Kentucky News Now

GRIMES RALLY

Alison Grimes to seek re-election as secretary of state

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Alison Lundergan Grimes will run for re-election as Kentucky secretary of state, ending months of speculation about the former Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate's political plans for 2015.

The decision likely clears the way for Attorney General Jack Conway to become the party's nominee for governor. The filing deadline is 4 p.m. Tuesday, and nearly every other potential Democratic challenger has announced plans not to run.

Grimes spent more than $18 million in 2014 trying to unseat the now-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in a race that garnered her national attention. But a 15-point drubbing at the polls in November likely limited her options in 2015. Grimes does have an aggressive state legislative agenda planned that could set herself up for another attempt at federal office in 2016.

GOVERNOR-GOP

Heiner third Republican candidate to file for governor

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Hal Heiner has officially filed to seek the Republican nomination for governor.

Heiner and running mate KC Crosbie filed their paperwork at the Secretary of State's office Monday morning. Heiner made brief remarks to a group of supporters in the Capitol parking lot before filing for office, where he characterized himself as a Frankfort outsider who could reform state government.

James Comer, the Republican state agriculture commissioner, and former state Supreme Court Justice Will T. Scott have already filed to run for the office. Scott on Monday announced a series of town hall meetings across the state where he said he would listen to people and offer them real solutions to their problems.

Candidates have until 4 p.m. on Tuesday to file for governor.

FORMER LAWMAKER-SLAYING

Nunn's request to have guilty plea withdrawn is rejected

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Former state lawmaker Steve Nunn has lost his bid to withdraw his guilty plea in the 2009 shooting death of his ex-fiancee.

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports Fayette County Circuit Judge Pamela Goodwine rejected Nunn's motion to withdraw the plea. An order filed in the circuit clerk's office Monday shows she also denied his motion to vacate the sentence.

The 62-year-old former state representative and son of former Gov. Louie B. Nunn pleaded guilty in 2011.

Nunn contended his attorney at the time, Warren Scoville of London, Kentucky, gave him bad advice about pleading guilty.

Nunn, who spent about 15 years in the state legislature, was sentenced to life without parole after pleading guilty to first-degree murder with an aggravating circumstance.

TORNADO TOWN-INDICTMENT

Judge-executive in county hit by tornado being sentenced

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Morgan County's judge-executive goes before a federal judge Tuesday for sentencing in a corruption case that prosecutors say continued as the Appalachian area struggled to rebuild from a deadly tornado.

Judge-Executive Tim Conley pleaded guilty in August to a fraud charge stemming from a kickback scheme. Prosecutors said he received $120,000 to $200,000 to steer work to a contractor.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew T. Boone has asked that Conley be sentenced to 11 years and four months, even though the top sentence under federal advisory guidelines would be seven years and three months.

Defense attorneys have asked instead for a sentence below the guidelines' minimum.

The March 2, 2012, tornado killed six people in Morgan County, among 25 who died in an outbreak of twisters statewide.

LEGISLATURE LOBBYING

Lobbyists spend record amount in 2014

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — A battle over beer distribution has helped drive the amount of lawmaker lobbying to a new high.

The Courier-Journal reports lobbyist spent a record amount, about $18.4 million, in 2014.

Anheuser-Busch increased from the number of its lobbyists in Frankfort from two to 10 last fall in an effort to get its application for a beer distribution license in Owensboro. The application stirred complaints that it could upset the state's long-held system for alcohol distribution.

Overall, the company spent $160,063 for the year, though most of that was in the final four months. It ranked sixth for spending. Tobacco company Altria Group ranked first, spending $323,097. The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce ranked second, spending $291,158.

Other big spenders included the Kentucky Hospital Association, AT&T and the Kentucky Medical Association.

ROADSIDE BODY

Police find man's body while investigating woman's death

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky State Police in Richmond say they have found the body of a man while investigating the death of a woman found shot alongside a road in eastern Kentucky.

Police say 44-year-old Ricky Conrad was found Sunday in a Chrysler sedan that was parked at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington.

In a statement, police said 29-year-old Ellen C. Townsend, whose body was found along a rural road in Estill County, was last seen in a vehicle being driven by Conrad. Police say they found some of Townsend's property and a gun in Conrad's vehicle.

Troopers continue to investigate both deaths.

OUT-OF-STATE PRISONS

W.Va. abandons plan to send inmates out of state

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia is abandoning a plan to house some inmates in Kentucky.

The state had considered the transfer of up to 400 inmates. The felony offenders would have received educational and other programs required for parole eligibility.

The reversal was announced on Monday, and officials pointed to a declining inmate population. They credited the passage of the Justice Reinvestment Act.

Signed by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in 2013, the act has reduced the regional jail backlog by hundreds of inmates through drug courts and other community treatment options. Legislation enacted last year has also ensured access to needed programs for inmates.

Corrections Corporation of America was the sole bidder for the West Virginia inmates. They were to be housed at CCA's Lee Adjustment Center in Kentucky.

HIGHWAY DEATHS

Deaths on Kentucky highways increased last year

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — State officials say highway fatalities in Kentucky increased last year after a record low in 2013.

The Kentucky Office of Highway Safety says preliminary figures show that 667 people died on Kentucky roadways last year, up from 638 the year before.

But the agency's executive director, Bill Bell, says despite the uptick in deaths, there were 81 days in 2014 with no deaths, up from 75 in 2013. Bell says alcohol-related crashes were down by more than two percent.

The fatal total from last year was the second lowest total since 1949, when 573 fatalities were recorded.

A final report on crash data is expected by April.