The Latest Kentucky News

KENTUCKY LEGISLATURE-RETIREMENT

Western Ky. lawmaker won't seek re-election

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — State Rep. Dwight Butler has announced he won't seek re-election next year.

Butler, the Harned Republican who has been in the Legislature for 19 years, serves Breckinridge, Bullitt, Daviess, Hancock and Hardin counties.

A respected auctioneer and real estate agent in western Kentucky, Butler has never lost an election. He has served in the Legislature since 1995. In that time, he faced political challengers only twice.

Butler said it has been an honor to serve in the Legislature but that he now needs to devote more time to his family and his business. He will stay in the position through next year, at which time he will have served 20 years.

GOVERNMENT RECORDS

Sheriff's department overcharged for records on CD

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The Meade County Sheriff's Department has violated the Open Records Act by charging $10 for a CD containing six photographs.

That finding by the attorney general's office was released on Tuesday. It held that charging more than the cost of the CD subverted the intent of Kentucky law governing access to public records.

Attorney Jonathan Ricketts had requested copies of records related to a Meade County car wreck in July. The sheriff's office contended that, as a public agency, it could recover not just the cost of the CD but also the cost of transferring the photographs to it.

Assistant Attorney General Michelle D. Harrison disagreed, finding that $10 was an excessive fee. She said the sheriff's office must recalculate its copying fee to conform to the Open Records Act.

KENTUCKY SENATE-AD

Group clucks at McConnell during Chicken Festival

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — The conservative Madison Project is running a radio ad this week in southeastern Kentucky criticizing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who the group contends is slow to take stands on important issues.

The spot, airing in conjunction with the World Chicken Festival in London, calls McConnell "the biggest chicken of all."

McConnell, running for a sixth term, has faced attacks from liberal and conservative groups as well as from GOP primary challenger Matt Bevin and Democratic front-runner Alison Lundergan Grimes.

Drew Ryun, political director of the Madison Project, charged that McConnell acts like a bystander on issues until he figures out the most politically advantageous position. The McConnell camp dismissed the attack, saying the Madison Project has apparently decided that they make more money attacking conservatives than by pressuring Democrats.

KENTUCKY VOTE BUYING

Appeals court upholds sentence of ex-school chief

CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld the two-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine of a former eastern Kentucky school superintendent who pleaded guilty to leading a vote-buying conspiracy during the 2010 primary elections.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals found Monday that one-time Breathitt County Superintendent Arch Turner's socio-economic status had not been taken into consideration when he was sentenced.

Turner ran Breathitt County schools from 2005 until his retirement in 2012 after he was charged. Turner pleaded guilty in July 2012 to distributing money to others to buy votes for candidates he supported in local races.

Eleven others, including a former sheriff, were convicted or pleaded guilty in related cases.

The 67-year-old Turner is being held in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.

STUDENT DEATH

EKU student found dead in dorm room

(Information in the following story is from: Lexington Herald-Leader, http://www.kentucky.com )

RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Officials at Eastern Kentucky University are investigating the death of a student on campus.

University spokesman Marc Whitt told the Lexington Herald-Leader that the student was found dead in his dorm room late Monday night.

Whitt said in a news release that 24-year-old Benji Fish was found in his Telford Hall room. Fish was a senior environmental health science major from Prestonsburg.

No foul play is suspected.

University police and the Madison County coroner's office are investigating. A final toxicology report is expected in two weeks.

HOMELESS YOUNG ADULTS

Louisville sees hike in homeless young adults

(Information in the following story is from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com )

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The number of homeless young adults is rising in Louisville and city officials are asking the community to step up as mentors, donors and volunteers in an effort to bring the numbers down.

The Courier-Journal cited the city's homeless database in reporting that 555 people between the ages of 18 and 24 slept in homeless shelters last year. Natalie Harris, director for Louisville's Coalition for the Homeless, said that's more than double the number in 2010.

City leaders and advocates held a joint news conference to ask the community for help in dealing with the problem. Mayor Greg Fischer urged Louisville residents not to "walk the other way and say it's not my problem."

Harris said a survey shows many of the young adults don't have any help.