FRANKFORT — It's the dulcimer and it's the law.

        Among other laws going into effect today is a measure that names the Appalachian dulcimer as the official musical instrument of Kentucky.

        The medium-sized string instrument has a sound all its own — a sound that often captivates.

        The Appalachian, or lap dulcimer had this effect on Janet Lucas, of Verona, and Mel Derickson, of Ripley, Ohio. The two dulcimer players each say the first time they heard the instrument they were struck by its simplicity and the uniqueness of its sound.

Steve Moore of Uncle Charlie's Music in Newport shows the new official musical instrument of Kentucky: the dulcimer. (Tony Jones photo) | ZOOM |

        The official instrument designation is just one of many laws passed in the legislature's last session that go into effect today. The measures range from racial profiling to hairstyles.

        Senate Bill 76, passed in the latest legislative session, requires police departments that receive salary supplements from the state to enact policies prohibiting racial profiling.

        Profiling — the practice of pulling over drivers or questioning people based solely on their race — has received widespread criticism as a police tactic nationwide.

        Also today:

        • Penalties are going up for people who fill their cars with gas and drive off without paying.

        Rep. Charles Siler, a Williamsburg Republican, said drive-offs had become a more serious issue since the price of gas had increased.

        “When the gas price is really high, we have a lot more drive-offs,” said Vanessa Wardia, assistant manager of the Shell station at Grandview Drive and Buttermilk Pike.

        • Higher education got less expensive for some. House Bill 62 ensures foster children can have tuition waived at Kentucky's public colleges and universities. Rep. Steve Nunn, R-Glasgow, said the state has 5,677 children who are wards of the state.

        • Don't even try to pass off a forbidden mullet or fade. Foster parents have the authority to say what type of haircut their foster child should have.

        • State universities are allowed to grow industrial hemp as part of a study to determine whether there's potential for a hemp market in Kentucky.

        Gatewood Galbraith, 54, a criminal defense lawyer in Lexington and longtime supporter of industrialized hemp, says there's already a market for the crop and that there's been one for years.

        Mr. Galbraith said he was pleased when the bill was passed, but is afraid it was a “mollifying event.”

        “I think the legislators gave in to public opinion and passed a bill that is designed to go nowhere,” he said.

        Kentucky is afraid to develop hemp as a product, he said, because hemp is a form of petroleum. Because of the petroleum factor, it would compete with coal.

        No college agriculture program has applied to grow hemp under the new law. Scott Smith, the dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of Kentucky, said the university had faculty members who were interested in doing research that dealt with how hemp was produced. Eastern Kentucky University officials said the idea would likely be discussed in the fall.

        Mr. Smith said federal regulatory issues made it almost impossible for them to proceed. For instance, Mr. Smith said the university does not know what the Drug Enforcement Administration will require in terms of security and how much it will cost.

        Ivey Henton, the owner of Hemp Universe, a store that sells hemp products such as clothing, shoes and other gifts, in Lexington, said the DEA requires an “extraordinarily” expensive security system.

        Rep. Robin Webb, a Grayson Democrat, said she thought universities would consider the research once “kinks,” such as the one presented by the DEA, were worked out.

        Ms. Webb called the new bill “an opportunity we can't ignore,” saying hemp could be an alternative to tobacco-dependent counties.

        Mr. Galbraith says he will be surprised if Kentucky's universities look into the issue.

        “I am afraid Kentucky will continue to fall further behind,” he said.

        But some Ohioans say Kentucky just moved a step ahead with the new law. Don Wirtshafter, owner of the Ohio Hempery, a mail-order service that sells hemp products, said it was “about time” Kentucky went back to growing hemp.

        He said he would like to see Ohio follow suit.

        “Our momentum was slowed by the government's refusal to grant permits for hemp cultivation,” Mr. Wirtshafter said.

New Kentucky laws

       • Brownfields: Senate Bill 2 is aimed to help promote the cleanup of abandoned, contaminated industrial sites known as brownfields. Many of these sites have remained unused for years because property owners feared cleaning up the land and putting it into use could prompt lawsuits if the state didn't think the site had been cleaned sufficiently. The measure encourages cleanup of the sites by ensuring property owners the state won't sue for additional cleanup.
       • Hairstyles: House Bill 251 will ensure that foster parents have the authority to make decisions regarding the hairstyles of foster children who are in their care for 30 days or more.
       • College tuition: House Bill 62 will help ensure foster children get the education they need by waiving tuition at Kentucky's public colleges and universities for foster children and wards of the state.
       • Racial profiling: Senate Bill 76 will help make sure police don't engage in racial profiling, the practice of pulling over drivers or questioning people based solely on their race. The legislation requires police departments that receive police salary supplements from the state to prohibit racial profiling.
       • Bomb threats: House Bill 1 stiffens penalties against anyone who makes a bomb threat to a school or public building. The legislation makes the crime a felony rather than a misdemeanor.
       • The dulcimer: Senate Bill 5 designates the Appalachian dulcimer as the official musical instrument of Kentucky.
       • Taxing drug dealers: House Bill 356 specifies that the state can try to collect taxes on illegal drugs only after a person has pleaded guilty or been convicted of dealing or possessing the drugs.
       • Hemp: House Bill 100 is intended to help determine if industrial hemp — which can be used to make products ranging from clothes to auto parts — is a viable product for Kentucky farmers. The legislation sets conditions under which a university could grow industrial hemp as part of a study to determine whether there's potential for a hemp market in Kentucky. So far, no college agriculture program has applied to grow hemp under the new law.
       • Volunteer firefighters: House Bill 101 aims to protect the jobs of volunteer firefighters by ensuring that an employer can't fire a volunteer firefighter for being late to work if the tardiness was caused by firefighting duties or some other emergency response.
       • Clean truck lights: Senate Bill 155 requires commercial trucks to have lights and reflectors in operating condition and to be unobstructed by dirt and debris. Though the legislation stiffens fines for these violations, truck drivers cited for having missing or inoperable lights or reflectors could have citations dismissed if the problem is fixed within 30 days.
       • Wood products: Senate bill 47 aims to ensure Kentucky's secondary wood product industries, such as cabinet makers, are among the businesses that receive priority consideration under state economic development loan, grant and incentive programs administered by the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority.
       • Congressional pages: Senate Bill 71 includes students from Kentucky enrolled in Congressional Page School or in a foreign exchange school in the Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship Program.
       • Voting errors: Senate Bill 123 requires that signs be placed at polling places on Election Day that inform voters of their right to report administrative or clerical errors at the polling place to the county board of elections within 10 days of an election.
       • Gas drive-offs: House bill 105 allows for a driver's license suspension of anyone convicted of filling a car with gas at a station, then driving off without paying.

Airport tackles runway safety
$1.4B may not be enough
Ohio justices defy convenient labels
UC tuition will rise by 8% in fall
A boost for home buyers
Cities say rules thwart growth
Clinton visits Dayton to accept peace prize
Cops take it where crime happens
Doctors rally against concealed carry
Dulcimer picked as official Ky. instrument
Fair's touchy about animals
Grand jury will hear Lebanon case
Group moves to scrap city's civil service rules
Hospitals won't get Medicaid raise
Kenton teachers get 7% hike
Low-income housing would be controlled
Nature Conservancy buys more land along palisades
No sex indictment against teacher
Ohio PTA award announced
Outside auditor to watch ballpark
Proposal for video slots at racetracks dies in committee
Protester on trial for fest disruption
Officer Roach trial scheduled for Sept. 17
School gets 2nd inspection
Silverton development group launched
United Way pledges other help
Video store bandits use the same script
Welfare reform spending in danger
Worms sicced on Ky.'s coal scars
Kentucky News Briefs
Tristate A.M. Report