The Morning Cram [read it again edition]

Enlarge image

Children’s book illustrators might not have gotten a lot of sleep over the weekend. Why? Maybe because they could be winning win one of the grand prizes of children's literature: the Randolph Caldecott Medal.

Kentucky: The Murray State Men’s basketball team fell to Jacksonville State Saturday night. West Kentucky Community & Technical College has resolved issues around inaccurately reported test scores. Gov. Steve Beshear is urging low-wage-earning Kentuckians to take advantage of a federal tax credit. The Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame has inducted its first six members. A new poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Kentucky parents favor raising the dropout age. Kentucky’s temporary subcommittee on school safety has met for the second time. Officials with the Saint Nicholas Family Free Clinic in Paducah are hoping to expand the scope of care they offer. Despite a request from Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear to put off redistricting until later this year, state House Speaker Greg Stumbo is moving forward.

Illinois: Governor Pat Quinn signed a measure Sunday making his state the fourth and most populous to permit illegal immigrants to drive. A new $237 million hospital in southern Illinois has officially opened. Standard and Poor's has downgraded Illinois' General Obligation Bond rating to the lowest of any state in the nation.

Tennessee: Governor Bill Haslam is preparing to deliver his annual budget proposal to Tennessee lawmakers on Monday evening. Tennessee prosecutors are pushing for changes to the law they say will aid the prosecution of serial child sexual abusers.