A bill to pay for the $4.5 billion two-year state Road Plan—passed during the recently-concluded 2012 Regular Session—has cleared the Kentucky General Assembly to end the special session.

House Bill 2, which includes the state Transportation Cabinet’s operating budget for the next two fiscal years, was approved Friday—the final day of the special session.

The bill was given final passage in the Senate—which withdrew earlier changes to the bill—on a 37-1 vote. It had been approved by the House on Wednesday by a vote of 96-2.

Legislation addressing prescription-drug abuse in the state was sent to the governor’s desk today after gaining approval from the full General Assembly.

Meanwhile, the so-called Pilll Mill Bill, sponsored by State Representative John Tilley of Hopkinsville, also passed. The bill will make registration with and use of the online KASPER prescription tracking system mandatory by physicians and pharmacists prescribing or dispensing certain addictive drugs, such as oxycodone or morphine.

The bill requires pharmacists to submit data to KASPER within 24 hours of dispensing a narcotic and doctors to check the system prior to initially prescribing the monitored medications to a new patient. Doctors would then only be required to check a KASPER report every three months of a patient’s treatment.

The measure further requires that pain management clinics be owned by at least one licensed physician. Clinics already operating in the state but not owned by a physician would be allowed to remain open unless they violate a sanction regarding controlled substances.

Under the final version of the bill, the KASPER system will remain under the control of the Cabinet of Health and Family Services and not the Attorney General, but access will be limited to approved persons who are part of an established investigation of a specific individual. Interstate sharing of data will be allowed.
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04/20/2011/

Police across the area continue look for an escaped inmate from Todd County.
19-year old Cody Alexander Claycomb was last seen wearing an orange t-shirt with the letters T-C-D-C on the back and tan pants.

He was being held on theft charges and is described as a white male with brown hair and eyes, who is 6 foot 3 and weighs about 175 pounds.

Claycomb walked away from a work detail on West Main Street near the Dollar General Store in Elkton around 12:40 p.m. Tuesday.
Anyone who sees Claycomb is asked to call police immediately and to not try to apprehend him themselves.

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04/20/2012/AM

The Republican candidate for State Senate in Christian County has received an endorsement from a statewide organization.           

The Kentucky Right to Life Association has endorsed former Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Whitney Westerfield in his bid to replace incumbent State Senator Joey Pendleton.

Westerfield says in a press release that no human life should go ignored. He says nearly 4,000 abortions are performed annually in Kentucky. Westerfield and Senator Pendleton are unopposed in the primary election and will face off in November.

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04/20/2012/am

The man accused of robbing three Hopkinsville businesses this week has also been charged in a recent burglary.           

A news release from the Christian County Sheriff’s Office says a passer-by saw the green SUV of 40-year old Jimmy Leon Yokely being towed away from Country Club Lane Wednesday.

The individual called police and said he had purchased some firearms from Yokely a few days earlier. Yokely’s vehicle had also been reported in the area of a burglary on McGraw Road a few days earlier and the victim was able to identify the guns Yokely sold as his.

Yokely was already facing three counts of robbery and one of fleeing from police and is now also charged with first degree burglary. He remains lodged in the Christian County Jail.

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04/20/2012/am

The Pilot Advisor on the Delta Mariner January 26^th when it crashed into the Eggner’s Ferry Bridge says the crew chose an alternate span that night to go under because of lighting issues.

Testifying in the hearing on the incident at Paducah City Hall and as heard on WPSD TV’s live web stream, Pilot Advisor Michael Collins said he and the crew knew they weren’t going through the preferred span, but chose the one where lights were working.

Collins cautioned anyone against drawing all of their conclusions from audio recordings from the incident, which he says don’t tell the whole story.

Those who questioned Collins enquired numerous times about his credentials as an advisor and asked exactly what his role was in relation to where the ship was steered and when.

Foss Maritime, the owner of the vessel, has claimed faulty lighting caused the incident. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has accused the crew of the ship of being negligent.

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04/20/2012/am