by Tom Loftus – FRANKFORT, Ky. -Anticipation is building as Gov. Matt Bevin prepares to unveil his first state budget, no small matter to some since he has promised to shrink state government. Advocates for the arts, for instance, are worried that Bevin could propose cutting the nearly $2.8 million annual appropriation to the Kentucky Arts Council. “There’s…
by Ryland Barton – Less than a week before Gov. Matt Bevin gives his formal state budget proposal, Republican Senate President Robert Stivers, Bevin’s ally, gave an ominous prediction. “I think this budget that will be introduced and proposed by the executive branch will be one of the most austere budgets that I’ve seen in my 20 years in the General Assembly,”…
by Associated Press – The Kentucky state legislature has cancelled its Friday session because of the threat of winter weather. The National Weather Service is predicting as much as 14 inches of snow could fall on Kentucky’s capital city on Friday. The service has issued a Winter Storm Warning for the entire state. The House of Representatives…
by Joseph Gerth – In what may be the first firewall in the Democratic Party’s attempt this year to hold onto it’s 95-year majority in the Kentucky House of Representatives, Louisville Metro Council member Dan Johnson has filed to unseat state Rep. Denny Butler, who angered Democrats in November when he changed parties and became a Republican. Johnson, 57,…
by Greg Kocher, gkocher1@herald-leader.com – VERSAILLES — A proposed mixed-use development on the eastern edge of Versailles includes acreage for a new hospital as well as single-family homes, light industry and retail businesses. Most of the 400-acre development would go on Edgewood Farm — outside the urban service boundary of Versailles, although Versailles City Council expressed its intent in August…
by Adam Beam – FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Women in Kentucky must have a face-to-face meeting with a doctor at least 24 hours before having an abortion under a bill that cleared the state Senate on Tuesday. The Republican-controlled chamber approved the bill 32-5. Kentucky law has required women meet with a doctor since 1998. But…
by Nick Storm – Kentucky’s legislature faces the tough task of balancing a $20 billion budget this legislative session. With poor health rankings and struggling pensions the need couldn’t be greater, but lawmakers are off to a slow start and the cost is adding up for taxpayers. On Tuesday the schedule had been cleared as lawmakers returned to…
by JACOB RYAN – Police departments across Kentucky began outfitting officers with body cameras last year, but don’t expect state troopers to join their ranks anytime soon. Kentucky State Police Commissioner Rodney Brewer said he supports the idea of equipping the agency’s 1,000 troopers with the cameras, but the cost to do so is too steep. The state’s…
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) – Gov. Matt Bevin has appointed a veteran farm policy official to the job as the executive director of the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy. Bevin’s office reports Warren Beeler assumes his new assignment after spending 16 years working for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, most recently as director of agriculture policy.…
by Greg Kocher, gkocher1@herald-leader.com – Once again, bills have been filed in the Kentucky legislature that would provide a one-time death benefit to help the survivors of fallen employees of emergency medical services. The state pays a lump sum to the families of firefighters and police officers who die in the line of duty, but not to the…