An eastern Kentucky coal miner who reported unsafe work conditions is now facing sanctions by the state.

Mackie Bailey is a longtime roof bolting machine operator who worked at Manalapan Mining’s P-1 mine in Harlan County. For several weeks, Bailey says he and other miners had been working without a required safety device called the Automated Temporary Roof Support (ATRS), which is supposed to brace against the roof of the mine and protect miners from a potential roof collapse.

Louisville Metro Councilman David Tandy says he’s open to the idea of luring a National Basketball Association team to town.

Tandy was among the guests who spoke on a WFPL news special today on the subject.

The 4th District councilman says he believes an NBA team could co-exist with the University of Louisville basketball teams in the KFC Yum Center, where U of L is now the primary tenant. He says city officials should do everything they can to maximize the financially-plagued arena’s economic potential and raise Louisville’s profile.

Gov. Steve Beshear joined local officials in announcing two companies that have chosen to relocate their headquarters in downtown Louisville from Indiana.

The companies are expected to add 100 “top-level” jobs, according to a press release sent out by the governor’s office.

Indatus and sister company Mocura—both owned under ownership of ICIM Corporation—will relocate headquarters in a historic building on East Main Street, which previously housed the headquarters of Four Roses Bourbon.

It's not the cutting, it's the uncertainty.

That's the lament these days from governors and mayors awaiting the outcome of federal budget negotiations.

They know they're likely to take a hit; they just don't know how bad it's going to be.

"How do you budget for the unknown?" wonders Ed Long, the county executive in Fairfax County, Va. "Our worst fear is that by [the federal government] not acting, the economy is going to get worse going forward."

WASHINGTON — The White House says President Barack Obama is "actively supportive" of efforts on Capitol Hill to reinstate an assault weapons ban.

Obama has long backed the ban, but has failed to push for it throughout his first term. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., plans to introduce legislation to reinstate the ban early next year.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says Obama would also support legislation to close the gun show "loophole," which allows people to buy guns from private dealers without background checks.

Turfway Park will begin piloting a substance abuse program for licensed racetrack workers next year, which officials hope can extend to other tracks around the state.

“That’s our intent is to have a program in place that will be effective at all the racetracks in Kentucky,” said Richard Riedel, executive director of the Kentucky Racing Health and Welfare Fund, which is paying the $5,000 cost to pilot the program.

In the United States, recent data has shown that coal is losing ground, and is now neck in neck with natural gas in terms of the percentage of electricity generation the country gets from each fuel. Coal use is even diminishing in the southeast, a region that's typically relied on coal-fired power.

Nearly everyone reported so many things wrong in the first 24 hours after the Sandy Hook shootings that it's hard to single out any one news organization or reporter for criticism.

Breaking Bad. Homeland. The Sopranos. Madmen. Friday Night Lights. The Walking Dead.

Chances are you've lost weeks — if not months — of your life to one of these shows. I know I have. But where on earth did they come from? Why has there been this explosion of high-quality TV dramas?