Republican Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles says he expects a smooth transition as he takes over an agriculture agency previously housed in Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s office. The agency manages millions of dollars in grants and loans intended to help farmers and businesses every year.

The GOP-led legislature moved the Office of Agriculture Policy out of Beshear’s administration and into Quarles’ Department of Agriculture during this year’s lawmaking session—one of several measures shifting duties out of the governor’s office and into state offices currently controlled by Republicans.

During a legislative meeting on Tuesday, Quarles said he’s still “kicking the tires and checking the oil” of the office and looking for ways to improve operations during the transition period.

The Tennessee House has approved a measure that would require tissue from abortions to be cremated or buried.

If the measure passes the state Senate, backers say Tennessee would be the 12th state to require mortuary services after an abortion.

Backers describe House Bill 1181/Senate Bill 828 as an attempt to give more dignity to aborted remains. In committee hearings, and before a 69-22 vote on the House floor Monday night, they’ve given often graphic descriptions of fetal remains being thrown out.

State Rep. Robin Smith, R-Hixson, says she came across fetal remains in the morgue while working as a hospital nurse.

“It’s not fetal tissue,” she said. “It’s dismembered children. … We’re going to treat them as they are — the created human that is pre-born.”

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear urged people to use the more than 400,000 COVID-19 vaccination appointments available as the trend of new infections skewed toward younger people. Beshear reported a dramatic difference in vaccination rates among age groups. People between ages 20 to 49 make up the majority of new COVID-19 cases, but have much lower vaccination rates than those 50 and older. 

“We see 38% or less of individuals in that age group currently vaccinated,” Beshear said of the younger people. “So we need to pick it up for our younger Kentuckians, if we want to lessen the number of cases and ultimately defeat this virus.”

Beshear said the low number of vaccinations could lead to a fourth wave of infections.

Gov. Andy Beshear is challenging a new law that shifts control over the State Fair Board from his office to Republican Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles.

House Bill 518, which became law last month, removes the Democratic governor’s power to appoint the chair of the fair board and gives Quarles power to appoint nine of the 14 voting members on the board.

It’s one of several measures passed by the GOP-led legislature this year shifting the governor’s powers to state offices currently controlled by Republicans.

Beshear argues that the law violates the state constitution by giving appointing authority to Quarles, who he says “does not have the supreme executive powers of the Commonwealth, and does not have the constitutional duty to ensure the laws are faithfully executed.”

Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Kentucky State Capitol on Sunday to oppose Gov. Andy Beshear’s coronavirus restrictions, and claimed his vaccination goals amounted to a mandate.

When COVID-19 took hold in Kentucky last year, Beshear implemented a number of public safety restrictions, including a mask mandate and capacity limits at businesses. But those opposed to the restrictions said they’re “tyrannical,” and called on Beshear to “open Kentucky” during Sunday’s protest.

Demonstrators, of which there were about 300, carried signs critical of the coronavirus response and chanted appropriated versions of slogans from other movements, such as “my body, my choice,” and “small business lives matter.”

A Louisville police officer faces an internal investigation after an onlooker caught him on video punching a Black man repeatedly in the face, after the man was restrained and on the ground.

LMPD chief Erika Shields said in a statement the officer’s behavior “raises serious questions and is not consistent with LMPD training.”

She did not name the officer. The Professional Standards Unit investigation, which looks at violations of department policies, will focus on the officer’s conduct as well as the on-scene supervisor, Shields said. She did not name the supervisor.