UK Beyond Coal Movement Rally Set

{Lexington, Kentucky}...The University of Kentucky Beyond Coal movement, part of a larger national movement started by the Sierra Club, will hold a rally Wednesday to ask UK Athletics to cut its ties with the coal industry. Most of the local group's activities have been dedicated to asking UK to stop using its coal-fired power plant on campus, in favor of cleaner energies such as wind and solar, and to add coal to its list of harmful products. UK spokesman Jay Blanton says advertising and sponsorships have not been sold to tobacco or alcohol companies for several years under the university's media rights contract. However, the coal industry is a major contributor to UK Athletics, most of it led by Joe Craft, the billionaire CEO of Alliance Resource Partners, one of Kentucky's leading coal producers, who donated $6 million to build the Joe Craft Center and came up with an additional $7 million to build the Wildcat Coal Lodge for men's basketball players. Craft stipulated that the lodge's lobby contain a "tribute" to coal and its benefits to Kentucky. A university policy required the building to be constructed using energy-efficiency standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Last year, Friends of Coal, an offshoot of the Kentucky Coal Association, paid $85,000 to be the signature sponsor of the UK-University of Louisville football and men's basketball games, and also helped sponsor Big Blue Madness. Bill Bissett, executive director of the Kentucky Coal Association, says the national Beyond Coal movement is mostly funded by a $50 million donation from New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and, when he thinks about powering Kentucky, he's not interested in what the mayor of New York City has to say.

Arraignment Set For Head Of Counterfeiting Ring

{Ashland, Kentucky}...U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward B. Atkins will conduct an arraignment hearing for 52 year old Harold James in federal court in Ashland on September 10th. James was serving 41 months in federal prison for conspiracy to defraud the United States when he escaped from a drug treatment center on May 10th. U.S. Marshals caught him in Atlanta on August 13th. James admitted passing 108 phony checks to retailers and that he manufactured more than 500 of the checks. Eight other people were convicted in the scheme, which prosecutors say affected businesses in Boyd and Carter counties and in Lawrence County, Ohio, costing them roughly $65,000.

Newborns Hospitalized For Drug Addiction

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...The number of newborns hospitalized for drug addiction has soared in Kentucky over the last decade.  Hospitalizations for addicted newborns climbed from 29 in 2000 to 730 last year. State officials and doctors say the hospitalization statistics include newborn withdrawals from all types of drugs, but they blame prescription pills for the dramatic increase.

Child Abuse Deaths Decrease

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...An annual report from the Cabinet for Health and Family Services released Friday says at least 22 Kentucky children died in the past year as a result of abuse and neglect, but the deaths have decreased in recent years. There were 31 child abuse deaths for fiscal year 2011, 36 the year before, 29 in 2009 and 30 in 2008. The report says 33 additional children were "nearly killed" or sustained life-threatening injuries as a result of abuse in the past year, and a total of 15,699 Kentucky children were abused or neglected over the last 12 months that ended June 30th.

Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange Executive Director Appointed

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...Kentucky has taken another step toward a statewide health insurance exchange. Governor Steve Beshear has appointed Carrie Banahan as executive director of the Kentucky Health Benefit Exchange, an initiative that resulted from federal health care reforms. Banaham had been executive director of the Kentucky Office of Health Policy. Beshear issued an executive order in July creating the statewide health insurance exchange, which will allow people to comparison shop online for insurance by January 1, 2014. The federal government will create exchanges starting in 2014 for states that don't develop their own.

Legislation To Consider Christian Health Care

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...Senator Tom Buford, chairman of the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee, has drafted legislation he intends to introduce in January that would eliminate a legal impediment that has left the future of the Medi-Share program in question in Kentucky. Medi-Share helps pay medical bills for churchgoers who pledge to live Christian lives that include no smoking, drinking, using drugs or engaging in sex outside of marriage. The Kentucky Department of Insurance has had the Florida-based ministry in court for the past 10 years.

Wildcat Sculpture Needs Name

{Lexington, Kentucky}...The 7-foot bronze wildcat sculpture that was dedicated on the University of Kentucky campus just as the men's basketball team was becoming national champion last spring needs a name. The sculpture is in Wildcat Alumni Plaza across Avenue of Champions from Memorial Coliseum. To suggest a name, visit http://www.ukalumni.net/dontcallmefluffy and complete the form by September 7th. Voting will be from September 17th to October 8th, with the winner announced on October 15th at the homecoming pep rally in the plaza.