The House has backed off a vote on Speaker John Boehner's "Plan B" bill, which deals with the tax portion of the fiscal cliff.

After passing a measure to thwart automatic cuts on defense spending, the House abruptly went into recess, which NPR's Tamara Keith notes was a signal that the Republicans did not have enough votes to pass the tax measure.

Boehner released a statement on the vote Thursday night:

The Kentucky Public Service Commission has accepted a settlement agreed to by all the parties in a rate increase case filed by Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities.

In what’s being called the largest investigation ever conducted by the Electronic Crime Branch of the Kentucky State Police, seven suspects are now under arrest on child exploitation charges.

State troopers and detectives from seven posts served search warrants covering central and eastern Kentucky. Seven suspects were arrested and charged with possession and distribution of matter portraying the sexual performance of a minor.

Rep. John Yarmuth, a Democrat representing the Third District, will serve on next year’s House Budget Committee and the House Education and Workforce Committee.

In a statement, Yarmuth says the committee assignments will allow him to continue working on middle class issues that reflect fairness and shared responsibility.

The Education and Workforce Committee oversees federal programs at all levels of education and its expected to take up legislation to rewrite the No Child Left Behind law next year.

A state audit has found spending and management problems at a Lexington nonprofit agency that provides mental health care, including the management of two state-owned facilities.

Auditor Adam Edelen says in the report that executives at Bluegrass Regional Mental Health-Mental Retardation Board awarded themselves benefits worth millions of dollars without scrutiny from the agency's board of directors.

In the wake of last week's shooting death of 26 people at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear is joining a chorus of public officials who say a national debate on gun control and mental health is needed.

The "soft opening" of the Big Four Bridge, which is being converted to a pedestrian and bicycle pathway, will be delayed until late January or early February, according to a news release sent by the Louisville Waterfront Development  Corporation.

The issue, said the release, is "due to a holdup in the fabrication of the railings for the bridge. The balance of the railings for the bridge will not be received until mid-January, and installation could take several weeks. As safety is of utmost importance, the bridge cannot be opened until all railings are installed."

Strong winds are expected early Thursday afternoon into the evening, ahead of "much cooler" temperatures, the National Weather Service said.

Wind gusts could reach as strong as 55 miles per hour; sustained winds will be as strong as 30 miles per hour, said a wind advisory from the weather service.