Getting up to speed with things...

New Orleans is having a complete evacuation. This is not good news with the levee broken. If they can't fix the levee, you can wipe New Orleans off the map.

On August 26, 1939, Hall of Famer Larry MacPhail brought baseball to television. Today in 1945, Van Morrison was born.

Back to the monument news, Ben Chandler says the Chandler school is an ideal site.

Because the limestone monument rests only 11 feet from U.S. 60 just outside of Corydon and near his birthplace, a state Transportation Cabinet's U.S. 60 Corridor Safety Task Team has recommended that it be relocated.

According to published reports, Chandlers's grandson, U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, is OK with that and believes nearby A.B. Chandler Elementary School would be an appropriate site.

Now that Gov. Fletcher has shown to be a wimp, the road is still open for possible federal involvement.

Attorney General Greg Stumbo is talking to FBI agents and U.S. attorneys about moving the case to federal court. Some rank-and-file House Democrats say they are pressuring cautious House leaders to open a committee investigation in January, when the General Assembly convenes.

However, two state agencies currently looking into Fletcher's merit hiring -- the Personnel Board and the Executive Branch Ethics Commission -- say they are hobbled by the governor's office, which refuses to provide additional money for their investigations.

Without the $100,000 it requested earlier this summer to hire an outside lawyer, the Personnel Board has assigned its executive director and staff attorney to investigate Fletcher's hiring, when they are not doing their regular duties.

"We obviously haven't moved at anywhere near the pace the grand jury has," said Mark Sipek, the board's executive director. "It's going to be difficult for us. We need help."

Without the $50,000 it requested, the Ethics Commission has assigned its staff attorney and a part-time investigator to the case, when they are not performing their regular duties.

"We're in worse shape than the Personnel Board, financially," said Jill LeMaster, the commission's executive director. "We don't really have what it takes to conduct this investigation."

Fletcher spokeswoman Carla Blanton said the governor could not give the agencies more money because a recent Kentucky Supreme Court decision regarding the state budget severely limited his authority to allocate money without legislative approval.

David Spade pokes fun at celebrities. He will be on Comedy Central very soon.

The new, weekly series poking fun at the entertainment industry and those who cover it is scheduled to premiere Sept. 15.

The Courier-Journal reports on what others are saying about the pardons.

Declining comment
The state's senior senator, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declined through a spokesman to comment.

U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, who called for former Gov. Paul Patton to resign after pardoning several aides, also declined to comment. Chandler lost to Fletcher in 2003.

Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, who told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 2003 that the Fletcher administration would never issue pardons like Patton's, declined through a spokeswoman to be interviewed.

The pardons even drew the attention of Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, who issued a statement accusing Fletcher of bringing a "culture of corruption" to Kentucky. A spokesperson for the Republican National Committee did not return a call seeking comment.

Impeachment?
Rep. Mary Lou Marzian said a group of Democratic lawmakers plans to hold a news conference today to tell Fletcher: "Tell the truth about waste, fraud and abuse. Don't take the Fifth."

"My feeling is that this is something that we really can take advantage of, and show that there is a clear difference between the Republicans and the Democratic Party," said Marzian, D-Louisville.

Marzian said she and Rep. Kathy Stein of Lexington are researching the possibility of impeaching Fletcher.

But Richards said it's too early to discuss the prospect of impeachment, because the grand jury has not issued a final report on the investigation.

"I still think there are miles to go before this report is made, and I think that the report can give us a great deal of guidance as to what the other options are," Richards said.

Richards, D-Bowling Green, already has filed a bill to force the administration to restore hiring preferences it revised for veterans.

Other Democrats are talking about elevating the misdemeanor patronage crimes to felonies.

More on Daily Show alumnus Steve Carell who is a rising star.

The cleanup will the most expensive in history. Hence, the reason for organizing a benefit concert up here.

Paul McCartney was starstruck by Phil Everly when he met him back in the day.

Both McCartney and late Beatles bandmate John Lennon grew up listening to the Everly Brothersand together impersonated brothers Phil and Don.

McCartney says, "He was such a figure from my youth that I went all daft and said, 'Er, I used to be you...John was Don'...and all the most stupid things. He got very embarrassed."