Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear said his office has won another victory in the effort to have recent changes to the state’s pension plans declared unconstitutional.

A judge has issued a protective order related to the case. The order will prevent Governor Matt Bevin’s administration from taking sworn testimony from three organizations named in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the pension bill.

Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled against Governor Bevin’s request to depose the office of the Attorney General, the Kentucky Education Association and the Kentucky State Lodge Fraternal Order of Police. In a video statement Beshear praised the judge’s decision granting the protective order.

Kentucky Mesonet survived a threatened state budget cut and is continuing to expand. The Western Kentucky University-based statewide weather and climate monitoring network is adding  two new stations.

For a while, Kentucky Mesonet’s state funding of $750,000 was on the chopping block. WKU President Timothy Caboni says it’s a positive step that the funding was restored for Mesonet.

"It continues to provide a remarkably important service, not just to the community here in Bowling Green, but to communities across the state who are interested in using those data for agriculture, for road planning and for other important things in those communities.," said Caboni. "It’s really part of our statewide mission, and we’re glad it was preserved.”

Kentucky’s new Commissioner for the Department of Criminal Justice Training says he’s focused on preparing new and future law enforcement officers to safely deal with the opioid crisis. Payne said officers have to be careful when handling drugs such as fentanyl because they can become ill if their skin comes in contact with the substance.

“Nowadays that mistake can kill you because of things like fentanyl. So there’s all kinds of dangers, new dangers, because of drugs that we have to prepare these young people for and that’s sad,” he said.  

Payne said another challenge facing law enforcement is recruitment. The Commissioner said attracting new officers is a problem in Kentucky and across the country. He said that could be because other careers are more attractive.

The economic impact of Kentucky's tourism industry has jumped nearly 4 percent to more than $15 billion.

A report commissioned by the Kentucky Department of Tourism shows the industry supports more than 195,000 jobs across the state and generated $1.5 billion in taxes. Of that tax money, $202 million went to local governments while the rest went to the state government.

Saturday’s 144th Kentucky Derby made history as the wettest ever, beating a hundred-year-old record set in 1918.

But the rains didn’t dissuade the crowds, who donned ponchos and sucked down mint juleps in spite of the weather. More than 157,000 revelers showed up to watch the races.

The track favorite, Justify, took home first place and overcame the so-called Apollo Curse. The colt didn’t race as a two-year-old, and it’s been 136 years since a horse has won the race without that experience.

A Bowling Green-based domestic violence shelter wants to empower women who are trying to land jobs in office settings.

Barren River Area Safe Space—or BRASS--is holding its spring Dress for Change event through May 23. The shelter is giving women donated clothing and accessories they can wear for job interviews and while at work.

BRASS Executive Director Tori Henninger said women who are physically abused by their partners are also often victims of financial abuse.