http://http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/index.xml News, sports, and entertainment from Kentucky.com en-us Copyright 2009 Kentucky.com Editorial 60 Sat, 14 Nov 2009 03:25:57 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's Workbench interactive-ops@herald-leader.com http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1017775.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1017775.html Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:53 EST
They may feel the same pain, but Kentucky law doesn't offer them equal protection.

The victim of the live-in abuser can seek an emergency protective order, but the law doesn't provide the same opportunity to the victim in the dating relationship.

In Kentucky, protective orders are an option for victims of domestic violence if the abuser is a spouse, someone the victim has lived with or someone who is the other parent of the victim's child.

But not to the victims abused by someone they're dating.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1016188.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1016188.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:38 EST
Fine. Go for it.

Kentucky's 60 cents-per-pack tax ranks 40th in the nation, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Since higher cigarette taxes tend to cause a decrease in smoking, the health benefits by themselves justify moving the tax closer to (or even beyond) the national average of $1.34.

However, as a means of addressing the state's revenue problems, either short term or for the long haul, tinkering with the cigarette tax is akin to attacking a forest fire with a thimbleful of water.

Beshear knows that, of course. Kentucky's been coping with revenue shortfalls of varying magnitudes ever since he took office.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1016187.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1016187.html Thu, 12 Nov 2009 07:38 EST
If it did, there would be no pill pipeline importing death and addiction from Florida to Kentucky.

The interstate nature of the trade explains why there is bipartisan support for an interstate electronic tracking system.

One of the obstacles to funding NASPER, a national tracking system that stands for National All Schedules Prescription Electronic Reporting, is U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset.

Rogers has used his clout to keep federal funds flowing into the Hal Rogers Prescription Drug Monitoring Program.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1014530.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1014530.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:31 EST
What Williams fails to appreciate is that broad-based buy-in is a necessary prerequisite for action on education.

Senate Republicans should have learned that in recent legislative sessions. Not even good ideas sell themselves, especially to audiences that are understandably skeptical of some lawmakers' motives.

What Beshear is doing makes sense: Bring together a cross-section of interested parties to meld into a coherent stream all the promising reform currents that are swirling around. Then have them go home and talk up the plan.

And there are a lot of good ideas, flowing from multiple sources, including Senate Republicans.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1013007.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1013007.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:26 EST
That tells us there will be no cure for runaway costs without universal coverage.

Rep. Ben Chandler apparently didn't buy that line of reasoning. He was one of 39 Democrats who joined all but one Republican in voting no on the reform plan that emerged from the House after a daylong debate Saturday.

Chandler cited the cost and his concerns about the bill's effects on rural hospitals and small businesses as reasons for his vote while also saying "there is no doubt that our health care system is broken."

Despite Chandler's reservations, the House moved this country closer than ever to fixing its broken health care system. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1010847.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1010847.html Sun, 08 Nov 2009 01:35 EST
Who wouldn't want to avoid a problem that seems too big to solve? Especially in Kentucky where much of the economy is built on cheap power from coal. People worry that pricier energy will cost jobs.

Climate change is real, though, and judging from the loss of polar ice, it's advancing even faster than scientists predicted.

The energy sources that created economic growth and high living standards in the 20th century will create crises in the 21st unless we aggressively curb heat-trapping gases such as those from burning coal.

The Senate should quickly join the House in committing to major reductions in emissions. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1008125.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1008125.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:20 EST
Yet, there are no definite plans to budget for or hire for this new office of off-campus student services.

While adding to the university bureaucracy could be the best approach, outreach and leadership on this matter cannot wait. Perhaps someone already working in community relations and student services can take on more responsibility for smoothing tensions.

Ideally, considerations about how Lexington's largest employer impacts the city as a whole, and the neighborhoods around it in particular, should be routine at the top levels of the university.

But UK has had difficulty with that, and the local government has set insufficient expectations for the 800-pound gorilla at the heart of the city.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1006427.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1006427.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:40 EST
The legislature should take it further and also include other polluting industries that now pay just a small fraction of their permitting costs.

Beshear traveled to coal country Wednesday to announce plans for beefing up mine permitting and rescue teams.

The coal industry has been frustrated because the state mine-permitting process is backlogged by budget cuts and retirements.

Beshear issued an emergency regulation increasing coal permit fees, enabling the state to hire 19 permit reviewers.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1004775.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1004775.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:30 EST
That last challenge has people you'd never expect uttering thec-word: charters.

Any day now, the U.S. Department of Education will release the specifics for qualifying for the Race to the Top money authorized in the economic stimulus plan.

Kentucky will have to propose stronger approaches for intervening in chronically failing schools, the "dropout factories" decried by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who says about five percent of schools fall into that category.

Kentucky law has strong language authorizing state intervention in failing schools. But the state has never put much muscle behind the words, and the legislature over the years has eliminated services and expertise aimed at helping failing schools.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1004773.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1004773.html Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:45 EST
Ho-hum, another day in America, land of the free and home of the convenience-store assault rifle.

That's Mt. Airy, aka Mayberry, the mythical southern community forever the role model of wholesome small-town innocence, only occasionally interrupted by jaywalker, con man or an escapee escapade.

Of course, the reality of an American street seething with far more guns than people, easy access to high-powered killing machines, and an ever-appeasing Congress cowering before the National Rifle Association, is a lifetime removed from the soothing and ubiquitous black-and-white reruns of TVLand.

You can almost hear the plaintive plea: "Gee, Ange ... I might need more than one bullet."]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1003378.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1003378.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:04 EST
Even though this recession has the state struggling just to maintain what we have, Beshear has commissioned an education task force to put together a coordinated plan for the next stage of reform. That way, Beshear says, when the economy turns around and there's money to improve education, Kentucky won't waste time figuring out the smartest ways to do it.

Makes sense.

Likewise, it seems to us, with tax reform. If lawmakers created a more sustainable tax base now, by raising some taxes and lowering others, when the economy turns around Kentucky would receive maximum benefit from the upturn.

And yet, even though the weaknesses in Kentucky's tax structure have been widely recognized for 15 years, Beshear says this is the wrong time for reform.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1001123.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1001123.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:30 EDT
No, even though that is the pattern: A scathing audit reveals all sorts of abuses; then there's a cleanup, and a few years later another scathing audit such as the one released last week reveals all sorts of abuses.

This time Auditor Crit Luallen's 16-member team uncovered $3 million in questionable or undocumented spending over three years, along with possible tax evasion and a lot of wining and dining on what is ultimately the taxpayer's dime.

Luallen's recommendations for managing KACo more efficiently run to a mere 150.

As bad as all that is, we keep coming back to a worse thought: The officials who enabled KACo's "self-serving culture" (Luallen's words) to flourish are out there running county governments. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1000096.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1000096.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:32 EDT
And how can any citizen in Kentucky feel safe with law enforcers acting with impunity?

The court ruled recently that a law restricting where registered sex offenders could live could not constitutionally be imposed on those who had already served their time before the law passed in 2006.

That makes sense. If not, any new law could exact additional punishments on former offenders of any crime violent or nonviolent.

Of course few people would come to the defense of sex offenders, which apparently makes it easy for the state Department of Corrections to tell probation and parole officers to continue enforcing a law ruled unconstitutional.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1000097.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/1000097.html Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:45 EDT
LexTran and the Bluegrass Domestic Violence Program are teaming up to make that a reality in Lexington through "Ride to Shelter" which starts next month.

Adults and children fleeing domestic violence should alert the driver. The ride will then be free and a LexTran supervisor will provide transportation to the domestic violence shelter.

Victims of domestic violence typically try several times before making a permanent break from their batterers. Thanks to LexTran for giving them what could be a lifeline along the way.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/998556.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/998556.html Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:43 EDT
Its people are poorer, sicker and less likely to have health insurance than residents of the rest of the state.

The "tsunami" of pills described by a Pike County prosecutor is both a symptom and cause of this suffering.

The flow of illegal prescription drugs is also a profit center. We sincerely hope that those who are profiting from this epidemic of crime and addiction are among the group that was booked into jail the past couple of days.

An unprecedented effort by local, state and federal law enforcement was expected to produce charges against more than 500 individuals, Kentucky's largest-ever drug bust.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/996939.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/996939.html Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:46 EDT
So why is a report about a coal-waste spill that happened nine years ago in Eastern Kentucky still top secret?

The Labor Department is resisting release of an uncensored version of an Inspector General's report into allegations of a coverup in the failure of a Massey Energy impoundment in Martin County.

The 60-foot wide hole that opened in the pond unleashed a flood of toxic goo and blackwater, fouling 100 miles of waterways, devastating aquatic life for 70 miles and threatening water supplies in 10 Kentucky counties.

The investigation started under the Clinton administration but was rushed to a conclusion when the Bush crew took over. Massey was cited for only two violations, although the Inspector General confirmed that the investigators wanted to issue at least eight citations. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/995543.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/995543.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:29 EDT
Mayor Jim Newberry sent safety enforcers to assess problems and code violations in neighborhoods around the University of Kentucky campus.

The Urban County Council approved a six-month moratorium on those mini-dorm additions to homes in the campus area. UK President Lee T. Todd Jr. and some of his top aides even walked some neighborhoods with council members to get a close-up view of the problem.

A recently released Planning Commission study made it clear that the city must provide more homes and apartments that appeal to students, the moderate-income and one- or two-person households.
All encouraging signs, except when you consider Lexington's history of addressing most major issues: agitation, followed by inaction.

Discussions dissolve into finger-pointing: downtown versus the subdivisions, developers versus housing advocates, students versus neighborhoods, town versus gown. And too often those elected to balance competing interests avoid making the tough decisions. ]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/995175.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/995175.html Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:38 EDT
You know she's experienced and knowledgeable. You know she's talented and extremely capable. Most of all, though, you know she is the consummate professional.

A non-elected public servant for much of her career, Luallen's election and subsequent re-election to the office of state auditor of public accounts and her consideration of running for governor (2007) or U.S. senator (2010) moved her into the category of partisan politician.

But she hasn't let that change of status define her performance in the office she occupies now, an office charged with ensuring that the public's tax dollars aren't misused through waste, fraud or abuse.

Crit Luallen the elected official is the same Crit Luallen who spent all those years serving other elected officials behind the scenes a professional public servant who does her job and does it well, without regard for the petty partisan politics practiced by too many elected officials at all levels of government.]]> http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/995176.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/995176.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:15 EST http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/993558.html http://www.kentucky.com/editorials/story/993558.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:26 EDT
University of Kentucky President Lee T. Todd Jr., Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart or someone on the school's Committee on Naming University Buildings should have remembered that before agreeing to let a proposed new residence hall for the men's basketball team be named Wildcat Coal Lodge.

Now, the university's trustees face a bit of a dilemma.

If they reject the name at Tuesday's board meeting, it will be considered a slap in the face to a major Kentucky industry.

If they approve it, however, the facility will be stuck with a name suggestive of an outlaw program.]]>