What did happen? Stations didn’t like the term “lied” and requested that the RSLC reformat their spot. Which, anyone with a lick of political sense knows, gave the RSLC to opportunity to change its verbiage and make the ad even more nasty. If you’re keeping score? It’s RSLC: 1, Kay Campaign: 0.

The only person duped by the press release was Jack Brammer, who put up a story a few minutes after receiving the release without verifying that the ads had been pulled. Not surprisingly, Brammer’s story was later pulled by his editors. That information was later republished by the paper as a sidebar but it was still inaccurate and based solely on a press release from Kay. (Time Warner released a statement that it had not been pulled)

Kay’s folks then went on to say that it’s not true that he claimed to be a lawyer when he was not. Unfortunately for Kay, he absolutely did. We showed you last week. Kay may not have written “Lawyer” at the top of his bail bond but he absolutely signed his name on that sheet – TWICE – swearing that it was accurate. Here are those two signatures, if you don’t recall the documents we previously published:

Kay’s “campaign manager,” Chad Aull, said the statements were “false and defamatory” – but he apparently doesn’t know what “false” or “defamatory” mean.

The RSLC reminded the media via release that Kay also sent a professional courtesy letter (which we first brought you last week) to the county attorney – here’s an excerpt:

Matt Walter, Managing Director, Communications and Political Affairs for the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), issued the following statement regarding James Kay, II’s repeated lies and misconduct.

“James Kay, II lied in an official signed police report by claiming he was a lawyer and lied by using official legal letterhead when thanking an officer of the court for ‘professional courtesy’ which got him a reduced charge on one of his 11 speeding tickets,” said Walter. “And now, he’s lying to everyone.”

Walter continued “Kay thinks the rules don’t apply to him. Beyond the lead foot that earned Kay 11 speeding tickets and an arrest, Kay’s atrocious and, at times, reckless driving record – coupled with these false statements to police – demonstrate a complete lack of character and judgment needed to serve in elected office.”

Yeah.

We’ve never seen such an amateur move from the Democrats. Ever. It’s like they purposefully wanted to give Republicans the upper hand.

And you wondered why we called that entire race stupid?

This is why Kentucky can’t have nice things. Because the stupid is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

From Ryan Alessi:

That nine-second clip was all I was able to capture of Grimes answering questions. When asked for an interview, she said not when the speaking at the rally was about to start. Then she left early.

On her way to the black SUV parked behind the Fayette County Democratic Headquarters, Grimes said she was late for a meeting with veterans and couldn’t stop for an interview. I told her I wanted to ask her about a few issues, as well as the campaign she had come out support that afternoon. She responded that she would “try to call” me.

I never heard from her.

-SNIP-

Grimes has been contemplating a run for U.S. Senate since late March. In that time she’s been reluctant to stop for interviews and when she does, it hasn’t been for very long.

-SNIP-

Kentucky voters might be surprised to know that it’s not common for public officials to do that in other states.

-SNIP-

The first political column I wrote for the Herald-Leader on Labor Day 2004 was about how then-U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning kept reporters at arms-length in his re-election campaign. That became a theme throughout the race that went from an expected blow-out to a narrow 2-point victory over Daniel Mongiardo.

-SNIP-

It’s one thing to blow off reporters. All we can do is complain about it. But if voters feel like they’re being blown off — that’s another story.

She may be a great person and may even be great at her job but she knows better than to behave like an entitled brat when it comes to the press. The very press she’ll be begging to talk to her when she decides to run for office again.

It’s time for her to stop listening to the elderly white guys giving her advice. It’s not working. They have no grasp on modern reality and truly believe that behaving as Mitch McConnell does is acceptable. Alison is suffering as a result.

And before anyone has the nerve to attack me personally – yes, Alison behaves as an entitled brat and all she has advising her are elderly white men. Her father, Dale Emmons and the people in their wheelhouses. There is no diversity of thought.

If Alison hopes to beat Andy Beshear in the future, she needs to get a damn grip. The good old boy suit does not fit her well. Probably also needs to ditch the fist shaking and raised voice.

Horribly disappointing watching someone with such potential piss it away like a drunk legislator at a Kent Downey party.

That’s from September 2006.

It’s a real shame he hasn’t had a credible opponent, you know, ever. Because we can only imagine how good the ads would be.

The government-appointed monitor overseeing mortgage practices as part of last year’s robo-signing settlement between five big U.S. banks and dozens of government agencies found few violations after grading the banks’ compliance with ambitious new standards, according to court documents filed Tuesday. [HuffPo]

Lyen Crews just dropped $20,000 on radio advertising for the final week of the race in the 56th District. [Page One]

Gov. Rick Scott is targeting yet another state in his effort to poach out-of-state jobs — and this time the other governor is firing back. Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, took issue with Scott’s characterization of the Bluegrass State as a land of high taxes and anti-business regulation. [Miami Herald]

Senate President Robert Stivers said the legislature will vet the cost and effects of Gov. Steve Beshear’s decision to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act — and could undo the governor’s move in the 2014 session. But Stivers, the Manchester Republican who just finished his first session as leader of the upper chamber, said he believes Beshear had the power to make the decision but shouldn’t have done so without legislative vetting. [Ryan Alessi]

Harry Reid has been threatening to change the Senate rules on nominations, so that a minority of senators can’t prevent a president from filling vacancies in the judiciary or his own administration. [NY Magazine]

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan will visit a Louisville early childhood development center Thursday morning. Duncan will be at St. Benedict Center of Early Childhood Development on 25th Street in the California neighborhood of Louisville Thursday morning and then participate in a discussion about early childhood development issues. [Ronnie Ellis]

Same-sex couples face significant levels of discrimination in the rental housing market, according to a landmark government study released on Tuesday. [HuffPo]

Armed with ceremonial shovels, Governor Steve Beshear (D) and Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson unearthed souvenir wooden nickels at the groundbreaking of the Ohio River Bridges Project on Tuesday. [WHAS11]

Shares of U.S. hospital operators have been on a tear this year, on average posting triple the gains of the broader stock market, as investors tallied up the benefits of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform. [Reuters]

Turns out Whitley County is still a hot mess. Investigators say it sends a clear message that drugs will not be tolerated. More than 20 inmates at the Whitley County Detention Center face new charges after they failed drug tests. [WKYT]

In the months following the October 2001, passage of the Patriot Act, there was a heated public debate about the very provision of the law that we now know the government is using to vacuum up phone records of American citizens on a massive scale. [ProPublica]

Most adults in developed countries favor gay marriage or some type of legal recognition for same-sex couples and think they should be able to adopt children, according to an international poll released on Tuesday. [Reuters]

More than a few parents of Rose Molinary’s young students at Raceland-Worthington Independent Schools never attended college and some didn’t graduate from high schools. [Ronnie Ellis]

Oh, ladies in the military. Why are you so bad at not getting sexually assaulted? We know it can’t possibly be because the military has a terrible culture about sexual assault. Of course not. The far more likely explanation is that you ladies are eccentric gold-digging whores. [Wonkette]

The University of Louisville Foundation sure is a ton of fun. Don’t miss the latest – including comments on The ‘Ville Voice. [Page One & The 'Ville Voice]

Democrat James Kay has raised substantially more money than Republican opponent Lyen Crews and independent John-Mark Hack in the June 25 special election for a state House seat in Central Kentucky. [H-L]

Supporters and opponents of capital punishment agree: The current death penalty is expensive, inefficient, and arbitrary. Some state legislatures have reacted to those faults by abolishing the death penalty, while others are trying to speed it up. [HuffPo]

Biologists are searching for the cause of a fish kill in Cave Run Lake which has affected thousands of white bass. [The Morehead News]

Yeah, how dare the gays get angry when they’re compared to murderers and pedophiles. [Heh]

Way to go, Lexington! A woman is in jail after police say she bit off part of another woman’s nose. [WKYT]

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday starkly warned Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) not to eliminate the filibuster on presidential nominations, threatening to end the 60-vote threshold for everything, including bills, if he becomes the majority leader. [TPM]

This time pretending to be an expert on hypocrisy and moral authority.

Sorry – forgot to include a pee alert.

From a press release:

National retailer Urban Outfitters is halting sales of a line of products that mimic prescription pill bottles and prescription pads following a plea from Attorney General Jack Conway and 23 of his colleagues. In a recent statement to the media, Urban Outfitters announced it would discontinue its “Prescription Line” of products due to its “misinterpretation.”

Attorney General Conway and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine led efforts to contact Urban Outfitters to urge the retailer, popular with teens, to stop selling products, including pint glasses, shot glasses and flasks, made to look like prescription pill bottles.

“Urban Outfitters is doing the right thing by removing these tasteless products that make light of an epidemic that kills thousands of people each month in the United States,” said General Conway, who co-chairs the Substance Abuse Committee of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). “I hope Urban Outfitters will continue to support our efforts to educate the public, and teens in particular, about the deadly consequences of prescription drug abuse.”

Unfortunately for Jack, dozens of retailers sell the items. And a great deal more of them than Urban Outfitters, which has just a single location in Kentucky (Louisville).

They’re all over Amazon, eBay, at chintzy gift shops, novelty retailers, party supply stores.

And the novelty company that manufactures the items told us via email several weeks ago that their sales have seen a huge boost thanks to Jack’s efforts.

It’s all fine and dandy. But it really is shady for Jack to include the Urban Outfitters/shot glass situation in a press release with the following:

FDA reviewing request from Attorneys General for black box warning on opioid analgesics

In May, General Conway was among 43 Attorneys General to urge the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to place a black box warning on opioid analgesics to indicate the risk of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS). In response, the FDA confirmed in a June 7 letter that it will consider labeling modifications in light of this “important public health issue.”

NAS is caused when infants who have been exposed to opioids through their mother’s pre-natal use suddenly lose their opioid drug supply at birth. In Kentucky alone, instances of NAS have risen 2500 percent over the past decade.

“Babies who are born dependent on powerful painkillers can face a lifetime of challenges, both physically and mentally,” General Conway said. “We must do everything in our power to educate patients and practitioners about NAS so that we can stop this alarming trend.”

We’re thinking Jack should make sure his own family’s house is in order before attacking retailers and using his taxpayer-funded resources to further insinuate that Urban Outfitters was directly contributing to the prescription drug problem in Kentucky.

We’ve been hitting the Kentucky Retirement Systems lately for investments on a percentage basis. Seems the UofL Foundation is at least twice as bad. Secret high fees in public-type funds? Check. And they’re the leading cause of kickbacks and corruption in most situations like this, it seems.

Dig into that 990 a bit. Hop down to page ten. They’re paying investment management fees totaling $5.7 million per year on $653 million in assets. They pay their investment consultant, Cambridge, twice as much as the KRS for about 1/20th the amount of assets.

It was interesting stuff. Extremely high for a fund that size, though not the highest.

What’s even more interesting: if you take a look at the 990 for the following year, the UofL Foundation reported $0 in investment management fees:

CLICK FOR PDF

After the $5.7 million figure we reported for the year prior.

Interesting how that works.

$20K! On radio.

The Republican State Leadership Committee is spending no telling how much on television hitting James Kay. Interestingly, Crews claims he has no ties to the DC-based organization. Despite people like Jeff Hoover, Katie Stine and Damon Thayer being members of the RSLC.

And Bob Stivers being a member of the 2013 RLCC Executive Committee.

So that whole, “I don’t have anything to do with that group!” talking point is specious at best.

It’s already been turned into a television spot.