Associated Press

A southern Indiana sheriff says a mobile home fire that killed two children and three adults was likely sparked by a wood stove - the home's sole source of heat.

Crawford County Sheriff Tim Wilkerson says the fire early Thursday near the remote rural community of Sulphur killed the man who owned the mobile home, his 8-year-old daughter, his girlfriend and her 3-year-old son. The man's half brother also died in the blaze.

Wilkerson says the homeowner's father, who lives nearby, tried to rescue his son and the others but was driven back by intense flames.

The homeowner's brother says there was a furnace in the mobile home but that his brother wasn't using it because it cost too much to run.

Sulphur is 30 miles west of Louisville, Ky.

An Indiana legislative committee has advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would guarantee the right of residents to hunt, fish and farm.  The state Senate's agriculture committee voted unanimously Monday to send the proposal to the full Senate. 

Republican Sen. Brent Steele of Bedford says he sponsored the amendment because farming and hunting are important parts of Indiana's heritage that are threatened by animal-rights activists.

At least three death row inmates could be nearing execution as Kentucky moves toward a new lethal injection method, with the governor's office already having requests to set dates for two, and a third man out of direct appeals in his case.

Kentucky is implementing lethal injection by one or two drugs, depending on the availability of the narcotics, after a judge ordered the state to abandon or be prepared to defend using the old three-drug mixture. The change takes legal effect Feb. 1.

A spokeswoman for Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear says until an injunction suspending all executions is lifted, the governor can't move on carrying out a death sentence.

Indiana legislators have introduced bills to help the state’s riverboat casinos hold onto business in the face of growing competition from casinos in neighboring states.

The bills would allow the casinos to move from the boats onto land, reduce their taxes and lift game restrictions on some. A major question, however, is whether any can win approval from lawmakers leery about being perceived as expanding gambling.

Indiana expects a 15 percent drop in the tax revenues from its 13 casinos, from the $614 million it collected last year to about $520 million for the 2015 budget year. State officials blame the decline in part on the opening of new casinos in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.

Kentucky lawmakers on Tuesday start a legislative session in which they're expected to consider tax reforms and to search for ways to shore up the financially troubled pension system for government retirees.

The House and Senate are scheduled to convene at noon EST.