FRANKFORT – Kentuckians have an opportunity to check if their public water system is in compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. The Division of Water has prepared its annual compliance report that summarizes violations incurred by public water systems across the state. The federal Environmental Protection Agency will summarize and evaluate all state reports in a national report that also must make recommendations concerning the resources needed to improve compliance with the federal act.

Attorney General Jack Conway is alerting Kentucky consumers to a resurgence of the "grandparent's scam" targeting senior citizens. The Office of Consumer Protection has received nearly a dozen complaints this year related to the "grandparent's scam" with victims reporting losses of nearly $40,000. Four of the complaints were received within the last month.

In Syria, a four-month protest movement and a government crackdown have strained the country's ethnic and sectarian mix.

The government and military command are dominated by Alawites, a minority sect that is an offshoot of Shia Islam. The protesters are mostly Sunnis and ethnic Kurds.

Syrian officials have warned of sectarian war if the protests continue. That message has spread fear among Syria's minority communities — in particular, Syrian Christians.

Concern About 'The Morning After'

Members of Mason County's Minerva community came out in full force Wednesday night to protest of the possible closing of the post office. From the owner of the building leased by the post office to a representative from U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis' office, opinions and a message of community pride was voiced to USPS Cincinnati District Representative Bob Redden.

Former state lawmaker and convicted murderer Steve Nunn is eligible to get about $28,210 a year in state retirement benefits, plus cost-of-living increases, once he turns 62. Kentucky law does not allow the pension benefits of state lawmakers to be withheld unless they commit a crime while in office in their capacity as a legislator.

A 12-member jury deliberated late into Wednesday night whether Glenn Doneghy should be convicted of murder in the hit-and-run death of Lexington police officer Bryan Durman last year. Jurors had heard 60 witnesses — many with wildly conflicting recollections and interpretations of events — testify during the past 2½ weeks. After closing arguments from defense attorney Kate Dunn and Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Larson on Wednesday, the case was handed to the jury about 1 p.m.

It looks like they're going to have to change some promotional materials down in Louisiana, where the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway has long claimed to be the world's longest bridge over open water.

At nearly 24 miles, the causeway is plenty long.

The day after a panel of experts advised the Food and Drug Administration to go ahead with plans to revoke approval of Avastin to treat breast cancer, European authorities moved in the opposite direction.

The European Commission gave the OK to an expansion of Avastin's approval to include using the drug in combination with Xeloda, a chemotherapy drug, to treat metastatic breast cancer, Genentech parent company Roche said Thursday.

Using a common euphemism for penis, Time magazine editor-at-large Mark Halperin said during MSNBC's Morning Joe program today that President Obama was a "@#$% yesterday," during his White House news conference.

Apparently, Halperin — a frequent guest on TV — didn't know his comment would be broadcast live. He may have thought it would be covered up by a "delay" switch that allows engineers to block inappropriate comments from being broadcast.

A good novel doesn't just transcend the boundaries of its target market — it knows nothing about target markets. Young readers have always reached above their reading level to get to meatier stories, and lately we've seen adult readers reaching into the world of teen fiction in search of the same thing — no-holds-barred storytelling. But the attraction isn't just related to the fact that young adult novels tend to have faster-paced narratives.