Tag Archives: Kentucky

KENTUCKY: Gay Man Denied Marriage License By Notorious Bigot Kim Davis Files To Run For For Her Job

The Associated Press reports: David Ermold will return to the Rowan County courthouse Wednesday, nearly two years after Clerk Kim Davis refused to give him a marriage license because he was gay. Only this time, he does not want a license. He wants Davis’ job. Ermold filed to run for county clerk on Wednesday, hoping to challenge the woman who …

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Landscaping Dispute Behind Assault On Rand Paul

The New York Times reports: The violent altercation last week that left Senator Rand Paul nursing bruised lungs and broken ribs began over a landscaping dispute between the senator and his longtime next-door neighbor, according to neighbors and three Kentucky Republicans familiar with what transpired. The precise provenance of the dispute was still a matter of disagreement on Monday. But …

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KENTUCKY: GOP State House Speaker Resigns Post After Sexting Scandal, Says God Has Forgiven Him

The Associated Press reports: Kentucky’s Republican House speaker resigned his leadership position Sunday after acknowledging he settled sexual harassment claims from one of his staffers last month. Jeff Hoover denied sexually harassing the staff member, but said he sent inappropriate text messages that were consensual. Hoover’s wife and two of his three daughters were in the room as he spoke. …

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Sen. Rand Paul’s Assault Injuries More Serious Than First Reported: Five Broken Ribs, Lung Contusions

CNN reports: Republican Sen. Rand Paul has five rib fractures, including three displaced fractures and lung contusions, after an assault in his home in Bowling Green, Kentucky, a senior adviser told CNN. Paul sustained what were initially reported as “minor injuries” after a neighbor allegedly assaulted him in his home Friday. Kentucky State Troopers said the neighbor, Rene Albert Boucher, …

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KENTUCKY: Judge Resigns After Ethics Complaint For Refusing To Hear Adoptions By Same-Sex Couples

Via press release from Lambda Legal: Yesterday Kentucky Family Court Judge W. Mitchell Nance notified Governor Matthew G. Bevin and the Commonwealth of Kentucky Judicial Conduct Commission of his resignation. In May, Lambda Legal, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kentucky, Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign, and University of Louisville Law Professor Sam Marcosson filed a complaint against Judge Nance …

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KENTUCKY: State Loses Appeal, Ordered To Pay $222K In Legal Fees To The Gay Couples Who Sued Kim Davis

Courthouse News Service reports: A federal judge ruled Monday that Kentucky taxpayers are still on the hook for attorney fees for the couples who sued Kim Davis, a county clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples after the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage. In July, U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered Kentucky to pay …

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KENTUCKY: White Nationalist Groups Plan “Flash” Rally So That Counter-Protesters Have No Time To Organize

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: White nationalist groups might hold a flash demonstration in Lexington to protest moving two Confederate statues from the lawn of the former Fayette County courthouse instead of a publicly announced rally, according to an organizer. Matthew Heimbach, chairman of a white nationalist group called the Traditionalist Worker Party, told the Herald-Leader last week that his group …

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Liberty Counsel: Don’t Blame Kim Davis Just Because Kentucky Has To Pay $222K For Her Anti-Gay Actions

“If, at the end of the day the state of Kentucky has to pay for attorney’s fees, whose responsibility is that? It’s not Kim Davis, it’s not Rowan Country, it’s not the current legislative body, it’s certainly not Gov. Matt Bevin. It is the former liberal Democratic Gov. Beshear. Had he [provided a religious liberty accommodation to Davis,] this case …

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KENTUCKY: Ark Encounter Sells Itself BACK To Its For-Profit Arm After Losing $18 Million Tax Incentive

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: Three days after state tourism officials suspended an $18 million tax incentive, officials at a Noah’s Ark theme park have sold their main parcel back to their for-profit entity for $10. The issue started in late June after Ark Encounter LLC sold the parcel to its non-profit affiliate, Crosswater Canyon for $10. The deed continues to …

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KENTUCKY: State Officials Revoke Ark Encounter’s $18 Million Tax Break Over Sale To Evade Local Safety Tax

Yesterday I reported that Ken Ham’s creationist for-profit company had sold the Ark Encounter to its non-profit division for $10 in order to evade a 50-cents per ticket local sales tax meant to pay for the additional fire and police protection required by the attraction. Well, THAT fucking backfired on them big time. Hemant Mehta reports at The Friendly Atheist: …

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KENTUCKY: Federal Court Orders State To Pay $222,695 In Legal Fees To Gay Couples That Sued Kim Davis

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: A federal judge Friday ordered the state of Kentucky to pay $222,695 in attorneys’ fees to same-sex couples who sued clerk Kim Davis in 2015 when she refused to give them marriage licenses. U.S. District Judge David Bunning ordered the payments Friday. In a statement, William Sharp, legal director for the ACLU of Kentucky, said: “We …

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KENTUCKY: Republican Party Chair Fights Cops, Get Tasered During Indecent Exposure Arrest In Restroom

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: A Kentucky Republican Party county chairman has resigned after he was arrested in Tennessee on charges of indecent exposure and resisting arrest in a department store, the GOP and police said. David Narramore, 54, of Whitesburg was arrested Saturday night in a Belk department store in Kingsport, Tenn., according to police there. A store employee told …

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Ark Encounter Sells Land Under Park To Itself For $10 To Evade Tax To Pay For Police And Fire Protection

The International Business Times reports: The group that owns the theme park Ark Encounter have sold the park to their nonprofit affiliates for 10 dollars to avoid paying taxes, according to a report Monday by the Lexington Herald-Leader. The Christian theme park in Williamstown, Kentucky is owned by creationist Ken Ham and features a life-sized recreation of Noah’s Ark. Ark …

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KENTUCKY: GOP Former Judge Who Campaigned For Trump Faces Multiple Felony Sex Charges [VIDEO]

The Associated Press reports: For years as a Kentucky judge, Tim Nolan sat in judgment of others. Now he sits in jail, awaiting trial on explosive accusations by prosecutors that he snared 17 women and juveniles into having sex over a seven-year period by using money, drugs and threats. Nolan faces charges of human trafficking, rape, prostitution, witness tampering and …

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STOP IN THE NAME OF JESUS: Kentucky Governor To Launch Roaming Prayer Groups To Battle Urban Crime

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: Gov. Matt Bevin said in a jam-packed meeting Thursday that his plan to confront Louisville’s growing violence is to have roaming prayer groups in the West End. Bevin urged faith leaders, public officials and residents to take a 10-block span, walk corner to corner, and pray with the community two to three times a week during …

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KENTUCKY: GOP Governor Blasts Reporter As “Peeping Tom” Over Report On Shady Mansion Purchase

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, facing an ethics complaint about the unusually low purchase price of the Anchorage mansion he’s living in, took to Twitter on Saturday to personally attack a journalist who has been reporting about the controversy. Bevin called Courier-Journal reporter Tom Loftus a “sick man” for allegedly being “caught sneaking” around Bevin’s home and …

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KENTUCKY: State Appeals Court Rules Businesses Can Turn Away Gays In The Name Of Religious Liberty

Lexington’s NBC affiliate reports: The Kentucky Court of Appeals has ruled a Lexington business was within its rights when it refused to print shirts for Lexington’s Gay Pride Festival. The owner of Hands on Originals argued that he refused to print the shirts for the 2012 festival because it was against his religious beliefs. Later, the Human Rights Commission ruled …

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KENTUCKY: Federal Appeals Court Greenlights Damages Lawsuit Filed By Gay Couple Against Clerk Kim Davis

Reuters reports: A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a damages lawsuit against Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who in 2015 refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples because it conflicted with her Christian beliefs. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said a lower court judge erred in finding that damages claims by David Ermold …

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White Supremacist Leader Charged For Roughing Up Black Female Protester At 2016 Trump Rally

The Kentucky Herald-Leader reports: A white nationalist wanted in connection with an altercation last year at a Donald Trump campaign stop in Louisville was served with the charge while leaving a rally in Pikeville over the weekend. A Pikeville police officer served Matthew Heimbach of Paoli, Ind., with a criminal summons, according to Pikeville officials. Heimbach is charged with one …

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KENTUCKY: Family Court Judge Refuses To Hear Any Adoption Cases From “Practicing Homosexuals”

USA Today reports: A family court judge who sits in Barren and Metcalfe counties has announced he will no longer hear adoption cases involving “homosexual parties” because he believes allowing a gay person to adopt could never be in the child’s best interest. Judge W. Mitchell Nance, who begins court each day by requiring everyone to stand for the Pledge …

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