Statewide smoking ban may get floor vote in House in 2015, but path in Senate less certain
12/17/2014 06:12 PM Kevin Wheatley
FRANKFORT –- Advocates for a statewide smoking ban inside public buildings appealed to lawmakers’ pocketbooks and their awareness of Kentucky’s dismal health rankings Wednesday during an Interim Joint Committee on Health and Welfare meeting. But while the proposal’s prospects seem brighter in the House after Democratic leaders in the chamber declined to bring last year’s bill to a floor vote, familiar concerns of local control versus broad government regulation could stymie progress in the GOP-led Senate. Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, and Sen.-elect... Read more 
Charter schools again a focus in 2015, Senate Education Committee chair says
12/17/2014 04:17 PM Nick Storm
The push for charter schools will again be before the legislature come 2015, the chairman of the Senate Education Committee said Tuesday. With only 30 days for legislators to complete their work and several of those days reserved for organizational meetings, Sen. Mike Wilson, a Bowling Green Republican and chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said one of the top issues for the committee will be a perennial bill to start five charter schools in the state. As GOP members... Read more
Philosophical divide over prevailing wage apparent in interim committee meeting on report
12/16/2014 07:48 PM Don Weber
Kentucky’s prevailing wage laws have increased labor costs for school projects and Financial Cabinet projects over what the labor costs would have been if workers were paid the wage they earned on private projects according to a Legislative Research Commission report. The report titled, “How Kentucky’s Prevailing Wage Laws Affect Public Construction,” presented on Tuesday to the Program Review and Investigations Committee by the Legislative Research Commission, was ultimately not adopted by the committee. Kentucky’s current prevailing wage law specifies that contractors... Read more
Judge denies LRC's claim for legislative immunity in sexual harassment lawsuit brought by staffers
12/16/2014 02:16 PM Kevin Wheatley
Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate has denied the Legislative Research Commission’s claim of legislative immunity in a lawsuit brought by two female staffers accusing the agency of mishandling their complaints of sexual harassment by a former lawmaker. Wingate, in an order issued Thursday, found that legislative immunity only applied to lawmakers “in speech or debate” in the General Assembly, not the legislative branch agency. What’s more, legislative immunity cannot be invoked in allegations brought under the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, Wingate... Read more
Jefferson County Public Schools Male High School A tribunal on Thursday affirmed Jefferson County Public Schools’ firing of the former principal of Male High School. Former Male High Principal David Mike has denied helping students cheat on a state test and trying to cover it up when the incident was investigated. The charges Hargens to fire Mike earlier this year. The tribunal heard testimony last week and ended its hearing last Friday. In its final orders, the tribunal said Mike was guilty of conduct unbecoming of a teacher. In a released statement, Hargens said: “JCPS students matter. Test scores do not matter if we do not possess [...]
Thu, Dec 18, 2014 4:14:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Creative Commons Indiana’s 260,000 deer hunters are divided on whether they support a proposal being considered by the state’s Natural Resources Commission that would allow hunters to use high powered rifles for deer hunting. “I don’t think it flies well with the public,” said Doug Allman with the Indiana Deer Hunters Association. Speaking to WFPL as an individual, he said he does not support using high-powered rifles for deer hunting. “I think there are concerns. I’m concerned even as a hunter that’s out there in the field with the potential of being in the line of fire,” he said. While acknowledging that people being shot [...]
Thu, Dec 18, 2014 1:01:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
FRANKFORT — Could 2015 be the year a statewide smoking ban finally passes? With both House and Senate committee chairs ready to sign onto the ban, and a growing popularity among Kentuckians, the prospects are looking better than ever. For the fifth consecutive year, state Rep. Susan Westrom is sponsoring legislation that bans smoking in indoor public places throughout Kentucky. Last year Westrom, a Lexington Democrat, sponsored a bill that got closer to passage than any smoking ban before, and received promising fanfare from House Democrats during the early days of the 2014 session. But as the reservations of eastern Kentucky representatives [...]
Thu, Dec 18, 2014 12:01:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul has been openly considering a bid of his own for more than a year, and Jeb Bush's announcement on Tuesday offered some clues about what kind…Click to Continue » [...]
Wed, Dec 17, 2014 11:05:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Former mayor of Floyd County town sentenced to seven years and six months in prison
from bestep@herald-leader.com (Bill Estep)
from bestep@herald-leader.com (Bill Estep)
The former mayor of the small Floyd County town of Martin has been sentenced to seven years and six months in federal prison after being convicted in two separate cases.Click to Continue » [...]
Tue, Dec 16, 2014 11:38:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Two who paid kickbacks to Morgan County judge-executive sentenced to home detention
from bestep@herald-leader.com (Bill Estep)
from bestep@herald-leader.com (Bill Estep)
Two people who admitted paying kickbacks to Morgan County Judge-Executive Tim Conley to get contracts will not go to prison, but rather will serve home detention for a crime the…Click to Continue » [...]
Tue, Dec 16, 2014 7:43:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
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