The Associated Press

A lawsuit against a Union County coal mine accused of discriminating against black job applicants appears to be nearing a settlement. River View Coal is a subsidiary of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Alliance Resource Partners. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the coal mine in 2011.

An attorney for the EEOC, Aime McFerren, said today that a settlement has not yet been reached and attorneys continue to work on a resolution. Court records indicated the parties reached an "amicable resolution" in late May, and it has been removed from the active docket.

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear has tapped longtime auto executive Thomas Zawacki to serve as the new secretary of the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet.  He will succeed the retiring Joseph Meyer July 1st. 

Harrison County farmer Brian Furnish has been chosen as the new chairman of the Kentucky Industrial Hemp Commission. Furnish said yesterday that Kentucky is at the forefront of efforts to revive the crop. His election as chairman came during a meeting of the hemp commission.

Kentucky's health commissioner says the typical smoker in Kentucky spent $2,237 to buy 468 packs of cigarettes last year. Dr. Stephanie Mayfield told lawmakers yesterday nearly 962,000 Kentucky smokers over age 18 last year who purchased 450 million packs of cigarettes. Mayfield, speaking to the Program Review and Investigations Committee, said 28.4% of Kentucky adults smoked last year. She says 24.4% of pregnant women smoked as did 24.1%of minors.

A private foundation broke ground at Fort Campbell for a new clinic to treat the signature wounds of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in another push toward their goal to raise millions to treat post-traumatic stress and brain injuries. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund promised last year to raise more than $100 million to build nine of these centers at military installations across the country.

Kentucky tea party activists have asked a judge to resolve a lawsuit over the legality of the state’s health benefit exchange by granting a summary judgment.  Attorney Michael Dean filed a motion today (Thursday) asking Franklin County Circuit Judge Phillip Shepard to rule in favor of the activists.  They also want a permanent injunction shutting down the exchange, which is a product of the Affordable Care Act intended to help the uninsured find health coverage.  Attorneys for the state asked last month that the suit be dismissed, but Shepard refused. 

The Tennessee House and Senate speakers say they will seek a review of a no-bid contract with a real estate firm because it once counted Governor Bill Haslam among its investors.

The Haslam administration hired Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle for a $1 million contract to consult on office space issues. That deal has since evolved into a five-year, $38 million contract to manage all state-owned and leased properties outside of higher education. 

Prospects of a mine workers' strike involving Patriot Coal are intensifying after a bankruptcy judge signed off on the company's push to abandon its labor agreement with the United Mine Workers of America.

Patriot operates two mines in Union and Henderson counties in Kentucky.

Seven athletes are being inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame today. They range from the never-nervous freshman center who helped Louisville win the 1986 national championship to the Centre quarterback who scored the only points in an upset of Harvard in 1921.

The Tennessee Board of Pharmacy says it has adopted new regulations for compounding pharmacies licensed by the state following recent outbreaks of illnesses associated with tainted medicines created at these specialty pharmacies. The Pharmacy Board said in a news release that the new rules will improve safeguards for public health while also ensuring that drugs in short supply will be available.