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A Warren County lawmaker says he agrees with Governor Steve Beshear on the need to get legislative redistricting maps done before the 2014 General Assembly.

Bowling Green Representative Jody Richards told WKU Public Radio he hopes House and Senate leaders can come to an agreement on new maps ahead of a possible special legislative session this fall.

"I hope that everybody gets together, and that we do a five-day session, which is the quickest you can possibly do," said Richards. "We don't need to get up there and argue. Everything needs to be settled before we go."

Richards says two lawsuits filed against the state over the lack of a redistricting plan are adding to the urgency lawmakers feel about getting new maps passed. Those lawsuits were filed by a group of county clerks in northern Kentucky and the state chapter of the ACLU, and accuse the state of violating federal law by not having in place new legislative maps based on the latest U.S. Census data.

The case against a Bowling Green volleyball coach accused of having sex with an underage girl is headed to a grand jury. 

Twenty-eight-year-old Brian Gifford was in Warren District Court Friday and waived his right to a preliminary hearing. 

A Kentucky State Police investigation found that Gifford had sex on multiple occasions with a 15-year-old player that he met while coaching for the Barren River Area Volleyball Organization.  Warren County Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Cohron says the investigation is ongoing.

"Our main concern is to make sure that any children affected by this individual come forward, and if anybody does have information we would ask them to contact Kentucky State Police or the Commonwealth's Attorneys Office," urges Cohron.

Gifford remains in the Warren County Regional Jail.  His attorney Alan Simpson declined to comment Friday.

Twelve professionals make up the inaugural class of the Warren County Public Schools Hall of Distinguished Alumni.  It's a diverse group whose backgrounds range from the military and medicine to business and sports. 

School System Attorney Bart Darrell helped create the Hall, and he says it's as much for current students as it is for alumni.

"We certainly want our students here now to see the bar that has been set for them and realize there were some really great folks who came before them, and they need to try to live up to those standards," says Darrell.

Inductees will be honored in a ceremony Saturday evening at the Sloan Convention Center in Bowling Green.  They include Amy Milliken, Jonathon Holland, Dr. Kenneth Bastin, Dr. Sharron Francis, Dr. Jenks Britt, Dr. James Lafferty, Dr. Jackie Lawrence, Daymeon Fishback, David Clark, Clemette Haskins, Charles Hardcastle, and Billy Ray Smith.

A coalition of western Kentucky businesses and residents has formed in hopes of minimizing the fallout of an electricity rates deal between Big Rivers Electric Co-Op and western Kentucky aluminum smelters.

The coalition is worried the deal will lead to higher utility bills for residents and businesses.

Aluminum prices have been low in the past few years, and across Kentucky, aluminum smelters have sought to save money on their electricity bills.

Earlier this year, Big Rivers cut a deal with two Western Kentucky smelters, allowing them to buy their electricity on the open market. The smelters said the change was necessary to stay in business, but the deal cost the electric company more than half of its customer base.

To make up for that, Big Rivers is asking the Kentucky Public Service Commission to approve a 30 percent rate increase for its remaining customers.

Industrial hemp legalization has failed to make it into draft copies of farm bills in the U.S. House and Senate.

The hemp issue enjoys the support of seven of the eight members of Kentucky’s federal delegation, and Senator Mitch McConnell had explored the possibility of inserting a hemp legalization provision in the Senate farm measure.

However, that provision didn’t have wide enough backing among Senators to make the farm bill draft.

A McConnell spokesman told the Courier-Journal that McConnell and Senator Rand Paul “continue to look at several options to move the hemp legislation through the Senate.” The spokesman said inclusion in the farm bill isn’t the only option for changing federal laws regarding industrial hemp.

Kentucky lawmakers this year passed a bill allowing farmers in the state to grow hemp if the federal government legalized the crop.

WKU Public Radio has contacted the office of Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer for any response to hemp's lack of inclusion in the draft farm bills. We will bring you any reaction when we receive it.