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A lawmaker and two candidates for office have filed a lawsuit in an effort to overturn Kentucky laws limiting campaign donations. Republican Senator John Schickel and Libertarian candidates David Watson and Ken Moellman Jr. sued the Legislative Ethics Commission and the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance in federal court in Covington. The suit challenges the $1,000 donation limit to individual candidates per election and the ban on gifts to lawmakers from lobbyists. The men argue that the laws violate their constitutional rights to free speech and equal protection by limiting their contact with people who want to help them. State regulators say the laws are needed to protect against bribery. Most were enacted after an FBI investigation in 1992 found that 15 current or former lawmakers had sold votes. Source: AP … [Read more...]

The Franklin County School Board has said it will seek public input before permitting posters saying "In God We Trust" in local schools. At the board's Tuesday meeting, the members discussed a request from a community member to allow the posters in classrooms. Most board members were hesitant to allow educators to hang the posters, fearing they could be polarizing or insensitive to some students and teachers. The board discussed how the issue relates to the separation of church and state. School spokesman Armando Arrastia says schools in the district sponsor religious clubs, like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, but they are student-initiated. The board took no official position on the matter Tuesday. It's unclear when the board will reconsider the issue. Source: AP … [Read more...]

Pointing to a change in Kentucky's homicide statutes, the state Supreme Court has overturned a wanton murder conviction for a Louisville woman who was sentenced to 35 years in the death of her two year-old son, who was left inside a car for about twelve hours. The court said in its ruling Thursday that the General Assembly in 2000 created a new type of second-degree manslaughter to apply in such circumstances. As a result, the court said such conduct does not support a conviction for wanton murder. The justices sent the case of Mollie Shouse back to Jefferson Circuit Court for a new trial. They said a conviction would be capped at second-degree manslaughter. In May 2011, Shouse's son was found dead while strapped in his car seat. Source: AP … [Read more...]

Kentucky's Supreme Court has ruled that an advocacy group is not entitled to confidential information regarding the death of a ward of the state. The case pitted the Cabinet for Health and Family Services against the nonprofit Council on Developmental Disabilities.The cabinet denied the council's open-records request seeking documents related to the death of Gary Farris. The council also sought documents involving anyone who died after being transferred from state-run institutions to community residences. That request was also denied. Such records may be disclosed to groups including social service agencies with legitimate interests in the case. In her majority opinion, Justice Mary Noble said the council did not qualify to receive the documents. Noble said the confidentiality standards allow disclosure to agencies needing the information to do their jobs. Source: AP … [Read more...]

The days are numbered for one unit of a coal-fired power plant in western Kentucky. Owensboro Municipal Utilities has announced it will shut down Unit 1 of the Elmer Smith Power Plant sometime between 2019 and 2021. The plant's other larger unit will continue to operate for the foreseeable future. The utility doesn't have a plan yet for replacing the power, but CEO Terrance Naulty says it will likely be natural gas or renewable energy. More than half of the coal plants operating in Kentucky in 2011 were built before 1970, and utilities are being forced to decide whether to update the plants or shut them down. Rick Fowler of the Sierra Club's local group said the organization is looking forward to the unit's retirement. Source: AP … [Read more...]

Hundreds of Fort Campbell soldiers who have been in Afghanistan advising the Afghan National Army are expected back at the post this week. Fort Campbell says approximately 250 soldiers from 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division are due to return early Friday. A ceremony with family, friends and fellow soldiers is scheduled. Source: AP … [Read more...]

A trial date has been set for a man charged in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl. A Kentucky judge set an April 19, 2016 trial date for Anthony Barbour during a hearing Monday. Authorities have charged Barbour with murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the death of Laynee Wallace earlier this year. The girl was reported missing May 19 and police found her body in a well six days later. Police arrested Barbour the day the girl's body was found. Law enforcement believes the girl was killed May 17 or 18. Barbour's attorney, Ken Garrett, says he may look into a change of venue for the trial because of the media attention the case has received. Source: AP … [Read more...]

Kentucky's only military school, Forest Hill Military Academy, is in default on loans and is scheduled to be auctioned at a master commissioner's sale on October 1. A judge recently ruled against the owner, U.S. Army Cadet Corps, and ordered the property be sold to pay the lender, Farmers Deposit Bank. The bank had filed suit against Cadet Corps seeking $535,188 plus interest. Court records say the Cadet Corps had two loans totaling $1 million borrowed from the bank. An affidavit says the school has not made payments since August 2014. Headmaster Jay Whitehead says he hopes to find an investor to buy the property at the commissioner's sale. The school was founded in 1893 by Col. C.M. Best, but has recently struggled to make ends meet. Source: AP … [Read more...]

Kentucky is getting $1 million from the federal government to enhance its unemployment insurance program and reduce worker misclassification. The U.S. Labor Department announced Tuesday that more than $39 million was being awarded to 45 states and territories. The funding is to help prevent and detect improper benefit payments, improve program performance, address outdated information technology and combat employee misclassification as independent contractors. Of Kentucky's total, half is for program integrity and performance improvement and half is to identify cases of worker misclassification. The agency says worker misclassification causes losses to state unemployment insurance funds and denies workers access to benefits and protections they're entitled to receive. Source: AP … [Read more...]