Associated Press

A western Kentucky aluminum smelter has notified employees that it plans to shut down operations on Aug. 20 unless it can get lower electric rates.

Century Aluminum has been in negotiations with its power supplier, Big Rivers Electric Corp., for more than a year. Both parties told the Messenger-Inquirer on Tuesday that they are still trying to negotiate a deal before time runs out.

Legislation to lower the smelter's electric bills was introduced during the General Assembly, but pulled due to misinformation that surrounded the issue.

Century gave a 12-month notice last year to Big Rivers saying it would not renew its power contract. The plant in Hawesville employs about 700 workers.

The Department of Defense says an infantry brigade combat team from Fort Knox along with three other major units will be deployed to Afghanistan this summer.

The 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, at Fort Knox includes about 2,200 soldiers.

The military says the deployment is part of an upcoming rotation of forces in Afghanistan later this year.

The other units include the 3,000 members of the 2nd Calvary Regiment based in Vilseck, Germany; the 3,200 members of the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division, at Fort Hood, Texas; and the 4th Infantry Division Headquarters, Fort Carson, Colo., and its 450 members.

Kentucky education commissioner Terry Holliday says the first 57 school districts that raise their dropout age from 16 to 18 will be given a $10,000 state grant.

Holliday made the announcement Wednesday during a state Board of Education meeting in Frankfort. Just before the announcement, board members voted unanimously to adopt a resolution urging Kentucky's 174 school districts to raise the dropout age as soon as possible.

The board has for years been urging state lawmakers to raise Kentucky's legal dropout age to 18.

A compromise reached during this year's legislative session allows local districts to make their own decision on raising the age, but with a provision that once 55 percent of districts have done so, the change will be made statewide within four years.

The prospective brides of two Kentucky inmates are suing a clerk of court after he cancelled their marriage licenses because their fiancés couldn't appear in person to acquire the license.
   
Sara Hudson and Patricia Locke have each sued Bullitt County Clerk Kevin Mooney in federal court in Louisville, saying his actions have denied them the right to marry.
   
Both suits were brought with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. They want a judge to lift the requirement of appearing in person to apply for the license. Hudson's fiancé is an inmate at the Kentucky State Reformatory. Locke is engaged to an inmate at Northpoint Training Center.
   
Mooney did not return a message seeking comment. In court records, Mooney said the rejections were based on legal advice.

The head of the Kentucky Derby Festival says Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Lawrence won't make it to this year's Pegasus Parade to serve as grand marshal. But CEO Mike Berry says there's a silver lining; Lawrence has a standing invitation for any year she can make it.

Lawrence, a 22 year old Louisville native, won an Oscar this year for her role in "Silver Linings Playbook" and received a nomination in 2011 for "Winter's Bone."