A delegation of activists representing several social justice groups in Kentucky visited the White House on Wednesday for a meeting on how to avoid the fiscal cliff.

The discussion was hosted by President Obama’s director of public engagement, and was organized to build support for his plan that includes raising taxes on the wealthy. Leaders from the Louisville NAACP, Fairness Campaign and Planned Parenthood of Kentucky attended the session, along with a delegation from Tennessee.

ACLU of Kentucky Executive Director Michael Aldridge also attended the meeting. He says going over the fiscal cliff will not only hurt the economy, but would set back civil liberties issues as well.

"When Congress is preoccupied with having to tend these budgetary concerns they’re not taking up a lot of civil liberties issues that we would like them to be focusing on such as immigration reform, which the Obama administration has stressed they’re going to be taking up in the second term," he says. "They’re not going to be able to move forward until they get their fiscal house in order."

Indiana Governor-elect Mike Pence has announced three cabinet appointments.

All three appointees work in the current administration of Governor Mitch Daniels.

Pence announced today that Ron Wynkoop will continue as commissioner of the Department of Administration and Mike Alley will stay on as commissioner of the Department of Revenue.

Anita Samuel, who has been serving as Daniels’ general counsel, will become director of the Department of Personnel in the Pence Administration.

Pence will be publicly sworn in as Indiana’s next governor on January 14.

The National Endowment for the Arts has awarded Louisville’s Council on Developmental Disabilities a Challenge America Fast-Track grant to help fund a group art exhibit, The Striped Show, in the spring.  The $10,000 grants, which receive an expedited application review, are intended to increase access to the arts for underserved communities. 

Changing the high school dropout age from 16 to 18 is a legislative priority once again for the Kentucky Board of Education. During the board's regular meeting Wednesday, board members approved a legislative agenda for the upcoming session that starts in January.

Previous attempts to change the dropout age have been unsuccessful because of questions about how alternative education programs to help at-risk students would be funded.

The Indiana Board of Education has approved changes to Indiana's teacher licensing requirements despite arguments from opponents that the new rules could hurt the quality of classroom instruction.

The board voted in favor of the rules changes supported by outgoing Republican state schools superintendent Tony Bennett. Incoming superintendent Glenda Ritz, a Democrat, had asked the board to delay action until after she takes office next month.

A coalition of environmental groups say they’re supporting more widespread use of carbon capture and sequestration technology. The ENGO Network—which includes representatives from the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Clean Air Task Force and the Environmental Defense Fund, among others—announced the position at the UN climate talks in Doha, Qatar, yesterday.

U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., will travel to Israel next month to meet with leaders in the Middle East on all sides of the ongoing conflict.

The trip will be privately funded and marks Paul’s first visit to the region, where he will be joined by  evangelical and Republican leaders on a tour of cultural and historical sites.

The delegation has requested meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah.

Jewish Community of Louisville spokesman Matt Goldberg says the trip will give Paul a chance to understand the unique challenges Israel faces and possibly change his views.

"We're hopeful that after Sen. Paul sees Israel and what kind of small country it is, and how it’s surrounded by its enemies," says Goldberg. "And we’re hopeful that Sen. Paul will come to see that and revisit his position on foreign aid to Israel."

A southern Indiana group raising money to challenge downtown tolling included in the Ohio River Bridges Project may delay filing a lawsuit this month against the federal government’s record of decision earlier this year.