Kenny Colston

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said he hopes a deal can be hatched to avoid the fiscal cliff,  but that talks so far have not gone well.

McConnell said President Barack Obama is asking for a new stimulus package -- the unlimited ability to raise the debt ceiling and more than $1 trillion in new tax revenues.

And those proposals are not something Republicans want to concede, McConnell said.

Still, McConnell said he's hopeful a deal can be reached to avert the tax increases and large budget reductions scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1.

Gov. Steve Beshear is considering multiple options in the efforts to get the General Assembly to support expanded gambling legislation.

A constitutional amendment failed earlier this year in the state Senate -- and a major complaint from critics was that the amendment did too much to protect thoroughbred racing tracks over other businesses. The bill banned casinos from being within 60 miles of a race track, unless the casino was at the track.

The second meeting of the state’s Industrial Hemp Commission will include picking out some details of panel’s efforts. The commission, chaired by Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, will dive Friday morning into specifics of a new legislative proposal.

They include the bill’s language and which legislators will sponsor it during the 2013 session.

Comer says a state university will be selected to conduct a new economic study of legalizing industrial hemp in Kentucky.

Despite experiencing one of the worse droughts in U.S. history, agriculture economists in Kentucky are projecting record cash receipts for the state’s farmers.

During their annual outlook during the Kentucky Farm Bureau conference, economists from the University of Kentucky say they think Kentucky will break the $5-billion barrier in revenues this year.

Lead economist Will Snell says high prices for many crops -- along will increased exports and insurance payouts  -- helped offset the drought for many agricultural industries in Kentucky.

New rumors are popping up about the possibility of actress Ashley Judd running for U.S. Senate in Kentucky. Judd has fueled the rumor mill for weeks as a high-profile opponent to U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell in 2014.

And now, the DC-based Politico says Judd is ramping up those considerations.

But many state Democrats, including Auditor Adam Edelen and House Speaker Greg Stumbo, say they aren’t in favor of a Judd candidacy.