Archive for August, 2011

Trial begins in ICG and Frasure Creek mining case

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A commissioner in the Energy and Environment Cabinet told a judge Wednesday that the cabinet had not done enough to ensure that mining companies were submitting accurate water pollution discharge reports.

Bruce Scott, a commissioner in the Energy and Environment Cabinet, said during a Franklin Circuit Court hearing that when a group of environmentalists filed a notice of intent to sue in October 2010 over violations of the Clean Water Act, the cabinet was alerted that there were systematic problems with the labs mining companies were using to monitor pollutants in the water.

“The cabinet should have been doing something that it wasn’t,” Scott said of monitoring the reports. Since the October 2010 notice of intent to sue, the state has issued other enforcement actions against ICG, Frasure Creek and other mining companies because of problems with the water discharge reports, Scott said.

P’Pool touts tough conservative values in 2nd campaign ad

FRANKFORT — Republican Todd P’Pool launched his second TV ad Wednesday for his campaign for state attorney general.

The 30-second ad portrays the attorney for Hopkins County as a crime fighter “with a 96 percent conviction rate.”

Kentucky first in nation to promote healthy food choices at rest areas

FRANKFORT – Posters are going up at the 23 rest areas and welcome centers across the state to highlight healthy food choices for travelers.

The effort will make Kentucky the first state in the nation to promote healthier food options at state-operated vending sites, said state Education and Workforce Development Secretary Joseph U. Meyer at a Capitol news conference Wednesday.

Meyer said the program, called “Kentucky Healthier Highways Partnership,” is a collaborative effort of the Office for the Blind, the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet, the Transportation Cabinet, the Kentucky Alliance of YMCA’s and the Humana Foundation.

The posters will highlight healthy food choices as travelers near vending machines are to make a purchase decision.

Beshear airs new TV ad touting his handling of tax dollars

By Jack Brammer

jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – The re-election campaign of Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear released a new TV ad Tuesday that touts his stewardship of taxpayer dollars.

The 30-second ad, called “Cut,” mentions several budget reductions in the Beshear administration.

They include cutting more than $1 billion from the state budget and balancing it nine times, reducing the state workforce to the smallest level in almost 40 years, cutting his pay and the pay of his staff by 10 percent, selling two state airplanes and a parking garage and reducing the number of state vehicles.

“While families across Kentucky are tightening their belts, Gov. Beshear is doing the same in state government – leading by example while managing Kentucky government in a fiscally responsible manner,” said Beshear campaign manager Bill Hyers in a statement.

Prosecutor named to investigate complaint against Sullivan University

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com

A special prosecutor has been named to examine possible violations of Kentucky’s campaign-finance laws by Sullivan University, which urged employees at a gathering this month to defeat Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway.

Sullivan University executives asked more than 100 employees at a Louisville meeting to vote for and give campaign money to Todd P’Pool, the Republican nominee for attorney general in the Nov. 8 election. A Sullivan subsidiary, Spencerian College, is one of several for-profit colleges that Conway is investigating for possibly defrauding students or manipulating government-backed tuition assistance programs.

Kentucky Revised Statute 121.310 makes it a felony for employers to “coerce or direct any employee to vote for any political party or candidate.”

Grover Potts Jr., attorney for Sullivan University, said the school did nothing illegal.

Can David Williams make gubernatorial contest a real race?

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — With signs that Republican David Williams’ campaign for governor is struggling, Republicans — and even some Democrats — say he still can make the race competitive.

But national political expert Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics is about ready to call Williams’ campaign finished.

“We’re almost to Labor Day, and we haven’t seen anything to suggest that Williams can win this race,” Sabato said. “He would need something like lightning striking three times in the same place to win. Good luck with that.”

With less than three months to go before the Nov. 8 election, Williams trails Democratic incumbent Steve Beshear in fund-raising and by more than 20 percentage points in polls.

Oklahoma attorney general will campaign for P’Pool

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Republican attorney general nominee Todd P’Pool will get an assist in his campaign from Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who has garnered national attention in his fight against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

P’Pool, the Hopkins County attorney who faces Democratic incumbent Jack Conway in the Nov. 8 general election, said Monday that Pruitt will campaign with him in September.

Pruitt grew up in Lexington and earned a baseball scholarship at the University of Kentucky before attending law school in Oklahoma.

Earlier this year, Pruitt filed suit against the federal EPA for trying to shut down coal-burning plants in Oklahoma. He also has joined in a lawsuit against health care reforms pushed by President Barack Obama.

Pruitt is the latest in a series of leading Republicans to announce they will assist P’Pool this fall in his election. Others include Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson and former UK basketball star Travis Ford.

–Jack Brammer

Kentucky gets $4.5 million in drug settlement

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Par Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay Kentucky $4.5 million after allegedly inflating its prices for generic equivalents of such drugs as Prozac and overcharging the state’s Medicaid program.

Attorney General Jack Conway announced the settlement on Friday with Par Pharmaceuticals. The Kentucky Medicaid program relies on an average wholesale price to determine how much to pay pharmacies for prescription drugs. Conway alleges that Par Pharmaceuticals inflated the average wholesale price. That means the state’s Medicaid program paid substantially more for Par’s drugs than it actually cost pharmacies to acquire the drugs. Medicaid is a state and federal health insurance program for the poor, disabled and elderly.

Par Pharmaceuticals, based in New Jersey, makes 60 generic versions of common branded drugs such as Zantac, Risperdal and Xanax. Par Pharmaceuticals also settled a similar suit with the U.S. Department of Justice. Conway’s office has pursued cases against 46 major drug companies and said Friday that they have recovered or have been awarded $210 million for the state and federal Medicaid program since January 2008.

Public meeting set on KU and LGE rate increases

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The state’s Public Service Commission will hold a series of public meetings next month on Kentucky Utilities and Louisville Gas and Electrics’ proposal to add environmental surcharges to customer’s bills.

The utilities are asking to spend $2.5 billion to comply with new federal environmental regulations affecting utilities that burn coal to generate electricity. Kentucky Utilities, which serves the Lexington-area, has estimated that those charges will increase electricity bills by 12.2 percent by 2016. LG&E has estimated a 19.6 percent increase by 2016.

Kentucky Utilities is asking the commission to spend $1.1 billion for additional air emission controls at its plants in Mercer and Carroll counties. The company will also spend part of that money converting a coal ash pond to dry storage at its Ghent facility in Carroll County. KU estimates that customers that use 1,000 killowatt-hours per month will see an increase of $9.46 in their monthly bills by 2016. That charge would be on top of any rate increases the company receives in the next five years.

Williams blames Beshear for halt of prayer before football games

By Jack Brammer and Beth Musgrave
jbrammer@herald-leader.com
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A state lawyer’s recommendation that the Bell County school district stop allowing prayer over the public-address system at football games has sparked controversy in Kentucky’s gubernatorial election.

Republican David Williams, who is challenging Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear in the Nov. 8 election, urged Beshear in a news release Friday “to denounce this attack on prayer at public functions and lead the efforts of state government to defend our citizens’ right to voluntarily pray anywhere they choose.”

Williams’ campaign on Friday released an email from the state Department of Education to the Bell County school district that said praying before a football game is unconstitutional and the district should “cease this activity immediately.”

The email, which cited several court decisions regarding prayer and schools, was written by assistant general counsel Amy Peabody on Aug. 16.