You are currently browsing the monthly archive for February 2011.
The first indictment has been issued in a criminal probe into last year’s explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine that left 29 coal miners dead.
The mine’s Chief of Security Hughie Stover has been accused of lying to investigators and trying to destroy mine records, reports the Charleston Gazette.
Stover is accused of falsely telling federal agents in January 2011 that Massey’s Performance Coal Co. had a policy dating back to 1999 that forbade security guards from giving advance notice of inspections. The indictment alleges that Stover “had himself directed and trained security guards … to give advance notice by announcing the presence of an MSHA inspector over” the mine radio.
Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels sat down for a lengthy interview with NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition today. The conversation covered Daniels’s stance on privatizing government services, bargaining with unions, running for Presidentand his reputation as President George W. Bush’s budget director. You can listen to it here.
by Dalton Main
The Slow Food International Organization is considering hosting its next international congress in Louisville. The city one of several around the world—including four American cities—being considered for the event.
Slow Food International is a non-profit organization founded in 1989 to counteract the rise of fast food. The organization champions local, healthy food with a commitment to communities and the environment.
This will be the 6th Slow Food International Congress; they’re held every four years. The first event was in Venice and the most recent event was in Puebla, Mexico. That was the first time the event was hosted outside of Europe.
The organization will announce its decision in the next few weeks.
Kentucky Senator Rand Paul was on the Late Show with David Letterman Thursday night.
Paul was promoting his new book “The Tea Party Goes to Washington.” Letterman asked the Senator about the Tea Party platform, and the conversation centered largely around tax cuts for wealthy Americans. It started with Letterman making a joke about Paul’s decision to wear jeans with a tie and blazer and ended with a brief discussion of education funding and the protests in Wisconsin. You can watch the whole clip online.
On a side note, while discussing the advantages of the private sector, Paul said Letterman can do better because he has to compete with other late night hosts. This set Letterman up for a joke about Jay Leno, but for astute public radio listeners, the conversation may be familiar. New York Times correspondent Bill Carter—who has written two books about late night television, one of which centers on the Letterman/Leno feud for the Tonight Show—recently discussed late night TV competition on The Sound of Young America. Carter says increased competition has made a few new stars (Letterman, Conan O’Brien, their writing staffs), it’s also hurt late night in general by splintering the audience and ultimately weakening the power of the Tonight Show. Carter certainly wasn’t arguing for state-run comedy shows or regulations on how many shows there can be, but his story connects to Paul’s argument in an interesting way.
Perennial independent gubernatorial candidate Gatewood Galbraith has taken a stance against the surface coal mining method commonly called mountaintop removal.
The Associated Press reports that Galbraith says the practice has caused “unsurpassed environmental damage damage” in Appalachia and that it should not be allowed.
Galbraith is the only candidate for governor to speak out against mountaintop removal. The AP continues, “All others (Republicans David Williams and Phil Moffett, Democrat Steve Beshear) have called for the EPA to ease regulations that are hampering the procedure.”
Galbraith says his statement shouldn’t be taken as a condemnation of the coal industry or of coal miners. He has won the endorsement from the United Mine Workers of American union.
by Graham Shelby
Indiana’s Deputy Attorney General Jeff Cox has been fired for using incendiary language on his personal Twitter account.
Cox—who tweeted under the name JCCentCom—got into an exchange on Twitter over pro-union protesters in Wisconsin. Upon hearing a report that police might clear demonstrators from the Wisconsin capitol building, Cox responded that police should, “Use live ammunition.”
The Indiana Attorney General’s office issued a statement Wednesday that after a “thorough and expeditious review” of the situation, Cox would no longer employed by the state and that public servants should strive for civility.
Kentucky Public Radio’s Stu Johnson contributed to this report
The Judge Executive of Fayette County is encouraging state lawmakers to eliminate his position, and any action on the issue could affect Louisville as well.
Jon Larson says he has few responsibilities in the merged government in Lexington.
“I assign to pay deputy sheriffs to go to pick up fugitives from other states even though I have no money to give them, even though my office is not a part of the judicial system,” he says. “I also authenticate documents going out of the country.”
The Jefferson County Judge Executive is similar.
It would take an amendment to state constitution to eliminate either position, and Larson says he’s open to having the constitution changed to only eliminate the Fayette County Judge Executive. It’s not likely the General Assembly will amend the constitution before this year’s session adjourns.
Kentucky Congressman Ben Chandler is among a dozen Democrats being targeted in a series of radio ads from the conservative-aligned Crossroads GPS organization. The ads criticize the representatives for voting against a Republican-backed bill to fund the government through the end of the fiscal year, largely through major spending cuts. The spots also praise Republicans for supporting the legislation.
The Washington Post has more on what the ads say about the next year for Chandler.
The ads, which provide an early window into both parties’ most vulnerable members heading into 2012, are the second major buy Crossroads has laid down this year.
The early spending suggests that Crossroads GPS and American Crossroads plan on continuing their active presence in House and Senate elections — not to mention the presidential race — in 2012.
Governor Steve Beshear is the latest Kentucky official to ask Florida Governor Rick Scott to rethink his plans to cut a prescription drug tracking system.
It’s estimated that many of the prescription pills that are abused in eastern Kentucky come from Florida. In 2009, that state’s legislature approved a system to track prescriptions and reduce the number of so-called pill mills.
As part of his plan to cut spending, Governor Scott has proposed cutting the program. That first prompted a response from Congressman Hal Rogers of Kentucky, who asked his fellow Republican Scott to reconsider, saying that Kentuckians and Floridians alike are dying of prescription drug overdoses.
In a letter released Tuesday, Beshear echoed those sentiments. Kentucky has a prescription tracking system, and Beshear credits it for pushing pill mills out of the commonwealth.
A Greenup County sheriff has also reportedly taken issue with Scott’s plans to cancel the tracking program.
