morning cram [turn and coffee edition]

For a long time scientists have wondered whether coffee might lower the risk of prostate cancer.

NPR reports a Harvard study finds that may be true.

KENTUCKY~ A section of US-62 in Carlisle County is shut down this morning as police reconstruct a fatal school bus wreck. Paducah’s City Manager recommends no new taxes and the city will fund a new Murray State extended campus there. A worker yesterday was electrocuted @ MSU. Police make McCracken County pump ‘n run arrest. GOP Gubernatorial candidate David Williams says ‘No more Mr. Nice Guy‘ and Gov Steve Beshear claims he’s ‘Tested, trusted and tough.’

TENNESSEE~ Clarksville is trying out a new way to dole out non-profit funding. TVA says next month’s electricity bills will see hikes up to 50 cents. Legislators want to change the state’s alcohol laws to woo Sierra Nevada to build a brewery there.

morning cram [stop time edition]

After an almost three-week break, the Senate is back in session today where official legislative time has ground to a halt in order for Democrats to propose changes to the rules.

NPR reports today is actually January 5th (in the chamber).

KENTUCKY~ McCracken County moves to sue Paducah over its latest land grab. Calloway Circuit Court hears a load of guilty pleas in several cases: shooting, DUI-fatality and home invasion. Transportation officials are hosting a public meeting tonight in Madisonville over a controversial road-widening proposal. Area schools ponder how to make-up snow days. A UofL panel discussion recommends politicians should avoid divisive rhetoric. Some 1k Fort Campbell soldiers are due home this week.

TENNESSEE~ A newly introduced bill would allow school districts to ignore teacher’s unions. In Men’s Basketball: UTM > SIU-E.

ILLINOIS~ Metropolis wants to license local strippers.

morning cram [healing edition]

President Obama yesterday paid tribute to victims of the Arizona mass shootings, urging Americans to change the nation’s caustic public dialogue by talking in a way that heals instead of wounds.

NPR has extensive coverage.

KENTUCKY~ A bid to build McCracken County’s jail expansion comes in over $1mil under estimates. Kentucky State Police are investigating fund misappropriations by two recently fired McCracken County School employees. USEC is haggling with TVA over a new power contract for Paducah’s Gaseous Diffusion Plant. House Speaker Stumbo wants to ban smoking in cars with kids. KCTCS is participating in a new nationwide accountability program. A federally-subsidized work program employed 400 last year. Gov. Beshear says politicos should calm down. Since Secretary of State Trey Grayson is leaving for Harvard, Bowling Green’s Mayor will finish out his term.

TENNESSEE~ Austin Peay issues a campus warning after receiving a threatening letter from an ex-student.

morning cram [start edition]

The outcome of today’s Senate vote to ratify the new arms reduction treaty with Russia remains in nail-biting doubt.

~NPR has more on the last-minute lame duck initiative.

KENTUCKY~ No Paducah garbage pickup at the end of this week. McCracken County hires a new Facilities Director. Fort Campbell prepares for thousands of troops to return to base. Murray’s mayor gets a swear-in. You have until the end of the year to flip-flop political party affiliation. Some Christian County School officials had no idea the state was investigating two of their schools. Crittenden High plans to build a greenhouse. The newest Census results won’t change any of the Commonwealth’s congressional lineup.

TENNESSEE~ The State Comptroller calls out a corrupt weatherization program. The EPA still doesn’t know if TVA’s coal ash should be labeled: hazardous.

morning cram [finders keepers edition]

The Justice Department is proposing to overturn 30 years of legal precedent by sharply limiting patents on genes.

~NPR reports the government surprised just about everyone when it suggested this change of policy in a court filing last week.

KENTUCKY~ The Dorena-Hickman Ferry is on winter hours. Smithland’s gone damp and the historic Gower House may end up a ‘frontier’ restaurant. Hopkinsville plans to be bigger come January. US-60 work starts today in Union County. What’s ahead for state lawmakers? Budget tweaks, school reforms and redistricting (oh my!). Poll: Almost half of Paul supporters don’t party with the Tea. Want to run for office in 2011? Filing deadlines are set.

TENNESSEE~ Study: Clarksville cops are underpaid.

ILLINOIS~ Brady won’t concede to Quinn in Governor race.

morning cram [edge edition]

The Pew Research Center’s final pre-election poll is out, and (no surprise) it finds the GOP will likely recapture control of the House.

~NPR hears how independent voters may be pushing Republicans over the edge this election.

KENTUCKY~ Paducah Schools’ property buyout extravaganza: 7 down, 24 to go. The National Park Service meets in Paducah tonight to talk about extending the Lewis & Clark trail. A wreck on I-24 covers the roadway in lactose. A Marshall County grand jury indicts a man on DUI-murder charges. Local officials will break out the shovels today for the construction of Murray’s Merryman House. PSC: natural gas prices should hover around last year’s. The state launches a new child ID initiative to protect kids. Jack and Rand are still running around ahead of tomorrow’s election.

TENNESSEE~ A Henry County jury finds a man guilty of vehicular homicide in connection to a Paris Landing DUI boating accident. A car hit and killed a pedestrian in Clarksville over the weekend.

OVC Football~ MSU < EKU, APSU < EIU, & UTM > Lambuth.

morning cram [profit prisons edition]

NPR reports some prison companies have a new business model to lock up illegal immigrants and one company’s plan became Arizona’s immigration law.

KENTUCKY~ Meteorologists: 3 tornadoes touched down Tuesday. Drivers in and around Gilbertsville and Grand Rivers should watch out for a few loose cows along the roadways. McCracken County School officials look over several possible design changes to the consolidated high school. Paducah’s WKCTC receives a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant. A Murray man is charged with trafficking narcotics. A Union City man died yesterday in a coal mining accident. Rand Paul isn’t going to return donation$ from a supporter (who stepped on an activist’s head outside the last senatorial debate).

TENNESSEE~ 2 of 7 Clarksville mayoral candidates spend tens of thousands, while 5 others spend < $100. Police: Clarksville man was dragged from a home and shot dead. Republican candidate for governor Bill Haslam is frustrated about the media’s coverage of his gun comments.

morning cram [aqua buddha edition]

In a discussion with NPR‘s All Things Considered co-host Robert Siegel, Jack Conway didn’t retreat from his recent attack ad against Rand Paul, saying that candidates must be accountable for their actions.

~Siegel implicitly asks Conway: how relevant are college pranks in a senatorial election?

KENTUCKY~ Paducah officials draft a contract to lock in city manager-select Jeff Pederson. MSU’s Women’s Golf team dominates @ an APSU tourney. Have a profitable clean energy idea? You could get it funded. Federal money will help Kentucky figure out the whole state health insurance exchange thing. Drivers should watch out for the Commonwealth’s 900k deer lurking ‘unpredictably’ just beyond the road’s edge. Spot election fraud or fishy polling activity? Call 1-800-328-VOTE. Jack leads Rand in a new Democrat-funded poll.

TENNESSEE~ The state’s website wins high national honors.

ILLINOIS~ Judge: locked out Honeywell workers violated a restraining order at the plant.

morning cram [secret hurricane edition]

Scientists aboard a NASA DC-8 hope to better predict the strength of hurricanes at landfall.

~NPR hears how scientists aboard a flying laboratory hope to figure out what makes the storms so sneaky.

KENTUCKY~ A Murray schizophrenic pleads guilty to murder. Paducah Power christens its gas plant. A Benton man is charged with a DUI murder. Officials ID the dead body found near Earlington.  A 200-mile yard sale begins this weekend. Flags are @ half-staff today in honor of another Fort Campbell casualty and one soldier at the base is awarded a bronze star. Nightly roadwork begins tomorrow on a couple of Paducah I-24 interchanges. An education report calls the Commonwealth’s schools too slow after poor test results. You have only 1 week left to register if you want to vote in November.

TENNESSEE~ A Clarksville shooting suspect turns himself in.

morning cram [young guns edition]

As Republicans are expected to pick up seats in the House of Representatives, the GOP hopes that voters will give them the majority. They call themselves the Young Guns.

~NPR reports the group of ambitious conservatives know they can’t bring more of the same.

KENTUCKY~ Murray State creates a nursing doctoral program (coming 2012). A man accused of a Murray rape claims his innocence in court. Police: man left toddler in his yard as he ran from detectives. Train vs. SUV in Christian County claims 3 lives. Paducah’s mayor is slated to be the next president of the Kentucky League of Cities. High schoolers are voting in fake elections this week. Area foresters seek to burn +11k acres. Another Fort Campbell hero dies in Afghanistan. Beshear tackles nursing home abuse.

TENNESSEE~ A former Fort Campbell gun smuggler sentenced to +9 years.

SPORTS~ (football) MSU < CAU, APSU > TTU, UTM > EIU. (soccer) MSU < LTU & WMU, APSU > Valparaiso, UTM > SIUe.