Our political editor, Phillip M. Bailey has a new blog, Noise & Notes. Go read it.

I won’t be posting to The Edit anymore, but I will be writing news stories and web posts on WFPL.org. The posts from this blog have been feeding to WFPL.org for several weeks and appearing alongside our traditional news stories, so I’ll repeat my suggestion that you update your bookmarks, RSS reader, favorites or handwritten list of websites you visit. The rest of the WFPL news staff will be writing posts for WFPL.org, too.

Also, we’re a radio station. You can hear Phillip, Rick Howlett, me and the rest of the newsroom on 89.3 FM.

I’ve enjoyed writing The Edit for these two years. I came to WFPL from the web, and it’s an important part of where we’re headed. Thanks for reading…and don’t stop.

Politico has a preview of the speech, which comes after Senate President Harry Reid blamed the Tea Party from blocking compromises in congress.

“In my view, the tea party has had an overwhelmingly positive impact on the most important issues of the day,” McConnell, of Kentucky, will say, according to prepared remarks. “It’s helped focus the debate. It’s provided a forum for Americans who felt left out of the process to have a voice and make a difference. And it’s already leading to good results.”

As the Wall Street Journal reports, Massey not only bore the brunt of the inspections, the company inspired them, too.

The agency [MSHA] started the so-called impact inspections after 29 miners were killed in an explosion at Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia on April 5, 2010.

Four Massey mines in West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky accounted for more than half the violations issued nationally during the impact inspections. The MSHA also cited mines in Alabama and Pennsylvania.

A spokesman for Massey, of Richmond, Va., said the company is working to improve safety. Massey is being bought by Alpha Natural Resources Inc.

I’ve met an incredible variety of listeners in my travels. The audience includes students, peace activists, and American soldiers I met in Iraq. They’re among many people in the military who rely on NPR’s international coverage. When I was NPR’s Pentagon correspondent, I discovered that it’s a prize beat, because on every base you meet people who already know who you are. Many other Americans are listening in places like Indiana, my home state, or Kentucky, where I first worked in public radio. Not much of the media pays attention to the middle of the country, but NPR and its local stations do. Many NPR stations have added news staff as local newspapers have declined.

Members of Congress listen too: A few months ago I was interviewing a Republican lawmaker who quoted an NPR story he’d heard that morning. And there are people like the woman I met at a Sarah Palin debate party in 2008, in rural western Virginia. She said she listened during long drives required by her job with a railroad. The same programs she hears in Virginia have also reached an audience abroad. In Egypt last week, a young man told me he so admires the quirky reporting of my colleague Robert Krulwich that he plans to translate it into Arabic.

On a related note, On the Media has accepted Ira Glass’s challenge to prove whether public radio is, in fact, biased. Last week’s show was largely dedicated to this topic. It ended with co-host Bob Garfield interviewing O’Keefe for twelve contentious minutes.

On WFPL’s State of Affairs Thursday, Fischer discussed: the city budget; Metro Government’s response to recent industrial accidents in Rubbertown and Butchertown; the future of Whiskey Row; and his thoughts on Metro Council discretionary spending. You can listen to the full interview here.

Scott has also made national headlines for refusing to accept federal money for high-speed rail projects in his state.

The Washington Post cites those issues and several others in a post predicting that Scott will soon take the spotlight from the GOP governors in Wisconsin, Mississippi and New Jersey, who have each notably clashed with President Barack Obama in recent months.

*Governor Beshear, Congressman Rogers, Attorney General Conway, Lieutenant Governor Mongiardo, U.S. Drug Czar Kerlikowske and several police officers and sheriffs

Cowen announced Monday that he will leave the organization on April 30. His retirement follows growing calls that he step down, which began weeks ago when an angry voicemail he left the director of the Visual Art Association was made public.

Cowen’s call followed a letter from the director and two others which pointed out that the fund does not give as much money to visual arts as it does to performing arts groups. Visual Art Association board chair Benton Keith was among the loudest voices calling for Cowen’s dismissal. He says the retirement is welcome, but inequities still exist.

“What we really need to concentrate [on] is visual, cultural, performing arts. There’s no question, if you look at the allocation on an annual basis from the Fund for the Arts, there is certainly an emphasis on the performing arts,” he says. “I don’t think it’s one particular item that needs to change. It’s a whole bevy of items. And, again, I would put transparency at the top of that list.”

Keith says he hopes the fund’s new leadership makes those institutional changes, though the shift may create some short-term fundraising challenges.

“There’s definitely going to be some hurdles to overcome for this current campaign, but I do think, overall, in the future, that it could certainly help the arts community as a whole. It’s not just about the visual arts, it’s about all arts.”

Executive Vice President Barbara Sexton Smith will act as interim president when Cowen retires at the end of April. A search for a permanent replacement will begin this week. Cowen and fund board chair Ron Murphy did not return a call for comment, though Murphy released a statement praising Cowen’s 35-years of service and fundraising success.

Murphy’s statement:

“On behalf of the entire Louisville community, I want to thank Allan for his 35 years of outstanding service to our city,” said Ron Murphy, board chairman of the Fund for the Arts. “During his tenure, the Fund’s annual campaign on behalf of member arts groups grew from $600,000 to $8 million, and from 6,000 donors to 26,000. Fund for the Arts assets increased from $43,000 to over $25,000,000 today.  The Brown Theatre, ArtSpace, Fund for the Arts Main Street and an endowment were all added during Allan’s tenure.  Louisville is admired throughout the country for the quality and variety of our arts organizations. That is due in no small part to Allan’s leadership and effectiveness.”

“Working together for more than three decades, we’ve created amazing things in our arts community,” Cowen said. “I have been privileged to have been a part of this great community and to have worked with the thousands of artists, arts donors and arts lovers who make it a special place.”

Another Borders bookstore in Louisville is closing as the chain reorganizes its finances under Chapter 11.

Earlier, Borders planned to close two of the four Louisville stores—one on 4th Street Live and another on South Hurstborne. Now, the Shelbyville Road Plaza store is closing (via), leaving one remaining Borders in Louisville, on Bardstown Road.

CN2 has a breakdown of how congressional districts will need to change. Three of Kentucky’s six districts (2nd, 4th and 6th) will need to shed counties, says the report. Block by block data (when released) will be used to redraw the boundaries of the Louisville Metro Council districts. The council workgroup on redistricting meets Monday.

The mocking award goes to agencies that lack transparency and are given out during the SPJ’s “Sunshine Week.” The state of Utah took the top prize this year, but the Cabinet for Health and Family Services was close behind.

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services has embarked on a campaign of obfuscation aimed at preventing the public from learning the details about the death of a toddler under the cabinet’s supervision.

[edit]

The Cabinet for Health and Family Services has a blanket policy of refusing to disclose all information in child abuse and neglect cases. The cabinet’s bias in favor of confidentiality seems to be driven more by the culture of the agency, “which seeks to avoid public scrutiny,” than by the law, a judge said.

Last year, the candidates for U.S. Senate sniped at each other over their bracket choices. And this year, there’s no shortage of coverage on President Barack Obama’s NCAA picks. Some outlets have questioned the President’s choices (too safe–he has the number one seeds in the final four). Others have dug for political meaning (where does he rank schools from 2012 battleground states?). And other outlets have said there’s too much happening in the world for the President to bother with college basketball (we could say the same about some news outlets).

The best coverage, though, comes from the Awl, which parses Mr. Obama’s choices on politics and stats, then compares his picks to the national averages.

Bayh cited dissatisfaction with congress and excessively partisan politics as reasons for his retirement last year.

Bayh’s move to Fox comes weeks after he decided to stay in Washington D.C. and work as an advisor on banking and energy issues for the McGuire Woods law firm. The jobs are not mutually exclusive.

Andrew Sullivan reported on the misquoting, and said this:

Despite the fact that O’Keefe is a known liar, and that his past video stings have been edited in misleading ways, much of the mainstream media ran with his latest. Will those outlets now inform their viewers and readers about the deceptions uncovered by The Blaze?

Mitch Albom raised similar questions in the Detroit Free Press, calling O’Keefe’s videos Punk’d-style journalism. He then says that anyone hoping to prove bias in NPR reporting should do a real study, not hide a camera.

Ira Glass of This American Life made a similar challenge over the weekend. He asked Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone of On the Media to find bias in NPR’s reporting. He says they won’t. Glass’s challenge came during a larger conversation on why no one has come forward with documented evidence of subjective news. A fundraising executive may share private opinions over lunch, but Glass insists that doesn’t affect the newsrooms at all.

You can also read these English-language news organizations that are based in Japan:

Japan Times

Daily Yomiuri

Mainichi Daily News

Kyodo News

NHK World

Complaints about Cowen have increased after a message he left the unsatisfied director of the Louisville Visual Art Association became public.

The protest is being organized by artist and gallery operator Craig Kaviar. It will be held from 4:30 to 5:30 pm on Friday.

The story covers Governor Steve Beshear’s defense of the park (which represents a literal interpretation of the story of Genesis) on financial grounds and the ridicule the project has received. It goes further, too, talking with scientists and scholars about science education and the Constitution.

Green allegedly asked the 100 Black Men organization to request more city funds than necessary, then allocate the surplus at her discretion. King has sent Government Accountability Committee Chair Tina Ward-Pugh a letter about the issue. He’s also calling for an audit of all discretionary spending over $5,000 in the past two years. LEO reports that council Republicans will ask Mayor Greg Fischer to reduce the amount of  discretionary funds in the next city budget. Fischer’s spokesperson Chris Poynter said today the mayor will consider it.

From Insider Louisville:

When individuals and groups give to the fund they think that they are giving to all of the arts in Louisville, but most people are shocked to find out that all of the visual arts together receive only $203,749, which is 2.56 percent of the total budget. Is this a fair distribution of the limited art funding?

The Fund for the Arts board has reiterated that Cowen does not have a hand in distributing money, and the body has taken action to rebuke Cowen. Both Cowen and board chair Ron Murphy have declined to elaborate. The board has further said it will put together a new strategic plan that could lead to a change in how much money certain groups receive from the fund.

Recently, the chair of the Visual Art Association called for Cowen to be fired and questioned the value of the new strategic plan. Murphy says the board has already made its decision about Cowen.

The 15-minute interview (in three parts—1,2,3) covers current issues and the philosophical differences on government between Stewart and Paul. The second part, specifically, deals with the cause and effects of the recession, and whether budget crises federally and in the states are the result of government overspending or the economic slump.

Last week, LEO outlined charges from Green’s staff of political bribery and identity theft. This weekend, the Courier-Journal reveals more.

…the councilwoman made a side agreement with 100 Black Men so it would ask for more money than needed and reroute $2,400 for other purposes at Green’s request — including youth football banquets and buying 10 tickets for a Kentucky Derby fundraiser.

“It was made clear upfront that some of the money would be redirected … and that (Green’s office) would tell us where to redirect it,” Rob Jordan, president of 100 Black Men, said in an interview last week.

The arrangement also was confirmed to the newspaper by Charles Alexander III, who is the treasurer of 100 Black Men and Green’s political campaigns.

Green’s attorney says the charges are politically motivated or brought by disgruntled employees. Her colleagues on the council are largely withholding comment until after an Ethics Commission hearing on a summer jobs program that allegedly benefitted Green’s family.

The paper praises Cowen’s creativity and strong faith in the arts. But then…

Among his flaws are a Brobdingnagian ego and a temper — perhaps effective for impresarios in the days of Flo Ziegfeld and Billy Rose, but woefully inappropriate in the 21st Century world in which Mr. Cowen operates.

That flaring ego was on full display — and preserved for all to hear — when he left a voice-mail message for the head of a local arts group who had co-written a letter toBusiness First, suggesting that while support of the Fund is vital many visual and cultural groups receive little or no funding. Shannon Westerman, who heads the Louisville Visual Art Association, was told by Mr. Cowen that he had gone “way out of line” and should be discharged. He threatened to talk to Mr. Westerman’s board chair, Benton Keith, to achieve the ouster. And he finished up: “Good luck in your future career.”

Well, for starters, Miss Manners would have been shocked and so are we. Verbal threats have no place in civilized situations; leaving them on a voice mail isn’t just uncouth, it’s downright stupid.

Elizabeth Kramer, who broke the story about the voicemail, will be on State of Affairs today. She’ll discuss her story in the show’s second segment, which begins at about 1:25.

Blue owns the strip, but has said he is willing to sell them to someone who wants to save either the facades or the entire buildings, as many preservationists have called for Blue to do.

The Courier-Journal reports that the city is now seeking buyers who are willing to take five of the seven buildings off Blue’s hands.

Alan Delisle, the corporation’s executive director, and Chris Poynter, Fischer’s spokesman, both said Thursday that the other two Iron Quarter buildings at 105 and 107 W. Main, are probably too dilapidated to attract a buyer and are not part of the sales effort. But they say the five structures that may be sold are worth salvaging in their entirety.

“If they are not sold within 90 days, he (Blue) can tear them down,” Poynter said. But he said “there are prospects” for acquiring the five buildings, although he declined to elaborate.

Delisle also wouldn’t identify prospective purchasers and called it “a big challenge” to find a buyer, “but we are making the strongest possible effort to get this done.”

Bailey is most recently a reporter for LEO Weekly, where he has established a reputation as an exceptional government, political and investigative journalist.

“We wanted someone with the tenacity to cover stories that often develop slowly, and the ability to interpret complicated and arcane issues in a way our audience can understand,” said Todd Mundt, Vice President and Chief Content Officer. “We couldn’t be more pleased to welcome Phillip to the team.”

Bailey joins WFPL News with editorial responsibility for the station’s political reporting, including local government as well as state and regional politics. He’ll soon launch a new politics blog at WFPL.org. Says Bailey, “I’m very excited about joining WFPL News and am thrilled at the opportunity to head up its political coverage. I want WFPL to be an indispensable news service.”

His hiring is part of LPM’s first phase of rebuilding its newsroom. “Our community needs more and better quality local news, and Louisville Public Media has made local news coverage the centerpiece of its strategic plan,” explains Donovan Reynolds, President of Louisville Public Media. “Bailey’s decision to join WFPL News represents the latest of several steps to deepen and strengthen local news coverage in Metro Louisville.”

Welcome, Phillip!

But recently, Gov. Rick Scott has come out foursquare against it. Scott hasn’t said much about why he wants to kill it. When pressed at a recent news conference, he said: “I believe it’s an invasion of privacy and … it appears that the money’s been wasted.”

An official with the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program Foundation says the governor’s accusation is false and that the group has already raised enough money to start up the state database.

Scott’s proposal has also spurred repeated calls from state and federal officials in Kentucky who say shutting down the origin of the pill pipeline in Florida will curb prescription abuse in the commonwealth.

Green’s involvement in a summer jobs program that reportedly benefited her family will be the subject of a Metro Ethics Commission hearing later this month. The LEO article further details accusations of wrongdoing tangentially and not-at-all related to the ethics complaint:

On Sept. 7, Public Integrity Unit officers Sgt. Oscar Grass and Jamie Hill interviewed Green’s legislative aide, Andrea Jackson, about the Green Clean Team. Specifically, they asked her about an anonymous complaint they received suggesting Green took out a credit card in Jackson’s name without her consent.

“I don’t know if you know Council-woman Green’s personal life or finances that well. She and her husband, James, could possibly be having some financial difficulties,” Sgt. Grass said during the interview. “But we were told that at one time you became aware that Councilwoman Green has gotten some kind of Visa card or a bank card in your name. Is that the case?”

“Yeah,” Jackson told police.

“Is that something you authorized her to do?” Grass asked.

“No,” she replied.

The program is similar to the KASPER system in Kentucky, which Conway and others say has helped stop pill mills from distributing prescription drugs in the commonwealth. It’s believed that many of the prescriptions abused in Kentucky come from Florida. Governor Steve Beshear, Lieutenant Governor Dan Mongiardo, Congressman Hal Rogers and U.S. Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske have all encouraged Scott to reconsider cutting the program. In his latest monthly column, Conway joined the call:

The bottom line is that we need to stop illicit prescription pills at their source; states like Florida and Georgia that do not have prescription drug monitoring programs in place. Programs like Kentucky’s KASPER system are needed, warranted and must be implemented in all 50 states. Until that happens, prescription drug abuse will continue to ravage our families and our kids.

The Senate has passed the bill, but it does not have enough support to clear a House committee.

The measure would let the nearly 200,000 independents in Kentucky choose a primary to vote in for each election. Senator Jimmy Higdon sponsored the measure and he says he will try to pass it again next year.

Opponents of the bill say primaries should be meant for the party faithful to choose candidates.