Many of Kentucky’s most prominent elected officials are opting to skip this year’s Fancy Farm political picnic.

Governor Steve Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson announced yesterday, that they would skip the picnic. House Speaker Greg Stumbo will speak in Beshear’s place. 

Now, Fancy Farm organizers say U.S. Senator Rand Paul will skip the picnic as well. Kentucky’s other U.S. Senator, Mitch McConnell, has not yet confirmed to speak.

To the uninitiated, Austin, Ind., doesn't look like a town under siege.

In the maze of back roads off the city's main drag, the houses are close together. Some look rundown; others are well-kept.

For Jeremy Stevens, these are his former drug haunts. Steven says many of the homes are inhabited by people who abuse and deal prescription painkillers.

Louisville attorney David Kaplan is withdrawing his candidacy for the Jefferson County School Board to support former Humana chairman David Jones Jr. for the District 2 seat.

The 41-year-old Kaplan is the father of two young children who attend JCPS. He is a managing partner at Miller Wells law firm and is a former Kentucky assistant attorney general.

Kaplan says he filed to run to make positive changes in education policy, but after meeting with Jones he found the two generally agree.

Retiring Congressman Geoff Davis, R-Ky. announced Wednesday that fellow GOP Congressman Todd Young, R-In., will take over lead sponsorship of the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act.

For three years Davis has championed the legislation as a way to spur economic growth and tackle burdensome regulation. The REINS Act would require that Congress take an up-or-down vote on any major rules that would have more than $100 million annual economic impact.

The bill passed the GOP-controlled House last winter, but it went nowhere in the Democratic Senate. Davis announced last December he was not seeking re-election but that Young will take the lead on the REINS Act in the future.

"Todd Young is one of the hardest-working and most diligent new members of Congress. He has enthusiastically championed the REINS Act at home and in Washington," Davis said in a news release. "Congress has excessively delegated its constitutional responsibility for making the law of the land to unelected bureaucrats for too long.  The REINS Act is one of the most important structural reforms to restore this accountability.  I am confident that Congressman Young will be a tireless champion for the REINS Act going forward."

Information for this story also came from Brandon Smith, Indiana Public Broadcasting

Indiana House Minority Leader Patrick Bauer says he won't resign from his leadership post and believes his fellow Democrats will be making a mistake if they try to oust him before the November election.

Bauer held a Statehouse news conference Wednesday amid reports his caucus would meet Thursday in Lafayette to vote to remove him as its leader.

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The Louisville Metro Police Department is launching a criminal investigation regarding Councilwoman Barbara Shanklin, D-2, and the financial management of her office.

The Public Integrity Unit has been working closely with the internal auditor’s office to determine if a formal probe was necessary. The auditor is examining an upholstery program for ex-offenders that served several of Shanklin's relatives instead.

After a controversial sexual assault case caught national attention, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell announced Wednesday that he is crafting legislation to lift confidentiality in Kentucky Juvenile Courts.

Earlier this week, 17-year-old Savannah Dietrich faced a contempt charge for revealing the names of two boys who were found guilty of sexually assaulting her last year. Dietrich was upset with the plea bargain prosecutors made and revealed her attackers names via Twitter, which violated a court order to keep that information confidential.

She faced a maximum 180 days in jail and a $500 fine, but the attorneys for the boys dropped the contempt charges earlier this week.

O'Connell says the case demonstrates the strict state law is out of date and that juvenile court should be open to the public.

"Kentucky is in a long standing minority in connection with that and I think it's out of step and time to have an open and honest and vigorous debate on this subject," he says.

The lingering drought has led the U.S. Department of Agriculture to declare a natural disaster in 14 more of Indiana's 92 counties.

The USDA added the north-central Indiana counties today.  Along with adjacent counties, they qualify for low-interest relief loans from the federal government.

Fifty counties earlier had been declared natural disaster areas.  

A report shows nearly 1 million Kentucky residents will be able to buy health insurance thanks to the Affordable Care Act, according to reporting by WFPL's Kenny Colston.