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Senate Republican leaders plan to press forward with a vote on the constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling on Thursday over the request of the measure’s sponsor and Democratic leader to delay because two Democrats likely to support the bill will be absent. Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, and Sen. R.J. Palmer, the Democratic leader from Winchester, told Pure Politics that they asked Republican floor leader Robert Stivers not to call Senate Bill 151 for a vote on Thursday. Sen. Gerald... Read more 

(UPDATED WITH VIDEO) A proposed constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling will make it to the Senate floor for the first time after the senate state government committee approved it 7 to 4 on Wednesday. The proposed constitutional amendment to allow expanded gambling in Kentucky now calls for seven casino licenses open to any entity but leaves in place the buffer barring free-standing casinos from being 60 miles from a horse racetrack. Voting for it: Republican Sens: Jimmy Higdon, John... Read more 

Gov. Steve Beshear, who is a member of the Kentucky State Fair Board, said there are ongoing discussions about the future of the board’s executive director Harold Workman but declined to say whether he wants Workman out. “I know that various fair board members have been discussing Mr. Workman’s future and the future of the fair board,” Beshear told Pure Politics and WHAS-11’s Joe Arnold after the governor testified in favor of a bill to allow casinos on Wednesday. But when... Read more 

(UPDATED WITH MORE DEBATE) — Gov. Steve Beshear and Sen. Damon Thayer, R-Georgetown, revised one portion of the constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling to allow up to seven casino licenses without limiting any to horse race tracks. The first draft called for up to five licenses for tracks and two other free-standing casinos. But the latest version of the measure, which is being debated in the Senate state government committee Wednesday afternoon, keeps in place a buffer so that... Read more 

Republicans in the seven-candidate field for the 4th Congressional District are bracing for a sprint to the nomination that will likely attract outside groups, known as “Super PACs.” One of the candidates, Lewis County Judge-Executive Thomas Massie, said he had heard “rumors” of potential deep-pocketed donors looking to start independent campaign groups to get involved in the race in support of a particular candidate, potentially even for him. “We’re certainly not directing one or encouraging anybody to do one, but I... Read more 

Republican candidate for Congress Andy Barr plans to highlight slow economic recovery in part of the 6th District on a tour this spring of the counties with higher-than-average unemployment rates, including the seven new counties to the district. Among his first stops will be Tuesday’s opening of the new Fleming County judicial center in Flemingsburg — a $13. 5 million project funded by the state government bonds. Barr has criticized government spending and debt, specifically the federal stimulus money through... Read more 

The group of businesses, some unions, horse owners and officials who are backing the constitutional amendment to allow casinos in Kentucky is asking voters in at least eight Senate districts represented by Republicans to urge their senators to support the proposal. The direct mailings from the Kentucky Alliance for Jobs target Republicans who have previously expressed publicly their willingness to vote for a constitutional amendment allowing casinos. The constitutional amendment process requires approval of three-fifths of each chamber of the... Read more 

For Republican voters in the open 4th Congressional District, this is the happy time in which all the suitors are attentive, try to say the philosophically “right” things and are politely wary of each other but not yet outright bashing each other. But with just three months until the May 22 primary and a race featuring seven candidates — all of whom start with less than 5 percent name recognition, as one of them put it — Northern Kentucky Republicans... Read more 

The University of Louisville Hospital must partner — but not merge — with another health care network in order to continue its mission of providing care to the uninsured, said James Ramsey, the university’s president. UofL is putting out a request for proposal for hospital networks, including out-of-state based systems, to team up. And among those potential suitors could be Catholic Health Initiatives — the entity that owns St. Joseph Health Care system and was involved in the proposed three-way merger... Read more 

The Catholic Conference of Kentucky is gearing up to curtail legislative support for the constitutional amendment to allow expanded gambling and says nearly a quarter of a million Kentuckians are either problem gamblers or at-risk. “We strongly OPPOSE this proposal because Kentucky should not tie itself to an unreliable, regressive revenue stream and because professional gambling will have a profoundly harmful effect on many of those persons we serve who live in poverty,” said a letter signed by Rev. Patrick... Read more