News

Indiana Republican House Speaker Brian Bosma has named a new Ways and Means chairman with an eye on dealing with health care costs in the coming years.

Bosma said Tuesday that Public Health Chairman Tim Brown will move over to take control of the budget-writing committee. State lawmakers will draw up Indiana's next two-year budget when they return for the 2013 session in January.

Filmmaker Debra Granik -- best known for directing the 2010 film "Winter's Bone," which starred Lousiville native Jennifer Lawrence --  will speak Tuesday evening at Spalding University's Festival of Contemporary Writing. 

Granik talked Tuesday afternoon with WFPL's Jonathan Bastian about her craft, including what informs her projects.

""There are a lot of untold stories," Granik said. "The big thing is to have people that want to actually work with you to tell it."

A new report says many of the nation’s coal-fired power plants won’t be competitive once they’re upgraded with pollution controls.

The Kentucky Broadcasters Association is joining other industry-related groups in urging cell phone companies to install radio receivers in all their phones.

"Everybody has a cell phone, let’s face it. And the need for such a service on these phones becomes very noticeable, especially in the event of severe weather," said KBA President Gary White.

CHICAGO — The Big East has put most of its new teams into the same division.

The Big East will have a West Division, and Temple, located in Philadelphia, will be part of it.

The conference announced its divisional alignment for 2013, when it becomes a 12-team football league.

The East will have Central Florida, South Florida, Connecticut, Louisville, Cincinnati and Rutgers. The West will have Boise State, Houston, Memphis, San Diego State, SMU and Temple.

The Big East championship game will be played at the home field of one of the participating teams.

Louisville has formed a new council to oversee the improvement of out-of-school programs offered throughout the city. 

The partnership announced Tuesday responds to recommendations from the Violence Prevention Task Force, which were made public last month.

Mayor Greg Fischer was joined by Metro United Way and Jefferson County Public Schools officials to announce the city’s new Out-of-School Time Coordinating Council Charter.

More than 12,000 people had by Tuesday afternoon "signed" the user-generated petition on the White House website asking for the federal government to grant Kentucky the right to secede from the Union. Many observers view the petition more as the manifestation of anger from some Americans over President Obama's re-election. But the petition does raise the question: If Kentucky could secede -- and it can't -- would leaving the Union make any sense? Dewey Clayton, a political science professor at the University of Louisville, agreed to address some questions about this sudden, informal Internet secession movement.

What benefits, if any, would Kentucky get from secession?

Update 4:45 p.m.: Crews working to offload dangerous chemicals at the train derailment site in southwestern Jefferson County got a later-than-expected start Tuesday morning because of the weather, MetroSafe said.

Crews finished offloading a butadiene car in the afternoon, after starting at about 11:30 a.m. -- a couple of hours later than expected, said Jody Duncan, a spokeswoman for MetroSafe.

The area around the derailment site was muddy, and crews had a difficult time setting up equipment, Duncan said.

Former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship is back on the radar, but apparently not currently seeking any coal mining permits in Kentucky.

President Obama has been re-elected, a new Congress is taking shape and the American citizenry is ready to move on to tackle the various challenging issues before the nation.

Perhaps not all of the citizenry.