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…
FRANKFORT, Ky. – A former Beshear administration official said on Wednesday that Gov. Matt Bevin’s administration lacks legal authority to force him to cooperate with Bevin’s investigation into what Bevin has said was significant corruption during his predecessor’s years in office. Frank Lassiter said the investigation overseen by Bevin’s Finance and Administration Cabinet secretary does not have the authority…
EDDYVILLE, Ky. (AP) – A company in western Kentucky has paid off about $7,300 in past due lunch accounts at the Lyon County School District. Thomas Enterprises in Eddyville wrote the check that cleared the outstanding balance accrued by unpaid student lunches at the school. Thompson president Daniel Thompson told The Paducah Sun (bit.ly/2hrbBYW) his company’s donation was…