Budget impasse stretches into Tuesday
03/28/2016 11:46 PM
FRANKFORT — Lawmakers trying to negotiate a $21 billion biennial budget hit a roadblock on Monday, with Democrats hoping to restore proposed cuts in education spending while Republicans want those dollars to instead shore up the state’s beleaguered pension systems. Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said legislators may soon pass the point of passing a two-year spending plan with enough time to override any line-item vetoes by Gov. Matt Bevin while House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, suggested that leaders could amend... Read more 
Exclusive: Attorney General Andy Beshear talks about former deputy Tim Longmeyer, impact of bribery scheme on office
03/28/2016 07:55 PM
FRANKFORT — Days after the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced they were charging Tim Longmeyer, Attorney General Andy Beshear’s recently departed deputy and former secretary of the Personnel Cabinet, with bribery the first-year Democratic officeholder confessed he was shocked. “To say I was shocked or disappointed, hurt is an understatement. It was hard to believe,” Beshear said of learning about the news Friday morning from law enforcement. Beshear now has the task of getting back... Read more
Office of Lexington consulting firm at center of alleged bribery scheme involving top Beshear aide locked and "out of town" Monday
03/28/2016 03:49 PM
LEXINGTON — The Lexington-based consulting firm at the heart of a federal bribery investigation involving Tim Longmeyer, former Gov. Steve Beshear’s Personnel Cabinet secretary and Attorney General Andy’s Beshear’s top deputy, was “out of town” Monday morning, according to a sign posted outside the locked office. No one responded when Pure Politics arrived at the offices of MC Squared Consulting on Prosperous Place around 10 a.m., although a light in an upstairs office was on. The office suite’s front door was... Read more
LIFT seems lost yet again in the state Senate
03/27/2016 01:23 PM
FRANKFORT — For yet another session a constitutional amendment to allow local-option sales taxing is on life support, according to the chairman of the committee where the bill is currently awaiting action. House Bill 2 is nothing new for lawmakers. The proposal would allow local communities to enact up to a one-cent addition to the sales tax for certain public works projects that would be voted on by the local community and expire after the project is funded. Advocates claim it... Read more
Kentucky politicians mourn death of couple killed in Brussels terror attack
03/26/2016 10:06 PM
Stephanie Shults, a Lexington native, and her husband Justin, who had not been heard from since Tuesday’s terror attacks in Brussels, Belgium, have been confirmed dead, according to their employers and family. The couple, Justin, 30, and Stephanie, 29, was at the Brussels airport waving goodbye to family when the terrorist attack took place, killing more than 30 people and injuring hundreds more. Islamic terrorist group ISIS has taken credit for the attack. Within hours of the confirmation of the death... Read more
Floor amendment filed by husband of cosmetology board chair tangles natural braiding bill in House
03/26/2016 02:04 PM
FRANKFORT — A bill that would eliminate licensing requirements for those looking to offer African-style natural hair braiding for pay became a tangled mess in the House of Representatives with a floor amendment that would, in part, require U.S. citizenship and a $1,500 fee to the Kentucky Board of Hairdressers and Cosmetologists. The legislation, Senate Bill 269, seemed to be on the fast track for Gov. Matt Bevin’s desk, passing the Senate on a 35-0 vote March 18 and unanimously clearing... Read more
Education focus of early budget talks as lawmakers break for Easter weekend
03/25/2016 11:30 PM
FRANKFORT — Lawmakers left the Capitol Friday with plenty of budgetary ideas to ponder as Senate and House leaders explained some of their larger proposals, particularly those affecting higher education, for more than three hours Friday. That will leave the budget conference committee with about 14 hours to formally work Monday, when the 19-member panel is set to reconvene at 10 a.m. Legislative staff has said they’ll need a document by midnight in order to get a budget passed by Wednesday,... Read more
Persistent problems with the rollout of a new fare collection system have prompted TARC officials to cancel their contract with the system’s maker. The move comes after months of testing an electronic fare collection system transit authority officials had hoped to introduce last year. “We’re very disappointed,” said Barry Barker, executive director of TARC. Barker called the collection system — made by Japanese manufacturer LECIP — an inferior product. Officials with LECIP did not immediately return a request for comment. Canceling the contract means introducing the electronic fare collection system will be delayed yet again. It’s now entirely unclear when the new payment system will be [...]
Tue, Mar 29, 2016 3:56:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Legislation that aims to help natural hair braiders in Kentucky has won the support of both houses of the state General Assembly. The legislature on Monday easily approved a measure that would exempt hair braiders from cosmetology regulations. Louisville Rep. Reggie Meeks said there’s a substantial West African population with hair braiding interests in his district. He said there is no cosmetology school in Kentucky that teaches this centuries’ old technique. “To require someone to be licensed by an organization that does not teach what it is supposedly licensing … these individuals are put in an impossible position,” Meeks said. [...]
Tue, Mar 29, 2016 3:14:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Brenda and Robert Erickson filtered into City Hall last Thursday evening, a few minutes before the Louisville Metro Council began its regular meeting. For a little more than two hours they sat, watching council members recognize honored guests and debate the nuances of proposed ordinances. A Republican laughed out loud, interrupting his fellow council member, a Democrat, as he tried to explain his point of view. Another member abandoned his seat to lounge in the back of the room with a few police officers, expressing his boredom as he greeted the officers. The meeting adjourned, and the couple stood from their seats and shuffled toward their car. [...]
Tue, Mar 29, 2016 10:00:00 AM, Continue reading at the source
HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU Candidates in four state constitutional down-ticket races are to participate in a forum Oct. 12 sponsored by the University of Kentucky Student Government Association. The forum is for candidates for auditor, treasurer, secretary of state and agriculture commissioner. It is to begin at 7 p.m. at UK’s Singletary Center for the Arts and is free and open to the public. Boone Proffit, director of the student government’s government relations, will host the forum. Josh Douglas, a faculty member at UK’s College of Law, will moderate. --Jack Brammer [...]
Tue, Oct 06, 2015 7:38:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
HERALD-LEADER FRANKFORT BUREAU FRANKFORT – Eligible voters may now cast mail-in absentee ballots in Kentucky’s Nov. 3 general election, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes said Friday. [...]
Fri, Sep 18, 2015 7:06:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Kentucky’s three candidates for governor will be featured in separate hour-long programs airing on WEKU-FM and two other Kentucky Public Radio stations on Sept. 15, Sept. 17 and Oct. 9. The programs will each air at 1 p.m. EDT and feature, in succession, Republican nominee Matt Bevin, independent candidate Drew Curtis and Democratic nominee Jack Conway. [...]
Mon, Sep 14, 2015 9:56:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
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