http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com Covering Kentucky politics and government Tue, 22 May 2012 21:44:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/comment-and-ky-tonight-will-focus-on-tuesday-elections/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/comment-and-ky-tonight-will-focus-on-tuesday-elections/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 19:47:31 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21733 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/comment-and-ky-tonight-will-focus-on-tuesday-elections/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/voter-turnout-expected-to-be-10-12-percent-tuesday/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/voter-turnout-expected-to-be-10-12-percent-tuesday/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 19:31:53 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21729 By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT – Voter turnout in next Tuesday’s primary elections is expected to be only between 10 and 12 percent, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said Thursday. Grimes said turnout should be a little higher -- in the 4th Congressional District in northern Kentucky, where there are contested primaries for Republicans and Democrats to fill the seat of retiring U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/voter-turnout-expected-to-be-10-12-percent-tuesday/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/minton-elected-to-2nd-term-as-chief-justice/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/minton-elected-to-2nd-term-as-chief-justice/#comments Thu, 17 May 2012 17:14:36 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21725 FRANKFORT -- Justices of the Kentucky Supreme Court have unanimously voted to elect Chief Justice John D. Minton Jr. of Bowling Green to a second term. The four-year term begins June 27. Minton was sworn in as Kentucky’s fifth chief justice on June 27, 2008, after being elected to the Supreme Court in 2006. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/17/minton-elected-to-2nd-term-as-chief-justice/feed/ 2 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/14/two-state-boards-begin-review-of-richie-farmer-audit/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/14/two-state-boards-begin-review-of-richie-farmer-audit/#comments Mon, 14 May 2012 19:31:42 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21710 By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — Two state boards began considering on Monday a critical audit of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture under former state Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer. The state Personnel Board unanimously voted to direct its staff to review seven findings that dealt with personnel issues in the audit released April 30 by state Auditor Adam Edelen. The board’s staff members are to report back to the board next month or as soon as possible. Meanwhile, the audit was presented Monday to the Executive Branch Ethic Commission, but commission executive director John Steffen would neither confirm nor deny any investigation. He did say that allegations in the audit were “of a serious nature.” The 151-page audit said “a toxic culture of entitlement” permeated the department under Farmer, a former basketball star at the University of Kentucky and a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor last year. He was agriculture commissioner for the last eight years. The audit listed 41 findings dealing with misuse of state employees and resources, including pre-selection of candidates for state merit jobs, using state employees to take Farmer hunting and shopping and making a state worker field-dress a doe that Farmer shot illegally while in a state vehicle in Franklin County.]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/14/two-state-boards-begin-review-of-richie-farmer-audit/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/beshear-appoints-linda-breathitt-to-public-service-commission/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/beshear-appoints-linda-breathitt-to-public-service-commission/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 15:30:17 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21699 By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT -- Gov. Steve Beshear appointed longtime energy regulator Linda Breathitt on Friday to the state Public Service Commission. Breathitt, of Lexington, has worked in the energy sector for years in state and federal positions. She replaces Charlie Borders, who resigned in December from the agency that oversees utilities in the state. Her term will begin May 21. “Linda has a broad range of experience in the energy sector that few can match,” Beshear said in a statement. “Her vision and expertise in this field will serve our entire state well.”]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/beshear-appoints-linda-breathitt-to-public-service-commission/feed/ 3 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/beshear-departs-sunday-for-trip-to-taiwan-and-japan/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/beshear-departs-sunday-for-trip-to-taiwan-and-japan/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 14:25:02 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21697 FRANKFORT -- Gov. Steve Beshear will leave Sunday for a seven-day economic development trip to Taiwan and Japan. A news release from his office Friday morning said the visit will showcase Kentucky’s thriving Bourbon industry, celebrate Kentucky’s 30-year sister-state relationship with Taiwan and "further cultivate the economic development potential with both Taiwan and Japan." “I’m very excited for the opportunities this visit offers the Commonwealth, Taiwan, and Japan. Mutual goodwill, economic development, and prosperity are our common goals,” Beshear said. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/beshear-departs-sunday-for-trip-to-taiwan-and-japan/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/comment-schedules-guests-ky-tonight-will-feature-4th-cd-candidates/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/comment-schedules-guests-ky-tonight-will-feature-4th-cd-candidates/#comments Fri, 11 May 2012 14:17:14 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21694 Ferrell Wellman on this weekend's "Comment on Kentucky," a public affairs show of the Kentucky Educational Television network. They are Russ Cassady, editor of the Appalachian News-Express in Pikeville; Bill Estep, Somerset Bureau reporter for the Herald-Leader; and Tom Loftus, Frankfort bureau chief for The Courier-Journal. The show airs live at 8 p.m. Friday on KET1. On the Monday, May 14, edition of Kentucky Tonight at 8 p.m. EDT on KET and at www.ket.org/live, host Bill Goodman will talk with candidates in the 4th Congressional District Republican primary. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/11/comment-schedules-guests-ky-tonight-will-feature-4th-cd-candidates/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/09/state-sets-voter-registration-record-gop-gaining-on-democrats/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/09/state-sets-voter-registration-record-gop-gaining-on-democrats/#comments Wed, 09 May 2012 19:40:56 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21676 FRANKFORT -- More Kentuckians than ever will appear on the voter rolls in the May 22 primary election, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes announced Wednesday. The total number of registered voters – 2,980,009 – beats the previous record of 2,944,603, set during the 2011 general election, by more than 35,000 voters, Grimes said in a news release. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/09/state-sets-voter-registration-record-gop-gaining-on-democrats/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/07/kentucky-will-get-about-4-6-million-from-settlement-with-drug-company/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/07/kentucky-will-get-about-4-6-million-from-settlement-with-drug-company/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 21:04:04 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21674 FRANKFORT -- Kentucky will get about $4.62 million in a settlement with Abbott Laboratories involving civil and criminal allegations that the drug company illegally marketed the drug Depakote. Attorney General Jack Conway announced Monday that Abbott has settled with 49 states, including Kentucky, the District of Columbia and the federal government in reaching two independent settlements totaling $1.6 billion. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/07/kentucky-will-get-about-4-6-million-from-settlement-with-drug-company/feed/ 0 http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/07/beshear-tourism-big-business-in-kentucky/ http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/07/beshear-tourism-big-business-in-kentucky/#comments Mon, 07 May 2012 18:41:55 +0000 Jack Brammer http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/?p=21668 By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — Tourism had a nearly $11.7 billion impact on Kentucky’s economy last year, an increase of 3 percent from 2010, state officials said Monday. “Despite a tough economy, the Kentucky tourism industry continues to shine,” Gov. Steve Beshear said in a statement. An annual survey showed that tourism was responsible for 169,932 jobs in Kentucky in 2011, up slightly from the previous year. Those jobs generated more than $2.6 billion in wages for Kentucky workers, an increase of $76 million from the previous year. Tourism generated $1.22 billion in tax revenues for local and state governments in 2011, an increase from $1.19 billion in 2010, the survey found. ]]> http://bluegrasspolitics.bloginky.com/2012/05/07/beshear-tourism-big-business-in-kentucky/feed/ 0