Furlough owed: The Louisville Labor-Management Committee advised the city that the four furlough days given to Metro employees last year violated a contract with some other union employees. During the last fiscal year the city faced a $20 million budget shortfall. In an effort to cut costs Mayor Jerry Abramson decided to make all Metro employees with jobs not related to public safety take the mandatory vacations without pay. The Teamsters Union filed a lawsuit earlier this year over the furloughs and the panel’s ruling could lend to their case and lead to hefty payouts to those union employees.

Text it out: Kentucky State Sen. Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, has proposed a bill that would make it illegal to text and drive in the commonwealth. The legislation provides drivers with a probationary period of being let off with a courtesy warning until Nov. 1, 2010, but after that it slaps offenders with a fine of $100 to $300, which doubles if your text messaging caused the accident. If passed, Kentucky would join 19 other states and the District of Columbia that ban texting while driving.

Beshear’s special delivery: Central Kentucky voters are headed to the polls today in what’s being called a referendum on expanded gambling at racetracks. The special election between Democrat Jodie Haydon and Republican Jimmy Higdon in the race to represent Kentucky’s 14th Senate District could shake up the leadership and makeup of the state Senate, which has been Gov. Steve Beshear’s roadblock to his legislative agenda. The winner will replace Republican Dan Kelly of Springfield, who resigned after Gov. Beshear plucked him for a circuit judgeship position, which has become the administration’s favorite strategy to deal with the Republican controlled state Senate. If Haydon wins, the GOP would hold a 19-to-18 majority in the Senate, with one independent who caucuses with the Republicans.

TIME asks: Can the feds really create jobs?

Stop teasing me: U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., recently said that President Obama called to ask Conyers why he was “demeaning” him. The veteran congressman has expressed some heavy criticism of Obama’s policies on health care reform and the war in Afghanistan.