by Joseph Gerth, @Joe_Gerth – An organization affiliated with the conservative billionaire Koch Brothers has begun mailing out campaign literature attacking Democrats who are running for the state House of Representatives. Voters in the state’s 39th District, which includes most of Jessamine County and a small piece of Fayette, received mailers early in the week attacking Democratic Rep. Russ…
FRANKFORT, Ky. (WYMT) – Kentucky will join with 20 other states to file a complaint in federal court challenging the United States Department of Labor’s new overtime rule, according to a news release from Gov. Matt Bevin’s office. The new labor law, set to go into effect Dec. 1, would increase the minimum salary overtime…
by VALARIE HONEYCUTT SPEARS, [email protected] – On a Facebook page called “Kentucky Kids Matter,” state child protection workers say Kentucky’s system is in crisis and children are in danger. “We have a crisis going on that should be concerning to all people as our children are in serious danger due to the current conditions of child protective services,”…
by Tom Loftus, @TomLoftus_CJ – Nearly 700 groups have reported spending more than $14.3 million to influence the Kentucky General Assembly this year, the vast majority of that was in fees paid to lobbyists. Groups that lobby the General Assembly must report their lobbying expenses to the Legislative Ethics Commission. Last week reports were filed covering…
by Associated Press – FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Executive Branch Ethics Commission has issued $7,000 in fines to three former state workers for violating ethics laws. The commission fined former Probation and Parole officer Patrick Hoover $1,500 for exchanging “sexually explicit text messages and photos” with a woman he was supervising. Former Department of Corrections officer Dana…
by Fatima Hussein, [email protected] – Boone County Schools, Northern Kentucky University and others have been invited to apply for consideration funding through Gov. Matt Bevin’s contentious new workforce development program. The Work Ready Skills Advisory Committee, formed to select projects for the commonwealth’s new $100 million workforce bond program, has invited 91 local applicants to submit proposals for funding consideration. The…
by Andrew Wolfson, @adwolfson – In a bloodbath at KentuckyOne Health, the embattled hospital company Friday laid off top executives, including two senior vice presidents and the president of Frazier Rehab Institute. In an internal announcement that wasn’t shared publicly, the Kentucky division of financially troubled Catholic Health Initiatives said it was axing leaders to “improve…
by Tom Loftus, @TomLoftus_CJ – Here are a dozen examples of bills that have easily passed the Republican Senate in the last two years but died in the Democratic House. They could be in play if the GOP captures the House in November. 1. Abortion ultrasounds In 2016, the Senate voted 32-4 for Senate Bill 152to require a doctor to display the…
by Scott Wartman, [email protected] – The rise in online tax filing means the loss of 1,800 jobs at the Internal Revenue Service facility in Covington, the agency announced Wednesday. An overwhelming majority of the American population filed their income tax returns via the internet in 2015: 86 percent, up from 58 percent in 2008, the IRS reported. That…
by Darla Carter, @PrimeDarla – Though it’s just September, flu cases already are popping up in Louisville and elsewhere in the state. The Kentucky Department for Public Health announced Thursday that there have been 10 laboratory-confirmed cases, stemming from Jefferson, Bullitt and Fayette counties. It’s a little early to be seeing flu, according to the department, which noted…
