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Kentucky’s Centre College is creating a new summer program this year for Kentucky juniors and seniors to learn more about the world outside state.

The Global Leadership Academy will take place over two weeks in the middle of June this summer; the goal for Centre is to get Kentucky’s high school students more in line with global leadership and cultures.

It’s the first attempt at such a program for the private college in Danville, Ky., which is leveraging its reputation as a strong study abroad college to start the program.

Milton Reigelman, the director of global citizenship at Centre College, said the goal is to help high school students get a taste of college life, as well as new subjects.

“But it will also sort of teach them about global issues that are not very widely covered in high schools or even in colleges,” he said.

The executive director of the citizen’s advocacy group the Pritchard Committee is voicing concerns over the new statewide student testing regime being used in Kentucky.

Stu Silberman says he hasn’t fully bought into all aspects of the new accountability system.

Kentucky students took the K-Prep exams for the first time last year. K-Prep stands for “Kentucky Performance Rating for Educational Progress”, and is based on national common core curricula, which creates common standards for subjects such as math, English, science, and social studies. But Kentucky legislators chose to instead adopt a so-called “quality core” model from ACT Inc.

Silberman, a former Daviess County schools superintendent, was quoted in the Messenger-Inquirer as saying “I’m not sure if what we assessed was exactly Common Core. To me, the jury’s still out.”

U.S. Senator Rand Paul plans to introduce legislation that would prevent the federal  government from defaulting if it fails to raise the debt ceiling. President Barack Obama and Congress are once again tussling over increasing the nation’s debt limit. The president says he won’t negotiate the issue, while the GOP wants to tie any change to spending cuts.

If an agreement isn't reached, the U.S. will be unable to pay its bills. Paul, a Republican from Bowling Green, says his legislation will force the president pay debt interest, entitlements and the military before using remaining funds.

“Why would we ever try to scare the markets by saying, oh if you don’t raise the debt ceiling we’ll default. We bring in over $200 billion dollars every month and the interest payment is $30 billion," explains Paul.

The nation will hit its debt ceiling in the next few months.

Kentuckians are being urged to find volunteer opportunities this weekend to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy.

Gov. Steve Beshear says whether it's a community effort or a smaller project, any volunteer work can make a difference. He says that participating in the National Day of Service on Saturday will honor King's life and works and will help build strong communities in Kentucky.

Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson says Kentuckians repeatedly show their desire to offer helping hands to others in need.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be observed on Monday. This year, the presidential inauguration coincides with the King holiday, and President Barack Obama is also urging Americans to volunteer.

WKU snapped a three-game losing skid Thursday night with a 72-49 win over Louisiana-Lafayette at E.A. Diddle Arena. The win improves WKU's record to 11-8 overall and 5-3 in conference play.

Brandon Harris led WKU with 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Three other Hilltoppers were in double figures, including Teeng Akol with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. T.J. Price added 13 points, three assists and had no turnovers in a team-high 37 minutes, and George Fant contributed 10 points and six rebounds.

Percy Blade grabbed 10 rebounds from the guard position, and Aleksejs Rostov contributed seven points and five rebounds in 27 minutes. Louisiana-Lafayette was led by Elfrid Payton's 14 points and 11 points and 14 rebounds from Shawn Long.