Other duties have me tied up this. Next week probably will be the same. And the week after that, I’m taking some time off for the holidays. Don’t know when normality will return.
[...]edited by: Pajamadeen,
Kentucky Editor
Other duties have me tied up this. Next week probably will be the same. And the week after that, I’m taking some time off for the holidays. Don’t know when normality will return.
[...]Sunday’s column:
This and that as the morphing of the state Senate continues:
Frankfort’s worst-kept secret in recent memory produced its expected conclusion when Gov. Steve Beshear picked former Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly to fill a vacant seat on the 11th Judicial Circuit bench. Funny, isn’t it, how the months of [...]
I’m not dancing yet, but I got lucky and had the “one week on crutches” version of knee surgery. So, I’m back to being a kurmudgeonly editorial writer/columnist/blogger.
[...]I’m scheduled to get a knee scoped Wednesday. If I’m lucky, I’ll be bouncing around again in one week. If I’m unlucky, I won’t do any bouncing for four weeks. Since it’s my right (driving) knee, guess which I prefer.
Anyway, if it’s the unlucky option, I may do some blogging [...]
Sunday’s column:
That didn’t take long.
Prominent members of his party take Senate President David Williams publicly to task for blocking any resolution of the gambling debate, and it suddenly starts raining proposed constitutional amendments sponsored by Senate Republicans. One of them even comes from the obstructionist himself.
Of course, Williams’ amendment wouldn’t [...]
Sunday’s column:
“Due to (Senate President David) Williams’ utter mismanagement, this (gambling) issue now pits Republicans against Republicans, not Republicans against Democrats, as he would have us believe,” Lane’s End Farm general manager Bill Farish wrote in a column published by the Herald-Leader in late September.
“Sadly, Williams seems less concerned about [...]
FRANKFORT — Call it vindication for the surviving spouses of the Comair Flight 5191 crash, mining disasters and other accidents who came to the Capitol in 2007 seeking to right a legal wrong, only to be rudely, insensitively, insultingly rebuffed by the Republican-controlled state Senate.
Call it an affirmation of those [...]
Regular H-L readers know we’ve endured significant budgetary cutbacks in the last year or so, including multiple rounds of buyouts and layoffs. Regular visitors to KyKurmudgeon probably realize, from the reduced number of posts and the reduced number of columns, that I’ve been spending more time on other editorial duties [...]
Excuse the unexplained absence of columns the past couple of Sundays. I decided to take some time off on the spur of the moment, and failed to post a notice about when I would be back. Well, I’m back now. And here’s Sunday’s column:
Kentucky pays its state legislators the same [...]
Sunday’s column:
Three years ago this past Thursday, Comair Flight 5191 tried to take off from the wrong runway at Blue Grass Airport — a tragic error that resulted in 49 fatalities.
Survivors of some Flight 5191 victims chose the third anniversary of the crash to issue a “Lessons From 5191” open [...]
For the past couple of weeks, the H-L editorial staff has been shorthanded again. When you’re down to as few people as we have now, it happens frequently. So, I’ve been filling in, writing editorials, editing copy, etc., while still trying to keep the columns going. But the blogging has suffered. Now, [...]
Sunday’s column:
I now have had THAT experience. The experience where dealing honestly with government bureaucracy just gets you screwed — royally.
The experience that makes a person think about packing a few necessities — definitely including multiple firearms and a lifetime supply of ammo — and heading for the hills to [...]
Sunday’s column:
This and that, the Pitino Goes Porno at Porcini Edition:
University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino admits having drunken sex in a restaurant (after hours, thankfully for that night’s patrons) with a woman he just met and giving her $3,000 later so she could have an abortion.
After Pitino publicly [...]
Wednesday’s column:
Attorney General Jack Conway screwed up, but not because he spiced his Fancy Farm Picnic speech with a few salty words. Conway’s screw-up came when he apologized for the speech.
Conway and Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo, his chief rival for the Democratic nomination in the 2010 U.S. Senate race, both [...]
KyKurmudgeon spent last week exiled from work, and from getting paid. Such are the lives of journalists in these lousy economic days. They have to learn new things, such as how to file for unemployment.
Since I couldn’t check my office e-mail or voice mail while serving my figurative time on Elba, it has taken some time [...]
Sunday’s column:
After stubbornly hanging in the game for months over the (at least tacit) objections of prominent teammates, U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning finally signaled the Republican bullpen last week.
It was an acknowledgement of what had been obvious to many state and national observers for some time: He simply didn’t have [...]
The 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic drew what seemed to me a smaller crowd than normal, possibly because there are no statewide elections this year. Here, in no particular order, are a few observations.
Among the notables in attendance (other than the speakers): Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, Gov. Steve Beshear’s 2011 [...]
Whew! It got hot at Saturday’s 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic, but not from the weather. A fairly constant breeze kept the mid-80s temps tolerable.
What got hot was the race between Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo and Attorney General Jack Conway for the 2010 Democratic nomination for U.S. senator. They went [...]
Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo will lead off the political speechifying at Saturday’s 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic. He will be followed by Attorney General Jack Conway and Secretary of State Trey Grayson. All three are announced candidates for the 2010 U.S. Senate race.
They will be followed to the podium by [...]
Ol’ Kurmudgeon took some time off earlier this week to compensate for spending the weekend on the job at the 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic. I’ll be on that long road to Western Kentucky Friday.
But I’ve already written Sunday’s column on the obvious topic of the week, and it should [...]
Sunday’s column:
Republicans who shopped state Rep. Robin Webb’s story to various media outlets in recent days no doubt hoped the focus would be on the suspension of her law license, her bankruptcy and her bout with post-traumatic stress and depression.
Turns out, though, the full story behind those events from years [...]
Gov. Steve Beshear today appointed three new members of the Judicial Nominating Commission for the 11th Judicial Circuit and District. He also reappointed one existing member. Senate Majority Leader Dan Kelly reportedly has an interest in an open judicial seat in that circuit. Could this be the first step in the process [...]
Checking around to get different observers’ reaction to Gov. Steve Beshear’s choice of Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, I got a response from someone who, for the purpose of this post, will be known as Anomalous (his choice) that deserves to be shared.
“Mostly, I’m baffled,” Anomalous wrote in an e-mail. “Lt. Governors [...]
Calling all golfers! Or at least all D golfers. The Graves County Democratic Executive Committee will co-host a golf scramble two days before the 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic. The scramble begins at 9 a.m. Thursday, July 30, at South Highland Country Club. Contact Romey Holmes at 270-623-8078. (Thanks to [...]
At the official kickoff of his re-election campaign Monday, Gov. Steve Beshear said he will not attend this year’s 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic. He will be on a family vacation instead. Beshear’s new running mate, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, will attend the Aug. 1 picnic but will not be one [...]
Sunday’s column:
FRANKFORT — Robert Burns got it right about “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men.”
After addressing a few aspects of Beshear-Abramson 2011 in Wednesday’s column, this mouse’s scheme for Sunday involved letting Republican Sen. Charlie Borders’ resignation lead into a discussion of Democratic efforts to take back the [...]
Fayette County Democrats will have a Fayette Friends at Fancy Farm gathering the morning of the 129th annual picnic. It starts at 10:30 a.m. (CDT) at Happy House Restaurant, 236 North 8th Street, Mayfield.
[...]Republican U.S. Sen Jim Bunning, the Hall of Fame pitcher, continues to lob the soft stuff up to the plate in his re-election fund-raising game. For the quarter that ended June 30, Bunning raised just $285,000. Incumbent U.S. senators should be able to generate that kind of cash with one decent event.
But [...]
Wednesday’s column:
By going public with their objections to the selection of Jerry Abramson as Gov. Steve Beshear’s 2011 running mate, some Kentucky labor leaders probably sealed the deal for the man who apparently stands ready to give up the title of Louisville’s “Mayor for Life.”
Beshear couldn’t back away from Abramson [...]
If you can’t get enough food and speechifying at the 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic Aug. 1, the two major political parties have a few other events planned for the weekend. (All times Central Daylight Time.)
Democrats start first with the Pennyrile Garden Party from 3-5 p.m. CDT at the home of state [...]
Sunday’s column:
This and that as the taste buds tune up for the 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic (Yummy!):
The best description of the $1.32 million Attorney General Jack Conway raised during his first quarter as a U.S. Senate candidate is this: He lapped the freaking field for a first quarter in [...]
Thanks to Mark Wilson for sending along a schedule of activities for the 129th Annual Fancy Farm Picnic. All times are Central Daylight Time.
Friday, July 31:
7 a.m. Mass on the picnic grounds.
8 a.m. Meat goes on the pits (8,500 pounds of mutton and 10,500 pounds of pork).
RV parking begins: $100 [...]
We’re still a bit short-handed on the H-L editorial staff this week, so I’ll still be helping out some with the routine of putting out the daily editorial and oped pages. But there’s at least time for a couple of quick observations.
1. Secretary of State Trey Grayson passed his first [...]
A couple for consideration: www.tangledwebbs.ego and www.vanishingpointe.uho. Join in the fun, people.
[...]With the H-L editorial board a bit short-staffed going into a holiday weekend, I won’t be writing a mid-week or Sunday column this week. I may get in a bit of blogging, if anything exciting happens. But otherwise, I’ll be helping out with the routine chores of producing the opinion pages [...]
Oops! Got my Republican members of Congress mixed up in Sunday’s column. I mistakenly wrote that Patrick Neely, now the executive director of the Kentucky Equine Education Project, was once an aide to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell. Although Neely volunteered in a couple of McConnell campaigns, he never served on [...]
Sunday’s column:
Lexington’s Convention and Visitors Bureau stirred up a bit of controversy recently by choosing a blue depiction of seminal Thoroughbred stallion Lexington as the image representative of the Horse Capital of the World.
Bluegrass, blue horse. I get it, but it was way cutesy for me.
More important, though, it [...]
Here are a few of the better comments from speakers at the Kentucky Equine Education Project rally that drew about 1,000 to Keeneland’s sales pavillion Wednesday evening:
“We want to make it real clear, no question about it, do doubt, this fight ain’t over yet.” - Keeneland President Nick Nicholson.
“It really [...]
After six months of dealing with legislative sessions and/or the run-up to legislative sessions, the ol’ Kurmudgeon feels the need for some fun time. Thanks to Jerry Richardson for suggesting a way to have that fun, assuming you all help me out a bit.
What we’re looking for is an appropriate, albeit fictional, Web site [...]
Thursday’s column:
FRANKFORT — Slots Bill pulled up lame in mid-stretch of the special edition 2009 Legislative Derby. To that point, though, he ran a good race.
Good enough to keep Senate President David Williams playing defense throughout the trip — in the process causing some members of his caucus to cast [...]
Conference committees trying to figure out if anything can be salvaged from the General Assembly’s special session haven’t made much progress yet. So, I’m pushing my midweek column, which usually appears on Wednesday, back a day this week to let things sort themselves out.
My best guess? A budget agreement could come [...]
Sunday’s column:
FRANKFORT — Slots Bill completed the first half of the Legislative Derby Friday, albeit at a very slow 3:28:36 pace.
That’s 3 hours, 28 minutes and 36 seconds from the time debate began until the voting machine locked in the final 52-45 tally. It’s been a while since I’ve witnessed [...]
In the Kentucky General Assembly, no predictions of vote counts on controversial issues are safe until, well, the actual votes are counted. But the word I’ve been hearing on multiple occasions the last couple of days is that there are 52 “hard” House votes for Slots Bill. And if the [...]
Sorry for the delay in posting Wednesday’s column. Thought I had set it to post automatically Wednesday morning. Guess not. But here it is now:
FRANKFORT - In and out of special session in five days. Two weeks minimum, maybe more.
Slots Bill, a veteran campaigner who has trained often for the [...]
Slots Bill heads to the floor of the House after winning a 19-9 vote in the Appropriations & Revenue Committee Thursday. Four Republicans - Reps. Scott Brinkman, Bob DeWeese, Jimmy Higdon and Lonnie Napier - joined 15 Democrats in supporting the measure. However, Higdon is an unlikely yes vote on [...]
Conventional wisdom in Frankfort holds that voting for expanded gambling, slots, video lottery terminals or whatever name you give it represents a “tough” vote in a state with Kentucky’s conservative political leanings. But conventional wisdom could be wrong.
Patrick Neely, executive director of the Kentucky Equine Education Project, spent much of last [...]
Attorney General Jack Conway issued an opinion Monday morning that said the General Assembly has the authority to approve racetrack slots statutorily. Bottom line of the opinion:
“In sum, it is the opinion of the attorney general that the General Assembly may authorize the Kentucky Lottery Corporation to operate video lottery terminals [...]
