plea agreement was postponed because of questions about his competency.    His lawyer said Curtis had been hospitalized for an infection and was still too frail to enter the plea.

Curtis is charged with mail fraud, money laundering and filing false tax returns.

The University of Louisville’s energy-saving efforts are going even better than expected.

U of L is in the middle of a long-term project to cut the university’s energy consumption and carbon footprint. The effort was launched in 2009, and since then, workers have been updating lighting, heating and cooling systems, and reducing water consumption.

Now, the university is reporting that a progress report shows significant savings already. From U of L:

The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has scheduled a series of public meetings on the addition of a new telephone area code in southern and south central Indiana.

The commission’s Danielle McGrath says because of cell phones and other devices, the region served by the 812 area code is running out of numbers.

"According to reports that we’re receiving, there will be no further numbers available by March of 2015," McGrath said. 

The chair of Kentucky’s House Subcommittee on School Safety says the panel does not support arming teachers, despite hearing testimony last week in support of the option.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo created the special subcommittee to address school safety following the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. Since then, many communities have begun discussing ways to improve school safety.