Recent Articles

• In the two-year budget period that ended last month, Kentucky state government spent a record $4.2 billion on personal service contracts, memoranda of agreement, and film tax incentives, and in the first month of the new two-year budget, a record $2 billion of state agreements were approved. That one-month total exceeds the $1.8 billion spent on those agreements in the entire fiscal year which ended June 30, and is the most ever approved in a single month.

Great men and women in the recent history of writing state budgets worked hard to seek the higher path of balancing taxation and securing more revenue for the state. Initiative Economic strategies, better use of state resources, sound moral leadership and the willingness to work under great pressure was their calling cards that kept state budgets on level basis.

Now, with the Republicans owning the Kentucky House of Representatives as well the Senate, political leadership became lost in shadows of sex charges, cronyism, and downright malfeasance of official duties.

In walks Steve Rudy, (R )1^st House District representative...

Judge Shea Nickell brings life of a Purchase favorite son to life in courthouse presentation

(Clinton, KY) - Those who watch Julia Louis-Dreyfus' misadventures as Vice President Selena Meyer in "Veep" don't question the short hand designation for her. That's too bad because the man behind the name is a classic American success story, rising from poverty to the halls of power.

Vice President Alben W. Barkley, the first "Veep," created the name because his grandson liked it. The media picked it up and as the cliché goes, the rest is history.

Barkley was a towering figure in American politics from the Great Depression of the 1930s through the Cold War in the 1950s...

WKMS is reporting that a Maryland company is looking to open a hemp plant in Murray. Building materials stronger than wood will be produced.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (July 23, 2018) - Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes and her husband, Andrew Grimes, announced Monday that the Secretary is expecting their first child in December.

Graves County Republican Breakfast - Saturday August 4th at Graves County Middle School. Tickets are $20.

Graves County Dems will host a breakfast on the morning of the Fancy Farm Picnic at Mayfield High School.

Tickets are $15.

UPDATE: Calloway County Republicans are now listed as co-sponsors of the speech.

MSU campus will be closed in anticipation of the GOP speech. A silent vigil will be held by a group protesting the North appearance will be held on campus.

NRA President Oliver North has been invited to speak by the Marshall County Republican Party on August 3rd. The event will be at Lovett Auditorium on the Murray State Campus.

Tickets are $50

UPDATE: Mark Wilson, co-chair of the political speaking reported 07/31/18 that per a phone call from Senator Paul's office, he will not attend the Picnic. Senator McConnell still "pending"

For an updated list of speakers, follow the jump -

As of June 25, Senators McConnell and Paul and Governor Bevin have yet to confirm attendance. Since none of the three are on this November's ballot, there's not much reason for them to attend. Except that barbecue...

For the current line up of speakers, follow the jump.

Back in the day, Kentucky politics was controlled by either the "machine" or special money interests like big coal or railroads.

Governors Ford and Carroll built the Democratic local machine - Brown scrapped it.

Attorney General Andy Beshear announced his candidacy for governor on July 9th in a series of supporter gatherings and press conferences around Kentucky. Beshear is the first of what is expected to be a crowded field of Democratic candidates for the 2019 race.

Republican Governor Matt Bevin has hinted he will run again, but has not made a formal announcement.

Women candidates are stepping up in the Purchase running for the Kentucky General Assembly. One of their biggest problems is - what else - raising money. Maybe supporters are having problems figuring out how, where, how much to donate?

Here's how and where to send checks or donate on the web. At the end of the story are some links to help maneuver this election cycle. No photos. We wanted to make this story easy and cheap to print out.

The Hickman County Historical & Genealogical Society

Invite You to a Special Evening

Reception and Lecture

The Life & Times of Senator Alben Barkley

By

Kentucky Court of Appeals

Judge Christopher Shea Nickell

Tuesday, July 17, 2018

Reception at 5:00 p.m.

Lecture at 6:00 p.m.

Hickman County Courthouse

Clinton Kentucky

Twenty five Hickman County students, grades 5 -9 put on the Greatest Show on Earth for MADD Camp 2018. They had lots of help from Murray Playhouse in the Park, local organizations and volunteers.

"Republicans take the Kentucky House after 95 years of Democratic control," trumpeted a Lexington Herald-Leader headline on Nov. 8, 2016.

Similar headlines blared in newspapers from Paducah to Pikeville.

But reporters missed the rest of the story, which Democrats hope presages Nov. 6, 2018. While the GOP flipped the House in 1919, the Democrats grabbed it back in 1921.

Be On the Look Out!

Ag Commish Quarles advised motorists to be on the lookout for evidence that a motor fuel pump has been compromised.

Murray KY) - Close to 300 came to the Curris Center on the Murray State University for the annual Jefferson Jackson Day Democratic Dinner on Friday, June 15^th.

Partisan red meat was on the menu.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Congressman James Comer (KY-01) announced a Small Business Committee Field Hearing will be held in Paducah. The hearing will focus on exploring the state of western Kentucky's small businesses. It will also feature multiple small business owners from the first district.

Monday June 18^th

10:00 am CDT

Paducah Area Chamber of Commerce

Paducah Bank Room

300 South 3^rd Street

Paducah, KY

June 05, 2018 12:35 PM On Monday, June 4, 2018, Kentucky State Police were instructed to bar entrance to the state Capitol to a peaceful gathering of local clergy, people seeking health care, and citizens who were concerned about the health of their neighborhoods, their water and their air.

In 40 states where clergy and poor folk have held rallies, only Kentucky has refused them entrance to the hall of the people's laws...

Workshops in Painting, Wood Turning, Photography, Fiber Arts, and Jewelry and Small Metals

PADUCAH, KY (05/31/2018) Registration for West Kentucky Community and Technical College's Paducah School of Art and Design summer Master Artist Workshops Program is underway. The program features leading artists and educators from across the country that will share their expertise in painting, wood turning, photography, fiber arts and jewelry and small metals.

MURRAY, Ky. -- Murray State University Galleries, in conjunction with the Murray Art Guild and the Murray State art education program, present the "Side by Side 2018" exhibit to be on display in the Clara M. Eagle Upper Gallery from June 10 through July 9.

UNION CITY, TN- The fourth annual Discovery Park of America car show is set for Saturday, June 23^rd. The Discovery Park Car Show is fast becoming one of this region's premier car shows, with over 250 vehicles participating last year! Grounds and car show admission is free, so bring all your family and tell all your friends! If you want to go inside Discovery Center, admission will be just $10.00 for all ages that day.

"Obviously, this is a nontraditional camp," Mayfield-Graves County Area Technology Center principal Mike Miller said recently, as his school hosted a special one-day project. "We're looking at a people group in a particular trade that doesn't exceed 25 percent. So, we targeted females for all three of these trades - welding, electricity, and carpentry.

FRANKFORT--Coal is still the primary fuel source for electricity generation in Kentucky, but the demand for coal-fired power is waning.

That was the word from Kentucky Public Service Commissioner Talina Mathews, who told the Interim Joint Committee on Natural Resources and Energy today that coal generated 83 percent of Kentucky's electricity in 2016, but preliminary data shows that percentage declined below 80 percent in 2017.