The task force Governor Beshear appointed to study Kentucky’s alcoholic beverage control laws will hold a series of public forums this week.

Robert Vance, secretary of the Public Protection Cabinet and chairman of the 22-member panel that will prepare a report for the governor, says the meetings will be held in Somerset, Madisonville and at Northern Kentucky University.

"We’ll basically be getting just feedback," Vance said. "And that feedback will be included in the report."

A federal court appearance is scheduled this week in Louisville for Stan Curtis, the man who received worldwide acclaim for his efforts to provide food to the needy.

Curtis is accused of stealing donations from one of his charitable organizations.

A bill of information issued last month accuses the 63 year old Curtis of mail fraud, money laundering and filing a false income tax return.

Some 250 volunteers have signed up to help build a playground in just six hours at the Parkland neighborhood Boys and Girls Club on Tuesday.

The project is a partnership between the Humana Foundation and a national non-profit organization called KaBoom, which has helped build over 2,100 playgrounds nationwide. The playground, which includes a community garden space, will be built next to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Kentuckiana's Parkland neighborhood club.

In previous elections, candidates from both parties have campaigned on pledges to be environmental presidents. This time, neither candidate is talking much about cleaning up the air or protecting scenic lands.

Instead, the debate has focused on whether and how much environmental regulations hurt businesses, especially the energy industry.

Mostly it's been GOP candidate Mitt Romney criticizing President Obama for what he sees as overzealous environmental regulations that strangle the economic recovery.

Environmental Rules

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer is the only Republican serving as a constitutional officer in state government, and is frequently mentioned as a future gubernatorial candidate.

Comer was elected to office with the highest number of votes among any candidate running in last year’s statewide election and he arrived at the agriculture department promising a new, bipartisan direction.

The former state representative immediately partnered with State Auditor Adam Edelen to address a growing scandal left by his predecessor—former University of Kentucky basketball star Richie Farmer—who is now reportedly being investigated by the FBI.

Louisville’s Senorise Perry ran for four touchdowns and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater threw for 304 yards and another score to lead the Cards to a 45-35 victory at Pittsburgh today.

The Panthers led 21-17 at halftime but U of L scored three quick touchdowns in the third quarter to grab the lead for good and win their Big East Conference opener. They also snapped a four-game losing streak to Pitt.

The 16th ranked Cardinals remain undefeated at 6-0 and are bowl-eligible for the third straight season.

The Louisville AIDS Walk is this Sunday, and for many, it's a time of solidarity and celebration. But AIDS activism in Louisville faces a big challenge: apathy. There are more people living with HIV in Louisville now than ever before, but the disease doesn't make the headlines it once did. 

The vice presidential debate at Centre College on Thursday night was viewed by millions of television viewers worldwide.  Two of our own reporters - WFPL's Political Editor Phillip M. Bailey and Kentucky Public Radio’s Kenny Colston - were there in person to watch the 90-minute debate between vice president Joe Biden and Republican nominee Paul Ryan. They were also part of the media throng at Centre College for several hours both before and after the debate. Bailey and Colston talked about their experience this past Friday on Byline.

A producer with MSNBC's award-winning prison documentary series "Lockup" says Louisville Metro Corrections Director Mark Bolton made inaccurate statements about the city’s contract with the cable news network.

The series began filming at the city jail earlier this year, and its season debut Saturday will feature footage from the corrections department. Bolton told WFPL in a telephone interview that Metro Corrections was given final edit approval and that his department had received $20,000 from the show for leadership development.

But MSNBC spokeswoman Wessie Vieria says Bolton’s claims are not true, and the cable network never gave Metro Corrections the rights to final editorial control of the show’s content.

"MSNBC does not ever give any editorial control to the people who appear in the stories and it was not different in this case. MSNBC and NBC News have final editorial control over every episode of Lockup and that is very, very clearly stated in our agreements with the jails and the prison," she says.