Dan Conti (KPR)

  Legislation that would allow Kentuckians to hunt coyotes has been approved by the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee. 

Teen driving deaths in Kentucky doubled last year, according to new research released by the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Kentucky Farm Bureau leaders are heading to the nation’s capitol to discuss agricultural issues. They’ll be meeting with representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation February 26th and will then speak with the Commonwealth’s congressional delegation the following day.

Last fall’s 61-day Kentucky tax amnesty program last fall netted the commonwealth almost $57 million. That’s according to figures supplied by the Finance and Administration Cabinet spokeswoman Pamela Trautner.  She says more than 27,000 delinquent taxpayers from all 120 Kentucky counties applied for program.

“Now as far as the ones who filed through this tax amnesty, the department will monitor those taxpayers for the next three years to make sure they continue to comply and to pay their taxes because if they don’t there is a clawback provision and all of the interest and fees and penalties can be added back to that taxpayer,” Trautner says.

Republican US Senator Mitch McConnell has opened his Louisville campaign office early because he says democrats have made defeating him a priority next year. The Kentucky lawmaker is seeking a sixth term in 2014 and says his race will be the only one of any national significance.

A new law that allows alternative sentencing for non-violent misdemeanor offenses to ease jail overcrowding in Kentucky is beginning to show positive results. That’s according to the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

State Representative Richard Henderson says security needs to be stepped up in all Kentucky schools. The Mount Sterling democrat says much has been done to improve child nutrition and learning inside the buildings but not enough attention has been paid to keeping kids safe.

Kentucky’s system for classifying its cities is antiquated, illogical and should be changed. That’s the recommendation of a Kentucky League of Cities task force that’s been looking into the issue for the past two years. Midway mayor Tom Bozarth chairs the panel. He says the current structure of six classifications is like a caste system that restricts home rule in many cities.

The Kentucky Broadcasters Association is joining other industry-related groups in urging cell phone companies to install radio receivers in all their phones.

"Everybody has a cell phone, let’s face it. And the need for such a service on these phones becomes very noticeable, especially in the event of severe weather," said KBA President Gary White.

"You know, we had some tornadoes back earlier this year. We’ve got all of the activity that’s happened up on the east coast now. Let’s face it, we’re going to get more and more severe weather as we move on."

The Kentucky General Assembly’s pension task force hopes to come up with a plan in less than a month to reduce more than $30 billion in unfunded liability in the state’s retirement system. State Representative Mike Cherry co-chairs the panel which has been conducting public hearings and collecting information on the issue for months.