Government

AP Report...

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will visit Fort Campbell Friday to observe training and meet with soldiers and others.  He will watch predeployment training and medical response training and have a question-and-answer session. Panetta will also speak to 400 soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division.  This is Panetta's first visit to Fort Campbell since taking office last July 1.

AP Report...

The Kentucky House Judiciary Committee has overwhelmingly passed two bills to overhaul the state's fight against drugs.

One bill deals with synthetic drugs. It would ban the manufacture of any drug that simulates an illegal substance or that contains certain chemical compounds.

The second bill is an overhaul of the KASPER system, which monitors prescription drugs. The bill puts KASPER under the Attorney General's office and requires the board of medical licensure to crack down on reports that prescriptions are being over prescribed.

A deal to help Kentucky repay a federal loan is officially on the table.

State Auditor Adam Edelen has released ten recommendations for a more efficient Medicaid Managed Care system in Kentucky.

For weeks, the MCOs, lawmakers, health care providers and patients have tussled over the new system, which was implemented quickly to plug a budget gap.

MCOs have promised lawmakers that the majority of problems are fixed, but some areas like pharmacy and mental health, are still having issues.

Rather than directly auditing the managed care organizations, Edelen instead looked into how the system was using taxpayer’s funds.

A local group working to legalize the sale of packaged alcohol in Murray has submitted a petition to the Calloway County Clerk. Ray Coursey Jr. says he is in the process of verifying the signatures on the petition. To be considered valid, each signature must be matched with a registered voter who is a resident of Murray. Coursey says the group’s petition has more than enough signatures if they’re all valid.