You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May 2009.
Wondering how the California Supreme Court’s decision today to uphold a ban on gay marriage will play out in Louisville? Here are a few links to follow:
When Proposition 8 passed in California, a rally was held in Louisville to protest the measure. You can see pictures of that event here.
If you don’t mind harsh language, you can see local tweets about Tuesday’s Prop 8 decision here.
And if you want to check the legality of same-sex marriage in other states, tryNPR’s interactive map.
If you heard my feature on health care costs, you heard a reference to heart catheterization teams being on call. The line turned out to have extra meaning today, making all those attempts to properly pronounce it in the recording booth worthwhile.
At a press conference about emergency care this morning, I learned that Louisville EMS teams now have the ability to transmit EKGs to hospitals where heart catheterization teams will be on call and ready to treat patients based on their EKGs.
When I got back to the newsroom, I called Norton Healthcare to find out about their potential split with Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Both entities were quoted in my health care feature, and now they’re at odds over, among other things, reimbursements for care.
This could be medical news serendipity or a reinforcement of not only the need for a 24-hour heart catheterization lab, but the necessity of funds, public or private, to pay for it.
Arianne Cohen of the New York Times’ The Fix has a column up about dishwasher use. In it, she quotes Dries Engineering owner John Dries. Mr. Dries is the husband of WFPK’s own Marion Dries.
Check it out to see the gray lady’s local love. If you don’t know Marion (or her voice) you’ll at least pick up this tip for your daily chores:
As soon as the dishwasher shuts off, open the door. “Dishes are at their hottest point and give up water moisture the fastest. Within 5 to 10 minutes, your dishes are going to be completely dry.”
About 10 minutes after I left the dealership in my new car Thursday, my cell phone rang. It was a private number.
“This call is to inform you that the factory warranty on your vehicle is about to expire.”
It was one of the sometimes-illegal robocalls that are sweeping Kentucky and the nation. The scheme works like this * or* the caller wants you to call and buy a new warranty, when you really don’t need one (something to explain what this thing is all about).
The New York Times City Room blog has some information on Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Federal Trade Commission’s fight against these calls.
The scam apparently generated about $10 million dollars. I suppose that’s no surprise given how many calls I was getting. It every day for a while, even though I’m on the do-not-call list.
To sign up for the do-not-call registry, go here.
When it comes to Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, everyone’s a critic. With the formation of Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson’s exploratory committee, national media has started a “Bunning Campaign Death Watch” of sorts: outlets everywhere have cranked up the speculation on when Bunning will drop out of the race, even though the Senator says he has no plans to retire. Now, the snarky political blog Wonkette has weighed in. The editors are no fan of Ron Paul, and the story focuses on the possible candidacy of the Texas Congressman and former Republican Presidential Candidate’s son, Bowling Green eye doctor Rand Paul.
“…Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning will make a fool of himself daily in the process of losing his Senate seat. And now the hilarity might start even sooner, because Ron Paul’s child, Rand (”The Son”), might primary Bunning. Rand Paul has the exact same views as his father, so it should take about two minutes of money supply babble before Bunning gets uncomfy…”
You can read it all (warning, explicit language) here.
Stats wizard Nate Silver at 538.com has weighed in on Senator Jim Bunning’s chances for re-election now that Secretary of State Trey Grayson has formed an exploratory committee. From Silver:
Kentucky, while being a somewhat conservative state, is also still a rather Democratic state, at least in terms of is voters’ declared party preferences. Gallup gives Democrats a 13-point party identification advantage in Kentucky (counting “leaners”), which places it roughly in the middle of the pack nationally. No, Kentucky is not going to vote for certain types of Democrats — particularly liberal, northern Democrats named “Barack Obama” who gave the state the cold shoulder. But it elects plenty of moderate-to-conservative Democrats to statewide and national offices, like its Governor Steve Beshear, as well as [Lt. Governor] Mongiardo, [Attorney General] Conway and [Congressman] Chandler. Democrats also have a 65-35 advantage in the Kentucky State House, although Republicans control the State Senate.
Do you think Silver’s analysis holds up? Will Conway or Mongiardo’s party affiliation help them beat Grayson if Bunning drops out, or does Grayson appeal to the so-called leaners? Do you vote along party lines for state and local elections?
