by The Associated Press – FRANKFORT, KY. — Seven Kentucky schools have received transportation grants in the latest round, allowing more than 2,000 students to visit a state park. The Kentucky Parks Department says in a news release the grant program is sponsored by the Kentucky State Park Foundation. The program allows schools to seek grants to…
By Erica Peterson – A survey has found some interesting takeaways about Kentuckians’ attitudes toward climate change, including that the biggest influence on beliefs may be political affiliation rather than scientific knowledge. There have been numerous studies about attitudes toward climate change around the country, but very few have looked at Kentucky specifically. For her master’s thesis at…
by Tom Loftus, @TomLoftus_CJ – FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky tax revenues that showed solid growth through the first 10 months of this fiscal year plunged in May, and down with the revenues went hopes of a nice surplus when the year ends June 30. Revenues to Kentucky’s General Fund in May totaled $706 million, down from $763 million in May of 2015, the Office…
by Kirsten Clark, @kirstenlmclark – In a tersely worded letter to U.S. Education Secretary John King, Kentucky Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt decried the federal agency’s “constant bureaucratic tinkering, pontification and dictatorial edicts” in the roll-out of the federal education policy replacing No Child Left Behind. “We kind of needed to fire a shot over the bow,”…
by RONNIE ELLIS, CNHI News Service – FRANKFORT – The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife failed to maintain adequate internal controls which may have led to the misappropriations of $90,000 in permit fees, according to a report by the state Auditor of Public Accounts. Auditor Mike Harmon announced Wednesday that his finding about the possible…
by Deborah Yetter, @d_yetter – The abortion battle between the administration of Gov. Matt Bevin and Planned Parenthood was in court Wednesday, with Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry saying he expects to make a key ruling “very soon” in a lawsuit over the reproductive health organization’s efforts to provide abortions in Louisville. Lawyer Thomas Clay, representing Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, asked Perry to…
by BILL ESTEP, bestep@herald-leader.com – Elliott County Clerk Sheila Blevins has been indicted after an audit indicated $15,680 in deposits missing from her office, Attorney General Andy Beshear announced Thursday. Blevins and her sister Jeannie Moore, who works in Blevins’ office as a deputy clerk, were charged with complicity to commit abuse of public trust involving less than…
by Jack Brammer, jbrammer@herald-leader.com – FRANKFORT — Gov. Matt Bevin wants to put the brakes on Attorney General Andy Beshear’s efforts to get the Kentucky Supreme Court to consider quickly Beshear’s case against Bevin’s controversial midyear budget cuts to public universities and colleges. In a five-page response filed Monday in response to Beshear’s request to the state’s highest…
by CURTIS TATE, ctate@mcclatchydc.com – WASHINGTON — At an event promoting his memoir Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was “stupid” for Donald Trump to single out a judge’s Mexican heritage and said the Republican presidential candidate should apologize and “get on script.” He did not, though, back away from supporting the New York real estate…
by Tom Loftus, @TomLoftus_CJ – FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky Republicans say they have years of momentum and that a big voter turnout in November for a presidential election will help them seize majority control of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the first time since 1921. “A fantastic chance,” said Tres Watson, spokesman for the Republican Party of Kentucky.…
