News

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner James Comer will visit Warren, Butler, and Daviess Counties today, promoting a ten dollar voluntary donation for farm license plate renewals. Commissioner Comer says the ten dollars will be split evenly between the 4-H, The Future Farmers of America, and the Kentucky Proud Program. Comer believes the funds can help to encourage some young people to attend college and then return to the farm. He says more young people are needed in production agriculture in Kentucky and across the nation. Dan Modlin talks with him.

Governor Steve Beshear says he won’t back down on efforts to bring casino gambling to Kentucky, despite another defeat on the issue last week. Since his first term as governor in 2007, Beshear has made expanding gambling a top priority. 

Several healthcare groups have come together in a public-private partnership to fight cancer in Kentucky. The newly-formed Kentucky Cancer Foundation is part of a two-million-dollar initiative to help uninsured Kentuckians get cancer screenings.

A group of about two hundred Kentucky Farm Bureau volunteers are in Washington D.C. to talk with lawmakers about key issues that relate to agriculture. Jeff Harper, the Director of Public Affairs for Kentucky Farm Bureau, says the group is talking with Congressional leaders about several areas of concern, including recent EPA  proposals to regulate dust on the farm and a Department of Labor proposal regarding children working around the farm. Dan Modlin has this report.

The Indiana Senate is expected to take up a proposed statewide smoking ban this week. For the first time in six years, a House-passed smoking ban has advanced past the Senate committee level.

The Public Policy Committee voted 8-2 last week for the measure after hearing some four hours of public testimony.

Indianapolis-area tavern owner Wanda Goodpastor told the panel a ban would harm her business, as 80-percent of her customers are smokers.