Politics

The Senate Republican leader wants to renew an import ban on Myanmar to give the U.S. leverage to prompt further reforms in the military-dominated state. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky introduced a resolution Tuesday that would renew sanctions for another year but would accommodate the Obama administration's waiver of restrictions on investment and financial services announced last month.

One of Kentucky's leading voices against child abuse is speaking out about abuse he suffered as a child. State Rep. Tom Burch is the chairman of the House Health and Welfare committee. Burch wrote a letter to the Lexington Herald-Leader that mentioned that he was sexually abused by a priest as a middle schooler and was also physically abused by his father.

Former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor says the money involved in direct judicial elections is corrupting the legal system. At the Kentucky Bar Association’s annual convention in Louisville Wednesday, O’Connor—the first female justice on the U.S. Supreme Court—told hundreds of lawyers and judges that judicial elections are in direct conflict with the intent of American justice system.

As the Environmental Protection Agency begins its public forums on coal mining permits in Kentucky, U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell is rallying for coal to be a bigger part of the nation's energy portfolio.