morning cram [joplin edition]

Authorities report at least 89 people have died in the southwest Missouri city of Joplin after a massive tornado blasted through with cataclysmic force.

NPR details the disaster.

KENTUCKY~ McCracken County officials will vote tonight to decide if proposed coal facilities on the Ohio River will become a reality. A high-speed chase through Marshall and McCracken ends in suicide. MSU ups its tuition rate$. The state gears up to redraw voting district lines. You can get your GED test for free (limited time offer). GOP candidate for governor David Williams holds a rally/attacks Gov Beshear. Cops’ campaign reminds drivers that seat belts save lives.

TENNESSEE~ FEMA assigns $5mil for disaster aid.

ILLINOIS~ The state Treasurer claims the state is facing financial apocalypse.

OVC BASEBALL~ MSU > TTU, APSU > UTM.

morning cram [freezer cash edition]

The top Libyan opposition official is stopping by the White House today.

NPR reports Transitional National Council Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril’s goal is to persuade US officials to recognize the TNC as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people — and to give it some of Khadafi’s frozen cash.

KENTUCKY~ Harrah’s Casino-Metropolis parent company Caesar’s Entertainment donates $100k to local Red Cross efforts. Parts of US-60 are reopened. Police: a driver dragged a gas station owner after a pump ‘n run (see photo). Road work closes KY-83 in Graves Co. A mysterious house fire in Sharpe injures a resident. State tourism revenue$ had a 5% bump last year. Check out the difference between this year’s GOP Secretary of State candidates. The NAACP and a Confederate heritage group differ on a proposal to issue rebel flag license plates.

TENNESSEE~ Clarksville Police are now using stats to fight crime. GOP lawmakers want to wrap it up by next week. A bill progresses which would (again) allow Nashville businesses that discriminate against homosexuals to do work with the city.

SPORTS~ OVC Softball Tourney: MSU > UTM; MSU < JSU.

morning cram [you’re hired edition]

Employers added more than 200,000 jobs last month.

NPR reports it’s the biggest hiring spree in five years.

KENTUCKY~ Prez Obama will hit up Fort Campbell today. Gov Beshear adds Calloway, Christian and Trigg counties to his federal agriculture disaster aid request. FEMA flood damage assessments begin. Parts of LBL reopen. A Hoptown junkyard fire just wouldn’t give up. A Hazel antique mall owner’s lawsuit against the city may soon head to court. Oak Grove has a new Police Chief. OVC Softball: MSU = WKU.

TENNESSEE~ Clarksville will vote to ban ‘bath salts’ and other synthetic drugs Monday.

ILLINOIS~ Missouri’s latest Birds Point Levee blasting is supposed to further relieve Mississippi River flooding.  The state has a low-interest loan program for flood victims.

morning cram [benghazi edition]

Rumor and fear are rife in Benghazi.

NPR reports Libyan rebels and citizens whisper of Gadhafi infiltrators:  sabotaging, bombing and intent on spreading chaos.

KENTUCKY~ Most of us are living in a newly declared federal disaster area as river levels crest today. Ballard and Carlisle Counties report receding floodwaters. Commercial traffic along the Ohio River is at a standstill. There’s a roadblock set up on US-60 in Livingston County. About 100 McCracken County homes were evacuated yesterday as thousands remain displaced. 3 are dead after a horrific Hickman County wreck. Murray and Calloway County will start picking up your debris next week. GM drops $100mil into Bowling Green’s Corvette plant.

TENNESSEE~ Union City’s Goodyear plant is still closing at the end of the year and some employees are transferring to other states.

ILLINOIS~ Union reps and Honeywell officials break up again. Gov Quinn is pushing to reform worker’s comp (for no more coverage for injuries off-the-clock).

morning cram [$27 million edition]

The $27 million reward for Osama bin Laden could go unclaimed.

NPR blogs Secretary of State Hilary Clinton wouldn’t comment on the bounty.

KENTUCKY~ Paducah ditches efforts to block flooding at the Julian Carroll/Paducah Expo Centers and river industry companies there cite million$ in expected damages. The rest of Paducah’s floodgates will go up today. Gov Beshear is back today! and will end his tour at the Benton-hosted Regional Emergency Operations Center. Evacuations and inundated farmland abound in Ballard, Carlisle and Fulton counties. GOP AG-hopeful Todd P’Pool has raised $350k (totally).

ILLINOIS~ Some 65% of Alexander County residents have evacuated; both relief shelters near max capacity; officials relieved by levee blasting.

morning cram [gitmo edition]

Thousands of pages of previously secret military documents about detainees at the Guantanamo Bay prison now put a name, history and face on hundreds of men in captivity there.

NPR reports the documents shed details on over 150 men on whom no information has ever been released.

Flash flooding & other weather mischief.

KENTUCKY~ Rainfall (up to 9 more inches) is expected by mid-week causing historic flood levels and could prompt evacuations. An (unofficial) tornado blasted Bardwell for +$3 million in damage. Another Fort Campbell hero dies in Afghanistan. The Japanese nuclear disaster prompts Paducah Gaseous Diffusion officials to review earthquake safety measures. Kentucky’s former Lt Gov calls his guilty plea ‘inaccurate’.

morning cram [blessed shrimp edition]

One year ago today, BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, spewing crude into the Gulf of Mexico.

NPR revisits a Cajun family living on the fragile edge of Louisiana for their community’s annual Blessing of the Fleet: a traditional launch of the shrimp season, where boats get blessed with holy water.

KENTUCKY~ McCracken County’s public hearing yesterday for proposed Ohio River coal industry projects is swarmed with input. High winds last night took out some area trees and a few power lines. MSU mulls tuition hikes. Several area high schools hop on WKCTC’s Commonwealth Middle College program. College students learn about binge drinking. A one-vehicle wreck on KY-131/Said Rd proves fatal. I-24 in Lyon County gets blocked by a truck-fire. Police: dental records confirm skeletal remains belonged to a missing Marshall County man.

TENNESSEE~ Gov Haslam’s proposal to cap lawsuit damage$ makes progress. US-641 wreck claims one.

ILLINOIS~ Honeywell Corp & USW talks make progress.

OVC SPORTS~ (Baseball) MSU< UE, APSU > Lipscomb, UTM > SIU-C; (Softball) UTM > Belmont x2.

morning cram [fuel cell edition]

The Honda FCX Clarity can go about 240 miles on a tank of hydrogen fuel (about 60 mpg compared to gas). The only emission is water so pure you could drink it.

Honda tells NPR: US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is wrong when he claimed it would take a miracle to make fuel cell cars viable in the marketplace.

WEATHER~ Possibly severe activity predicted tonight.

KENTUCKY~ State Police are matching a missing man’s dental records to found skeletal remains with hopes they match. You can see the Ohio River from where Paducah’s Executive Inn recently stood. 4 Fort Campbell soldiers die in an Afghan suicide blast. Transportation workers will setup an I-24 (west) workzone between Eddyville/Grand Rivers next week. Out of work? Have a mortgage? There’s help. Gov Beshear has almost $5mil banked for re-election. US Rep Ed Whitfield yesterday fielded telephone calls from constituents about gas prices, the economy and the federal budget. US Sen Rand Paul files for re-election (5 years early).

TENNESSEE~ Highway Patrol investigators say Henry’s Police Chief (allegedly) ran a red light that caused a wreck leaving him critically injured. A resolution to the state’s constitution that would  further restrict abortions gets one step closer to a statewide vote.

ILLINOIS~ SIU-Carbondale will likely hire its next Provost from within its ranks.

morning cram [marriage defense edition]

US House Republicans today are expected to come to the aid of the Defense of Marriage Act in federal court.

NPR reports the Obama administration has declined to defend the 15-year-old law (which defines marriage as heterosexual-only), saying its unconstitutional.

KENTUCKY~ More storms ahead! A turkey hunter discovers a human skeleton. Finishing the Kentucky Lock will likely be (3 years!?) later than expected. 2 tornadoes Friday grazed Trigg County. High waters close the Cave-in-Rock Ferry (for about a week) and KY-137 in Livingston County. End of business today is your deadline to register to vote in the May Primary.

TENNESSEE~ Police arrest a Fort Campbell man in connection to a violent home invasion last week. A pedestrian was killed on Fort Campbell Blvd over the weekend.

OVC SPORTS~ (Baseball) MSU < SIU-E, APSU < JSU, UTM < SEMO; (Softball) MSU < SEMO, APSU < JSU, UTM < EIU.

morning cram [bonus edition]

Somali piracy has grown into a multimillion-dollar criminal enterprise. Rarely a week goes by that pirates don’t attack or seize a ship.

NPR reports on the business-end of piracy, where pirates share profits and even distribute incentive bonuses.

WEATHER~ Possibly severe conditions today.

KENTUCKY~ The EPA is making TVA fix-up or close two coal-fired units at McCracken’s fossil plant. A Mayfield mom is suing the city school system alleging negligence led to her daughter’s (alleged) rape. Gubernatorial hopeful Phil Moffett gets endorsed by a national libertarian group. So the New Madrid fault earthquake in the early 1800’s wasn’t as strong as people thought.

TENNESSEE~ Jobless rates stay the course, but Montgomery County is hoping for 500 more. GOP/Dems spar over hospital fees.

OVC SOFTBALL~ UTM < SIU. MSU v UM canceled.