Kentucky’s General Fund Receipts Up 4.8% in July

by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS & ROB CANNING –  Kentucky Budget Director John Chilton says the Commonwealth’s tax collections in July were up nearly 5 percent from a year ago. Chilton says state General Fund receipts last month totaled $769.3 million. His office reported big gains in income and property tax collections and that corporate income tax collections rose more…

Yarmuth decries Bevin’s Medicaid plan at debate

by Morgan Watkins, @morganwatkins26 – Gov. Matt Bevin said in a press conference he will seek permission from the federal government to reshape the federal-state health program that covers about 1.3 million Kentuckians. Michael Clevenger, CJ U.S. Rep. John Yarmuth criticized Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed changes to Kentucky’s Medicaid program during a debate in downtown Louisville Wednesday afternoon, saying he…

City seeks to redirect $7M loan to FoodPort

by Phillip M. Bailey, @phillipmbailey – Mayor Greg Fischer’s administration wants to funnel a $7 million federal loan — provided to the city more than 20 years ago to create businesses and jobs in western Louisville — to the West End FoodPort project. The proposal comes just five months after the city sold a 24-acre site in the Russell neighborhood worth…

Magoffin judge-executive took part in vote buying, witness says while outlining years of fraud

BY BILL ESTEP, [email protected] – Magoffin County Judge-Executive Charles “Doc” Hardin has been a part of efforts to buy votes for years, a key witness testified Tuesday as a federal vote-buying trial for four others got underway. And in opening arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Taylor said Hardin is an unindicted co-conspirator in a scheme to corrupt…