by Deborah Yetter , @d_yetter – FRANKFORT, Ky. — Last month, as his 30 years as chairman of the House Health and Welfare Committee neared an end, Rep. Tom Burch, a Louisville Democrat, won accolades and a standing ovation at a joint meeting with Senate Health and Welfare. “He has led this committee very diligently, very thoughtfully,” said…
by Nick Storm, @NickStorm_cn2 – FRANKFORT — Five Democratic lawmakers who voted against Republican priority legislation in committee on Wednesday are being targeted with robocalls in their home districts in an attempt to change their vote before the bills come for a full vote before the House on Thursday. The calls, which started Thursday morning, specifically reference three bills.…
By Angela Reighard | MANCHESTER, Ky. (WYMT) – On Monday, Gov. Matt Bevin appointed Johnny Johnson as Clay County Judge Executive. Johnson is a three-term county magistrate and in November, the fiscal court selected him as the interim judge executive. He succeeds Joe Asher who a grand jury indicted earlier this year along with former Road Foreman Buford…
by Tom Loftus , @TomLoftus_CJ FRANKFORT, Ky. — Two controversial social conservative bills that many top Republican leaders have de-emphasized in recent months were filed in the Kentucky House on Tuesday by a Democrat. Rep. Rick Nelson, a Democrat from Middlesboro, filed the transgender bathroom bill (House Bill 106) that would require public schools, state universities, state government and…
BY CURTIS TATE, ctate@mcclatchydc.com – WASHINGTON — Billionaire investor Wilbur Ross, who is Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the Commerce Department, has been a generous contributor to the fundraising committees of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party of Kentucky. According to a questionnaire posted by the Senate Commerce Committee this week, Ross contributed $35,200 to…
by Kirby Adams and Elizabeth Kramer , The Courier-Journal – Star sightings picked up in Louisville in 2016 with Nicolas Cage spotted at the Louisville Zoo, Jon Voight in the Hurstbourne Lane Walmart and Jeremy Irons at Louisville VA Medical Center. Cage was here to film the horror film “Mom and Dad,” with actress Selma Blair, and Voight was shooting a family-friendly action…
by Nick Storm, @NickStorm_cn2 – Nate Haney, a high-level member of Gov. Matt Bevin’s team, is leaving his post in the executive cabinet to join the private-sector lobbying firm of McCarthy Strategic Solutions. The Louisville Republican will join McCarthy Strategic Solutions as a principal. Haney is the highest-level Bevin administration policy staffer to depart the administration for the…
BY JACK BRAMMER AND DANIEL DESROCHERS, jbrammer@herald-leader.com – FRANKFORT — The Kentucky House of Representatives elected its first Republican leader since 1921 Tuesday, completing the GOP’s dominance of state legislative chambers in the South. Jeff Hoover was elected speaker of the House by the 100-member chamber shortly after it convened at noon. “There is much work to be…
by STU JOHNSON (KPR) – The Commonwealth’s state climatologist says predictions for the early part of 2017 indicate higher-than-normal precipitation and temperatures. Stuart Foster says that doesn’t necessarily mean snowfall. “You could have one major storm track where the temperature comes together and the precipitation ends up being frozen and you get a six, eight, ten inch…
By Angela Reighard | HAZARD, Ky. (WYMT/AP) – The Obama administration has finalized rules designed to reduce the environmental impact of coal mining on the nation’s streams. The Interior Department announced last week the rule will protect 6,000 miles of streams and 52,000 acres of forests, preventing debris from coal mining from being dumped into nearby waters. With coal production…