Kentucky

updated 9:21 a.m.

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Northern Kentucky Chapter Rocks Festival!

Our newest chapter , located in the most northern part of our state, had an interesting  weekend last week, decided to take an opportunity to table at a music festival in northern Kentucky. The festival is located at the l ongest continuing operating drag strip in the country , and is a diverse collection of self-described beardos . Many, due to the nature of the festival, the feel of t...
KFTC Blog - 7:20 a.m.

Heads Need to Roll at Kentucky Retirement Systems

$13 million in Kentucky Retirement Systems kickbacks paid since 2004, and the management hides those facts from the board of directors? What would possibly motivate management to do such a thing? Governor Beshear called for state Auditor Crit Luallen to review the Retirement Systems last week. Yesterday, despite the coverup previously attempted by its management, [...]...
Blue Bluegrass - 3:23 a.m. - 4 clicks 4 clicks

David Williams Embraces Jim Crow

From the Lexington Herald-Leader’s editorial, noting that the defense of lunch-counter racial discrimination by Rand Paul is being teamed up with David Williams’ legislation to resegregate Kentucky’s schools: State Senate President David Williams and his fellow Republican, Sen. Dan Seum, went into full pander mode last week, thereby removing any doubts election season has arrived...
Blue Bluegrass - 3:23 a.m. - 5 clicks 5 clicks

First Miley, now Shaye Rabold

Tragic news out of the 12th floor of Lexington's city hall today: Jim Newberry's chief of staff Shaye Rabold has finally, after a 3 month absence, deleted her Twitter account . This means that all we have left of the most retweeted tweet in the history of Lexington is just the screenshot: We can only assume that her reasons are the same as Miley's, because there's nothing to see here. ...
Barefoot and Progressive - Wed 12:24 p.m. - 7 clicks 7 clicks

CentreMosque

Well, failed businessman Dudley Webb isn't ever going to build his Magic Unicorn Tower for Lexington, but some other folks have an idea for a substitute Tower of Magic : Oh yeah, let's make this happen. ...
Barefoot and Progressive - Wed 11:05 a.m. - 6 clicks 6 clicks

Williams/Farmer's second campaign move: insulting your intelligence

When your campaign logo has a BASKETBALL in it... ... this is what you are saying to the people of Kentucky: "You are a bunch of redneck idiots who will vote for a gubernatorial candidate because he's running with a guy that used to throw a bouncy ball into a basket for the home team." David Williams thinks that you are an idiot. I hope he's wrong. (But it worked so well for Grayson and ...
Barefoot and Progressive - Wed 9:05 a.m. - 9 clicks 9 clicks

KDP on Williams/Farmer

The KDP's Republican chairman released this statement: FRANKFORT - "I believe that Kentuckians, both Democrats and many Republicans, are as happy as I am that we finally get a chance to cast a ballot against the man who has turned the State Senate in to a place where good ideas go to die. The people of Kentucky are going to find that Senator Williams' record is one of working against Kentucky's f...
Barefoot and Progressive - Wed 9:05 a.m. - 9 clicks 9 clicks

Sheriff In Rand Paul’s Backyard Backs Conway for Drug Efforts

Drugs aren’t a pressing issue in Kentucky to Aqua Buddha. But others, including neighboring sheriff’s, disagree. To see the video report, click here. A local sheriff says that he wants more federal funding to fight drugs here in Kentucky. Barren County Sheriff, Chris Eaton, says that his department cant survive without federal money to fight [...]...
Blue Bluegrass - Wed 3:08 a.m. - 7 clicks 7 clicks

Remember me?

Hi, I'm Afghanistan . FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- Military officials say seven members of the 101st Airborne Division were killed during a deadly weekend in Afghanistan. So when exactly do we get to declare victory and retreat from this one? And why doesn't Rand Paul have the spine that his father has? I know that he's busy doing McConnell's bidding right now, but you'd figure the son of Ron Paul woul...
Barefoot and Progressive - Tue 1:25 p.m. - 7 clicks 7 clicks

Important words from Rand Paul's good friend and Liberty ally

The New World Order is going to rape and murder you and your family any day now: Rand Paul needs to speak out about this stuff, but he's too much of a sell out I guess. He'd rather tell you about his Soviet-style 5-year plans, get tough on Iran, be an accomplice to the bloodshed in Afghanistan, and raise money from Mitch McConnell and his AIG buddies in the Senate. Liberty weeps... b...
Barefoot and Progressive - Tue 11:23 a.m. - 9 clicks 9 clicks

Karl Rove's 2nd attack ad against Conway

In this week's episode Obama and Jack kidnap your white daughter and drive her up the mountains of Kandahar, so that they can impose socialized medicine and Sharia Law on her: I am full of FEAR. I am afraid that Conway wants to cut government entitlements and expand government. Hide your daughter before the black muslin preznit throws her in the trunk of his Camaro. ...
Barefoot and Progressive - Tue 11:23 a.m. - 9 clicks 9 clicks

Our next president is coming to Louisville

Mark your calendars for September 16th, as our next president rears her head... enters our airspace... where will she be?... above Louisville! Yay America! ...
Barefoot and Progressive - Tue 10:10 a.m. - 14 clicks 14 clicks

This Week in Watergate History

(This is the sixth edition of Barefoot and Progressive's ongoing series of what happened this week in Watergate history that has nothing to do with anything happening inside Lexington's city hall right now) August 30-31, 1972 On August 30th, 1972, President Richard Nixon announced that White House counsel John Dean had completed his internal investigation of the Watergate affair. Dean found ...
Barefoot and Progressive - Tue 8:05 a.m. - 10 clicks 10 clicks

Jack Conway’s First Commercial

From Conway’s press release: Democratic Senate candidate Jack Conway’s first statewide ad of the general campaign features endorsements from police officers and sheriffs. The ad, which began airing early Monday, specifically touts Conway’s record during his first term as attorney general targeting the illegal prescription drug trade, child pornography via the Internet, and elder ...
Blue Bluegrass - Tue 3:08 a.m. - 6 clicks 6 clicks

Brace yourself. It's a furlough week.

Expect long lines at the DMV on Tuesday.  This week marks the first week that many state workers are on "furlough"--fancy language for being out of work for a day so that the state can cut their pay. Meanwhile, national experts called out Kentucky for the severity of our underfunding of the retirement accounts for 84,000 state workers.  The Kentucky Employees Retirement System has a...
KFTC Blog - Mon 2:40 p.m. - 9 clicks 9 clicks

Voter Empowerment at the Kentucky Theatre!

On Saturday night, the folks at the Kentucky Theatre were nice enough to let us set up a table for their monthly showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show . The showing coincided with a free movie night for University of Kentucky students, making it a great opportunity to register some voters. Central Kentucky members registered voters, collected voting rights postcards, and handed out invitat...
KFTC Blog - Mon 1:29 p.m. - 8 clicks 8 clicks

Liberty Christ speaks

Rand Paul phoned in this 3 minute video for his out of state Dick Armey folks, mentioning Tea Party 7 times and Kentucky once. His top issue is the debt, debt, debt, but his Soviet 5-year plan is a secret that he won't tell anyone until he is sworn in. Hallelujah. ...
Barefoot and Progressive - Mon 10:45 a.m. - 10 clicks 10 clicks

Voter Guides Coming Together Soon - We need your help

We're starting to get some responses from candidates sending in their answers to the the KFTC Candidate Survey, which we will publish in a few weeks in our Voter Guide (50,000 copies strong) and on www.KentuckyElection.org . It's a key part of our voter education campaign - asking candidates to make statements on issues and to relay those answers word-for-word to KFTC members and friend...
KFTC Blog - Sun 4:26 p.m. - 9 clicks 9 clicks

An Empowering Union

A North Lexington couple is using the grand occasion of their wedding next weekend to share good fortune, food, and a little voter empowerment with everyone in their community. Christian Torp and Tanya Ferguson, both KFTC members, expect to feed about 800 people at their wedding, to which everyone in their neighborhood is invited. KFTC will be there to register voters and to talk to peop...
KFTC Blog - Fri 4:48 p.m. - 13 clicks 13 clicks

Benham & Lynch tell DMRE Enough is Enough!

 " Our water is worth more than that coal!” Bennie Massey said to the Kentucky Department of Mining and Reclamation Enforcement (DMRE) at Wednesday's hearing on the proposed strip mine for Benham & Lynch, Harlan County. Bennie, Lynch's longest running city council member, joined 20 of his neighbors and friends in Middlesboro at the DMRE to speak out against the 500-acre strip...
KFTC Blog - Fri 2:48 p.m. - 12 clicks 12 clicks

UK KFTC Starts the Semester

On Wednesday, University of Kentucky KFTC members were on campus tabling in honor of the first day of classes. We registered a total of 76 voters on their way to and from class! We invited folks out to the first meeting of the semester on September 1st. UK KFTC will meet every Wednesday at 7pm in the Student Center. On Thursday, UK KFTC President Callie Thomas and volunteers tabled...
KFTC Blog - Fri 9:00 a.m. - 10 clicks 10 clicks

The "McConnellization" of Rand Paul Continues as Governor Attacks

Crossposted from Hillbilly Report. It is really not taking Rand Paul much time at all to be morphed like clay in the hands of Mitch McConnell. Yes, the further away from his primary win he gets, and the more time he spends with the Kentucky Republican taskmaster Rand Paul is being shaped into Mitch McConnell. One need only look at his now rescinded promise to balance the budget in a year to ...
DailyKos (Kentucky) - Thu 6:27 p.m. - 8 clicks 8 clicks

Attention electricians, plumbers, HVAC contractors

Join MACED and water heating and space heating experts to learn the latest in energy efficiency at a free Lunch and Learn on September 2 in Paintsville.   Electricians, plumbers, HVAC contractors, solar installers, energy managers, and operations teams are welcome.   Location: Kentucky Highlands Entrepreneur Center 120 Scott Perry Drive Paintsville, KY 41240 ...
KFTC Blog - Aug 26 - 13 clicks 13 clicks

KFTC describes Renew East Kentucky in Solutions

Check out this article by KFTC’s own Sara Pennington and Randy Wilson (pictured below) in the latest issue of the journal Solutions, which focuses on the future of Appalachia.  Pennington is a KFTC organizer, and Wilson is a long-time KFTC member and fifth-generation Appalachian who lives in Clay County. Read about a plan called  Renew East Kentucky  that would crea...
KFTC Blog - Aug 24 - 9 clicks 9 clicks

The People Behind Coal in Colombia and Kentucky - post 3

Our goal was to explore the connections between the impacts of the coal industry in Kentucky and Colombia. An important part of the exchange and the high point for many was a celebration of culture and an exchange of the things that people in both places love about where they are from. A delegation of 5 from Kentucky - including 3 KFTC members and 2 staff - participated in this Witness for Pea...
KFTC Blog - Aug 24 - 8 clicks 8 clicks

Weekend Voter Work at the East End Reunion

KFTC members Janet Tucker and Tayna Fogle took turns this past weekend visiting the East End Reunion in Lexington, registering voters and talking about restoration of voting rights for former felons.  The day started out slow, but by 7 p.m., the event had attracted many hundreds of participants. Tayna Fogle returned with over 100 postcards filled out, calling on our legislators to...
KFTC Blog - Aug 23 - 10 clicks 10 clicks

McConnell stretches truth at best.

http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2010/08/03/mcconnell-bush- Of course, less than two percent of the small businesses in the country make enough money to file in either of the top two tax brackets, which are the ones in question here, so Republicans have had to find ever more creative statistics to try and prove their small business bona fides. Today, during an interview with Bloomb...
Team 651 - Aug 23 - 3 clicks 3 clicks

Juvenile acquitted in alleged attack on gay Jackson teen; trial for the adults scheduled for Thursda...

The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that District Judge Henria Bailey-Lewis acquitted the juvenile at her trial on Monday. The girl's name has not been released because she was 17 in April, when the alleged crime occurred. Her trial was closed, but her attorney, Sharon K. Allen Gay, said she received permission to release information about the verdict. The teen and two 18-year-old friends, Corinn...
United We Stand - Aug 18 - 4 clicks 4 clicks

Kentucky Senate President Williams: Republican victories in two Kentucky congressional races

WFPL News reports that Kentucky Senate President David Williams was busy during the weekend, making speeches and taking about Republicans taking additional seats in the Kentucky Senate. No pro-LGBTI legislation has made it through the Republican controlled Senate....
United We Stand - Aug 8 - 10 clicks 10 clicks

Is Mitch McConnell Ashamed of Kentucky?

Every Kentuckian ought to sing "My Old Kentucky Home" with pride but it appears that Kentucky's senior senator, Mitch McConnell, does not know the lyrics to the state song or is embarrassed his singing voice. Well, which is it, Mitch? ...
Kentucky Democrat - Aug 8

Rand Paul bullshits Baylor degree, gets away with it

Rand Paul lied to Kentucky about his college degree and got away with it? Why? It doesn't have anything to do with some mystery detectives and their great dane. It's one thing for collegiate coaches to pad their resume but it's another thing when it comes to someone that is running to represent the people. You know, where you represent the people! Rand Paul is openly lying to the citizens of ...
Kentucky Democrat - Aug 5