Journal Kentucky Lexington Monitor - Latest Comments

Re: School Kids Paint Table Cloths for Derby Fest

Lucy shelly — Thu, 03 May 2012 06:08:32 -0000

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Re: State Issued RFPs to Build Toll Bridges

Stunoland — Wed, 02 May 2012 18:30:19 -0000

The Federal Government needs to take an interest in the fraud being perpetrated on the people of the Louisville metro area. Wilbur-Smith's, now CDSmith's 2010 final preliminary tolling study didn't just use optimistic assumptions, it used ludicrous assumptions. The Value Of Time assumption was %66 higher than was used by Wilbur-Smith for the Washington D.C. metro area, median income $72,800, in 2009. One tolling study actually assumed the same number of total bridges crossings in a $3 tolling scenario as in a toll-free scenario. This fails the common sense test. Now that CDsmith's financial model is 100% proprietary we are supposed to just assume that these "independent" consultants are using realistic numbers. Wilbur-Smith's last 12 tolling studies have been off by a collective 127%. This is what Terry Maynard, an economist working for the Reston Citizens Association, had to say about the accuracy of Wilbur-Smith's tolling studies:

"The forecasts of revenue seem tailored to what the operators want to be forecasted as a revenue stream rather than its real world potential - which is going to be the same regardless of who is looking for revenue and why.
In other words they look more like a dressing up of the client's wishful thinking in the garb of professional analysis than an objective assessment of revenue potential.
Selling bonds on this basis looks problematic."

Kentucky state officials must be honest with the public and admit to the inevitable tolling of the existing Sherman-Minton bridge. In fact, the Beshear/Daniels ORBP Memorandum of understanding allows for not just tolling of the existing Sherman-Minton bridge, but other points as well. With the denial of the petition to delist the Drumanard estate the $300+ million tunnel increases the need for a tolled Spaghetti Junction. It is not legal or ethical to intentionally distort important financial projections. The only reasonable conclusion from the facts presented is that those who support the downtown Ohio River Bridge Project are endorsing fraud.

Re: Governor’s Prayer Breakfast Still on for Tuesday

JamieM. — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:55:28 -0000

I am guessing then that James Madison was a "radical liberal" because he made it clear that this type of activity being led by a government official violates the Constitution. Plus Beshear violated the official state guidelines on the use of the state owned website and email system. Democracy dies by a thousand cuts.

Re: Proposed SOPA and PIPA Laws are a 1% Power Grab

Journal Ky Lexington Monitor — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 21:13:10 -0000

Update: Vote Postponed in Response to Activists

On Tuesday, boldprogressives.com sponsored a grassroots briefing about the bill that would hurt Internet freedom.

Two-hundred congressional staffers crunched into a one-hundred person room while thousands of folks watched online and asked questions.

On Wednesday, Craigslist, reddit, BoingBoing, Scribd, and over 240 other sites used our online activist tools, and together we made over 40,000 calls to Congress.

Millions of others joined in online, and MSNBC's Rachel Maddow featured our activism that night.

On Thursday, it was reported that 18 new senators, and many House members, came out against the anti-Internet bill.

On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made huge news by announcing, "In light of recent events, I have decided to postpone Tuesday's vote" on this bad bill. The House also postponed their bill indefinitely.

Re: Thirteenth District Seat Unlucky for Senator Kathy Stein

Journal Ky Lexington Monitor — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:53:26 -0000

Governor Beshear said in a press release today he will sign HB1 into law today, Jan. 20, 2012. He said:

“Redistricting is always a partisan process, and the current situation is no exception. However, the action directed by the Senate President to move Senator Kathy Stein’s district in Lexington to northeast Kentucky in order to keep her from being able to run for re-election, and moving western Kentucky Senator Dorsey Ridley’s district to Lexington, goes beyond partisanship. It reflects a personal vindictiveness that should have no place in this process.

However, the deadline for Kentuckians to file for these House and Senate seats is January 31, only 11 days away.

Therefore, I am signing House Bill 1 today so that all citizens interested in filing for any of these seats will know what House or Senate district they are in and have time to get their filing papers in order to file for office.

This situation also reinforces my belief that before redistricting occurs again in Kentucky, some type of non-partisan, citizen-based group should be created to participate in the process.”

Re: Statewide Redistrict Plan Changes Political Landscape

Journal Ky Lexington Monitor — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:52:56 -0000

Governor Beshear said in a press release today he will sign HB1 into law today, Jan. 20, 2012. He said:

However, the deadline for Kentuckians to file for these House and Senate seats is January 31, only 11 days away.

This situation also reinforces my belief that before redistricting occurs again in Kentucky, some type of non-partisan, citizen-based group should be created to participate in the process.”

Re: Sen. Dorsey Ridley will Represent Lexington in Frankfort

Journal Ky Lexington Monitor — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:52:12 -0000

Governor Beshear said in a press release today he will sign the bill into law today, Jan. 20, 2012. He said:

However, the deadline for Kentuckians to file for these House and Senate seats is January 31, only 11 days away.

This situation also reinforces my belief that before redistricting occurs again in Kentucky, some type of non-partisan, citizen-based group should be created to participate in the process.”

Re: Kentucky Horse Council Formed New Equine Group

Director GG — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 11:04:43 -0000

Ginny Grulke, ED of KY HOrse Council here. Just a correction to the summary text of the KBDC formation: It is not a national group, it is a Kentucky group. But thank you for covering the story, we continue to help the equine industry work together and keep our KEntucky Horse industry strong.

Re: What is Mayor Gray Hiding? Gray’s Grade is “F” Minus for Budget Transparency

5th Street — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:57:31 -0000

http://lexingtonky.gov/Modu...

Re: 9.49% Crime Increase is a PR Gimmick to Hype Proposed New Public Safety Tax

lexguy12 — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 07:15:18 -0000

51 % of the budget goes to Public Safety yes... Look on the LFUCG web page and click on the Public Safety link and see just how many Departments share that 51%.

Re: 9.49% Crime Increase is a PR Gimmick to Hype Proposed New Public Safety Tax

retcopperhead — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 21:45:44 -0000

I doubt if the IAWP Parade cost the tax payers much money, but I bet the Convention brought in a lot of money to Lexington as the Downtown Hilton was full of attendees and they ate at many of the Downtown Restaurants and I am sure some visited the Downtown Nightclubs and Bars. I paid $97 in property tax in 2011 to a bus service I don't use and $45 to a Health Department that I don't use. I would not mind paying a little less to both of those and use that extra tax money for a public safety tax.

Re: 9.49% Crime Increase is a PR Gimmick to Hype Proposed New Public Safety Tax

KeepLexSafeOrg — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:17:01 -0000

Wow, there is so much incorrect information in this editorial that it's hard to know where to begin.

1. The Gray administration and the administration of the Lexington PD are not happy at all about the FOP's public awareness campaign. They are certainly not a part of it.

2. Ultimately the decision on how to fund the necessary increases in public safety will be decided by elected officials, not the FOP. Lexington faces a stark choice: there is not enough revenue to have the city that the citizens of Lexington claim that they want. Notice that we said WANT, not NEED. Citizens of Lexington need to make a choice. They can accept the status quo and see the crime rate continue to rise. They can accept severe and painful cuts in other areas of the government, such as parks and recreation or the various outside agencies that the city government contributes funding to. They can accept new taxes or the redistribution of current dedicated taxes such as the sanitation tax.

3. An increase of 9.49% in the reported crime rate does not mean that the Lexington police department "prosecuted crime by 90.51%." That simply just doesn't make any sense at all and we frankly don't even know how to begin to explain it because it's hard to fathom how a person educated enough to have been given the opportunity to write here could not understand the basic mathematic concepts involved.

To begin with, the phrase "prosecuted crime by 90.51%" doesn't even make any sense on it's own. As a matter of legality, the police do not "prosecute" crime. Police detect crime, document the facts of crime, and apprehend the offenders. Prosecution is handled by county and Commonwealth's attorneys, also known as "prosecutors."

We may assume that the author was trying to make a comment on either the rate of detection or the clearance rate of crimes reported. We can assure you that unfortunately neither of those numbers approaches 90%. The rate of detection (or reporting) of crimes compared to the number of actual crimes that go unreported is almost unknowable, although the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics attempts to do so with their National Crime Victimization Survey. The overall 2011 clearance rate for the Lexington PD has not been calculated yet this early in the year. Nationally 47.2% of reported violent crimes and 18.3% of reported property crimes were cleared by police in 2010.

There are plenty of other inaccuracies in the article, but those three are enough for tonight. Some of the others are so non- sensical as to not even deserve the dignity of a response. (The paragraph about "Lexington meeting the definition of a police state" springs to mind.) The FOP is always ready to discuss issues in good faith with the public and we can hopefully correct other misconceptions as time goes by.

Re: “Gatewoodisms” — Late Perennial Candidate’s Creative Quips Became Cliché

Jlatto — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:18:57 -0000

Gatewood, oh Gatewood. Fought a good fight. The farmers in Fancy Farm sure took delight. You brought them some hope, nevermind the smell of good dope. They gathered 'round the podium to hear the hemp story. A small group at first, soon turned to forty. Persistant was he, as the years passed. Never gave up the vision from Kentucky's past. Word spread from Graves County all across the state that farmers from Hickman to Hazard could relate. From fringe to mainstream, you came a long way, now maybe Mr. Comer will carry your hay.
JBL

Re: “Gatewoodisms” — Late Perennial Candidate’s Creative Quips Became Cliché

Dave Stefko — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:45:08 -0000

He was an honest man who was not affraid to stand up for what he believed in. RIP Gatewood.

Re: Government Gives $12.6 Million Tax Dollars to Rich Railroad Company

Chuck_Wolfe — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 09:41:55 -0000

The question about jobs to be created is a fair one. The entire project will take four years -- 2012 to 2015 -- and cost $23.6 million. That figure includes $9.4 million for construction labor. Total projected employment -- direct, indirect and induced -- is 369 "job-years." Direct employment -- construction, in other words -- is 105 job-years. The $9.4M of construction labor cost breaks out to $22,381 per job, per year.

Chuck Wolfe
Public affairs director
Kentucky Transportation Cabinet

Re: Government Gives $12.6 Million Tax Dollars to Rich Railroad Company

Journal Ky Lexington Monitor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:58:07 -0000

Thanks Lex !
Very astute observations.

Your comment fits the data presented by James Squires in his book, "Read All About It! The Corporate Takeover of America's Newspapers."

He is former editor of the Chicago Tribune and Nashville Tennessean, lives in Central Kentucky now, and owns a horse farm.

He says the attorneys for the newspapers are the most powerful people in town, and he's talking about the multinational corporate-owned conglomerates like our main local competition.

No attorney will EVER dictate what we publish at JKLM.us, God be willing.

Re: Government Gives $12.6 Million Tax Dollars to Rich Railroad Company

Journal Ky Lexington Monitor — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:44:26 -0000

Hi Mike, thanks for your most EXCELLENT comment !

It is true that RJ Corman DOES participate in the TIGER fund program. See http://www.rjcorman.com/tig...

However, RJ Corman is NOT the recipient of THIS PARTICULAR gift from unwary taxpayers via Obama and Gov. Beshear. See http://www.rjcorman.com/rr_...

P&L Railroad is a separate, independent company operating short lines in KENTUCKY and NOT affiliated with RJ Corman. See http://www.palrr.com/

I hope you will visit, tell three friends, and comment often.

JKLM is one of the only newspapers remaining that tries to perform the First Amendment "fourth estate" function as public watchdog.

Re: Government Gives $12.6 Million Tax Dollars to Rich Railroad Company

Mike Crowe — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 21:45:17 -0000

You know, no one is hiding this. Did you not see the signs around RJ Corman's Railroad and all the bridge work they did? To advertize his name.... No offense, but, they did turn out to be just BIG billboards for his railroad.

Re: How the Grinch Stole the Ice Rink Christmas Show – Commentary

Kaintuckeean — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:33:19 -0000

Sounds like there are some kinks to work out, but all-in-all I think that the downtown skating rink and redesigned Triangle Park will be great assets for downtown Lexington.