FRANKFORT, Ky. —State arts leaders gathered Feb. 13 for Arts Day in Kentucky, an annual meeting that fosters discussions in the Commonwealth's arts community about the state of the arts industry in Kentucky. The day is also an opportunity for arts leaders to thank members of the Kentucky General Assembly for their continued support of arts funding through the Kentucky Arts Council.
Rep. Rita Smart presented the Richmond Area Arts Council with a check for $8,499 for a Kentucky Arts Partnership (KAP) grant awarded by the arts council in July 2012. The funding awarded to the Richmond Area Arts Council is part of $1.7 million the arts council awarded to 104 nonprofit arts organizations across the state for the 2013 fiscal year.
"Kentucky is fortunate to have excellent arts organizations in every region of the Commonwealth that provide arts experiences to audiences in their communities and visitors alike," said Lori Meadows, arts council executive director. "The state arts agency is proud to partner with the Richmond Area Arts Council to ensure the arts are made available to all Kentuckians."
KAP grants provide operating support on a competitive basis to arts and cultural organizations and community arts programs to ensure year-round participation in the arts is available to the people of Kentucky.
For more information about Arts Day in Kentucky, visit http://artscouncil.ky.gov/KentuckyArt/Event_ArtsDay.htm.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Photo Caption: On Feb. 13, arts leaders came from across the Commonwealth to celebrate the public value of the arts and to thank legislators for their continued support of the Kentucky Arts Council. Checks were presented to organizations awarded Kentucky Arts Partnership operational support grants by the arts council in July 2012.
Feb. 20, 2013FRANKFORT, Ky. — State arts leaders gathered Feb. 13 for Arts Day in Kentucky, an annual meeting that fosters discussions in the Commonwealth's arts community about the state of the arts industry in Kentucky. The day is also an opportunity for arts leaders to thank members of the Kentucky General Assembly for their continued support of arts funding through the Kentucky Arts Council.
Sen. Jared Carpenter and Rep. Rita Smart presented the Berea Arts Council with a check for $5,118 for a Kentucky Arts Partnership (KAP) grant awarded by the arts council in July 2012. The funding awarded to Berea Arts Council is part of $1.7 million the arts council awarded to 104 nonprofit arts organizations across the state for the 2013 fiscal year.
"Kentucky is fortunate to have excellent arts organizations in every region of the Commonwealth that provide arts experiences to audiences in their communities and visitors alike," said Lori Meadows, arts council executive director. "The state arts agency is proud to partner with Berea Arts Council to ensure the arts are made available to all Kentuckians."
KAP grants provide operating support on a competitive basis to arts and cultural organizations and community arts programs to ensure year-round participation in the arts is available to the people of Kentucky.
For more information about Arts Day in Kentucky, visit http://artscouncil.ky.gov/KentuckyArt/Event_ArtsDay.htm.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Photo Caption: On Feb. 13, arts leaders came from across the Commonwealth to celebrate the public value of the arts and to thank legislators for their continued support of the Kentucky Arts Council. Checks were presented to organizations awarded Kentucky Arts Partnership operational support grants by the arts council in July 2012.
FRANKFORT, Ky. — State arts leaders gathered Feb. 13 for Arts Day in Kentucky, an annual meeting that fosters discussions in the Commonwealth's arts community about the state of the arts industry in Kentucky. The day is also an opportunity for arts leaders to thank members of the Kentucky General Assembly for their continued support of arts funding through the Kentucky Arts Council.
Sen. Jared Carpenter and Rep. Rita Smart presented the Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen with a check for $3,553 for a Kentucky Arts Partnership (KAP) grant awarded by the arts council in July 2012. The funding awarded to the Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen is part of $1.7 million the arts council awarded to 104 nonprofit arts organizations across the state for the 2013 fiscal year.
"Kentucky is fortunate to have excellent arts organizations in every region of the Commonwealth that provide arts experiences to audiences in their communities and visitors alike," said Lori Meadows, arts council executive director. "The state arts agency is proud to partner with the Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen to ensure the arts are made available to all Kentuckians."
KAP grants provide operating support on a competitive basis to arts and cultural organizations and community arts programs to ensure year-round participation in the arts is available to the people of Kentucky.
For more information about Arts Day in Kentucky, visit http://artscouncil.ky.gov/KentuckyArt/Event_ArtsDay.htm.
The Kentucky Arts Council, the state arts agency, creates opportunities for Kentuckians to value, participate in and benefit from the arts. Kentucky Arts Council funding is provided by the Kentucky General Assembly and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Richmond—As her second two-year term as a legislator begins, Rep. Rita Smart, D-Richmond, has been appointed chair of the House of Representatives’ Education Assessment and Accountability Review Subcommittee.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 31, 2012) – The Kentucky Agricultural Development Board, chaired by Gov. Steve Beshear, approved the Madison County Fiscal Court for $50,000 Agricultural Development Funds to purchase a new truck for the county’s decease animal removal program.
“I am committed to creating opportunities that will make Kentucky’s agricultural community stronger, while protecting our environment,” said Gov. Beshear. “Projects such as this one funded by the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board are important in achieving this goal.”
The truck for this project will replace the existing truck that has been in service since 2001. The county provides free deceased animal pickup services to its citizens; these funds will help them continue to do so. According to the applicant, 50 farm families benefit from the service each year with approximately 1,000 large animals being properly disposed of annually. Non-farm citizens benefit from this service, as well.
“These funds will help Madison County continue to provide an affordable and efficient solution to this unsightly problem, which can have a serious impact on water quality,” said Sen. Jared Carpenter, of Berea.
“This program provides a critical service for our livestock farmers, so I am certainly pleased to see this grant come to our community,” said Rep. Rita Smart, of Richmond. “The tobacco settlement has really been beneficial over the last decade for agriculture, which plays such a major role in our local economy. Projects like this are a reason why.”
“The continued development of this program is essential to balance the economy need of our cattle farmers, and keep our farm lands safe from potential disease caused by dead animals," said Rep. Donna Mayfield, of Winchester. “The major goal of the tobacco settlement agreement is to provide programs that help the farm community in Madison County remain strong and thriving.”
This project was one of the 38 proposals approved at the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board’s October business meeting.
For more information about dead animal removal program, contact County Judge-Executive Kent Clark at 859-624-4700 or 859-358-3388.
FRANKFORT—A committee of state lawmakers will visit the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond this Thursday, Oct. 11 for an Army briefing and bus tour of the depot grounds.
RICHMOND, Ky. (Oct. 26, 2012) – Eastern Kentucky University’s Department of Communication, AT&T and the Kentucky Press Association have partnered to improve the sustainability of rural journalism, especially within the University’s 22-county primary service region.
FRANKFORT—A committee of state lawmakers will visit the Blue Grass Army Depot in Richmond this Thursday, Oct. 11 for an Army briefing and bus tour of the depot grounds.
By Bill Robinson Register News Writer
RICHMOND — On Friday afternoon, local Democrats jammed into the small office at the corner of Main and Second streets that serves as their Madison County campaign headquarters.
Shortly after 3 p.m., U.S. Rep. Ben Chandler, D-Sixth Dist., wearing a University of Kentucky shirt, arrived to cheers and applause.
By Ronica Shannon Register News Writer
RICHMOND — The Madison County Courthouse was dressed up in purple Friday much like the audience that gathered to recognize October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 25, 2012) – Governor Steve Beshear today announced Thunder Tool & Manufacturing Ltd. has purchased a 30,000-square-foot facility in Richmond. The company plans to create 45 new, full-time jobs and invest $2.2 million in the project.
“Thunder Tool is a tremendous success story out of Canada, and we’re thrilled it chose Kentucky as the place to begin its growth in the United States,” said Gov. Beshear. “We’re proud to partner with Thunder Tool and welcome 45 new jobs and a multi-million dollar investment in the Commonwealth.”
By Crystal Wylie Register News Writer
RICHMOND — Gov. Steve Beshear signed House Bill 362 Friday that will create Asset Resolution Corporation (ARC), a new agency in Kentucky that will collect and service defaulted education loans for the U.S. Department of Education and generate new revenue for Kentucky financial aide agencies.
Unhappy that Kentucky politics continues to be dominated by men, a group of Democratic women has been working for three years to change things.
Emerge Kentucky, an offshoot of a 6-year-old national political training organization, has graduated 46 women — one of whom has been elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives — and is a few weeks from graduating 20 more.
Frankfort, Ky. — On Feb. 2, arts leaders came from across the Commonwealth to celebrate the public value of the arts and to thank legislators for their continued support of the Kentucky Arts Council. Ceremonial checks were presented to organizations awarded Kentucky Arts Partnership operational support grants by the arts council in July 2011. Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen received $3,856. L. to R.: John Hockensmith, Board Member, Kentucky Arts Council; Lindy Casebier, Deputy Secretary, Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet; Rep. Rita Smart; Sen. Jared Carpenter; Carol Horn, Grant Writer, Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen; Rep. Lonnie Napier; Jeannette Rowlett, Executive Director, Kentucky Guild of Artists & Craftsmen; Lori Meadows, Executive Director, Kentucky Arts Council.
The resignation of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from her seat in Congress on Sunday left each of the 11 lawmakers you see before you at this press conference today with mixed emotions.
We understood the need for the former Arizona congresswoman to continue her recovery after being injured by a gunman last year, but we would miss what she stood for in her work, both in Washington and at home: Collaboration, bipartisanship, and an end to the bitter divisiveness that marks much of politics at the national, state and local levels.
Gradually we came together as “Gabby’s Team” to promote the legislative agenda before you today in the collaborative spirit of former Congresswoman Giffords and her legacy.
Like Gabrielle Giffords, each of us will reach out to both sides of the political aisle this session for support of these social justice issues that are weighing heavily upon our state. And we will do so with the spirit of bipartisanship that marked Giffords’ congressional career.
Giffords spoke of the need for bipartisan promotion of “centrism and moderation” in an e-mail to former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson on the eve of the Arizona shooting that left her critically injured. Giffords, a Democrat, hoped to join with Grayson, a Republican, to tone down the nation’s damaging partisan rhetoric after Grayson settled into his new role at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Grayson said after the shooting that he felt Giffords was “really sincere in that e-mail… And I am going to redouble my efforts.”
As Gabby’s Team, we, too, will “redouble our efforts” to bridge the partisan divide and move this legislation forward for Kentucky.
Thank you.
Frankfort, Ky. — On Feb. 2, arts leaders came from across the Commonwealth to celebrate the public value of the arts and to thank legislators for their continued support of the Kentucky Arts Council. Ceremonial checks were presented to organizations awarded Kentucky Arts Partnership operational support grants by the arts council in July 2011. Berea Arts Council received $4,544. L. to R.: John Hockensmith, Board Member, Kentucky Arts Council; Lindy Casebier, Deputy Secretary, Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet; Sen. Jared Carpenter; Rep. Rita Smart; Rep. Lonnie Napier; Gwen Childs, Executive Director, Berea Arts Council; Lori Meadows, Executive Director, Kentucky Arts Council.
The resignation of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords from her seat in Congress on Sunday left each of the 11 lawmakers you see before you at this press conference today with mixed emotions.
We understood the need for the former Arizona congresswoman to continue her recovery after being injured by a gunman last year, but we would miss what she stood for in her work, both in Washington and at home: Collaboration, bipartisanship, and an end to the bitter divisiveness that marks much of politics at the national, state and local levels.
Gradually we came together as “Gabby’s Team” to promote the legislative agenda before you today in the collaborative spirit of former Congresswoman Giffords and her legacy.
Like Gabrielle Giffords, each of us will reach out to both sides of the political aisle this session for support of these social justice issues that are weighing heavily upon our state. And we will do so with the spirit of bipartisanship that marked Giffords’ congressional career.
Giffords spoke of the need for bipartisan promotion of “centrism and moderation” in an e-mail to former Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson on the eve of the Arizona shooting that left her critically injured. Giffords, a Democrat, hoped to join with Grayson, a Republican, to tone down the nation’s damaging partisan rhetoric after Grayson settled into his new role at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Grayson said after the shooting that he felt Giffords was “really sincere in that e-mail… And I am going to redouble my efforts.”
As Gabby’s Team, we, too, will “redouble our efforts” to bridge the partisan divide and move this legislation forward for Kentucky.
Thank you.
Frankfort, KY: For the second year, Rep. Joni Jenkins, (D-Louisville), is putting out the call for Kentucky taxpayers to “check it out” to support breast cancer research in Kentucky.
Rep. Jenkins and First Lady Jane Beshear joined with Majority Leader Rocky Adkins, Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, former State Auditor Crit Luallen, and other officials and health experts to show their support for the effort.
In 2005, Rep. Jenkins sponsored House Bill 7, which created the Breast Cancer Research and Education Trust Fund to support and advance breast cancer research, education, treatment, screening and awareness efforts in the state. The trust fund is managed by a board of directors that awards competitive grants to eligible organizations providing breast cancer programs and services.
“While great advances have been made in breast cancer research, too many women still succumb to this terrible disease,” said Rep. Jenkins. “Kentucky taxpayers can help do even more by simply checking the box on line 36 of their tax returns to contribute to the Breast Cancer Trust Fund.”
Since 2005, more than 27,000 Kentuckians have donated to the fund raising more than $270,000. Approximately 150 more Kentuckians increased their contributions to the fund by $52,000 last year.
Jane Beshear continues the tradition of Kentucky’s First Ladies by supporting breast cancer and is a strong proponent of the Breast Cancer research and Education Trust Fund. According to the Kentucky Cancer Registry, almost 600 women have lost their lives to breast cancer in Kentucky in the last year.
“Breast cancer still remains one of the leading causes of death among Kentucky women,” said Mrs. Beshear. “We must do whatever we can to raise awareness and support research for better treatment, prevention and to find a cure. Checking off line 36 on your tax return is a simple way to help join in this important fight.”
Rep. Adkins, a 16 year cancer survivor, spoke of his advocacy for breast cancer research. “I know what it’s like to get that diagnosis and the fear and uncertainty that comes with it. Contributing to the trust fund is an easy way for Kentuckians to help find cures and educate people about cancer prevention and treatment throughout the commonwealth.”
Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, Kentucky’s only current female constitutional officer, proudly joined Rep. Joni Jenkins and First Lady Jane Beshear. “Breast cancer disproportionately affects women, and it is extremely important for women to be educated about breast cancer screening and aware of the warning signs. I hope that, as Kentuckians complete their income tax returns this year, they will pause to think about the difference they could make in someone’s life – perhaps their own or that of a loved one – by checking the box to contribute to the Trust Fund.”
Kentucky’s two largest universities were well represented at the press conference.
Dr. Mary Lynne Capilouto, dentist and wife of the University of Kentucky’s president, said "The University of Kentucky is making revolutionary strides in advancing breast cancer research, education, diagnosis, treatment, and patient care; the support we receive from various programs and initiatives is critical to fulfilling our promise. While the challenges we face are complex, raising the necessary money and support is as easy as checking a box on your tax return."
Dr. Beth Riley, assistant professor of medicine at in the University of Louisville and breast oncologist at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, agreed. “The uniqueness of the Breast Cancer Research and Education Trust Fund is that it reaches all across Kentucky - not only to the University of Louisville in the form of Horses and Hope, a partnership with the Kentucky Cancer Program and First Lady Jane Beshear to increase access to care and screening to the backside of the horse track - but also to the Purchase District Health Department for cancer screening efforts and education serving my own hometown of Paducah. No matter what area in Kentucky you call home, this effort has an impact on improving the health of your county and hometown.”
Former State Auditor and cancer survivor Crit Luallen said “I was proud to stand with Mrs. Beshear, Rep. Jenkins and others last year and it is important for me to come back today to show my continued support and advocacy for cancer research.”
“The women in our lives, mothers, wives, sisters and daughters, will benefit from your donation to the Breast Cancer Research and Education Trust Fund,” said Dr. Steve Davis, acting commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Health. “These dollars go directly to communities to provide awareness, education and screening services to support early detection and breast cancer care to the women in Kentucky.”
According to the Kentucky Revenue Cabinet, approximately 1.8 Kentuckians file their income tax returns each year and said if even one half of those donated $10 to the fund each year, $9.1 million could be raised.
“We have proven with this event last year that we can raise funds and awareness about the opportunity to support breast cancer research,” concluded Rep. Jenkins. “I hope when we come back next year we will be report even bigger numbers of contributors and contributions for this important endeavor. I urge everyone to “Check it out!”