More than 150 authors and illustrators, including New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon, well known for her “Outlander” series and Terry Brooks, author of the Shannara series are expected to be in attendance for the Southern Kentucky Book Fest weekend of April 17-18 at WKU’s Knicely Conference Center.

“We are very pleased with the number and quality of authors and illustrators we will have with us this year,” said Kristie Lowry, Literary Outreach Coordinator for WKU Libraries and Book Fest organizer. “In addition to the headliner, who has a very loyal following, there are many wonderful authors for readers of all ages.”

Book Fest weekend is full of author presentations, panel discussions, and book signings as well as theKentucky Writers Conference featuring writing workshops on Friday, April 17, presented by several authors who will be at the main Book Fest event on Saturday, April 18. Friday also includes Children’s Day with hundreds of school-aged children visiting presentations and getting book signed by favorite and newly discovered authors. A new program this year is a Writers Workshop for Teens geared toward youth in grades 9 through 12. For information on that or to register, go to sokybookfest.org and click on Children’s Day.

Jamie Ford, Terry Brooks and Chloe Neill are a few well-known authors who will be on hand at SOKY Book Fest. Bestselling picture book author Doreen Cronin, known for “Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type” and “Duck for President,” will be attending both days along with illustrator Mark Crilley who has his work featured in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and CNN Headline News and Comcast on Demand.

SOKY Book Fest is a partnership project of WKU Libraries, Warren County Public Library, and Barnes and Noble Booksellers. For information, visit the website at sokybookfest.org or contact Book Fest organizer Kristie Lowry at WKU Libraries at (270) 745-4502.

The Southern Kentucky Book Fest is one of the state’s largest literary events. Held in Bowling Green, Kentucky each April, Book Fest draws thousands of readers of all ages who welcome the occasion to meet their favorite authors and purchase signed copies of their books.

The Southern Kentucky Book Fest partnership consists of Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Warren County Public Library, and WKU Libraries. These entities collaborate throughout the year on a variety of literary events designed to fulfill the mission of the partnership: to encourage reading and the love of books, and to be a positive force in promoting literacy in our region and state.

The panel and presentation schedule for Saturday, April 18 can be accessed by clicking the box below.

Diana Gabaldon’s presentation will be on Saturday, April 18 in Room 163A-C of the Knicely Conference Center at 9 a.m. CDT, and the presentation will also be broadcast on TV screens in Room 130 (the Regency Room). Tickets are not required, and seating will be first-come, first-served. The main doors to the Knicely Conference Center will open at 8 a.m.

Diana will sign books in Book Fest’s main signing area, Room 208A-J, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. We ask that no outside items be brought to the event to be signed. Barnes

It is now up to the state Senate to decide whether a bill that would remove state Superintendent Glenda Ritz as chair of the State Board of Education goes to the governor or to a conference committee.

Sen. Travis Holdman, R-Markle, plans to dissent to alterations made by the Indiana House to a bill that likely would remove Glenda Ritz as chair of the State Board of Education.

Brady Hagerty, a spokesman for Holdman, said the bill would move to a conference committee, where it hopefully will be brought in line with its original language.

From there, the bill will have to receive a favorable vote in both the House and Senate before it can move to Gov. Mike Pence for a signature.

The House passed the bill (SB 1) 56-to-41 on Tuesday, a bill supporters say will help end the rancor between the Democratic superintendent and the board. It would end the more than 100-year-old practice of having the elected superintendent chair the State Board, instead having board members elect their own chair – the superintendent would remain a member of the board.

Right now, Indiana and Oklahoma are the only states in which part of the job of the elected superintendent is to chair the board of education.

The Senate must decide whether to go along with a change made by the House that expands the board from 11 to 13 members.

The governor would retain his current 10 appointments to the board, and additional board members would be appointed by the leaders of the House and Senate.

The original Senate version of the bill shrank the board to nine members and reduced the number of members appointed by the governor to four, while the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate would have had one appointment each.

Though the education board has members of both parties by law, all its current members were appointed by Republican governors, and backers of the bill say the strained relationship led to poor communication on issues such as the development of a new ISTEP.

Opponents of the bill, including Ritz, the teacher unions and a handful of Republicans who voted against it, say it appears to be Republican retribution for Ritz winning the only statewide office not held by the GOP. The change would take effect July 1, more than a year before Ritz is up for re-election.

Indiana public health officials say more than 40 people have received help in the first two weeks of a temporary needle exchange program implemented to stem an HIV outbreak in Scott County.

And it’s been so successful, Scott County health officials say a new needle exchange program is working and now are going door to door.

Authorities said Tuesday at a press conference in Austin, that as of Friday, 95 people in Scott County have tested positive for HIV, with an additional 11 preliminary positives.

The needle exchange, created in an emergency order by Gov. Mike Pence, gave out more than 1,500 syringes in exchange for 580 used needles.

Scott County Health Department nurse Brittany Combs says many have stayed away on fears they will be arrested if they go to exchange needles or that the system will be used to track them.

Combs says the program is anonymous, and users receive a card they can show police if they are stopped and found with needles.

The governor authorized a clean needle exchange program in his 30-day Public Health Emergency Declaration for Scott County. Today, we were told more than 1,500 clean needles have been distributed, while 580 dirty needles have been turned in.

Officials can only keep the program running until April 25. That’s when the governor’s executive order ends.