Whitney Jones

The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from ex-Illinois Gov. George Ryan over his corruption conviction. The justices turned away Ryan's appeal without comment yesterday. 

The former governor wanted them to reconsider his conviction based on a 2010 decision saying honest service fraud requires bribery and kickbacks. Ryan says the jury instructions at his trial were wrong, and that it was never proven that he took bribes. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to overturn his conviction, and the high court refused to reconsider that decision.

Gov. Steve Beshear says he wants law enforcement's concerns about industrial hemp resolved before Kentucky moves ahead with a push to grow the plant.

State police oppose state Republican leaders’ effort to license and regulate hemp if the federal government ever lifts a ban on it.  Beshear says the Legislature needs to weigh law enforcement's concerns carefully, given Kentucky’s horrible drug problem.

Kentucky House Speaker Greg Stumbo says he doesn't expect a tax reform package vote during the current legislative session. Stumbo says such a package doesn't have the 60 votes necessary to pass in the House.

A special commission appointed by the governor proposed reforms that could generate almost $700 million a year in additional revenue.  

From NPR: Kenyan graffiti artists are sending a literal peace train through the country as their presidential election nears. The artists are trying their best to stop the kind of violence that erupted after the last election.

As spring weather approaches, Tennessee’s emergency officials and weather forecasters are launching a campaign during the state’s Severe Weather Awareness Week to provide important weather safety information. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, along with the National Weather Service and the Tennessee Association of Broadcasters, are conducting educational activities and drills this week. 

Small businesses and agriculture operatives have less than a month left to apply for federal economic injury disaster loans as result of this summer’s drought. The deadline for the Small Business Administration assistance is March 12.  Loans through the program can be up to $2 million with interest rates as low as four percent for eligible small businesses and three percent for nonprofits.

Some new state legislators were elected after promising to refuse a state pension, but now find the law does not allow them to opt out. However, State Rep. Diane St. Onge has introduced a bill that would allow them to make good on their promise. The Madisonville Messenger reports that the measure would allow any lawmaker to opt out of the state pension system and would prevent any new legislator elected after July 1 from entering it. Incumbents would not have to drop the pension plan under the legislation.

The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet is studying options for improving or replacing the aging Cairo Bridge that connects Wickliffe, Ky., and Cairo, Ill. The bridge carries about 5,400 vehicles daily across the Ohio River. The 76-year-old bridge is considered “functionally obsolete” because it doesn’t meet modern traffic standards.

The nearest alternate upstream river crossing is the Ohio River Bridge in Paducah, and it requires a 2-hour detour. Downstream, it’s the Dorena-Hickman Ferry and the Mississippi River Bridge.

Sen. Julian Carroll has filed a bill that would pay for state employee raises by doubling fines for traffic and misdemeanor offenses. The Madisonville Messenger reports that if Senate Bill 171 passes it would raise enough money to pay for a four percent salary increase for state employees by 2015. Carroll says the cost would be about $20 million.

From NPR: An Indiana farmer looking for cheap soybean seeds for a second, smaller harvest has been taken to the Supreme Court by the largest seed company, Monsanto. 75-year-old Vernon Hugh Bowman signed a contract with the seed giant to not save and replant any of his harvest.

Monsanto wants to be his sole provider, but their seeds are “Roundup Ready” and more expensive, especially for a small second planting. Bowman bought a motley of seeds from his neighbors for his second harvest thinking Monsanto wouldn’t care. Boy, was he wrong.