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Political BLOG |
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Joe Arnold
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January 2008 ArchivesGovernor Beshear has appointed a new judge in southern Kentucky, a judge who donated $200 to Beshear's choice for the state senate seat that was vacated by Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo. ...Ron Lewis has really ticked off folks in his own party, perhaps killing the chances that his handpicked successor can win the GOP nomination for Lewis' seat. And Gov. Beshear has some unhappy campers in his party with the way he's handled the open senate seat in E. Ky. ...As ABC News provides wall-to-wall coverage of Super Tuesday primary results, WHAS11 and WHAS11.com will provide analyis from local experts and supporters of the candidates. ...Louisville developer Chris Thieneman now says he's dropping out of the 3rd District Congressional race, changing parties and supporting John Yarmuth. ...I know most of you believed Steve Beshear when he said he wasn't cutting the main funding source for Kentucky schools. Like me, you didn't listen very well because Beshear chose his words carefully. ...I believe it was former Senate President John "Eck" Rose who jokingly referred to former senator Henry Lackey as "the gentleman from Clairol". At the time, Lackey had a full head of blond hair. ...The Kentucky Senate pulled off a rare move today to get a bill to ban domestic partner benefits for state employees through a committee AND the full senate in the same day. Man, those senators work fast when they really want to. ...The popular KEES scholarship program would face cuts if Governor Beshear's budget plan becomes law (Lexington Herald-Leader)http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/302988.html. ...Former House member Mike Weaver wants his old job back. ...Anne Northup officially filed her papers to run for U.S. Congress on Tuesday. And this time she had a $500 check ready. ...Several democratic state lawmakers said they were glad that Governor Beshear finally used his bully pulpit to tie the casino gambling issue to Kentucky's budget problems. ...The Kentucky House of Representatives passed the so-called "Bully Bill" yesterday afternoon and there wasn't a single reporter there to log what happened. ...Sorry about the lack of posts, especially with yesterday's wild day in Frankfort. But I couldn't get my llaptop to work last night and when I got home my power was out. I'll have some updates including the quote of the day from David Williams sometime after 9 this morning. Mark ...Here's the official release from his office and comments from my conversation with his press secretary: During his campaign for governor, Steve Beshear said he wouldn't fly to campaign stops in the state airplane. That statement came as Gov. Fletcher was being lambasted for using the state plane for the dual purpose of attending political fundraisers and official functions on the same trip. ...There's a new education report out that compares Kentucky students CATS scores vs. the NAEP test scores. It depends on how you look at whether the report paints an optimistic or pessimistic view of Kentucky's public schools. ...Paducah's largest TV station has done a story on the Heather Ryan vs. Mitch McConnell flap. ...Many of you have questioned Gov. Beshear's claim that Kentucky's treasury could rake in $500 million a year in revenue from legalized casinos. That's a fair question. ...Some folks in higher education circles are worried that legalizing casinos in Kentucky would dig into Lottery revenues and, therefore, cut the number of KEES scholarships available to Kentucky college students. The story is in the H-L. ...Former congresswoman Anne Northup will make an announcement about her future on Tuesday in Frankfort, according to her long time political advisor, Ted Jackson. ...Former appeals court judge Rick Johnson has filed to run for the state senate seat currently held by republican Ken Winters. ...The first democrat has filed to run for the Louisville Metro Council seat that Julie Raque Adams is leaving. ...Former state representative Hank List of Lexington is back in a familiar post. List is back in his old job as deputy secretary in the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet. ...Here's some news about Northup, Thieneman and Heleringer. ...Transportation Secretary Joe Prather says he didn't order a new traffic light with a left turn signal be installed at an intersection near his hour. Prather says his staff made that decision. ...Ryan Alessi has the first story of what may appear to be special treatment from the Beshear administration to one of its own, new Transportation Secretary Joe Prather. ...Former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Billy Ray Smith says friends are encouraging him to run for U.S. Senate, but even more on leaning on him to run for the second district congressional seat currently held by Rep. Ron Lewis. ...Former Kentucky Superintendent of Public Instruction, Alice McDonald, almost got a pardon in the closing hours of Governor Fletcher's administration. ...Pat Crowley has my back on comments I made over the weekend on KET that folks in Governor Beshear's office have been encouraging Bruce Lunsford to run for U.S. Senate. Lunsford hasn't returned any of my phone calls in the past week. But in a conversation last summer, shortly after his defeat in the gubernatorial primary race, Lunsford told me he couldn't see himself taking on McConnell, believing the Senate Minority Leader would be too tough... A bill to let local communities decide if there should be liquor sales on election day passed a house committee today. ...Mitch McConnell has a challenger in the republican primary. Daniel Essek filed his papers in Frankfort today. ...Some parents and loved ones of profoundly retarded residents of Central State Hospital are upset with staff cuts at the state run Louisville facility. ...Some of Senator McConnell's staff members are getting high fives as some of the most influential staffers on the Hill. ...Kentucky now has its first female head of the Corrections Department. ...A Paducah woman who helped her 12-year-old daughter chase down Mitch McConnell at the theatre where her mom worked, has now been fired, according to the Paducah Sun. ...Louisville congressman John Yarmuth is apparently in tune with what the NAACP wants from its congressmen and women. ...House Judiciary Committee Chairman Kathy Stein (D-Lexington) says she won't bring up Rep. Bob Damron's bill to allow guns on college campuses. ...Louisville developer Chris Thieneman says he's running for congress, no matter what Anne Northup decides. Thieneman and Northup are both republicans. ...One of the truly nice people in Louisville politics has passed away at age 62. Former deputy mayor Joan Riehm died after a long illness. ...Former BluegrassReport.org founder Mark Nickolas has a new on-linie political venture. Former Louisvillian Shelby Bonnie has hired Nickolas to run a new political web site. ...The bull in the china shop wants to take on John Yarmuth. A spokesperson for Chris Thieneman says the Louisville developer will run for congress this year. ...Former WHAS Radio talk show host Joe Elliott tells WHAS 11 News he will not seek election to the 26th District Metro Council seat being vacated by Ellen Call. ...Ryan Alessi has the run down on Gov. Beshear's trip to Harlan this week in support of democratic state senate candidate Scott Alexander. ...Jefferson County's Republican Party Chairman is claiming Greg Fischer may have broken campaign finance laws. ...A former state lawmaker and Meade County Judge-Executive will be the number two man in the state Labor Cabinet. ...Another republican member of the Louisville Metro Council has decided not to seek reelection. ...There were tears from one senator and anger from others after a dust up in the Senate Education committee today. ...The biggest talk in the hallways of Frankfort this week is House leadership's support of a hike in the cigarette tax. ...A 2007 study by Legislative Research Commission economists seems to suggest that Kentucky won't rake in the $500 million that Governor Beshear expects from legalizing casinos. ...The Kentucky Department of Parks has filled some of its top level posts. ...Humana Corporation spokesman Dick Brown will be Governor Beshear's new Communications Director. ...Want to see Anne Northup talk about the possibility of running for Congress? Want to see what Greg Fischer looks and sounds like? ...The wife of congressman Ben Chandler is one of several people getting non-merit jobs in the Governor's Office of Local Development. ...Larry Dale Keeling reports that Governor Beshear was in Hazard on Wednesday, campaigning for democratic state senate candidate Scott Alexander and trying to mend some fences. ...Look out. Governor Beshear's administration has canceled a controversial road project that was headed to Senate President David Williams' district. That's according to the C-J. ...Greg Fischer has officially filed to run for U.S. Senate. ...Anne Northup tells me she may run for Congress, setting up a potential rematch with Congressman John Yarmuth. ...Republican Erwin Roberts has been put on notice that he's being called to active military duty for 12 months, forcing him to put his congressional campaign on hold. ...Rep. Bob Damron says he's getting lots of support for his bill that let people have guns in their cars on college campuses. Right now, guns are banned on the grounds of Kentucky's public universities. ...Two Louisville attornies who helped write and defend Kentucky Open Meetings and Open Records laws are funding a new program in WKU's Journalism School. ...The long hours required of a state budget director, especially when trying to put together a new budget for a new governor with little money, can apparently take its toll on one's health. ...One of the truly nice guys in Governor Fletcher's administration is staying in Frankfort. ...Governor Beshear told me today that his administration was on sound legal footing to fire three top level employees of the state Public Service Commission. ...Governor Beshear is asking state employees to be innovative and come up with ways that state government might save some money. ...Governor Steve Beshear plans to leave some education funds alone as he cuts the state budget, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader. ...Quick hits from Harry Moberly, David Williams, Jody Richards, Joni Jenkins and Lee Todd. ...Ronnie Ellis says in his column that there's little change in the air in Frankfort, despite a promise from the new governor to enact some changes. ...Governor Beshear's administration has rehired three top administrators at the state Public Service Commission that were fired last week and admitted that it made a mistake in trying to fire the executive director of the commission, deciding to keep her on board too. ...Here's the text of Governor Beshear's State of the Commonwealth address, placing no blame for the lousy budget situation on the state legislature: ...A long time state employee will head the largest agency in the Cabinet for Health and Family Services. ...I know I've told most of you folks about this web page before, but it's worth reiterating: If you want to keep up with all of the national polling on issues and candidates, check out this web page. ...With the expected entrance of Greg Fischer into the democratic primary for U.S. Senate, the pro-Horne web page PageOneKentucky has interesting insights into why they think the Louisville millionaire won't pour a bunch of his own money into a campaign. ...Louisville Metro Councilman Doug Hawkins is making it official, he's running for state senate. ...Tom Loftus lays out, in detail, the reasons that state lawmakers should get much of the blame for the dismal financial condition of the state of Kentucky. You've already read that if you've been reading this blog. ...The battle between public and private schools over the alleged illegal recruitment of athletes will dust up again this week. ...Kentucky's eight university presidents have sent a letter to the governor, expressing their dismay at the possibility of a bigger budget cut next fiscal year. ...There's word on the streets in Louisville that Metro Councilman Doug Hawkins may file to run for state senate. Hawkins is a republican who lives in the 37th district which is currently represented by Sen. Perry Clark, a democrat. ...Now that Louisville Metro govenment has enacted a smoking ordinance that appears to be constitutional, there are 15 Kentucky cities or counties which have banned smoking in most public places. ...House Speaker Jody Richards has told the AP that he'd rather see a hike in Kentucky's cigarette tax than more deep cuts to education funding. ...Louisville businessman Greg Fischer has told several people that he's running for the U.S. Senate. He will apparently make his candidacy official next week. ...President Bush's job approval rating in Kentucky is still an anemic 37%, with 61% disapproving of the job the current president is doing, according to a WHAS11/Survey USA poll. ...Kentucky's huge budget shortfall has left Steve Beshear wondering how he's going to fulfill his campaign promises for old and young alike. ...Governor Steve Beshear laid out his ethics reform proposals today. They include tougher penalties for ethics violations, more protections for whistleblowers and a change in the way members are appointed to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission. ...A new report from the Federal Election Commission shows two men with ties to the casino industry gave big money to the Kentucky Victory 2007 campaign launched by the Democratic Party. ...The Beshear-Mongiardo campaign kept getting money even after the new governor and Lt. Governor took office. But it wasn't from donors. ...Kentucky's new governor is enjoying a fine honeymoon with Kentucky voters. ...Here are the new heads of the Juvenile Justice Department according to a release from the Justice Cabinet: ...One of the FBI investigators on the "Operation Boptrot" scandal in the early 1990s is back in Frankfort as an investigator. ...The Lexington Herald-Leader's Larry Keeling says Governor Beshear needs a bolder plan to raise money than legalizing casinos. ...Several folks who may have an interest in passage of a casino amendment or state contracts contributed to the fund for Steve Beshear's inauguration. ...Greg Stumbo's financial disclosure report lists his home as Prestonsburg, with a home there. ...Former Governor Ernie Fletcher has filed his financial disclosure form for 2007 and it includes $91,750 in donations to his legal defense fund. ...Some state lawmakers are skeptical that the state's budget woes are as bad as Governor Beshear has made them out to be. And many of them suspect the bad budget talk from the Governor is designed to ramp up support for legalizing casinos as a cure for budget maladies. ...There won't be any changing of the party head counts in the Kentucky House of Representatives. The two special elections today resulted in one Democrat and one Republican getting elected, leaving the House at 61-37, Dems. Two seats are still vacant. ...Students can already pray in public school classrooms in Kentucky, as long as they don't disrupt classes. But should they be allowed to pray anytime they want, perhaps disturbing other students who don't share their religious views? ...Governor Paul Patton's former mistress is asking the Kentucky Court of Appeals to reinstate her lawsuit against Patton. ...I didn't see it, but apparently State Senate President David Williams is questioning Governor Beshear's legal authority to cut the budgets of state universities. ...In case you hadn't noticed, I'm back in the saddle and posting again. ...Kentucky's new governor says he won't include any tax increase in his 2008-'10 budget proposal but he refused to say he'd veto a tax hike if one's included in the budget that's approved by the House and Senate. ...Every one of the state constitutional officers who was sworn into office on Monday had something to say about bipartisanship and putting political differences aside for the sake of moving Kentucky into the 21st Century. ...The Lexington Herald Leader is reporting that the head of the Kentucky Equine Education Project has been injured in a car crash. ...The Executive Director of the State Public Service Commission and three top staff members are the latest casualties of the Beshear housecleaning. ...Smart move by Mayor Jerry Abramson's office to offer him up for end of the year interviews. Communications Director Chad Carlton compared the wait by the media to see him like a doctor's office. But, I asked him about more than just his Top 10 list for 2007. ... |
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WHAS11.com Political Blog
WHAS11 Reporters blog the latest political news from the campaign trail and beyond. 
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