Regional

By DON WILKINS

The Messenger Inquirer

For 91-year-old Owensboro resident and World War II veteran Leonard Ferrell, the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan is still singed in his memory 75 years later.

Ferrell, who was 16 at the time and living in his hometown of Madisonville, said he was listening to the radio on Dec. 7, 1941, when he heard the news of the surprise bombings of the American naval fleet anchored in Honolulu, Hawaii.

By Morgan Watkins

The Courier-Journal

Jefferson County teachers who are fed up with the state government’s failure to properly fund their pensions plan to sue Gov. Matt Bevin and two other high-ranking officials over the financial quagmire.

By BRAD BOWMAN

The State Journal

While a Republican majority is busy reconstructing state government, the Capitol’s north façade is getting its own makeover for the first time in at least half a century.

A 16-member crew has begun cleaning and restoring parts of the Capitol’s façade while a six-member crew erects scaffolding along its balustrade and terrace. The $1.1 million project is slated for completion by mid-February. Capitol visitors can still use the front entrance, which has been secured from construction hazards.

By Tom Loftus

The Courier-Journal

The Republican Party took over the last Democratic bastion in the south Tuesday, winning control of the Kentucky House of Representatives, and winning it by a wide margin.

Among Democrats to fall under the Republican onslaught was House Speaker Greg Stumbo, who for more than 30 years has been a Democratic power in Frankfort. Stumbo was defeated in his bid for re-election to the House’s 95th District Tuesday by Republican challenger Larry Brown.