Former UK provost Nietzel to step down

Lu-Ann Farrar - Online Content Manager

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Mike Nietzel, the former provost for the University of Kentucky who left to become president of Southwest Missouri State University, announced that he is leaving that post. Nietzel told the Springfield News-Leader that it was "personal and professional reasons" for the change but declined to say whether his wife's serious illness was a factor. Nietzel was at UK for almost 32 years and left in 2005.

The Palm Beach Post follows the case of a convicted felon who has opened and operated a pain management clinic in Florida. "Kent A. Murry's rap sheet showed 15 arrests on a wide variety of misdemeanor and felony charges, including a slew of drug collars amassed during a criminal career that spanned about 37 years," reports the newspaper. Florida, which has been a source for the illegal pill trade in Kentucky, has strengthened laws governing pain management clinics. The Herald-Leader has reported on the Pill Pipeline.

The Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture and Natural Resources Law takes a look at The Guardian Campaign, an effort by Defense of Animals (IDA), a non-profit organization based in San Rafael, California to change statutory language referring to animal "owners" and make them instead "guardians." What would happen if horses were no longer property? What would happen if horse "owners" were, instead, horse "guardians?"

The Baltimore Sun reports on the auction of the Preakness, Pimlico Race Course and Laurel Park. The tracks are owned by Magna Entertainment Corp., which filed for bankruptcy in March. The auction is scheduled for Jan. 8 with a second round of bids due Dec. 4. Part of the auction includes a provision that any party submitting a bid for the Preakness must agree not to move the race outside of Maryland.