A quarter of Kentucky’s children continue living in poverty, despite making gains in education and health indicators according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s 2012 Kids Count Data Book released this morning. 

The annual report ranks overall child welfare by measuring 16 indicators in four subjects: economic well-being, family and community, health and education factors.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear is ordering flags across the commonwealth to half-staff in wake of last week’s shootings in Aurora, Colorado.

A lone gunman opened fire in a Colorado cinema last week, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more.

The flags will remain at half staff until sundown on Friday, exactly one week from the shootings. President Barack Obama ordered all flags at federal buildings to half staff in the aftermath of the shooting.

Indiana Democratic Senate candidate Joe Donnelly released a new television ad Wednesday that once again lampooned Republican Richard Mourdock as a heckler.

Last month, the Donnelly camp ran a spot with a Mourdock impersonator jeering the congressman from the bleachers. In the latest 30-second ad, Donnelly touts his small business background and advocates for cuts to government spending.

Donnelly also criticizes his GOP opponent for filing a lawsuit against the auto bailout and the commercial features a Mourdock impersonator driving by in a car yelling, "it's my way or the highway."

Check it out:

Louisville Metro Councilwoman Attica Scott, D-1, is concerned about lead poisoning at the dozens of vacant properties in her district.

Those abandoned homes have lead dust from deteriorated paint, renovation and demolition that is toxic and has been linked to a number of health problems such as lower child I.Q. and attention span, and increased aggressive behavior.

Scott's office is partnering with the Network Center for Community Change and the group Lock Up Lead to detoxify the 50 worst vacant properties in the district. She says besides creating blight and economic hardships in many neighborhoods, abandoned homes also pose an environmental risk.

"I’m definitely concerned about the safety of some of these properties that are in District 1 that are deteriorating and literally leaning to the side and falling apart. And also the issue of lead, the toxic lead levels in some of these properties," she says.

The extended drought has brought has given people in northeastern Indiana a glimpse of history. 

Receding waters in the Salamonie Reservoir have revealed the remains of Monument City.   It was one of several small towns bulldozed and submerged to make way for the Army Corps of Engineers flood control project. 

What was left of Monument City had been under water since 1967, but the reservoir is now 14 feet below its regular summer level, revealing stone foundations, roads and the remnants of trees.

The Kentucky Arts Council will accept nominations for the state's poet laureate position for the 2013-15 term. The position is not limited to the Commonwealth's poets—accomplished fiction writers, playwrights and nonfiction and  living in Kentucky with strong ties to the state also qualify.  

Nomination forms and program guidelines are available on the Kentucky Arts Council website. The deadline for nominations is September 30.

Diana, Princess of Wales was a member of England’s royal family, a style icon and a beloved advocate for international children’s charities. Her life and work is celebrated in a 7,500-square-foot exhibit that will travel from Althorp Estate in England, where the princess grew up, to the Frazier History Museum in September. 

State officials say a bipartisan measure passed by the General Assembly this spring is making an impact on the state’s prescription drug abuse epidemic.

The legislation, known as House Bill 1, established tougher regulations of clinics that prescribe controlled substances such as Oxycontin and other pain killers. Governor Steve Beshear announced Tuesday that entrepreneurs are already taking notice.

The University of Louisville has begun raising funds for an $8 million academic center for student athletes.  The project is getting a boost from Maker's Mark. 

The bourbon maker is donating proceeds from a commemorative bottle featuring U of L football coach Charlie Strong.

More than 8,000 of the bottles went on sale at retail outlets last Friday and quickly sold out.

After reviewing task force recommendations for over two months, Mayor Greg Fischer says he supports the consolidation process between the Metropolitan Sewer District and the Louisville Water Company, but a full merger is not set in stone.