Posted: 12:01 PM FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear has talked a second time with actress Ashley Judd and says she would be "an effective and formidable" challenger to Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.

Posted: 11:16 PM Much-called-for changes to the state's prescription drug law are on their way to the governor.

Updated: 11:14 PM The U.S. Department of Labor has announced a $5.2 million grant for out-of-work coal miners in eastern Kentucky.

Posted: 11:22 PM A proposal that could open the door to industrial hemp farming in Kentucky is scheduled for a vote in the House Agriculture and Small Business Committee later this week.

Posted: 11:23 PM One of the largest construction projects in the state is happening in Central Kentucky. Protected by armed guards and high fences, the almost two-billion dollar building project is unlike anything else in the Commonwealth.

Updated: 7:45 PM The debate over the statewide smoking ban continues at the Capitol.

Updated: 2:40 PM A House committee is expected to unveil a legislative redistricting bill on Tuesday.

Posted: 10:49 AM President Barack Obama has selected the head of the Wal-Mart Foundation as his budget director in the midst of a partisan battle over government spending.

Updated: 6:25 AM House lawmakers are set to review their redistricting bill in committee.

Updated: 11:52 PM Vice President Joe Biden said nothing shaped his consciousness more than seeing TV footage of voting rights marchers being beaten by state troopers on Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965.

Updated: 11:54 PM The $85 billion in federal spending cuts that began kicking in Friday are here to stay if you believe the latest public statements from Washington.

Posted: 12:21 PM People familiar with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's thinking on fracking tell The Associated Press he was on the brink of approving the much-debated gas drilling method last month but held off after discussions with environmentalist and former brother-in-law Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Posted: 10:08 AM It's not the first time that government economic engineering has produced a time bomb with a short fuse.

Posted: 6:44 AM Supporters of the long-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas say that a new State Department report is the latest evidence the project should be approved.

Posted: 6:33 AM Mitt Romney is stepping back onto the national stage - if only briefly.

Posted: 6:31 AM While public schools everywhere will be affected by the government's automatic budget cuts, few will feel the funding pinch faster than those on and around military bases.

Posted: 6:19 AM Severe spending cuts are now the law of the land and the battle has spilled into the weekly media messages from President Barack Obama and the Republicans, with both sides saying it's the other's fault.

Posted: 6:19 PM Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is downplaying the risks that looming automatic federal spending cuts will damage the nation's economy. His outlook differs starkly from the dire warnings from President Barack Obama's administration.

Posted: 7:40 AM The Army chief of staff says the protracted fight over the budget is having a severe impact on Army training.

Posted: 6:30 AM New Jersey has been dealt another setback in its efforts to allow sports betting.

Posted: 6:25 AM House lawmakers are still working on the always politically divisive issue of legislative redistricting.

Updated: 6:37 PM Regardless of what happens with Congress Thursday evening, workers at the Blue Grass Army Depot would have about sixty days before they notice any changes. Those changes could include furlough days.

Posted: 12:25 PM Couples who don't live together - including minors - would be able to obtain protection from abuse orders under a bill that has cleared a Senate panel.

Posted: 12:26 PM The House has passed and sent to President Barack Obama a far-reaching extension of the Violence Against Women Act.

Posted: 11:14 AM Gov. Steve Beshear has joined with Senate President Robert Stivers and House Speaker Greg Stumbo to press for changes to Kentucky's new prescription drug law.