The Kentucky Republican Party Chairman, Steve Robertson, has sent to the F.B.I. a letter asking them to investigate possible ties between Governor Beshear’s Administration and businessman Bill Yung.
Yung owns several casinos in 5 states. He donated one million dollars to a 527 political organization during the General Election of 2007. Yung also gave $10,000 to Beshear’s inauguration committee.
Superdelegates are delegates to a presidential nominating convention in the United States who are not bound by the decisions of party primaries or caucuses. Superdelegates are elected officeholders and party officials. They are sometimes referred to as "unpledged delegates," but some unpledged delegates are not superdelegates.
Andrew Horne Pulls Out of Senate Race
Late Monday afternoon, February 11, 2008, Andrew Horne took his name out of the Kentucky U.S. Senate race. This leaves two candidates for the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate: (1) Greg Fischer and (2) Bruce Lunsford. Both of these individuals are millionaires.
Now Kentucky will be witness to one Republican and two Democrats spending millions to buy themselves a United States Senate seat. Between the primary and general election, some $18 to $ 20 million dollars will probably be spent.
On the day of Super Tuesday and the tornadoes that followed that night, the temperature had reached a high of 71 degrees. This was the sixth day of February.
In August of 2007, Clinton, KY. had two weeks of temperatures over 100 degrees. Many of these days had reached a scorning 112 degrees (with heat index). The air took your breath away as you walked outside.
This was the third August with extreme heat. Except this year, we had an extreme drought as well. Each year since 2005, we have had an average increase of 20% the number of days that extreme heat has impacted west Kentucky.
What does it mean?
News Perspective
by Ivan Potter
It was Tuesday, February 5th, 2008. For a political junkie, it was a perfect day. Life was good. The polls in Kentucky had just closed. The time was a little after 6:00 pm. I had just placed my steak dinner in a strategic position between my wine glass and the TV remote. Then before the first bite, all hell broke loose
During a budget meeting in the House, Wednesday, experts from the Health and Human Services Cabinet described a very disturbing future for their services to the people of Kentucky.
These Cabinet officials told lawmakers that cuts proposed by Gov. Steve Beshear would lead to fewer Meals on Wheels and elimination of programs at the state’s 14 community mental health centers.
A federal report just released showed that the American economy stalled in the fourth quarter with a growth rate of just 0.6 percent, marking its worst year since 2002.
Kentuckians are expected to go to prison in record numbers from 2008 through 2010. The state expects to lock up over 24,000 felons by fiscal year 2010. This is an increase of 6% over the 22,500 now in jail.
However, the proposed Justice Cabinet budget advanced by Governor Beshear listed the following priorities:
By:
By John Gramlich, Stateline.org Staff Writer
In 1970, there were 3,000 inmates in Kentucky prisons. That number spiked to 22,400 in 2006 costing the state $371 million. Incarceration costs are expected to spike to $417 million for 2007-2008 as the number of incarcerations continues to rise. Unfortunately, Kentucky is not alone in this problem.
The PEW Trust and Stateline.org have looked at the issue of how increased prison population will become a major economic factor in state budgets during 2008. It is an excellent overview of the problem.
Fletcher's $1 billion 'lie'
We offer to you a letter written to the Editor of the Courier Journal that sort of sums up how many of us feel about the current state of affairs in Frankfort.
When Gov. Steve Beshear laid bare Kentucky's financial problems soon after entering office, I was taken by surprise. I usually stay on top of current events, but here was a colossal problem that I don't remember hearing much about.
FRANKFORT…The presidents of six state universities testified before the House of Representatives Budget Review Subcommittee on Thursday that the impact of cutting their budgets for 2008-2009 would damage higher education in Kentucky
UK College of Medicine Plans to Open sites in Morehead and Murray
In an effort to address the state’s shortage of doctors in rural areas, the University of Kentucky has announced long-term plans to develop regional medical school sites at Morehead State University and Murray State University.
A recently completed study by the Kentucky Institute of Medicine found that Kentucky has a ratio of 213.5 doctors per 100,000 residents, compared to the national average of 267.9 doctors per 100,000.
(February 1, 2008) - The Kentucky Hospital Association has just released a report showing how Kentucky's 120 hospitals contribute nearly $4.9 billion to the state's economy each year. According to the report, economic impact is driven by payroll and purchasing supplies and services.
Home foreclosure rate soars in 2007
The premier data source for tracking the American housing market is Realty Trac, Inc. and in their year end overview of the current housing crisis, they reported the following:
1.The number of U.S. homes that slipped into some stage of foreclosure in 2007 was 79 percent higher than in the previous year. Many homeowners started to fall behind on mortgage payments in the last three months, setting the stage for more foreclosures this year.
New Congressional Report:
National Guard Major Actor in America’s Strategic Global Conflicts
The Congressional Commission on the National Guard and Reserves made its final report to Congress on Thursday (1-31-8). Many of their recommendations are a “wake up call” to how the state National Guard units have borne a major responsibility for America’s overseas conflicts.
Commission Chairman, Arnold Punaro made the statement that , “National Guard and Reservist units comprise 44 percent of America’s force commitment in the fight against terrorism. This force also makes up 7-9 percent of the total US military budget of $450 billion dollars.”
With Kentucky units being deployed on more and more rotations in the Middle East, this issue of state resources costs and federal mandates will become a future “flash point” in the 2008-2012 federal-state intergovernmental relations budgets. The Christian Science Monitor has done an excellent job of trying to summarize this report. We offered it for your reading.
FRANKFORT, KY. Right at 4:00 pm January 28, 2008, Heather Ryan officially filed her papers with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office in the State Capital building. Ryan is a life long Democratic activist and political scientist. Ryan made the almost nine hour around trip to Frankfort and back to Paducah with a “sense of urgency” as she expressed to this newsjournal her reasons for going up against Republican Ed Whitfield
Voters should be prepared for a decade-long battle for political control of the Purchase Region. The winner of this upcoming battle remains to be seen; the only thing assured is that the victor will be the party that works the hardest, recruits and contacts more voters, and recruits the more superior candidates for elected office.
FRANKFORT , Ky. (Jan. 25, 2008) – Henry Clay “Hank” List, of Lexington, is returning to the state’s environmental agency as deputy secretary, Environmental and Public Protection Cabinet Secretary Robert D. Vance announced today.
Governor Beshear has already proposed an immediate 3% cut from the universities and colleges of Kentucky for this year’s operational budgets. This is bad news for the business of college education in Kentucky. However, this is not the end of the story. It can only get worse.
PADUCAH, Ky. -- Rick Johnson said he wanted to visit with some "old friends" before deciding whether to run for the state Senate.
“I wouldn’t dare do it without talking to you first,” Johnson said at the January council meeting. “I have stood up here in front of you many times and you have always been there for me."
Johnson filed for the May Democratic primary after he met with the Council.
Editor's Note:
This letter is from one of Mitch McConnell's "newest best friends" who, in the words of Will Smith from the movie, Independence Day, NOTHING BUT LOVE!
One of our Tennessee readers submitted a letter wanting us to look at the recent naval events in the Middle East. Sometimes we in Kentucky politics forget that there are wars outside Kentucky.
By:
Anita Bugg Ballard Weekly Newspaper
An executive order issued on January 4th by Governor Steve Beshear could leave Ballard County in a world of hurt. The Governor was forced to make budget cuts across the state. Two of the areas that will be hit hard, should the proposed budget pass, are rescue squads and the school systems.
As late as January 15, 2008 Governor Beshear’s budget team was debating just how far to cut into the core educational funding for local school districts. At issue are the two primary sources for local school districts: SEEK funding and cuts to the Department of Education.
In the72nd House District (Bath, Bourbon, Fayette and Nicholas Counties), voters elected Sannie Overly, a dynamic new Democratic State Representative who won every county in the district, and won the overall district vote count by a two-to-one margin.
