Dec. 15, 2011
- A coal company based in Knoxville with operations in Southeast Kentucky has filed for bankruptcy, reports the Knoxville News Sentinel. Americas Energy Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it has estimated assets in a range between $500,000 and $1 million, and estimated liabilities that fall in a range between $1 million and $10 million. The company has projects in Bell, Knox and Whitley counties.
- The University of Kentucky's arrangement with private company Education Realty Trust got the attention of the Wall Street Journal. The university and the company are negotiating a contract for Education Realty Trust to take over the management and construction of student housing on campus. "Most of the nation's dormitories were built to accommodate Baby Boomers, who didn't mind living in blocky towers with minimalist wooden furniture and communal bathrooms. Universities say these buildings are now woefully outdated and a turn-off to a generation of students who grew up pampered with their own bedrooms and bathrooms in homes wired for the latest technology," according to the story. The Herald-Leader also reported on the deal.
- New Testament professor Craig Keener at Asbury Seminary has published a new book, Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts. He talked with Christianity Today about his investigation into Biblical miracles. Keener is ordained in a historic African American church and served as an associate minister before moving to Asbury. According to Keener, "A Pew poll I mention in my book surveyed Pentecostal and charismatic Christians in 10 countries who claim to have experienced miracles. If you total those up, we are talking about 200 million people. To dismiss miracles because they run against uniform human experience is an ethnocentric argument."
- The invasive pest emerald ash borer has been found in six more counties in Kentucky, according to information from the University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture. The beetle that damages all species of ash trees has been found in Anderson, Boyle, Bracken, Garrard, Hardin and Scott counties. The borer was already known to exist in Boone, Kenton, Campbell, Fayette, Jessamine, Franklin, Henry, Owen, Shelby, Woodford, Boyd, Greenup, Jefferson and Oldham counties.
