The former chief of the McMahan Fire Department has been sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for embezzling nearly $200,000 from the Crusade for Children charity and the fire district.

Fifty-five year old Paul Barth pleaded guilty in June to mail fraud, money laundering and other charges.

Prosecutors say Barth, who was also chairman of the Crusade’s board of directors, directed charity funds donated through the fire department to his personal bank account, with some of the money used for vacations and expenses related to his Corvette car collection.

After a week off, the University of Louisville football team returns to action this Saturday.

The Cards will host Connecticut in their last home game of the season.

U of L is coming off a disappointing loss at Syracuse, the first defeat of the season, but coach Charlie Strong believes his players have put it behind them.

To date, the chatter over who'll challenge U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell in 2014 has centered around actress/activist Ashley Judd.

And, if not Judd, then Alison Lundergan Grimes, the Kentucky secretary of state.

A top Kentucky Democrat is saying that McConnell's Democratic challenger will be neither of the women.

In a recent interview, House Speaker Greg Stumbo said Judd's candidacy would face an obstacle from her position against mountaintop removal coal mining. In fact, he said her name shouldn't even be in discussion.

A new person is joning the Beshear administration to tend to the state's budget, but she's familiar face to Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson in his last government role as mayor of Metro Louisville.

Gov. Steve Beshear has hired a new state budget director with nearly three decades of government service so far.

Jane Driskell has served in various government roles over 27 years, including a stint as chief financial officer for Louisville Metro government.

The escalating violence in the Middle East and has sparked a series of pro-Palestinian protests in Louisville.

Last week, the Israeli government launched airstrikes that killed top Hamas military leaders in response to rocket launches that killed three civilians, and the conflict has approached full-scale war.

Several local peace groups, such as Students for Justice in Palestine and Louisville Committee for Peace in the Middle East, have pointed out that over 90 Palestinian civilians have been killed thus far and that densely populated areas are being targeted by the Israeli military.

At least two protests have been held in Louisville, including one Monday at the University of Louisville.

Pro-Palestinian activist Ibrahim Imam has helped organize the local demonstrations. He says residents should be aware that the U.S. gives Israel $3 billion in foreign aid, and are therefore complicit in the country's military actions.

"I want people to realize that the crimes that are being committed are being committed against Palestinians," he says. "The Palestinians are the victims in this, and I want people to look deeply into this and not buy the cliche that are being fed to them. And Israel should not be rewarded for its aggression at the tune of $15 million a day."

A report commissioned by the World Bank says the Earth is on a path to a climate that is 4 degrees Celsius warmer by the end of the century. In order to slow this down, world leaders will have to do more to reduce greenhouse gas emissions than they're currently doing.

As we've reported, there's a backlash brewing to sedentary office life as more people realize how sitting all day can do a body wrong.

I work at home and often sit in front of my computer doing research and writing. So I thought I'd give a treadmill desk a try.

The Public Service Commission will hold a hearing tomorrow evening to let the public weigh in on a proposed utility rate increase.