The University of Louisville has signed a new one-year contract with former Fund for the Arts CEO Allan Cowen. Cowen is exploring partnerships between the university and the arts community. 

Update 5:35 pm: Power is still out for about 1,400 LG&E customers in Louisville. Most of these are in the 40206, 40207 and 40299 zip codes.

Update 5:09 pm: Power is out for about 4,000 LG&E customers in Louisville. 

A relatively new economic think tank in Kentucky has released a report that pushes back on calls to cut the state's pension benefits.

The report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy says the idea that public pensioners are well-compensated compared to their private sector counterparts is a myth.

“If you fairly compare what public workers receive at this point in Kentucky, compared to the private sector in total compensated, wages and benefits, you find that they are actually somewhat under-compensated," says KCEP director Jason Bailey.

Representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency will be in Louisville tomorrow to discuss a former toxic Superfund site.

New environmental issues have arisen at the Lees Lane Landfill in West Louisville.

The landfill was closed in 1975. After 400 drums of hazardous materials were found on the site near the Ohio River several years later, Lees Lane was classified as a toxic Superfund site, and cleanup began.

Citing concerns with outdated and contradictory regulations, Governor Steve Beshear announced Wednesday the creation of a task force to study of Kentucky's alcoholic beverage control laws.

"Many groups, including licensees, state regulators, law enforcement and private citizen shave called for statutory reform of our alcoholic beverage laws. They agree that Kentucky’s current laws do not adequately account for a 21st Century economy and standard of law," Beshear said in a news release. "A task force that includes members from a broad spectrum of backgrounds and professions is best suited to identify the problems, debate policy and make recommendations for improvements."

The state has over 13,000 licenses issued to manufacturers, distributors, and retailers for alcoholic beverages, with more than 70 different license types to regulate those operations.

A new report from by the Sierra Club estimates how much sulfur dioxide is emitted from nine Kentucky power plants and it finds that all nine of them—including the Mill Creek and Cane Run power plants in Louisville—are violating the national air quality standards.

Sulfur dioxide has been linked to health issues like pulmonary inflammation, asthma, emphysema and other lung conditions.

Supporters of instant racing in Kentucky are once again trying to take their case to the state supreme court. Instant racing games allow players to wager on previously-run horse races using slot-machine like-devices. The Franklin Circuit Court previously ruled that the games are legal, but an appeals court sent the decision back, saying  the anti-gambling Family Foundation should've been allowed to gather evidence in the case.  Now horse industry officials are appealing that decision in hopes of taking the case to the state supreme court.

This weekend's Jane Austen Festival in Louisville will feature a one-woman play about  Fanny Kemble, a legendary English actress and author who wrote in the style of Jane Austen.

“Shame the Devil: an Audience with Fanny Kemble,  written by Anne Ludlum, is based on Kemble’s own journals.  Kemble never met Jane Austen—she was only six when the novelist died. But Austenites celebrating the Regency Era this weekend will hear a deep kinship between the two women.

Three new studies have added more scientific evidence to support ill health effects from mountaintop removal coal mining.

Over the past few years, several studies have presented evidence supporting links between health problems—like cancer and birth defects—that are more prevalent in communities with mountaintop removal mines. But these new studies attempt to pinpoint specific pollutants that could be causing those health problems.

Update: Picnic emcee and Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer says, despite claims from Fancy Farm officials, no surrogate has been named. This story has been modified.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney will send a surrogate to this year’s Fancy Farm Picnic.