Kenny Colston

State Rep. Derrick Graham has been named the new chairman of the state House Education committee, Democratic leaders announced today. 

Graham is a Frankfort native who recently retired as a social studies teacher at Frankfort High School. He is a well-known education advocate and previously chaired a budget subcommittee on education. 

Among voters in the key primary state Iowa, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is the strongest Republican in the field of prospective 2016  presidential candidates,  says a new poll by Quinnipiac University.

Kentucky's junior senator leads current Vice President Joe Biden by five points among Iowa voters— and he trails former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the presumed Democratic frontrunner, by only four points.

Those totals are better than Sen. Marco Rubio, the Floridian who is also a leading Republican contender for the 2016 presidential election.

Your online purchases could alleviate some of Kentucky's budget woes.

The federal legislation that allows states to collect sales taxes from more online retailers would benefit the Kentucky state budget, argues a policy group focused on economic policy.

If such legislation passed, Kentucky could gain $130 million to $200 million in revenue per year, the state's Blue Ribbon Tax Commission has estimated.

Now it's Heather French Henry's turn.

The former Miss America has joined a list of half a dozen party activists or leaders waiting for Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes to decide whether she'll run in 2014 against Mitch McConnell for his U.S. Senate seat. 

Governor Steve Beshear has named a longtime tourism veteran to oversee the part of his administration that deals with travel and the arts.

A national pharmaceutical company is helping train Kentucky law enforcement on how to address prescription pill abuse in their communities.

Purdue Pharma helps produce some of the prescriptions often abused in Kentucky, including OxyCotin.

This week at an FBI-sponsored conference, Purdue Pharma staff are giving a free training seminar to helping Kentucky health care officials and law enforcement address potential pill abuse.

Kentucky Tea Party groups are planning rallies Tuesday to protest the IRS targeting of Tea Party and conservative groups for extra review.

Two of Kentucky's largest Tea Party groups will protests outside IRS offices in their respective areas: the Northern Kentucky Tea Party will protest in Cincinnati and Louisville's group will join southern Indiana groups to protest in Louisville.

Tea party activist David Adams is again suing Gov. Steve Beshear.

This time it's over the Affordable Care Act, also called Obamacare.

The lawsuit aims at stopping Beshear from expanding Medicaid in Kentucky.

Marcheta Sparrow will retire at the end of this month as the Secretary of Tourism, Arts and Heritage. Sparrow was named secretary in 2007 and was one of the original members of Gov. Steve Beshear's cabinet.

In a statement, Beshear praised Sparrow for the recent growth in tourism, which was up 4.4 percent last year.

The secretary oversees many departments in addition to tourism, including parks, fish and wildlife and others related to the humanities.

Beshear says he will name a new secretary soon. 

A coalition of western Kentucky businesses and residents has formed in hopes of minimizing the fallout of an electricity rates deal between Big Rivers Electric Co-Op and western Kentucky aluminum smelters.

The coalition is worried the deal will lead to higher utility bills for residents and businesses. 

Aluminum prices have been low in the past few years, and across Kentucky, aluminum smelters have sought to save money on their electricity bills.