The Republican plan to avert the "fiscal cliff" that the White House rejected Monday includes at least one element that's likely to produce controversy: a proposal that would, among other things, affect the cost of living adjustment for Social Security.

Hundreds of thousands of veterans have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan in recent years, eager to get an education under the new post-Sept. 11 GI Bill.

Many vets looking for a school find they are inundated by sales pitches from institutions hungry for their government benefits. Now, lawmakers are looking for ways to protect vets without narrowing their education choices.

A new study showing a major increase in Tennessee babies born addicted to drugs has prompted the state Health Department to require hospitals to report that information. A health department working group found the number of babies born with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or NAS, has increased ten-fold over the past decade. NAS can result from a mother’s drug use, including alcohol and withdrawal drugs like methadone. Henry County Medical Center's Rhonda Carnell says it’s important for healthcare providers to know the signs.

A draft of Louisville’s comprehensive sustainability plan is finished.

Louisville Director of Sustainability Maria Koetter was placed in charge of the plan when she began her job in January. The draft hasn’t been released to the media or public yet, but it’s been submitted to Mayor Greg Fischer for his review.

Mayor’s spokesman Chris Poynter says the final plan will include measures big and small the city can undertake to improve sustainability.

Two years and $8.4 billion into the government's effort to get doctors to take their practices digital, some unintended consequences are starting to emerge.

One is a lot of unhappy doctors. In a big survey by Medscape, an online site for doctors, 38 percent of the doctors polled said they were unhappy with their electronic medical records system.

A national environmental group is proposing a plan to reduce carbon pollution from power plants across the country.

The Natural Resources Defense Council’s proposal is one the group says the federal government could implement under the existing Clean Air Act—and thus, wouldn’t need Congressional action. It advocates for reducing carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.

A federal judge has placed tougher bond restrictions on former McMahan Fire Chief Paul Barth.

Barth was sentenced last month to 41 months in prison for embezzling nearly $200,000 intended for the Crusade for Children charity. He was given up to 60 days to report to prison.

The new bond restrictions were imposed after prosecutors learned that Barth failed to report recent real estate transactions, including the sale of a Florida condo, that would have affected his ability to make restitution prior to his sentencing.

Many of the arts season’s holiday shows are tried-and-true classics, but one Louisville theater company prefers a less reverent approach. Pandora Productions' plays and musicals typically examine some facet of LGBT life, and holiday programming is no exception. But when artistic director Michael Drury went looking for gay-themed Christmas fare to produce, he came away disappointed.

In his New York Times column this week, Adam Davidson writes about the brilliant, possibly evil, ultimately doomed business model that has given us the current, golden age of cable TV. Here's an excerpt.

Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw is citing a letter from the county attorney that found no wrongdoing by her office in the wake of a scolding state audit two months ago.

Earlier this year, State Auditor Adam Edelen's office released a report that found poor record-keeping of charitable funds for groups such as the WHAS Crusade for Children and Metro United Way. It also cited other questionable practices that were against state law, such as Holsclaw paying out $99,200 in Christmas bonuses to employees last year and as well as shortchanging the Crusade by $1,300.

But an Oct. 31 letter from the Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell says his office found no need for action and defended the clerk’s activities. 

(Read O'Connell's letter and Edelen's response.)

Holsclaw has personally hired public relations professional Larry Bisig as her spokesman. He says the clerk has been a model of good government and was cleared of any wrongdoing and suggested that Edelen’s report is motivated by politics.

"In some ways I have to indicate the audit seems a bit mean-spirited, and possibly politically motivated in some areas," Bisig said.

"This is not political warfare. The governor’s race doesn’t start for 36 months. And I certainly hope that’s not the intention of the auditor."