Public Safety | Kentucky
As a Prosecutor, Kentucky AG Candidate office Russell Coleman’s Gave Cushy Plea Deal To Cop Who Destroyed Murder Evidence; Killers Dodged Murder Charges
A Kentucky police detective tampered with key evidence in a gruesome murder case, and as a result the killers had all murder related charges against them dropped. Now, the lenient plea deal offered to the officer by the then-prosecutor Russell Coleman brings his judgment into sharp focus as he...
Accountability | Kentucky
Bevin Attended Out-of-State Fundraiser With Murray Energy As It’s Potential Bankruptcy Imperils Kentucky Workers
On October 1, 2019 Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin chartered a state-owned plane for an out-of-state fundraiser in West Virginia hosted by Murray Energy -- owned by GOP mega donor Robert Murray -- while many of it’s Kentucky workers faced potential layoffs amid its ongoing financial crisis.
A day after Bevin’s fundraiser with Murray Energy, the organization admitted to recently failing to pay their private lenders on time, a move that typically serves as a warning sign of an organization with the potential to be forced into bankruptcy. If Murray Energy files for bankruptcy, some 300 of its workers in Kentucky could be left without work.
Accountability | Kentucky
Bevin Donors Score Sweetheart Deal to Protect Nursing Home Group from Sexual Abuse Allegations
Over the course of four years, employees and family members connected to the Forcht Group -- a notorious retirement and financial conglomerate in Kentucky, riddled with a history of sexual abuse lawsuits -- donated over $37,000 to Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin as he ushered a bill into law designed to shield organizations like the Forcht Group from legal peril.
Between 2006 and 2011, the Forcht Group paid out hundreds of thousands in a litany of malpractice and sexual abuse lawsuits alleged against one of the organization’s healthcare facilities, including one case in 2009 where two male residents sexually abused an elderly widow, and Alzheimer's patient, in her 80s.
Accountability | Kentucky
Fact Check: Deceitful Republican Governors Association Ad Misleads on Beshear’s Healthcare Record
Last week, in a last ditch effort to bolster Gov. Matt Bevin’s reelection campaign, the Republican Governors Association released an ad deceitfully implying that Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear is currently supporting a “government take over of healthcare,” without any shred of evidence.
The ad makes the claim while flashing pictures of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on the screen. But according to a review by American Ledger, the evidence supporting this claim is virtually nonexistent, making the RGA’s new ad an apparent attempt to defraud Kentucky voters with blatantly false information.
Corruption & Secrecy | Kentucky
Bevin Cut Off Resources to Laid Off Ashland Steel Workers
In January 2017, Gov. Matt Bevin ignored the cries of local steelworkers in Ashland County, Kentucky, by gutting funding for the Ashland Career Center, a local career organization designed to help guide local steel mill workers to their next position incase of layoffs.
Nearly two years later, in September 2019, almost 260 steel workers employed at AK Steel in Ashland were given notice they would likely be laid off, and now are left without a fully functioning resource center to help them find their next job because of Bevin’s steep cuts to the Ashland Career Center.
Accountability | Kentucky
While Republican Leaders Remain Silent, Miners’ Livelihoods are Being Gutted by Coal Giant Blackjewel
Despite Republican promises to revive and protect the coal industry in the United States and Kentucky, Blackjewel, the nation’s 6th largest coal producer, has stopped paying thousands of its mining employees in a move that is wreaking havoc on the livelihoods of mining communities. The consequences are a direct result of the company’s recent bankruptcy filing.
On July 1, Blackjewel LLC, based in West Virginia, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of West Virginia, stilling its mines across the country, including 10 in Virginia alone. In total, about 1,700 Blackjewel employees in mining operations across Virginia, Wyoming, West Virginia and Kentucky are still out of work.
Corruption & Secrecy | Kentucky
Healthcare Executives Funneled Campaign Cash to Bevin After His Admin Helped Fund Their New Office Headquarters
Top executives of healthcare corporation, BrightSpring -- formerly known as Rescare and PharmMerica -- donated tens of thousands to Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin’s political campaign a year after Bevin’s administration approved a $500,000 state grant to help fund construction of the organization’s lavish new office headquarters.
According to a review of public filings by American Ledger, the donations from BrightSpring executives, made in February and March 2019, came just two months after BrightSpring opened the doors of it’s brand new office headquarters in Louisville.