GOP holds financial advantages in special House elections less than a month before voters hit the polls

by Kevin Wheatley – Republicans in three of four special House elections hold a collective 3-to-1 cash advantage on their Democratic opponents, with pro-GOP groups enjoying a $872,377 edge on their counterparts across the aisle with the March 8 contests upcoming, campaign finance filings show. The cash disparity comes less than a month until voters in Scott, Owen, Fayette,…

Time Warner Cable opposes Google Fiber vote

by Phillip M. Bailey, @phillipmbailey – The fiber network, if installed, would greatly increase the speed for downloading material from the Internet, streaming movies, gaming and more. Marty Pearl, Special to The C-J Metro Council could take two significant steps at Thursday’s meeting to bring faster Internet speeds to Louisville but one of their ideas to streamline construction is…

Beshear launches petition to save Ky health care

by Deborah Yetter, @d_yetter – From November 2015 — Kynect “adds no value” that the federal exchange doesn’t provide, said Matt Bevin at a press conference in Frankfort. Matt Stone, The Courier-Journal Seeking to preserve Kentucky’s “dramatic success” in expanding health care coverage to more than half a million Kentuckians, former Gov. Steve Beshear today is launching a…

Bevin names Medicaid commissioner

by Deborah Yetter – FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Matt Bevin has appointed accountant Stephen P. Miller as Medicaid commissioner. “As we work to redesign the Medicaid program and transition it to a more affordable, sustainable model tailored to Kentucky’s needs, it is important to have someone with a deep understanding of the healthcare industry leading the Department of Medicaid,” Bevin…

Bill Would Allow Concealed Firearms Into School, University Buildings

by Jacob Ryan – Kentuckians with concealed carry permits could bring firearms into schools, college halls and government offices where they may currently be banned under a bill proposed recently in the state House. Under the proposal, any Kentuckian with a valid concealed deadly weapons license or a temporary permit could bring a concealed gun onto public elementary and secondary school…

President of coal association: Best-case scenario for E. Ky. may be ‘maintaining what we have’

BY TOM MARTIN, Contributing columnist – Many Kentuckians have either directly or indirectly depended on the coal mining industry to make a decent living. Others argue that burning coal is harming our health and that the extraction method known as mountaintop removal has brought major destruction to the natural areas of Eastern Kentucky. Still others point out…