CN|2 Politics

Democratic State Rep. Derrick Graham, a retired social studies teacher at Frankfort High School, will replace former Rep. Carl Rollins as the chairman of the House Education Committee, the House Speaker announced Friday. “I look forward to hitting the ground running in working with the educational community and my colleagues in the General Assembly in continuing to develop policies that help to generate and elevate student achievement and success in all schools across our great Commonwealth, from pre-school to the... Read more 

BOONEVILLE — In 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau figures placed Owsley County squarely among the poorest three counties in the nation. It’s in the heart of Eastern Kentucky’s stretch of Appalachian mountains. And it’s far enough away from I-75 and the Mountain Parkway that it’s about as isolated from major transportation routes — and commerce — as any county in the commonwealth. More than 39 percent of the county’s 4,722 people live below the federal poverty rate, according to U.S.... Read more 

One of the Republicans who has worked closest with Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear in the past said the governor was wrong to expand Medicaid because the system already is “broken.” Senate Republican Floor Leader Damon Thayer said Medicaid already is struggling to cover disabled Kentuckians and those earning below the poverty line. Specifically, the managed care companies hired by the state to hold down Medicaid costs have angered doctors and hospitals, who say the firms aren’t always paying them for... Read more 

Former Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, a physician, said the U.S. Senate is’t the right elected office for him because he believes he can make more of a difference from an executive position, which has him considering the 2015 governor’s race. “I’m a surgeon, I want to make a diagnosis and fix this as soon as possible and move on to the next problem,” Mongiardo said (at 3:30). The former lieutenant governor said he has kept in touch with Kentuckians across the state... Read more 

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is trying to feed a narrative that U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is obstructionist-in-chief after this week’s back-and-forth on the U.S. Senate floor over judicial nominations. On the Senate floor Wednesday, McConnell criticized Senate Democratic leaders for selectively taking up judicial nominees. He called it a “manufactured crisis” and part of a “culture of intimidation” extending from the White House. For instance, McConnell said, while Democrats moved to confirm a federal judge for the District of Columbia,... Read more 

As U.S. farmers increasingly rely on genetically modified crops to boost their yields, that has spawned new questions for makers of finished food products, including America’s official drink that’s distilled here in Kentucky. Bill Samuels Sr., the founder of Maker’s Mark, says genetically modified organisms don’t affect the end product of bourbon even though the liquor must be composed of at least 51 percent corn (and must be aged in new charred white oak barrels). But he said if consumers... Read more 

With the Eastern Kentucky coal industry losing steam, the region needs more investment in job retraining funded by the coal industry itself, suggested environmental lawyer Tom FitzGerald. FitzGerald, speaking at a Louisville forum Tuesday on coal regulation, said he wants to see a portion of coal severance tax money go toward a trust fund for job education. Coal severance taxes are paid by mining companies to counties for the effects of extracting the coal and transporting it on county... Read more