From The C-J:

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Inmates at Northpoint Training Center rioted in August because the warden had put the prison on lockdown four days earlier and implemented a new schedule that restricted inmates’ time in the yard, recreation areas and library, according to a report released today by the Department of Corrections.

Staff and inmates told investigators that the quality of food was not a primary factor, the report states…

Doors in dormitories were fireproof but too weak to stop inmates from gaining access to the prison yard. The yard didn’t have interior fencing to prevent inmates from accessing security-sensitive areas and a lack of a comprehensive surveillance system made it difficult for staff to monitor and control them.

But hey, once they’re in the system, felons are kind of dead to this state anyways, so an underfunded and riotous prison is just par for the Commonwealth’s course. Happy Thanksgiving!

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Metro Animal Services embattled director’s attempt to rocket on a new career path in the home of the Kennedy Space Center has fizzled. 

Dr. Gilles Meloche had applied for a similar position in Brevard County, Fla., and was one of five finalists. 

However, Brevard County Manager Howard Tipton chose an applicant from California to fill the job.

The e-mail promotion sent out late yesterday afternoon attaches King’s biography as the “Son of St. X and our next mayor,” and invites recipients to a special fundraiser. King graduated from the historic private Catholic school in 1969.

St. X officials received several complaints this morning from alumni.

“We’ve been around 145 years and have had our share of alumni run for political office. This is very unfortunate and it was not authorized or approved,” says Michael Littel, a St. X spokesman.

Littel tells LEO Weekly he doesn’t know how the King campaign obtained the e-mail addresses of St. X alumni, but the school is investigating the matter.  St. X President Perry E. Sangalli has tried to reach the King campaign, but hasn’t received a response, Littel says.

“That we would sell an address list or e-mail list without the permission of our constituents … we would never do that,” Littel says. “We highly value and protect that information. We’re investigating how that occurred.”

The King campaign was unavailable for comment.

Early this morning, after receiving complaints, the school’s alumni association responded, sending an e-mail notice that scolded the King campaign for fastening the X logo to campaign materials.

From the St. X Alumni:

“You may have received an email from jimkingformayor.com regarding a fundraising event which APPEARED to be authorized or sent by Saint Xavier High School and/or its Alumni Association.

Neither Saint Xavier High School nor its Alumni Association authorized the use of its logo or individual alumni email addresses, nor were they provided to Mr. King.

On behalf of the Alumni Association, we apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.  We have communicated with Mr. King our surprise and great displeasure, and requested that he cease usage of the Saint Xavier logo and the illusion that these events are approved and sponsored by Saint Xavier High School.”

UPDATE:

Hoping to avoid any ill will from an institution that he holds in such high regard Councilman King has expressed his apologies to President Sangalli this morning and intends to cancel the Dec. 2 fundraiser in an effort to minimize any inconvenience, according to the King campaign.

“Being an alumni of St. X and a contributor and one who credits St. X for being a turning point in his life, Jim has nothing but the utmost respect for them, “ says Michael Tierney, a campaign spokesman. “As a result to clear up any confusion he has sent out a note to the alumni stating such and canceling the event.”

When asked how the campaign obtained the alumni e-mails, Tierney said the original intent was for the invitation to be sent only to friends, supporters and fellow classmates. During the distribution, however, the invitation was sent to a larger group by mistake.

The evite features King’s biography and a headline: “Son of St. X and our next mayor,” along with a prominent school logo and lettering.

The King campaign sent the following message to alumni who received the promotion:

“The Jim King for Mayor campaign sent you an evite to a fundraiser. Our intention was to send this communication only to friends and supporters. It was not our intention to imply that St. X endorsed the event. This evite and the distribution was not approved by St. X. To avoid confusion that this event is related to St. X it will be cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused.”

To see the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill (most notably the “easing” of the Stupak Amendment), click here. To view the entirety of the bill in all of its PDF glory, click here. To write a letter to David WIlliams imploring him to not be a douchebag by forcing Kentucky to opt-out of a public insurance option, click here as hard as you can.

A floor debate is scheduled for Saturday, so be sure to watch C-SPAN as Mitch McConnell embarrasses himself and the Commonwealth yet again.

Although the scene outside the surgical center in Louisville is typically rowdy, the clash between activists on the front lines has intensified recently given the current political fight over a woman’s right to choose. On Nov. 7, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a massive health care reform bill, which included an amendment that’s considered a major blow to abortion rights. Dubbed the Stupak Amendment after its lead sponsor, Democrat Bart Stupak of Michigan, the measure precludes the proposed public health care option, as well as any policy purchased with federal subsidies, from covering abortions.

Now, a report conducted by George Washington University has examined the long-term consequences of the Stupak/Pitts amendment, and the outlook isn’t pretty.

The report concludes that “the treatment exclusions required under the Stupak/Pitts Amendment will have an industry-wide effect, eliminating coverage of medically indicated abortions over time for all women, not only those whose coverage is derived through a health insurance exchange.”

In other words, though the immediate impact of the Stupak amendment will be limited to the millions of women initially insured through a new insurance exchange, over time, as the exchanges grow, the insurance industry will scale down their abortion coverage options until they offer none at all. [TalkingPointsMemo]

Gross. Read the rest here.

Although the article leaves out consideration for the 1,300 workers currently employed at the Story Avenue slaughterhouse — and where/how to relocate those jobs if/when JBS moves out of the neighborhood — Sidewalk’s Branden Klayko offers the best account of the contentious issue around. Here’s an excerpt:

This ordeal between JBS Swift and Butchertown has certainly been sensationalized in the media and in real life, but hopefully as it moves forward, the true significance of relocating a slaughterhouse from Louisville’s urban core will become apparent.  It’s not helpful for the company to pit its workers against the neighborhood or use them as shields against enforcement.  Tacky arguments about butchers in Butchertown must be revealed for what they are.  Political rhetoric about moving the plant has been going on for over a decade but the time for real leadership is upon us.

From Business First:

(Abramson) will speak to the mayors-elect about topics such as transitioning from a campaign to the mayor’s role, how to manage a city during the economic downturn and how to balance a rigorous schedule with family life, according to a news release…

“I am honored to be able to share my experience with these new leaders who will be facing some of the same challenges I have faced over the years,” Abramson said in the release. “I hope I can offer some advice to help ease their transition.”

Topics we are sure they will not cover include hiring nincompoops to direct major public agencies, out-maneuvering city council to forge sweetheart business deals and the fine art of ribbon cutting.

In what can only be the work of a dastardly, malfunctioning algorithm lurking about The Courier-Journal’s search indexing software, their website now includes results that direct you to their heathen rivals —  us! We are now so validated in our existence that we must dance:

From Reuters (pronounced “NAMBLA”):

PORTLAND, Oregon (Reuters) - The United States’ first marijuana cafe opened on Friday, posing an early test of the Obama administration’s move to relax policing of medical use of the drug.

The Cannabis Cafe in Portland, Oregon, is the first to give certified medical marijuana users a place to get hold of the drug and smoke it — as long as they are out of public view — despite a federal ban.

“This club represents personal freedom, finally, for our members,” said Madeline Martinez, Oregon’s executive director of NORML, a group pushing for marijuana legalization.

“Our plans go beyond serving food and marijuana,” said Martinez. “We hope to have classes, seminars, even a Cannabis Community College, based here to help people learn about growing and other uses for cannabis.”

The cafe — in a two-story building which formerly housed a speak-easy and adult erotic club Rumpspankers — is technically a private club, but is open to any Oregon residents who are NORML members and hold an official medical marijuana card.

But hey, if Louisville keeps adding enough bike lanes, at this rate we’ll get one of our very own pot cafes in, like, 57 years.