Recent Articles

From his website -

Ted Cruz's Growth and Jobs Agenda is a 12-step plan to get America working again:
1) Repeal ObamaCare.
2) Kill Cap and Trade.
3) Stop the National Labor Relations Board from Attacking Jobs in Right-to-Work States.

etc.. etc.. etc...

Donald Trump has been working toward running for president for years. As of 2012, he had plans for America -

...entitlement programs. Mr. Trump isn't afraid of this sacred cow. For example, "If we slowly increased the full retirement age to even just 70, one-third of the $5.3 trillion shortfall would be eliminated right away," he writes of Social Security. From "Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again" Donald Trump published 2012

FRANKFORT, Ky. - The new commissioner of the Department of Travel and Tourism is Kristen Branscum, Tourism, Arts and Heritage Secretary Don Parkinson announced today.

Branscum, a native of Russell Springs, most recently served as the head of marketing for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture since 2012.

Former McCracken County Attorney, Michael R. Murphy of Paducah, filed papers Thursday with the Kentucky Secretary of State to run for State Representative, District #1 in the forthcoming Democratic primary.

District #1 covers Fulton, Hickman, Carlisle, Ballard and a portion of McCracken County.

ELIZABETHTOWN -- Getting busted with a small amount of fake marijuana led to a more expensive lesson in criminal justice than Timothy Lee Cook could have imagined.

Cook, 54, agreed to a plea deal in Hardin County District Court last summer that kept him out of jail, but cost him $186 in fines and court fees. He couldn't afford it himself. Bedeviled by mental disorders, he hasn't held a job for more than 20 years. His 74-year-old mother put up the money.

Now Cook is tasting the cost of probation. Every month for two years, he has to pay a $25 monitoring fee to a company that serves as a privatized probation agency. Had he been arrested in one of the many Kentucky counties that monitor misdemeanor offenders themselves, the service wouldn't have cost him a dime. And if Cook's probation company had based its fee on his ability to pay, as district judges are supposed to ensure, his monitoring would be free or discounted.

Cook's was one of 38,780 state misdemeanor cases that ended with probated jail sentences in 2015. How many of those went to private companies is anyone's guess because no one keeps track. The companies operate under no contracts, no legal agreements with the state, counties or the courts they serve. No one in the Kentucky Administrative Office of the Courts knows how many such companies operate in the state, which counties they serve, how many defendants they monitor or how much they charge. No state agency monitors the monitors....

WASHINGTON - On the eve of the anniversary of one of the most corrosive decisions to U.S. democracy by the Supreme Court--Citizens United-- Representatives John Yarmuth (D-Ky.) and Anna G. Eshoo (D-Calif.) are leading a group of 168 House Democrats requesting the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) increase transparency in U.S. elections.

A Kentucky Transportation Cabinet employee has died while plowing highways in Christian County.

The employee was identified as Christopher Adams, a 16 year Transportation Cabinet employee.

About 5:50 a.m., Adams called a supervisor indicating his snow plow had slid off in a ditch along KY 115. When the supervisor arrived on KY 115 Adams was slumped over in his truck seat and unresponsive.

STATE GOVERNMENT OFFICES TO BE CLOSED FRIDAY

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 21, 2016) - Due to the impending severe weather forecast, Governor Bevin is closing all state offices for Friday, January 22, 2016.

Symsonia Elementary School fifth grader Kinsey Keller completes her first Non-Traditional Instruction Day assignment Thursday, Jan. 21, 2016.

The entire Graves County School District was not in session, due to inclement weather. Even so, students were able to complete their school work at home through Google Classroom, Mastery Connect or work packets.

....With the likelihood of ice followed by snow overnight, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet and area emergency management agencies are asking everyone to think ahead and plan now for whatever arrives overnight.

Please avoid unnecessary travel. Unnecessary travel might include a trip to the store for cigarettes, soft drinks, or a movie rental...

Happy New Year!

The 2016 Blue Books will be available the first week of February 2016. ORDER NOW! Please use sbvclark@gmail.com when placing orders or call 859-227-0263 if you have questions. Only a limited number of copies beyond pre-orders will be printed, so to guarantee you can get the 2016 Blue Book, please order by January 15, 2016!

The Kentucky General Assembly Blue Book provides detailed information about members of the Kentucky General Assembly including complete contact information and photos of state legislators and key staff, plus other essential facts.

I have never understood why Kentucky needs both an ag commissioner and a governor's office of agriculture policy. I strongly suspect it had to do with the two being run by different political parties. This press release gives me hope that the two may work together. Maybe the Gov. can start cost cutting by abolishing this office and letting the Ag Commissioner do his job? Naw. Ain't gonna happen.

FRANKFORT, Ky. (Jan. 15, 2016) - Governor Matt Bevin today announced the appointment of Warren Beeler as Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Agriculture Policy. Beeler has worked for the Kentucky Department of Agriculture for the past 16 years, most recently as Director of Agriculture Policy.

Beeler is a graduate of Western Kentucky University and lives in Caneyville, KY.

I'm Ron Leach, and yesterday I announced that I intend to be a candidate for U.S. Senate in our Great Commonwealth of Kentucky.

I am a former teacher, farmer, soldier - former infantryman, Special Forces Green Beret, combat veteran with four tours between Iraq and Afghanistan. I am a physician assistant. Most importantly, I am a father, grandfather, and husband...

John Rittenhouse Named Director of Resorts For Kentucky State Parks

The Graves County Middle School Jr. Beta Club will host a formal dress consignment sale at the school between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, Feb. 3-5. Middle school girls who plan to attend the formal are invited to try on and purchase dresses to wear to the event scheduled for this spring.

The Jackson Purchase is a major platform for West Kentucky making the 21st Century a century in which opportunities for West Kentucky economic growth to add thousands of new jobs to Kentucky's economy.

Some ideas for the budget to help the Jackson Purchase:

These are proposed steps for the 2016-2018 Kentucky State budget that will help to foster new economic development jobs in West Kentucky.

Economic Development

1. Place a citizen of the Jackson Purchase directly upon the Delta Regional Authority to help with leadership for the Mississippi River.

2. Establish a new Small Town 21st Century fund for rebuilding old community downtown central business districts...

Modern Kentucky gubernatorial elections are becoming exercises in frustration. Kentucky voters have sought political reform and change from most modern governors. At the end of the day, Kentucky governors in the recent past have not bettered the state's ability to cope with the future...

...What happens when the cool kids don't want a car? What happens when the cool kids are wearing old t-shirts and last year's jeans? What happens when the cool kids can't afford to buy a house (and furnish it) because their student loans are in first place in their financial lives? What happens when the cool kids are more interested in selfies, instagram, traveling around with uber and house sharing through airbnb?

What happens is that the consumption model begins breaking down...

Rand Paul appears to be a victim of bad timing.

The Kentucky senator has failed to catch fire like some of his other fellow GOP presidential candidates, but Fox Business Network's decision to boot him for the first time off the main stage at Thursday night's debate in South Carolina was a potential knockout punch for his flailing candidacy...

Senator Dan Seum, Republican, Senate District 38 - Jefferson and Bullitt Counties- filed a bill to freeze college tuition and to limit "incidental fees" schools may charge until 2020....

UPDATED UPDATE 3/2/16 : The Washington Post is reporting that Dr. Ben Carson will tell his supporters he cannot see a path forward to the nomination. (Jeb Bush suspended his campaign about a week ago.)

If that means he is suspending his campaign, the field for Saturday is four - Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, John Kasich.

UPDATE: As of February 10th, the field drops to six. Chris Christie and Carly Fiorino are now out.

As of February 3rd, it looks like candidates are down to eight. Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum and Sen. Rand Paul have suspended their campaigns.

GOP presidential candidates will be on the March 5, 2016 caucus ballot in Kentucky.

For polling locations and a list of candidates, follow the jump.

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ryan Quarles announced that Brent Burchett of Murray will serve as director of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Division of Value-Added Plant Production.

Brent most recently served as program director for the Kentucky Soybean Promotion Board and Kentucky Soybean Association. His duties included monitoring policy and regulatory issues, developing water quality research programs, and managing outreach initiatives to connect farmers with consumers. He also led the Kentucky Livestock Coalition, an alliance of the state's veterinary, livestock, poultry, and grain associations.

Brent's family has farmed in Calloway County for three generations. He is a graduate of the Kentucky Agricultural Leadership Program, served on the West Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative Grassroots Committee, and was a representative on the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service State Extension Advisory Council.

...Every single year, more than 30,000 Americans have their lives cut short by guns -- 30,000. Suicides. Domestic violence. Gang shootouts. Accidents. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost brothers and sisters, or buried their own children. Many have had to learn to live with a disability, or learned to live without the love of their life...

The United States of America is not the only country on Earth with violent or dangerous people. We are not inherently more prone to violence. But we are the only advanced country on Earth that sees this kind of mass violence erupt with this kind of frequency. It doesn't happen in other advanced countries. It's not even close. And as I've said before, somehow we've become numb to it and we start thinking that this is normal.

And instead of thinking about how to solve the problem, this has become one of our most polarized, partisan debates -- despite the fact that there's a general consensus in America about what needs to be done...

Paducah, KY (January 11, 2016) - Paducah School of Art and Design (PSAD) will host an opening reception for its annual showcase of works by nationally recognized master artists January 21.

The reception for this year's exhibition titled, "Over the Top," will be held from 5-7 p.m. the Clemens Fine Arts Gallery located on the campus of West Kentucky Community and Technical College (WKCTC). The reception is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

January 10, 2016 - The National Weather Service predicted little to no accumulation for Saturday night. The snow that came through the region was more than a dusting. Some areas got 1-2 inches of snow on the roadways.