Kentucky Youth Advocates Praising General Assembly

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...Kentucky Youth Advocates are praising the General Assembly's passage of a handful of key bills aimed at making life better for Kentucky's vulnerable children. Jamie Cotton, a former foster child, pushed for a bill that gives foster children more time to decide whether they want to stay in state care until age 21.

Some of the key victories cited by advocates include:

■ The House and Senate agreed to keep in the state budget an additional $21 million proposed by Gov. Steve Beshear to hire 300 more social workers, about 100 of whom will be assigned to beef up child protection.

■ Approval of House Bill 168, which prohibits superintendents from assigning teachers to alternative schools as punishment. Advocates say that too often, a school district's worst teachers are assigned to alternative schools.

■ Approval of House Concurrent Resolution 129, a measure that creates a juvenile justice task force charged with reforming Kentucky's juvenile criminal code.

■ Approval of Senate Bill 213, which requires state social workers to give foster children specific information and support when they are age 17½ . The bill also gives foster children extra time to decide whether they want to extend their time in the state system until age 21.

Churches Attempt To Stop Pole Dancing

{Adairville, Kentucky}...Churches in Kentucky and Tennessee are uniting in an effort to stop Tenn-Tucky State Line Tavern, a tavern located just outside Adairville on the state line, from allowing pole dancing. Around 300 Adairville Baptist Church members gathered Sunday to pray that the owner would have a change of heart. Tavern owner Sheila Haley says she runs a clean establishment, dancers are fully clothed, and she made an economic decision recently to add pole dancing. While Haley waits to hear whether Logan County officials will approve her request for an entertainment license, she says she is allowing people to pole dance for fun. Logan County Judge-Executive Logan Chick said last week that, because all of her business is conducted in Tennessee, he's not sure they can regulate it.

Former Bookkeeper Pleads Guilty To Embezzlement

• {Louisville, Kentucky}...Fifty-four year old Mary "Kathy" Montfort, a former bookkeeper for the Little Sisters of the Poor, has pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $300,000 from the charity and using the money to buy herself a new car, among other items. Montfort entered the guilty plea Monday to 16 charges including forging checks and money laundering. The charges arose in November when a nun with Little Sisters of the Poor, who operate St. Joseph's Home for the Aged in Louisville, called police to report suspicions that Montfort was embezzling from the organization. Sentencing is set for July 2nd.

Lawmakers Left With Big Workload

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...When state lawmakers return to Frankfort April 12th to end Kentucky's 2012 General Assembly, their biggest jobs will be to consider any vetoes issued by Governor Steve Beshear and to decide what to do with legislation left hanging when they departed from the Capitol Friday night. High on that list are two measures pushed by House Speaker Greg Stumbo: an anti-drug bill to regulate pain-management clinics in hopes of curbing prescription drug abuse, and a bill to set up a scholarship program for students in coal-producing counties. They also will have to finalize a state road-building plan for the next two years. Beshear has not vetoed any of the 123 bills the General Assembly sent him through Friday.

EPA Closer To Approving 15 Percent Ethanol Gas

{Washington, D.C.}...The federal government announced Monday it has taken a step toward wide distribution of gasoline mixed with 15 percent ethanol by allowing manufacturers to register as suppliers. E15 still must clear another set of federal tests and become a registered fuel in individual states. Ethanol makers then must convince petroleum marketers to sell it at gas stations. Most ethanol fuel sold for passenger cars and pickups is 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gas. The new blend that boosts ethanol to 15 percent would only be sold for use in 2001 and newer vehicles. The industry trade group Renewable Fuels Association says EPA's move is the most significant in a three-year effort to get E15 approved for the market, and Midwestern states that have started the regulatory process could see E15 for sale as early as this summer. Tom Buis, CEO of Growth Energy, another ethanol industry trade group, says, "Our nation needs E15 to reduce our dependence on foreign oil - it will keep gas prices down at the pump and help to end the extreme fluctuations in gas prices caused by our reliance on fuel from unstable parts of the world." The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers has challenged the government's efforts to offer E15 in court, and president Charles Drevna issued a statement saying with a lawsuit pending, the EPA should not rush E15 to market.

Former U of L Employee Pleads Guilty

{Louisville, Kentucky}...The U.S. attorney's office said Monday that 41 year old Alisha Ward of Louisville, a former senior coordinator of the University of Louisville equine industry program, has pleaded guilty in federal court to wire fraud and money laundering in exchange for prosecutors recommending a sentence of 37 months in federal prison. Ward was fired last March from the $42,000-a-year post. The university last year released results of an audit that said a lack of oversight allowed Ward to spend nearly a half-million dollars from the program on personal expenses, ranging from a motorcycle to lingerie.

KET Allowed As House, Senate Approve Budget

{Frankfort, Kentucky}...The Kentucky Senate voted 36-1 Friday to approve a two-year, $19 billion state budget that calls for 8.4 percent cuts to most government agencies and programs, accounting for nearly $300 million in savings. The Kentucky House voted 81-7 Friday evening to approve the state government’s spending plan for the two-year period beginning July 1st. Negotiators this year allowed cameras from the public television station KET to run throughout the proceedings. What the public learned from watching the KET feeds was that more than 30,000 government workers will go without pay raises and some 200,000 retirees won't get cost-of-living increases in their monthly pension checks and a compromise was reached to extend scholarships to college students in all of Kentucky's coal-producing counties, including those in western Kentucky. Governor Steve Beshear says he's pleased that education, Medicaid and corrections were spared from major cuts.