All Entries in the "David Williams" Category

Beshear accuses Williams of trying to intimidate pro-casino senators

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear on Tuesday accused Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, of trying to intimidate Republican senators who support his casino gambling proposal.

“He is using intimidations and threats against fellow senators, including some in his own party,” Beshear said.

Williams later denied Beshear’s claim. He told reporters that he opposes the expansion of gambling in Kentucky, but he is not punishing senators who support it. Nobody is losing their committee chairmanships or other choice assignments because they disagree with him, Williams said.

“The governor has been untruthful about this issue for four years, and he continues to be untruthful,” Williams said.

Specifically, Beshear tied Williams to a story Tuesday in the Lexington Herald-Leader that raised questions about $208,835 in horse industry consulting fees collected by Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, during 2010 and part of 2011.

Ethics watchdog Richard Beliles has few friends in Kentucky Capitol

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Richard Beliles sat in Gov. Steve Beshear’s office foyer on a recent morning, staging his weekly protest of mountaintop-removal coal mining, when Senate President David Williams walked by and suggested that he kill himself.

“He said, ‘Are you occupying the office?’ I said yes. He said, ‘Well, why don’t you set yourself on fire? Why don’t you immolate yourself?’ And then he left,” said Beliles, who is recovering from cancer treatment. “It was a strange thing for David to say. It sort of shook me up.”

Through a spokeswoman, Williams later said he clearly was joking by suggesting the protest would be more effective with Beliles ablaze.

Beliles, who turns 78 on Tuesday, is a soft-spoken, genial man — and one of the more deeply resented figures at the Capitol.

House, Senate agree to continue negotiations on congressional districts

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

FRANKFORT — The House and Senate agreed Friday to push back the Jan. 31 filing deadline for candidates to allow more time for negotiations on the redrawing of Kentucky’s six congressional districts.

Senate State and Local Government Chairman Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, said extending the deadline to Feb. 7 would give the negotiators more time in trying to come up with a new map for the congressional districts.

“I believe we will be able to reach a resolution,” said House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg. The two sides did not meet Friday but will continue negotiations on Monday, Stumbo said.

The Senate voted 25-0 on Friday to approve the extension. The House is expected to vote Monday.

Lexington man calls his arrest in state Capitol ‘an overreaction’

By John Cheves
jcheves@herald-leader.com

The Lexington man arrested Tuesday in a scuffle outside the Kentucky Senate chamber said he never touched Senate President David Williams.

Stephen Rhodes Schwartz, 45, said he joined other people at the Capitol who wanted to protest a political redistricting map that effectively removes state Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, from office at year’s end. Schwartz lives next to Stein on Transylvania Park near the University of Kentucky campus and said he knows her, although she did not ask him to protest in Frankfort.

“It was people responding to something they saw on Facebook,” Schwartz said Wednesday. “It wasn’t something planned. It wasn’t an ambush.”

Altercation outside David Williams’ office leads to arrest, accusations

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Kentucky State Police arrested a Lexington composer Tuesday and charged him with menacing after an altercation outside the state Senate involving supporters of Democratic Sen. Kathy Stein, who recently lost her Lexington district in a Senate redistricting plan.

State police spokesman Lt. David Jude confirmed the arrest and charge that occurred after the Senate had adjourned for the day, but he had no other immediate information.

The Franklin County Regional Jail’s Web site identified the man who was arrested as Stephen Rhodes Schwartz, who also is known as Stephen Trask. He scored and wrote lyrics for the film Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

According to the Internet Movie Database, Trask, 45, also has worked on such movies as Dreamgirls, The Savages and Little Fockers.

Beshear signs into law redistricting plan that moves Stein’s Senate district

UPDATED AT 1:41 P.M.

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear signed into law Friday the controversial legislative redistricting bill that moves the district of Democratic Sen. Kathy Stein out of Lexington to northeastern Kentucky.

The bill, which has an emergency clause, takes effect immediately.

Beshear said the Republican-led Senate’s decision to move Stein’s 13th District “goes beyond partisanship” and reflects “personal vindictiveness.”

Still, Beshear said he signed the bill because the Jan. 31 deadline for candidates to file to run for the Kentucky General Assembly is looming.

Plan redistricts Lexington’s Kathy Stein out of state Senate

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

LINK: Close-up map of proposed state Senate districts in Fayette County

FRANKFORT — Under a plan adopted by a state Senate committee Wednesday, one of Fayette County’s longest serving public officials would be out of office by the end of the year.

The Senate State and Local Government Committee on Wednesday passed its version of new congressional and Senate district maps. The new senate district lines would move Senate District 13 — which Democrat Kathy Stein currently represents — to northeastern Kentucky. That new district would include Mason and Lewis counties.

Because Stein is up for re-election this year, she would have to move to northeastern Kentucky to run for that district seat. The district where Stein currently lives becomes Senate District 4 under the new plan, which is currently held by Sen. Dorsey Ridley, a Democrat from Henderson. Stein could run for Senate District 4 in two years when that seat is up for re-election.

Pastor prays against expanded gambling before governor champions it

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – In his prayer to open the joint session of the Kentucky General Assembly Tuesday night, a Frankfort pastor railed against expanded gambling before Gov. Steve Beshear pushed for it in his budget speech.

The Rev. Hershael W. York, senior pastor of Buck Run Baptist Church, asked in his prayer help for Kentuckians “to foster salaries, not slot machines, to build cars, enable jobs, not license casinos.”

Sen. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, called York’s prayer “a political speech that was disrespectful to the governor and the voting members of the General Assembly.”

KET to partner with public radio stations

The Kentucky Educational Television network will begin a partnership next week with public radio stations in the state to air some of the network’s series and programs.

The partnership will begin with WEKU in Richmond and WKMS in Murray. KET said in a news release Thursday that it is in discussions with all public radio stations in the state and will be announcing more partnerships.

The first KET program involved in the partnership will be the “Kentucky Tonight” program Jan. 2 at 8 p.m. ET. On the program, host Bill Goodman and guests will discuss Kentucky’s 2012 General Assembly.

David Williams will remain Kentucky Senate President in 2012

By Jack Brammer
jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Senate President David Williams, who lost a bid for governor this year, will keep his leadership position in the legislature.

Williams, a Burkesville Republican who has headed the Senate since 2000, said after a retreat Thursday for Senate Republicans that there will be no leadership changes in the Senate.

He said no Republican leader faced a challenge.