A new study ranks Kentucky the third least environmentally-friendly state in the nation.

Vermont was ranked the most environmentally friendly, with West Virginia coming in last.

The WalletHub study compared states across three key factors--environmental quality, eco-friendly behaviors, and climate-change contributions. Kentucky ranked 48th overall, and last in the category of environmental quality.

A Houston, Texas-based company is investing $75 million in a new manufacturing plant in  Somerset. Extiel will use a unique technology to convert natural gas into synthetic waxes, oils and solvents. The company will manufacture products that may include ultra-clean synthetic fuels, like motor oil. 

The new plant will create 60 jobs within four years.

Martin Shearer is executive director of the Somerset Pulaski County Development Foundation. He says the company knows there’s an existing market.

Students at Marshall County High School participated in a statewide moment of silence this morning, to remember the lives of Bailey Holt and Preston Cope--two 15-year-old students who lost their lives to a shooter at the school January 23rd.

Marshall County High School junior Keaton Conner stood silently alongside other students and teachers as they circled the school to honor classmates who lost their lives only three months ago.

“It's a great way for us all to be together and to remember them and to remember what happened that day in a peaceful and respectful manner," Conner said.

The attorney for Timothy Madden is asking the state of Kentucky to help pay for his client’s legal defense.  Madden is scheduled to go on trial this summer for the murder of a young Scottsville girl. 

Attorney Travis Lock filed a motion this week in Allen County Circuit Court seeking to have Madden declared an indigent person.  The court document states that the 40-year-old Madden and his family have exhausted all of their personal funds to pay for legal representation. 

A new poll shows one in four Kentuckians knows someone who has abused prescription pain drugs.

The Kentucky Health Issues Poll also showed a decrease in the number of adults in the commonwealth who were prescribed pain pills. In 2011, about half of adults had a pain pill prescription. The poll released this week shows that’s declined to one in three adults.

A Kentucky judge says he plans to decide by July 14 whether he will block a new law making changes to Kentucky's troubled pension plan from taking effect.

State lawmakers passed a law earlier this month making changes to the state's underfunded pension system. Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear sued, saying it violates the state constitution and lawmakers broke the law when they passed it.

Fresh off this year’s legislative session, a new poll suggests that Kentuckians aren’t happy with the work of the governor and state lawmakers. 

Only 32 percent of Kentuckians surveyed this month approved of Republican Governor Matt Bevin’s job performance.  Political Science Professor Joel Turner heads the Social Science Research Center at Western Kentucky University, which conducted the poll.