Author
Jack Brammer
Kentucky Attorney General Coleman moves to block Hazard’s restaurant tax, calls it ‘unlawful’
The Eastern Kentucky city of Hazard is facing another legal obstacle in its effort to begin collecting a restaurant tax. Attorney General Russell Coleman is appealing a Franklin Circuit Court order that said Hazard was eligible to? pursue the tax. He called it “an unlawful tax” for the city of about 5,200. The restaurant tax, […]
Her political future cloudy, Grimes must contend with effort to reinstate alleged ethics violations
Kentucky’s Executive Branch Ethics Commission is seeking to reverse a judge’s ruling that cleared former Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes of ethics violation charges. The commission’s request to the Kentucky Court of Appeals is expected to complicate for the time being any decisions that Grimes may have about returning to politics.? Speculation about that […]
Another Kentucky House candidate disqualified for error in filing papers
A judge has removed Democrat Richard Henderson as a candidate for the state House in Shelby County because of errors in his candidacy filing papers.? The action July 30 by Shelby Circuit Judge Michelle Brummer at the request of Shelby County Judge-Executive Dan Ison leaves Republican incumbent Jennifer Decker unopposed in the Nov. 5 election […]
Kentucky Supreme Court disqualifies Kulkarni in state House race
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B. VanMeter issued a one-page order Friday afternoon that said incumbent state Rep. Nima Kulkarni of Louisville is disqualified as a candidate in this May’s Democratic election for the 40th House district. Meanwhile, a Shelby County Circuit judge was waiting on the Supreme Court order in the Kulkarni case […]
Summer raises the curtain on Kentucky’s outdoor theaters. Could this be their final act?
Pioneer Playhouse in Danville will lift the curtain this weekend on its 75th season of staging plays under the stars. It is the oldest outdoor theater in Kentucky, and unlike several others, has survived many challenges. The weather is always a challenge. So are the economy and fierce competition for entertainment dollars. The COVID-19 pandemic […]
Hazard, some other Kentucky towns may enact restaurant tax, judge rules
A Franklin Circuit judge has given a legal victory to Hazard and several other Kentucky cities interested in imposing a restaurant tax. The tax, created by the legislature in 1980, is levied in about 50 of Kentucky’s 418 cities on retail sales of food and beverages in all restaurants in the city. The tax rate […]
United Methodist delegates vote to end bans on gay clergy, same-sex marriage
After decades of intense debate that led to about half of their churches in Kentucky leaving the denomination, United Methodist delegates voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to no longer forbid gay clergy and same-sex marriage. The vote by the delegates at the United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., was 692-51. The conference was the church’s first […]
Judge dismisses ethics violations against former Secretary of State Grimes
FRANKFORT — Former Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes was cleared Monday by Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd of charges by the state Executive Branch Ethics Commission that she improperly ordered the downloading and distribution of voter registration data from her public office while she was Kentucky’s secretary of state. “The court order is […]
$150 million plan unveiled for biomedical center in Covington, would include new home for NKU law school
A lofty economic development plan for Northern Kentucky was unveiled Wednesday that would create a biomedical center campus in downtown Covington with a new facility for Northern Kentucky University’s Salmon P. Chase College of Law and the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in it. Republican state Sen. Chris McDaniel of Ryland Heights, chairman of […]
IVF controversy echoes memorable debate in Kentucky House 40 years ago
Veteran Kentucky lawmakers call it one of the most dramatic moments in the history of the state’s General Assembly.? Memory of it has revived this spring as the nation — and Kentucky lawmakers — weigh a controversy over in vitro fertilization, a way to help infertile couples have a baby. “What happened back in the […]
Charlotte Henson, producer and president of Pioneer Playhouse, dies at 93
Charlotte Hutchison Henson, the matriarch of the historic Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, has died. She was 93. Charlotte Henson, with her late husband, Col. Eben Henson, brought Broadway to the Bluegrass by establishing what is now Kentucky’s oldest outdoor theater. It has attracted hundreds of young actors over the years, including John Travolta, Lee Majors, […]
Man convicted of rape and murder loses shot at parole made possible by former Gov. Matt Bevin
Gregory Wilson, who was sentenced to death after being convicted in 1988 of kidnapping, raping and killing Deborah Pooley of Covington but had his sentence reduced by former Gov. Matt Bevin to make him eligible for parole, has to spend the rest of his life in prison. The Kentucky Parole Board decided Monday that Wilson, […]