TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalKentucky shutting off kynect Tuesday
Starting Tuesday, Kentuckians looking for a qualified health plan for 2017 will have to go through healthcare.gov, the federal exchange, instead of the state-run kynect. Healthcare professionals from across the state have differing viewpoints on the switch.
While a news release from the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Human Services anticipates a smooth transition to the federal exchange, Chris Keyser, executive director of Fairview Community Health Center, is not so optimistic. Keyser said she's against the move because it will lead to a decline in the number of insured people in the state.
Gov. Matt Bevin ordered the end of the kynect program, which has dramatically reduced the number of uninsured in Kentucky. More than 500,000 Kentuckians received health insurance through kynect, the state exchange that is part of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
"When Governor Bevin was elected, his goal was to disconnect and dismantle Kentucky's state exchange and to push everyone into the federal exchange," she said. "He's basically wanted to undo all this progress and his reasoning is the state cannot afford it."
Read more: http://www.bgdailynews.com/news/kentucky-shutting-off-kynect-tuesday/article_92b3ed4e-0384-57e7-ae35-5ec538c4c161.html
Minter calls fight to end abortions nationwide her 'life passion'
A crowd of almost 700 people packed the downtown Owensboro Convention Center on Thursday night to advocate for the sanctity of life and remember those lost to abortion.
The annual Right to Life of Owensboro banquet drew business and religious leaders alike along with politicians such as U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Bowling Green Republican. But highlighting the event was Angela Minter, executive director of Sisters for Life, a Christian-based nonprofit organization in Louisville that advocates for the unborn.
Minter, who describes herself as a born-again Christian, talked about her own personal struggles with abortion -- how twice she aborted pregnancies as a teenager, leading her through a difficult time of life ridden with drug use, depression and attempted suicide. But God, she said, opened her eyes one day at a Right to Life rally in Frankfort. It was there that she discovered her life's work.
"I stand before you as a woman who paid money for two of my babies to be killed when I was a teenager," she said. "But, you know, Mark Twain once said that there are two most important days in your life -- the day you're born and the day you find out why. I discovered why that day."
Read more: http://www.messenger-inquirer.com/news/local/minter-calls-fight-to-end-abortions-nationwide-her-life-passion/article_b19bf54d-d5b1-5832-9d8b-69bd024013bc.html
[font color=330099]So a set of decisions that were right for her so she could further her career aren't right for others depending on their predicaments? Abortion is a personal decision and should be kept that way.[/font]
Watch that hemline: Kentucky workers get dress codes
No flip-flops. No bare midriffs. No camouflage. And watch the hemline on that skirt.
Gov. Matt Bevin's administration is rolling out a new dress code for state workers, but some departments' individual tweaks to the rules – including a ban on "extremely low necklines" – are raising eyebrows at the state workers' association.
Employees recognize that employers have the right to set standards, said David Smith, executive director of the Kentucky Association of State Employees, but who's to say what the proper length for a dress is? "You're dealing with a fashion issue, and fashion changes," he said.
Personnel Cabinet Secretary Thomas Stephens said in a recent memo announcing the new guidelines that the executive branch's roughly 31,000 employees should maintain "a neat, professional appearance" because they represent the commonwealth.
Read more: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2016/10/26/watch-hemline-ky-workers-get-dress-codes/92777212/
Mom cites religious freedom in beating son, pleads guilty
INDIANAPOLIS — A mother who cited religious freedom as a defense for beating her son with a coat hanger will serve a year on probation.
After a doctor found 36 bruises on her 7-year-old son, Khin Par Thaing claimed her discipline method came straight from her evangelical Christian beliefs.
Marion Superior Judge Kurt Eisgruber accepted a plea agreement Friday in which Thaing admitted she committed battery when she struck her son in February.
While Thaing pleaded guilty to felony battery, the agreement directed the judge to reduce it to a misdemeanor. In exchange, prosecutors dismissed a neglect charge and a more serious charge of felony battery.
Read more: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/10/28/indiana-religious-freedom-act-defense/92906838/
Bevin releases emails after Stumbo files suit
FRANKFORT, Ky. — Republican Gov. Matt Bevin on Friday released 13 pages of emails about a controversial proposed road project in Jessamine County one day after House Speaker Greg Stumbo filed a lawsuit to see the emails.
Stumbo, a Prestonsburg Democrat, announced Friday morning the lawsuit that charges Bevin selectively released records about the road project but illegally withheld 13 pages.
But Bevin later released copies of the emails, which reveal nothing new about the disputed circumstances over why the project was halted.
In a letter to Stumbo's attorney, Bevin's Deputy General Counsel Chad Meredith questioned why Stumbo filed suit rather than taking the first step in the appeals process by asking the Attorney General's Office to rule on the denial. "Your decision to rush to the courthouse, however, shows that the Speaker is more interested in trying to score political points and making headlines than in learning the truth ..." Meredith wrote.
Read more: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2016/10/28/stumbo-sues-bevin-release-road-records/92881950/
State AG asks for stories about mine spill
AZTEC — New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is asking San Juan County residents to tell their stories about the Gold King Mine spill that occurred in August 2015 and the aftermath of the event.
Balderas met with members of the community and the media today at the San Juan County administrative offices.
"The health, safety and welfare of New Mexico citizens should never be gambled, and it definitely should never be ignored," he said during the meeting.
The stories gathered by the Attorney General's Office and attorneys from Robles, Rael and Anaya — a law firm representing the state of New Mexico — will be used in the lawsuits against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, mining corporations and the state of Colorado. Marcus Rael, an attorney representing New Mexico, said the stories will be used to build the case.
Read more: http://www.daily-times.com/story/news/local/2016/10/25/state-ag-asks-stories-mine-spill/92733402/
Reform Party candidate lays out plan to sink Trump, Clinton
HELENA, Mont. — If you don't want to see either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump in the White House, and you live in the Rocky Mountain West, Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente would like a few minutes of your time.
Who?
Rocky De La Fuente is a 62-year-old San Diego, California, businessman whose political patter matches his pugilistic name. In a news conference Friday in the Montana Capitol, he glided around the marble-laden rotunda, reporters trudging along behind him, and rained down an unrelenting stream-of-consciousness explanation about his plan to torpedo both major-party candidates' Election Day.
De La Fuente is the presidential candidate of the combined Reform Party of Ross Perot fame and the new American Delta Party. Public awareness of his candidacy doesn't come close to even other third-party candidates, such as the Libertarian Party's Gary Johnson or the Green Party's Jill Stein, let alone that of Trump and Clinton.
But de la Fuente says he has the formula to sink the front runners and get himself or one of his third-party brethren elected on Nov. 8. It involves unlikely electoral math, nonexistent candidate cooperation and a lot of luck.
Read more: http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2016/10/28/reform-party-candidate-lays-out-plan-sink-trump-clinton/92905312/
Appeals court denies request to halt drilling in New Mexico
ALBUQUERQUE — An effort to temporarily halt drilling across part of one of the nation's largest natural gas fields has been rejected by a federal appeals court, leaving environmentalists to push their case against hydraulic fracturing in district court.
A coalition of environmental groups sued the Bureau of Land Management in 2015, accusing the agency of failing to study the effects of fracking on local communities, the area's cultural resources and the environment as it approved dozens of drilling permits in the San Juan Basin.
They sought a court order to stop drilling while their case is heard.
In a decision issued this week, a panel with the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals sided with a lower court and found that the groups failed to make their case for temporarily halting drilling.
Read more: http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2016/10/28/appeals-court-denies-request-halt-drilling-new-mexico/92907062/
New Mexico to issue new REAL IDs Nov. 14
ALBUQUERQUE — New Mexico will begin issuing federally-compliant driver's licenses, and driver's authorization cards for immigrants in the country illegally, starting Nov. 14, the Taxation and Revenue Department announced Friday.
The agency did not specify what documents will be needed to get the new ID's called REAL ID from New Mexico despite concerns from advocates. But state officials did say to get the driver's authorization card, applicants must prove residency and identity, and must submit fingerprinting and undergo a background check.
Citizens who don't want a REAL ID driver's licenses can obtain a driver's authorization card but don't have to submit fingerprints.
The move comes after Republican Gov. Susana Martinez tried a number of times to repeal a state law that allowed immigrants in the country illegally to get New Mexico driver's licenses.
Read more: http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/2016/10/28/new-mexico-issue-new-real-ids-nov-14/92905768/
Anthony mayor facing legal action over claims of misconduct
LAS CRUCES - Three former employees for the city of Anthony, including the police chief who abruptly resigned last week after less than a year on the job, are taking legal action against the city over claims of misconduct by Mayor Diana Murillo-Trujillo.
Former police chief Joe Baca, former city clerk Christine Sifuentes and former procurement agent Sasha Mendoza are bringing the claims against Murillo-Trujillo, who was elected in March. They claim she misused public funds and resources and retaliated against them, forcing them out of their jobs.
Baca, Sifuentes and Mendoza are being represented by Las Cruces attorneys James Tawney, of Flores, Tawney & Acosta, P.C., and Joleen K. Youngers, of Almanzar & Youngers, P.A.
“We have evidence that our clients approached Mayor Murillo-Trujillo about her misuse of public funds and resources, and instead of her remedying the issues, the Mayor retaliated against our clients, resulting in them no longer having jobs with the City of Anthony, New Mexico,” James Tawney said in a statement.
Read more: http://www.lcsun-news.com/story/news/local/county/2016/10/28/anthony-mayor-facing-legal-action-over-claims-misconduct/92908186/
Profile Information
Gender: MaleHometown: South Texas. most of my life I lived in Austin and Dallas
Home country: United States
Current location: Bryan, Texas
Member since: Sun Aug 14, 2011, 03:57 AM
Number of posts: 112,168
