All Entries in the "Jack Conway" Category

Candidates for attorney general promise to wield power in different ways

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The two men seeking Kentucky’s top law enforcement job on Nov. 8 say they would wield the power offered by one of state government’s most important positions in dramatically different ways.

If re-elected, Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway says he will continue prosecuting Medicaid fraud, rooting out possible improprieties in for-profit colleges, busting child pornographers and working with law enforcement to eradicate prescription drug abuse.

Republican challenger Todd P’Pool, the Hopkins County attorney, says he wants to strengthen the office’s public corruption unit and create a “federalism unit” inside the agency to challenge expansion of the federal government’s reach.

In particular, P’Pool says he is running because Conway has not done enough to fight burdensome federal regulation of the coal industry and did not join a lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of a federal overhaul of health insurance.

Aside from their contrasting platforms, the two candidates have spent much of their time slinging insults and questioning the others’ prosecutorial independence.

Conway says politics will not influence election complaints

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway said Thursday that a complaint filed against fellow Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear’s campaign is being treated in the same manner as all election complaints.

The Republican Party of Kentucky alleged that member’s of Beshear’s administration have illegally pressured rank-and-file state employees for campaign contributions and have filed complaints against Beshear’s campaign with several oversight bodies, including Conway’s office. Democrats say the allegation is baseless.

“I can assure and have assured the people of Kentucky that the referrals that have been made to my office will be handled in accordance with law enforcement protocol,” Conway told the Lexington Herald-Leader editorial board on Thursday. “We’re handling it in a non-political way.”

Conway declined to give the status of the investigation of the complaint against Beshear.

Beshear faces Republican David Williams and independent Gatewood Galbraith in the Nov. 8 general election. Conway faces Republican Todd P’Pool.

Beshear, Conway and Stumbo announce plans to battle prescription drug abuse

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

Three of Kentucky’s top official unveiled a trio of new initiatives Thursday to crack down on doctors who over-prescribe pain medications.

Gov. Steve Beshear, Attorney General Jack Conway and House Speaker Greg Stumbo, Democrats who have each served as attorney general, said the initiatives would help medical licensure boards detect suspicious prescribing habits of health care providers.

“It’s not the drug dealers that are killing our kids, it’s the drug-dealing doctors,” Stumbo said on Thursday.

Beshear said he will appoint an advisory group of doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists to develop guidelines and criteria to help the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure use data from the state’s prescription monitoring system to flag suspicious prescribing activity.

Conway launches two new TV ads

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Attorney General Jack Conway launched his first television advertisements of the general election campaign this week.

The two 30-second ads will run in major media markets beginning Wednesday.

The advertisements focus on Conway’s past accomplishments as the state’s top law enforcement officer. The advertisements do not mention Conway’s opponent, Republican Todd P’Pool, who has run two television advertisements so far this fall.

One 30-second ad touts Conway’s fiscal responsibility, noting that he has cut his own salary and cut his staff over the past three years. The second 30-second ad focuses on Conway’s creation of a cyber crimes unit, which targets child pornography online.

P’Pool wins award for child support; wants automated payments

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@hearld-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The Republican candidate for attorney general won an award Tuesday for outstanding performance in collecting child support payments during his tenure as Hopkins County Attorney.

Todd P’Pool, who faces incumbent Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway in the Nov. 8 general election, received the award Tuesday at a ceremony in Frankfort. P’Pool also received outstanding service awards for child support collection in 2009 and 2010.

If elected attorney general, P’Pool said he would push for changes in the way child support is collected to make it easier for parents to pay support. Currently, there is no option for automatic payment using debit or credit cards.

Conway files third lawsuit in ongoing investigation of for-profit colleges

By Jack Brammer jbrammer@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT – Attorney General Jack Conway sued National College of Kentucky Tuesday, alleging that the for-profit school misrepresented job placement numbers for its students.

The lawsuit filed in Fayette Circuit Court is the third Conway has filed as part of his ongoing investigation of for-profit colleges in Kentucky.

The three-count lawsuit against National College alleges that it violated the state Consumer Protection Act by making false, misleading and deceptive disclosures regarding the rate at which its students were able to find jobs in their field of study.

National College enrolled about 5,000 students in 2010 in campuses in Lexington, Louisville, Florence, Pikeville, Richmond and Danville.

“This type of deception must stop,” Conway said at a news conference in his Capitol office.

P’Pool’s new ad ties Conway to Obama

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — In his third TV ad, Republican candidate for Attorney General Todd P’Pool compares his opponent to President Barack Obama, who remains unpopular in Kentucky.

The new advertisement begins with a frowning photo of the president and an announcer saying “Barack Obama is destroying America.”

The ad claims that incumbent Democratic Attorney General Jack Conway has “done nothing to stop him in Kentucky.”

The ad says P’Pool will fight “Obama care” and will work to protect the coal industry. It says Conway shares Obama’s “pro-choice” stance.

Conway, who has a double-digit lead over the Hopkins County Attorney in recent polls, has yet to run any television advertisements.

KY man arrested for allegedly abusing mentally handicapped man

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@hearld-leader. com

A former employee of a community-based provider of services for the mentally disabled has been charged with abuse after he allegedly kicked a 29-year-old disabled man in his care.

Burnside police arrested James S. Smith, 33, on Tuesday on charges that he knowingly abused an adult, a Class C felony that carries penalties between five and 10 years.

Second poll shows Beshear with double-digit lead over Williams

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A second poll released this week shows Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear with a more than 20-point lead over Republican challenger David Williams.

Insight’s CN|2 poll, conducted by Braun Research, showed Beshear and running mate Jerry Abramson with 53.4 percent of the vote, compared to 25.3 percent for Williams and running mate Richie Farmer.

The independent slate of Lexington lawyer Gatewood Galbraith and marketing executive Dea Riley garnered about 7.2 percent of the vote.

Earlier this week, Public Policy Polling released numbers that showed Beshear witha 27-point lead over Williams.

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.”