News

Visitors to the 2017 Kentucky State Fair can help children in foster care by donating a new duffle bag or backpack at the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS) exhibit.

CHFS is collecting the bags at its display in the Health Horizons area of South Wing B at the Kentucky Exposition Center. Children coming into foster care will receive the bags to carry their belongings.

Grayson RECC employees helped provide more than $13,000 in donations of money and supplies for the Ronald McDonald House Charities in Lexington and Louisville.

Donations totaling $13,282 came from employees of Grayson RECC and other Kentucky’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives to support Ronald McDonald Houses in Lexington and Louisville, which provide lodging and resources to families while a child is in a nearby hospital.

With the start of the fall semester, Morehead State University’s Police Department offers this advice to the campus community: be aware of your surroundings and take the necessary precautions to avoid loss of your belongings.

“It is not uncommon to see an increase in crime at this time of year,” said MSU Police Chief Merrell J. Harrison. “On the campus, everyone is busy with the start of the year activities and often fail to adhere to the safety rules that they usually follow.”

The following press release was submitted by the Rowan County Public Library:

Due to overwhelming public response, the “Come Eclipse With Us!” Library program is canceled. On Monday, August 21, the Rowan County Public Library will close at noon and will reopen at 4 pm. Call the Library at 784-7137 about free solar viewing glasses. The “Get Your Solar Eclipse On!” program on August 16th will take place as scheduled and is fully booked.

The Ohio Valley Conference has announced its 2016-17 Commissioner's Honor Roll, and Morehead State had a school-record 127 honorees.

The Commissioner's Honor Roll awards student-athletes who have achieved at least a 3.25 grade point average and have been eligible and on the team throughout their competitive season.

Softball and women's track and field led the way with 15 students honored. Athletes in cross country/track and field and volleyball/beach volleyball can earn the honor in both sports.

The National Park Service has announced that eight Kentucky sites have recently been listed in the National Register of Historic Places, including a Jewish cemetery, wholesale grocery warehouse, and Victorian home school for girls.

Muddy Bottom Blues

Program #116 (August 11 at 8:00 p.m.; August 12 at 3:00 p.m.)

Founding Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman essentially retired from music after leaving the band in 1993, choosing to dedicate time to his family and his restaurant, Sticky Fingers. He returned to music in 1997 with Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, a rotating old-time rock & roll, R&B, blues, and boogie collective of superstar musicians anchored by keyboardist Georgie Fame, guitarist Albert Lee, pianist Gary Brooker, and guitarist Terry Taylor.

A Kentucky judge has issued a pretrial order in a Lexington murder case that could have an impact on the minimum age for the death penalty across the country.

The U.S. Supreme Court established 18 as the minimum age in 2005, but since then there has been mounting scientific evidence that the brain is not fully developed until the mid-20s.

Citing that research, Fayette Circuit Judge Ernesto Scorsone ruled the state cannot seek the death penalty against Travis Bredhold, who was 18 years and five-months-old when he allegedly robbed and killed a gas station attendant in 2013.

It seems almost every option is on the table as Kentucky lawmakers look for money to help pay down the unfunded liabilities in the state’s public pension system.

One cost-saving idea is to cut the prison population in the commonwealth, says Holly Harris, executive director of the U.S. Justice Action Network. She says the corrections officials could safely reduce the number of low-level, non-violent offenders sitting in state prisons, which in turn would save Kentucky millions of dollars each year.

It’s the classic story of an overnight success that was years in the making.

It took Kayla Rae Whitaker seven years from when she started writing her debut novel “The Animators” until the time it was published earlier this year. The book about two young women struggling to form an artistic partnership has drawn acclaim from readers and critics alike.

Kentucky's signature conservation groups are reporting an uptick in membership, fund-raising and volunteerism.

The increased engagement comes as President Donald Trump charts an aggressive path toward environmental deregulation, including pulling the U.S. out of the Paris climate accord.

The Sierra Club's Cumberland Chapter, which covers Kentucky, has gained around 1,000 members since Trump was elected, pushing its total to more than 6,000.

New member Miranda Clements of Bowling Green says she joined because of the current political climate.

The overdose of painkillers kills more than 60 Americans every day, and between 2005 and 2014 there was a 99 percent increase in the number of people going to an emergency room because of it. But according to the American Psychological Association, doctors have been reluctant to prescribe treatment designed to prevent addiction.

At Johns Hopkins University, post-doctorate fellow Dr. Andrew Huhn said Suboxone was approved for the treatment of opioid use disorder in 2002. However, research by the APA found many doctors are not willing to increase their use of it.

Morehead State University honored four individuals during the University’s Fall Convocation on Wednesday, Aug. 9.

The 2017 award recipients were Dr. Timothy Hare, professor of anthropology, Distinguished Faculty Service Award; Dr. Geoff Gearner, professor of biology, Distinguished Teacher Award; Dr. Janelle Hare, professor of biology, Distinguished Researcher; and Matt Collinsworth, senior director cultural outreach preservation education at the Kentucky Folk Art Center, Distinguished Staff Service Award.

Morehead State University’s Star Theater will host special presentations of the program “Totality,” Aug. 14 through 18.

"Totality" is a fascinating look at all the wonders of eclipses, especially total solar eclipses.

The 25-minute program, produced by Bays Mountain Planetarium, examines what eclipses are, how and when they occur and what wonderful sights they create. It also looks back to a fascinating period in scientific discovery when general relativity was proven with the photographic recording of a total solar eclipse.

Morehead State University’s Class of 2021 will begin to move into residence halls Wednesday during “New Student Move-In Days.”

Volunteers from across campus will be on hand to assist with the move-in.

According enrollment services, a class of approximately 1,300 first-time freshman students will attend MSU in the fall 2017 term.

Highlighting Thursday will be the New Student Induction Ceremony at Laughlin Health Building. The goal of this event is to mark the official beginning of the new student’s academic career and welcome them to the MSU family.

Six Kentucky artists have been awarded $7,500 Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowships from the Kentucky Arts Council for exemplifying excellence in their respective creative disciplines.

The prestigious award, named in honor of former arts council board chair and Kentucky journalist Al Smith, recognizes professional artists who have reached a high level of achievement in their careers.