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Mark Hebert
March 2008
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Homeland Security Presser

8:04 AM Fri, Aug 11, 2006 |
Mark Hebert

The Governor canceled his news conference to announce Homeland Security grants at the last minute on Monday, August 7, mainly because the cities and counties receiving the grants hadn't been notified. Fletcher wanted them standing behind him at the news conference, so he rescheduled the briefing for Thursday, August 10.

Update: The Thursday news conference was cancelled too. A couple of reasons.
The letters notifying folks about their grant awards went in the mail Monday morning. They probably got the letters Tuesday or Wednesday so the news was going to leak out before Fletcher could get to the microphone and make a splash.
Second, Louisville Metro got just $1.1 million of the $5.5 million it requested. Mayor Abramson was NOT happy, blasting Fletcher's Homeland Security folks again. This just one year after Louisville Metro didn't get a dime from the state's discretionary Homeland Security funds.
So my suspicion is Abramson told Fletcher there was no way he was going to stand up at a news conference and praise the Fletcher folks in front of TV cameras. And that wouldn't have been good for the sitting Governor. Fletcher is now going to tour the state, handing out the checks in local communities. That's a much better political angle for Fletcher anyway. He gets his picture and coverage in small town newspapers all across Kentucky from mayors and county judge-executives who are happy to get any money from the state and won't cry about their share, like Louisville Metro has.




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