|
|
Recent Articles
Displaying
2951 - 2975 of 3650 articles
 Robinson Forest, managed for research, teaching and extension education by the UK Department of Forestry is one of the largest research and educational forests in the eastern United States...
But now, a mining company’s request to strip mine south of the Forest is raising alarms among environmentalists. According to the Cumberland Chapter of the Sierra Club, “the devastation that will result from the proposed mining will destroy the area, and some damage has already occurred.” The Sierra Club predicts that two miles of streams will be buried if Frasure is allowed to proceed with its plan. Opponents of the strip mine plan are urged to contact the Army Corps of Engineers by May 26, 2009. Sample letters and directions are posted on the internet at Action Letter
 Thursday evening at the Democratic event in Mayfield, we asked Rep. Fred Nesler about a special session. He has been in meetings in Frankfort recently with leadership and has heard no firm date for the Legislature to return this summer.
If the Governor does call for a special session to raise revenue, Nesler does not believe the Senate will be cooperative. "David Williams and the Senate won't cut this Governor any slack." he told us. He also said that Williams and the Senate may just gavel in session and immediately gavel back out. The question Nesler posed is not whether there will be a special session, but how productive a special session could be, considering the attitude in the Senate.
Kentucky health report card:
*a third of us get no exercise outside of our jobs.
*2/3 of us are overweight or obese (BMI of 25 or more)
25% of us have smoked at least 100 cigarettes and are still smoking
and
over 20% of residents of Appalachian counties report they are in poor health
UPDATE: The Lexington Herald is reporting that the committee will be co-chaired by independent Senator Bob Leeper of Paducah.
Rep. Coursey named chairman of committee that will focus on Ky’s rivers and streams
 Governor Beshear came to Mayfield last week to present $1,372,500 from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to the Purchase Area Housing Corporation (PADC).
(Photos courtesy of MaryAnn Medlock of the PADD Office)
Thursday, May 21st - the Purchase Area Democratic meeting in Mayfield at the 7:00 pm at the Mayfield High School. Hosted by the Graves Democratic Party, it's a dessert meet and greet for new KDP Executive Director Charlie Moore.
Friday, June 19th - the Jefferson Jackson Dinner at Murray State University. Scheduled to appear: Keynote Speaker Governor Beshear, Lt. Gov. Mongiardo, Auditor Crit Luallen, Treasurer Todd Hollenbach. Attorney General Conway had a previous engagement and won't be on hand.
It was a crazy idea, but a crazy idea born out of desperation to do something about our aging, crumbling, eyesore of a former hotel, former hardware store building.
On the rural frontier
When buildings fail
Or grow tired,
When bankers won’t lend
And insurance companies
Desert you,
Attorney General Jack Conway was in Paducah for the Alben Barkley Democratic Dinner on Friday evening. I was able to ask him a few questions before the evening program started.
Q. Will the Attorney General have the money to hire an expert to refute Utilities Inc.'s experts?
Conway: “Yes. I have a budget that is not all I need it to be. I need more money to hire expert witnesses. I am beating down on the expert witnesses for them to charge us lower rates. I am trying to stretch our dollars as far as they can go.
Q. What about a single payer health plan? Do you support it?
Mongiardo: "My expertise is in fixing the system of health care. I don’t think we will be going to single payer system. I believe in universal care where everybody has some form of health insurance coverage, but that doesn’t mean a single payer system. The bottom line is what we are paying for is way too expensive. Whether it’s one person paying for it or a multiple tier system, we have to lower the cost and improve the quality."
Democrats from McCracken to Livingston County to Fulton County over to Calloway, Trigg and Hickman showed up for the Alben Barkley Democratic Dinner at the American Legion Hall in Paducah on Friday evening. Backwoods Barbecue supplied the eats. According to McCracken County Dem Committee member, Ron Morgan, the turnout was good. He said that during May there are so many competing events, "we don't know if we'll have ten or a hundred". This get together looked closer to a hundred.
Paducah City Commissioner Robert Coleman admitted something politicians rarely admit. An event left him speechless. Coleman's receiving the Alben Barkley Distinguished Citizen Award at the McCracken County Democratic Dinner brought on his brief acceptance speech.
Briarwood Gardens Annual Gardening Weekend
Sat. May 23rd 11-4 Sun. May 24 1-5
Editor's Note: We went to Briarwood Gardens this weekend. The rain held off during the Saturday open house. We bought plants and other stuff and had a wonderful time touring the gardens and listening to two people who know what they are talking about on organic gardening.
****************
Each year we open our gardens for people to come explore and buy herbs and heirloom plants, heirloom seeds, and herb products, and my jewelry, Earth's Creations. Come and learn how to garden without a tiller or plow. Experience raised bed gardening. We want you to look and use our old and new tools that will make your gardening easier and your soil better. And everyone is invited to bring a lawn chair and sit a spell while we talk about Organic Gardening for Beginners and Recipes from the Gardens. We hope that they will take some idea or plant home with them and learn to embrace the organic lifestyle. For directions and the rest of Denise's story...
The Executive Ethics Commission said Finance & Admin Cabinet Secretary Jonathan Miller's daughter can't receive gifts valued at over $25 from those “doing business with, regulated by, seeking grants from, involved in litigation against, or lobbying or attempting to influence the Secretary’s official actions or the actions of his state agency (Finance)…”. But it is okay for her to accept lobbyist gifts from those not dealing with his Cabinet – as long as he reports gifts that are worth over $200. Advisory Opinion 09-15:
I first read Walden when I was twenty years old and just getting started in life. I was awestruck by Thoreau’s example of living happily on very little, struck by how foolish it is to work so hard to acquire possessions we do not need, and envied the freedom that comes from not having so much to take care of.
Caleb Smith, the Kentucky Wordsmith has an exclusive story about Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-1st CD) and how close he came to running for Jim Bunning’s seat. Check out his front page story at www.kywordsmith.com
At any given hour, log trucks are moving quickly through the small town of Clinton, Kentucky on their way to the New Page pulp plant at Wickliffe, Kentucky. For the people of many small towns in West Kentucky and Tennessee, the economic realities of log trucks are how many logs per truck load can be safety transported to New Page....
The recent worker layoff and work slowdown at paper mill NewPage in Wickliffe had us wondering who owns the company now. It has changed hands and names several times in the last several years. A company spokesperson at NewPage confirmed the present owner is Cerberus Capital Management, L. P. since 2005.
Editor's Note: This article written three years ago looks like fortune telling as we swelter through the summer of Ought Twelve. (Article links may no longer work.)
(May 12, 2009) - ....Coal executives should by now be feeling the same cold chill up their spines that tobacco executives felt when Mississippi filed a lawsuit against their industry in 1994. The tobacco industry had years to fight back against the scaredy cats who said they were killing people.
The coal industry may not have that long. The Internet and a younger generation that is growing up revering Earth Day may bring the industry to a difficult place faster than it ever planned. Children are drawing pictures of wind turbines and sunshine when the word “energy” is brought up. That bodes ill for the coal industry...
A 2007 report by the EPA on the dangers of living near coal ash ponds was kept secret until March 2009 when the Obama administration ordered it released. Some of the coal ash ponds in the report may no longer be active. In the release, Kentucky has six sites on the listed, one in McCracken County
“The ash contains high levels of arsenic, lead, mercury and boron, each of which has been known to cause cancer, neurological and development problems, and other illnesses. Yet for three decades, rules governing coal ash have been left up to the states, creating a patchwork of differing regulations with questionable effectiveness… "
  
Commissioners to rate payers - sit on the sidelines and watch Utilities, Inc. rate increase case.
The Executive Ethics Commission issued two opinions related to the Secretary of Transportation and property he may coincidentally own near a Six Year Road Plan site.
Just drive on. Nothing to see here.
PADUCAH, Ky. -- A statewide community college teachers’ union has enlisted a Paducah-based union group in its fight to restore tenure rights for new hires.
The Western Kentucky Area Council, AFL-CIO, unanimously endorsed a resolution from American Federation of Teachers Local 6010 that censures the Kentucky Community and Technical College System Board of Regents for voting to end tenure for faculty employed after June 30.
When I look at the old quilt, which is the oldest quilt I know of in Tennessee, I think of the deep sadness and heartache which my Great Great Grandmother endured. I am sure her tears fell on this quilt as she prayed and wondered why her beloved husband refused to come home after the terrible war.
WICKLIFFE, KY May 7, 2009 – Wickliffe Paper Company LLC in Wickliffe, Kentucky, a subsidiary of NewPage Corporation, announced today a workforce reduction that will eliminate approximately 16 salaried and 36 hourly positions at the Wickliffe mill. After these reductions the mill will employ about 470 people.
The Wickliffe mill is also planning to take market-related downtime for a one week period, beginning on May 21. The entire mill will be down with a small crew of employees assigned to maintain essential operations during the outage. All other employees will have the choice of taking vacation or time off without pay during the one-week period.
Displaying
2951 - 2975 of 3650 articles
|
|
|
