by Nick Storm, @NickStorm_cn2 – The campaigns for Republican presidential candidates U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Ohio Gov. John Kasich continue to name new endorsements from former Congressmen in the scramble for delegates in Kentucky. The endorsements come a day ahead of Super Tuesday and less than a week before Saturday’s Kentucky GOP caucus. On Sunday, Rubio garnered the endorsement…
by KARYN CZAR – Federal inspectors issued 138 citations and four orders at U.S. mine operations in January. The Mine Safety and Health Administration says the inspections were conducted at 11 coal mines and six other mines in 12 states, including Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia. The impact inspections began in 2010 after the Upper Big…
by STU JOHNSON (KPR) – Eastern Kentucky University is moving forward with capital construction projects on its Richmond campus. The school’s president says the governor’s proposed funding cuts will not sway EKU’s revitalization strategies. Michael Benson says Case Hall and Case Annex will be demolished at the end of this semester to make room for a new…
Tom Loftus, @TomLoftus_CJ – FRANKFORT, Ky. – As university presidents and advocates for other state programs protest Gov. Matt Bevin’s proposed 9 percent funding cuts, deadlines are fast approaching for lawmakers to start shaping a final state budget. But the uncertainty over the balance of power in the Kentucky House and the nature of Bevin’s budget…
by STU JOHNSON WEKU NEWS – Legislation to expand penalties for heroin trafficking is on its way to the Kentucky House. The measure got overwhelming support in the state senate Wednesday. Northern Kentucky Senator John Schickel says passage of this measure would make trafficking in any amount of heroin a class C felony. He says lower…
by Don Weber, @DonWeber_cn2 – GEORGETOWN – The 62nd District House race features Democrat Chuck Tackett, a former Scott County magistrate and farmer and businessman, against political newcomer Phillip Pratt, owner and operator of Pratt’s Lawn and Landscape in Georgetown. Tackett, who lost to current Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles in 2014, feels that the experience of that campaign…
by Joseph Gerth, @Joe_Gerth – On Monday at a National Governors Association meeting with President Barack Obama, Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin asked about the federal debt. Obama turned the tables on him and launched into a defense of the Affordable Care Act, which Bevin opposes and has worked to dismantle Kentucky’s health insurance exchange that was created under…
by STU JOHNSON (KPR) – While no formal votes have been taken on a state budget in Frankfort, that’s not to say budget talk isn’t prevalent. Senate President Robert Stivers took to the floor Wednesday to express some concerns. The republican senate leader told members of his chamber he’s hearing discussion in the House about borrowing as…
BY LINDA BLACKFORD AND JOHN CHEVES – lblackford@herald-leader.com jcheves@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — A Lexington lawmaker said Tuesday she plans to file a bill that would stop land developers and owners of large suburban estates from receiving a tax break meant for saving productive farmland. A Herald-Leader investigation published in recent days found scores of examples of the tax…
by Deborah Yetter, @d_yetter – FRANKFORT, Ky. – Supporters of abortion rights and better public education on sexual health held an upbeat rally Tuesday, seeking to rekindle enthusiasm for a cause that has erupted in controversy in recent weeks. Scores of boisterous backers, many in hot-pink Planned Parenthood T-shirts, were among those filling the Capitol Rotunda to cheer on speakers who…