WEKU Daily News Podcast: August 13Th, 2026
Showing mention at 3:10 — highlighted below
Transcript
13 segmentsI'm Brian Burkart with the W.E.KU Daily News podcast for August 13, 2006. An eastern Kentucky sheriff charged with the shooting death of a district court judge will have his trial moved out of Letcher County. As Lisa Autry reports, Changes of venue have been granted for Sean Mickey Steins. Steins is charged in the death of District Judge Kevin Mullen's in 2024 inside Mullen's office at the Letcher County Courthouse. Special Judge Chris Corron filed an order this week stating the trials should be moved out of Letcher County because of strong local opinions and the crime scene being the courthouse where the trial would take place. Coron also determined a fair trial couldn't occur in an adjacent county. Both sides have 15 days. to recommend a location. In another decision, Judge Koran denied bail for Stein's while granting the prosecution's request for an additional mental health screening. No ruling was issued on Stein's motion to exclude the death penalty at trial. I'm Lisa Autry and Bowling Green. An advocacy group wants to give the public more time to comment on a new natural gas plant in Friedrich Merz County that could be tied to data center development. Governor Andy Beshear issued an executive order last week, directing the state energy and environment cabinet to deny air quality permits for any data center projects that degrade the environment. Kentucky Utilities has proposed a 681 megawatt natural gas plant that would result in an increase in nearly every air pollutant category, according to a permit application filed in June. Byron Gary, program attorney for the Kentucky Resources Council, says the division of air quality is to allow more time for public input. Finally, because the governor's order was issued on August 6, the same day the written comment period for this originally closed, we respectfully request the division to reopen and extend that period so that the public can fully evaluate the connection between the governor's executive order and this action. While the Friedrich Merz County Power Plant isn't tied to a specific data center proposal, one has been hotly debated near the site. LG&E and KU are financial supporters of WECU. A federal ban on intoxicating hemp products will go into effect in November, but an additional month's reprieve is working its way through Congress. Capital reporter Sylvia Goodman says Kentucky's hemp industry hopes it means new energy to regulate instead of ban products with THC. The one-month delay was written into the continuing resolution that passed out of the U.S. Senate over the weekend. Supporters say it'll give lawmakers more time to come up with a regulatory framework instead of banning hemp products that contain more than 0.4 milligrams of THC. Katie Moyer is the owner of processor Kentucky Hemp Works in Western Kentucky. She says the industry would contract significantly if the language goes into effect as is. You don't want to have just a pure CBD only.
You want to have a mixture of cannabinoids. So it's just, it was poorly written unless the goal was really to ban it all, in which case it was very well written. GOP Senator Rand Paul supports the extension, but even more so, he says states like Kentucky have already started regulating hemp and should be allowed to continue doing so. What they have in place come November is going to wipe out the hemp industry nationwide. The one month reprieve is good, but we still need a solution. Senator Mitch McConnell's spokesperson says he opposes the delay and that unregulated products will continue to harm children in the meantime. Now it's back to the House to decide if they'll agree with the Senate's changes, including the delay. I'm Sylvia Goodman in Louisville. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is entering an agreement with a Lexington company that will provide the agency with electric shock gloves. That's according to a public notice published by the Department of Homeland Security. The agency plans to spend up to $20 million on generated low-output voltage emitters, or gloves, for short. The Associated Press first reported on the purchase on Tuesday. The technology is manufactured by Compliant Technologies LLC. Exactly where the gloves will be manufactured is unclear, and the business is connected online to a Lexington PO box rather than a physical address. Civil rights groups like the ACLU have spoken out against this technology. ICE has been heavily criticized for its use of force, including multiple fatal shootings amid the federal immigration crackdown. Compliant Technologies founder Jeff Nicholas declined a request for comment from WECU. You can learn more on these stories and many others when you visit us at WECU.org. For WECU News, I'm Brian Burkart.