by Don Weber – FRANKFORT – A bill that would double individual campaign contribution limits in Kentucky has passed the Kentucky House by a vote of 71 to 22. House Bill 147, sponsored by House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, would double the limit on individual campaign contributions from $1,000 to $2,000 as of this July and double the…
by Jacob Ryan – Kentuckians with concealed carry permits could bring firearms into schools, college halls and government offices where they may currently be banned under a bill proposed recently in the state House. Under the proposal, any Kentuckian with a valid concealed deadly weapons license or a temporary permit could bring a concealed gun onto public elementary and secondary school…
by JOE SONKA – Responding to Gov. Matt Bevin’s Dec. 30 letter notifying the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that he plans to dismantle Kynect and transition health care consumers to the federal exchange “as soon as is practicable,” the federal agency replied in a letter on Jan. 28 outlining the steps that must be…
BY TOM MARTIN, Contributing columnist – Many Kentuckians have either directly or indirectly depended on the coal mining industry to make a decent living. Others argue that burning coal is harming our health and that the extraction method known as mountaintop removal has brought major destruction to the natural areas of Eastern Kentucky. Still others point out…
by Allison Ross, @allisonSross – C-J Education reporter Allison Ross talks to Kentucky Education Commissioner Dr. Stephen Pruitt.Jeff Faughender, CJ Much ado is being made over a sweeping education bill filed in the Kentucky Senate this session, with some saying the wide-ranging bill contains “fundamental changes” to education assessment and accountability in the Bluegrass State. Talk…
by Nick Storm – For yet another election cycle the collective minds at Democratic and Republican Party headquarters will be spent trying to outwit and outlast their opponents for control of the state House. Outside of the March 8 special elections, parties will be watching the May 17 primary to see how the races unfold so they…
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Hardin County officials say they will appeal a federal judge’s ruling that overturned a local law banning mandatory union membership. U.S. District Judge David Hale invalidated the so-called “right-to-work” law on Wednesday. He said only state governments have the authority to opt out of a federal law allowing mandatory union membership.…
by Associated Press & Karyn Czar – A new national survey shows Kentucky and Arkansas lead the nation in the largest drops of the number of people without health insurance. The Gallup-Healthways survey shows more than 20 percent of Kentuckians did not have health insurance in 2013. Last year, just 7.5 percent of the state’s population…
by The Associated Press – LOUISVILLE, KY. — Former Kentucky Sen. Marlow Cook, who served in Washington during Richard Nixon’s presidency, has died. He was 89. Cook, who also held local office in Louisville in the 1960s, died Thursday morning in his hometown of Sarasota, Florida. His daughter, Caroline Ely, says Cook suffered a heart attack last…
by JOSH JAMES – Union workers sat wall to wall in a House committee chamber this morning in opposition to Senate-approved legislation exempting educational facilities construction from prevailing wage law – where they once again found a receptive audience. It’s a become a ritual of sorts for Mark Isaacs with the Laborers’ Union Local 189, filing…