State of the News 01/06/12

Our first State of the News in the new year began with the breaking news of the revised hospital merger with CHI and now just Jewish Hospital and St. Mary's, no longer involving University of Louisville Hospital; Devin Katayama had the details.  Devin and Phillip Bailey had the latest on the status of the Occupy Louisville movement, as they await a legal opinion on Founder's Square occupation in the court system.  Gabe Bullard recapped the passing of Gatewood Galbraith, including the varied reactions from friends and political foes alike, and Phillip Bailey explained what it might mean to other third party candidates moving forward.  A number of pris0n inmates have just been granted early release in Kentucky, including Louisville; Devin Katayama revealed the facts.  Finally, an endangered whooping crane was found dead in Indiana recently; Erica Peterson explained the possible link to the sandhill crane hunting season in Kentucky.In the second segment, we checked in with the Courier-Journal’s James Carroll, who is in New Hampshire with the Ron Paul campaign.  Then we examined the Kentucky General Assembly’s first week in session with Kentucky Public Radio’s new Capitol Bureau Chief, Kenny Colston.Something a little different in the final segment:  this Sunday would have been Elvis Presley’s 77th birthday, and we heard a feature about a citizen of Washington, DC who calls himself Blelvis, an “Elvisologist.”  We then spoke with radio producer Sam Greenspan to find out more about his story.