Environment
10:26 am
Thu August 30, 2012

Whiskey Fungus Lawsuits Attract Attention of New York Times

Credit Roger Griffith / Wikimedia Commons
Whiskey fungus in Scotland.

Kentucky's whiskey fungus lawsuits are getting some national attention. The New York Times ran a piece yesterday about the fungus--scientifically called Baudoinia--that's prevalent on the outside of distilleries and homes near them. The lawsuit charges that the fungus germinates on ethanol which is released during fermentation.

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Local News
7:30 am
Thu August 30, 2012

Food Safety vs Dietary Choice: The Raw Milk Argument

The debate over unpasteurized, or raw milk has been heating up in recent months. Those who drink it tout its nutritional benefits, but government health officials warn that consuming raw milk is not worth the risk of contracting a dangerous food-borne illness.

One day a week, in a church parking lot in Lexington, dairy farmer Gary Oaks hands out glass bottles of raw milk from of the bed of his pickup. It’s milk that goes directly from the cow to the bottle and then is quickly refrigerated. About forty people will stop by to collect their orders.

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Politics
9:11 pm
Wed August 29, 2012

Kentucky's Senators Give Back-to-Back Speeches at RNC

Kentucky may not be a key state in this fall’s presidential election, but its two senators played a key role in GOP attacks on the president Wednesday night. Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul spoke back to back at the Republican National Convention. Their speeches were a one-two punch against many of President Barack Obama's policies. 

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Around the Nation
7:42 pm
Wed August 29, 2012

Isaac's Size, Speed Help It Pack A Heavyweight Punch

Credit Gerald Herbert / AP
People walk in the storm surge from Hurricane Isaac along Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans. Isaac was later downgraded to a tropical storm as it continued to grind its way through the Gulf Coast, dropping torrential rain and generating dangerous storm surges.

Originally published on Fri October 26, 2012 12:28 pm

Isaac might not be in the same league as Hurricane Katrina seven years ago, but the latest storm to batter Louisiana's Gulf Coast is punching above its weight class in more ways than one, scientists say.

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Scott Neuman works as a Digital News writer and editor, handling breaking news and feature stories for NPR.org. Occasionally he can be heard on-air reporting on stories for Newscasts and has done several radio features since he joined NPR in April 2007, as an editor on the Continuous News Desk.

Neuman brings to NPR years of experience as an editor and reporter at a variety of news organizations and based all over the world. For three years in Bangkok, Thailand, he served as an Associated Press Asia-Pacific desk editor. From 2000-2004, Neuman worked as a Hong Kong-based Asia editor and correspondent for The Wall Street Journal. He spent the previous two years as the international desk editor at the AP, while living in New York.

As the United Press International's New Delhi-based correspondent and bureau chief, Neuman covered South Asia from 1995-1997. He worked for two years before that as a freelance radio reporter in India, filing stories for NPR, PRI and the Canadian Broadcasting System. In 1991, Neuman was a reporter at NPR Member station WILL in Champaign-Urbana, IL. He started his career working for two years as the operations director and classical music host at NPR member station WNIU/WNIJ in DeKalb/Rockford, IL.

Reporting from Pakistan immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks, Neuman was part of the team that earned the Pulitzer Prize awarded to The Wall Street Journal for overall coverage of 9/11 and the aftermath. Neuman shared in several awards won by AP for coverage of the December 2004 Asian tsunami.

A graduate from Purdue University, Neuman earned a Bachelor's degree in communications and electronic journalism.

Local News
7:08 pm
Wed August 29, 2012

Local Montford Point Marines Presented With Congressional Gold Medals

Congressman John Yarmuth presented two local members of the Montford Point Marines with the Congressional Gold Medal on Wednesday.

The Montford Point Marines are the first African-Americans to enlist and serve in the United States Marine Corps. Approximately 20,000 black recruits were trained for combat in World War II, breaking the armed services color barrier.

Yarmuth says the men who enlisted in the Montford Point Marines deserve to be honored for their military service, but also for breaking Jim Crow segregation.

"The Montford Point Marines changed the course of history and their story continues to inspire all of us in the fight for racial equality to do more. What happened at Montford Point was a key moment of progress in U.S. history with 20,000 unique stories of triumph," he says.

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Environment
5:45 pm
Wed August 29, 2012

Report Says Nation's Newest Coal Plant Isn't as Cheap as Promised

Credit Prairie State
Prairie State Energy Campus

A large coal-burning power plant in Illinois that provides electricity to some areas of Western Kentucky and Indiana is under fire. A non-profit analyzed the costs of the plant and the numbers suggest ratepayers in eight states are paying more than they should.

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Local News
5:01 pm
Wed August 29, 2012

FDA Confirms Indiana Cantaloupe Farm As Outbreak Source

Photo by Toby Hudson/Wikipedia

The Food and Drug Administration says salmonella found at a cantaloupe farm in southwestern Indiana matches the "DNA fingerprint" of the salmonella responsible for a deadly outbreak that sickened people in 21 states.

An FDA spokeswoman says testing was done on salmonella found on cantaloupes and surface areas at Chamberlain Farms in Owensville.

The results showed that the salmonella was of the same strain that caused the recent outbreak, which killed two Kentucky residents and sickened 178 people, including 62 who were hospitalized.

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Politics
4:48 pm
Wed August 29, 2012

Beshear Names Larry Bond as New Chief of Staff

Governor Steve Beshear has promoted his deputy chief of staff to the top spot.

Louisville native Larry Bond was named chief of staff today. He replaces Mike Haydon, who died unexpectedly earlier this month.

Bond was named to the deputy spot two years ago, after spending years in various roles in state government. He also worked in Louisville city government for years, including time as the city’s chief administrative officer.

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Politics
3:55 pm
Wed August 29, 2012

McConnell Downplays Ron Paul Rift With GOP

Photo of Ron Paul from wikipedia.com

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell is shrugging off suggestions that the Republican Party lacks unity after former GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul declined to endose Mitt Romney and left the party's Tampa convention.

The Kentucky Republican was asked about it during Politico's Playbook Breakfast. The interview was broadcast on C-SPAN.

McConnell says what matters is that his Senate colleague, Rand Paul, the son of the Texas congressman, has endorsed the Republican presidential nominee.

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