With new protective orders now available advocates are releasing guidelines for schools and universities
03/17/2016 08:31 AM
FRANKFORT — With the passage of House Bill 8 in the 2015 session Kentucky became the last state in the nation to offer protective orders for victims of dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. As the state embarks on “something very new” advocates are issuing guidelines in an effort to raise awareness of the interpersonal protective orders. The University of Kentucky Office of Policy Studies on Violence Against Women and the Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence released guidelines for schools... Read more 
House passes budget over howls of Republicans, who decline to vote at all on bill
03/16/2016 11:45 PM
FRANKFORT — The House of Representatives approved a $21.7 billion biennial budget without a single vote of opposition on Wednesday after Republicans declined to vote on the spending plan. The 53-0 vote on House Bill 303 followed hours of debate on the House floor as the GOP mounted numerous procedural attempts to amend the budget and cried foul at the lack of coal severance dollars in their districts, criticizing House Speaker Greg Stumbo for sending a letter requesting lists of coal... Read more
Obama nominates Merrick Garland to Supreme Court; McConnell won't take action on nominee
03/16/2016 06:59 PM
President Obama nominated federal appeals Judge Merrick Garland to fill the Supreme Court Seat left vacant by the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February. The nomination is reigniting a fight on Capitol Hill between Obama and the GOP Senate led by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is refusing to consider Obama’s nominee. The 63-year-old Garland is currently the chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is largely considered... Read more
Bills to quicken sexual assault kit testing, amended charter school legislation clears Senate
03/16/2016 06:05 PM
FRANKFORT – A bill which would require that all sexual assault kits be tested in a timely fashion has passed the full Senate chamber by a unanimous 38-0 vote. Senate Bill 63, sponsored by Sen. Denise Harper Angel, D-Louisville, would require all sexual assault kits be submitted to the Kentucky State Police Forensic Laboratory and tested within 60 days by 2020. Last fall, a report issued by former state Auditor Adam Edelen found that there were 3,090 untested sexual assault... Read more
Newly elected state Rep. Chuck Tackett feeling at home in the House
03/16/2016 02:16 PM
FRANKFORT – Wednesday marked the second day that newly elected 62nd District State Rep. Chuck Tackett, D-Georgetown, has served in the House, and he feels as if he’s done all that he can to take part in the process. Tackett is one of four state representatives who won special elections on March 8th and were sworn into office on Tuesday. With the full House expected to vote on the budget on Wednesday, Tackett admits that it’s an experience coming in at the... Read more
Bill which would establish a task force to study costs of air ambulance services passes House committee
03/16/2016 01:09 PM
FRANKFORT – A bill which would call for a study to be done in the interim of charges billed by all air ambulance providers licensed and operating in the state, as well as similar services in surrounding states was unanimously passed by the House Standing Committee on Banking and Insurance on Wednesday. House Bill 273, sponsored by Rep. Tom McKee, D-Cynthiana, came about after a constituent of McKee’s was transported to the hospital via air ambulance after a fall, but it... Read more
House budget proposal includes $3.6 million for expert witness fund for prosecutions related to untested rape kits
03/16/2016 10:06 AM
UPDATED: Inside House Democrats version of the two-year spending plan is an additional $3.6 million set aside to support fees in the prosecutions of cases tied to the backlog of untested rape kits still awaiting testing in Kentucky. The dollars follow a Pure Politics investigation into the thousands of untested rape kits still waiting testing in the commonwealth. Pure Politics uncovered consternation among prosecutors who predict high costs in taking on cases sparked from the testing of the kits... Read more
House spares education, other agencies from cuts while paying full pension contributions as its version of budget passes committee
03/15/2016 11:10 PM
FRANKFORT — The House Appropriations and Revenue Committee passed the lower chamber’s $21.7 billion biennial spending proposal on Tuesday, a day before a crucial floor vote on the 49th day of the 60-day budget session. The most recent iteration of House Bill 303 would spare areas of K-12 and higher education from cuts along with a handful of state agencies, including those operated by constitutional officers. The Democrat-led House kept in place Gov. Matt Bevin’s call for contributions to the severely underfunded... Read more
Religious freedom bill narrowly passes Senate
03/15/2016 06:25 PM
FRANKFORT – Legislation which would allow businesses to deny services based on their religious convictions narrowly cleared the full Senate on Tuesday. Senate Bill 180 sponsored by Sen. Albert Robinson, R-London, passed the upper chamber with a 22-16 vote. The legislation would protect small specialty businesses from fines, liabilities, penalties and damages against those who deny service based on their faith. Robinson said that he brought the legislation forward because small specialty businesses such as florists and bakeries have faced penalties... Read more
Senate bill would require insurance companies to provide treatment services for individuals trying to quit smoking
03/15/2016 04:20 PM
FRANKFORT – A bill which would require insurance companies to pay for treatment for individuals trying to quit using tobacco products is being considered by a Senate committee. Senate Bill 291, sponsored by Sen. Julie Raque Adams, R-Louisville, would help smokers, whether they have private insurance or Medicaid, to have access to approved and recommended treatment services to help them quit. “Many insurers already cover these tools, but a few are holding out and costing lives and costing Kentucky taxpayers a lot... Read more
The Chatter: McConnell calls on Trump to condemn violence; Samantha Bee targets Gov. Bevin
03/15/2016 04:09 PM
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is advising Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to condemn violence at his political gatherings. Kentucky’s senior Senator talked with Trump on Tuesday morning as the New York real estate mogul was trying to win support from the GOP establishment on his road to the nomination. “I took the opportunity to recommend to him that no matter who may be triggering these violent expressions or conflicts that we’ve seen in some of these rallies, it... Read more
The Speed Art Museum’s new cinema isn’t even a week old, and it’s already bringing intriguing events to Louisville’s film scene. On Wednesday evening, Speed film curator Dean Otto, Louisville-born producer/director Stu Pollard and the Louisville Film Society presented “I Saw the Light.” A Hank Williams biopic, the film stars Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen and Bradley Whitford, and will be released in New York and Los Angeles on March 25. The evening also featured a Q&A with the film’s writer-director Marc Abraham, a Louisville native. Much of Abraham’s output thus far has been as a producer. “For a guy who’s produced more than 50 movies, this is his [...]
Fri, Mar 18, 2016 2:59:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Lisabeth Tabor Hughes has been nominated by President Barack Obama to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, according to the White House Press Office. In a news release Thursday, the president said Hughes has a “long and impressive record of service and a history of handing down fair and judicious decisions.” Hughes began her career in private practice. In 1997, she was appointed to the Kentucky Court of Appeals, a position she held until 1998. In 1999, Hughes was appointed and then elected to the Jefferson Circuit Court, where she served for more than [...]
Fri, Mar 18, 2016 2:22:00 PM, Continue reading at the source
Film, theater and visual art — and a can’t-miss show that’s about to close — dominate the agenda this weekend. Or, may we humbly suggest, they should. Expand your mind for movies at the Speed Art Museum’s newly constructed cinema by watching “Hitchcock/Truffaut,” a film that is essentially the most famous master class in the history of cinema. In 1962, French film director François Truffaut convinced Alfred Hitchcock to consent to a week-long candid interview in which the admired auteur would share the secrets of his work, which were later published in the revered book “Hitchcock/Truffaut,” on which this film is based. [...]
Fri, Mar 18, 2016 12:00:00 PM, 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. [...]
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