UK foundation violated Open Records Act, attorney general finds

by LINDA BLACKFORD, [email protected] –  A University of Kentucky foundation has violated Kentucky’s Open Records Act by failing to provide documents to Attorney General Andy Beshear’s office for review, that office has ruled. Former medical student Lachin Hatemi had requested audits from the Kentucky Medical Services Foundation, which denied his request. The Attorney General’s office has previously ruled…

Study: Kentuckians’ Views On Climate Change Are Based On Politics

By Erica Peterson – A survey has found some interesting takeaways about Kentuckians’ attitudes toward climate change, including that the biggest influence on beliefs may be political affiliation rather than scientific knowledge. There have been numerous studies about attitudes toward climate change around the country, but very few have looked at Kentucky specifically. For her master’s thesis at…

State tax revenues plunge in May

by Tom Loftus, @TomLoftus_CJ – FRANKFORT, Ky. – Kentucky tax revenues that showed solid growth through the first 10 months of this fiscal year plunged in May, and down with the revenues went hopes of a nice surplus when the year ends June 30. Revenues to Kentucky’s General Fund in May totaled $706 million, down from $763 million in May of 2015, the Office…

US, KY ed departments feud over science tests

by Kirsten Clark, @kirstenlmclark – In a tersely worded letter to U.S. Education Secretary John King, Kentucky Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt decried the federal agency’s “constant bureaucratic tinkering, pontification and dictatorial edicts” in the roll-out of the federal education policy replacing No Child Left Behind. “We kind of needed to fire a shot over the bow,”…

Judge to rule soon in state abortion lawsuit

by Deborah Yetter, @d_yetter – The abortion battle between the administration of Gov. Matt Bevin and Planned Parenthood was in court Wednesday, with Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry saying he expects to make a key ruling “very soon” in  a lawsuit over the reproductive health organization’s efforts to provide abortions in Louisville. Lawyer Thomas Clay, representing Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, asked Perry to…

Bevin wants to slow down case involving his university budget cuts

  by Jack Brammer, [email protected] – FRANKFORT — Gov. Matt Bevin wants to put the brakes on Attorney General Andy Beshear’s efforts to get the Kentucky Supreme Court to consider quickly Beshear’s case against Bevin’s controversial midyear budget cuts to public universities and colleges. In a five-page response filed Monday in response to Beshear’s request to the state’s highest…

Mitch McConnell says Trump should apologize for ‘stupid’ comments on judge

  by CURTIS TATE, [email protected] – WASHINGTON — At an event promoting his memoir Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said it was “stupid” for Donald Trump to single out a judge’s Mexican heritage and said the Republican presidential candidate should apologize and “get on script.” He did not, though, back away from supporting the New York real estate…