SUMMARY: Severe weather is expected to return on Thursday, with a cold front moving through the Ohio Valley and re-energizing the atmosphere, creating conditions for strong to severe storms, including damaging winds, large hail, and isolated tornadoes. All of Central and Eastern Kentucky is under a Level 2 (Slight Risk) for severe weather. The storms will be fueled by gusty southwest winds, pushing temperatures into the low 80s. For Oaks Day (Friday), scattered showers and storms are likely, and the forecast for Derby Day (Saturday) is uncertain, with possible lingering clouds and showers. Temperatures will be cooler, staying in the mid-60s for the weekend.

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The post California, Arizona, other states sue to protect AmeriCorps from cuts | California appeared first on www.thecentersquare.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Centrist

This article reports on a legal action filed by multiple states against the Trump administration over cuts to AmeriCorps, without offering an overt ideological stance. The content outlines the details of the lawsuit, the parties involved, and their claims. The language used is largely factual, describing the positions of the states, particularly California and Arizona, without endorsing one side. While the article highlights the perceived impacts of the cuts and quotes politicians critical of the Trump administration, it refrains from promoting an explicit viewpoint, focusing instead on reporting the legal and administrative actions at hand. The tone remains neutral and provides an equal space to both the states’ concerns and the implications of the lawsuit. It primarily serves as a factual report on the legal challenge, rather than an advocacy piece, and does not adopt a partisan perspective on the issue.

by Jack Brammer, Kentucky Lantern
April 29, 2025

After years of legal wrangling, former Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes is free of any state ethics violation charges.

The Executive Branch Ethics Commission, which brought charges against her in 2021, has decided not to try to appeal to the Kentucky Supreme Court last month’s unanimous decision by the Kentucky Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court order that cleared Grimes of any wrongdoing.

With no appeal to the state’s highest court from the commission within 30 days, the appellate court finalized its decision on April 21.

“There are no legal charges any more against her, and there never should have been any,” her attorney, Jon Salomon of Louisville, said Monday night.

The end of the legal case could opens the door for a possible run for another political office. The Democrat is seen by some Kentucky political observers as a possible candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2026 or Central Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District next year.

Grimes is a Lexington lawyer who was secretary of state from 2011 to 2019 and was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014 against Republican Mitch McConnell. She is the daughter of the former state Democratic Party Chair Jerry Lundergan of Lexington. The Lundergan family is close to former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Grimes did not return phone calls seeking comments about her legal victory and political future.

Susan Clary, executive director of the ethics commission, had no comment Monday night when asked why the commission did not ask the Kentucky Supreme Court to review the Court of Appeals’ decision.

The commission had been investigating Grimes for several years.

In November 2021, the commission fined Grimes $10,000 for two ethical violations pertaining to handling of voter data.

As secretary of state, Grimes was the state’s chief elections officer. In her position, she had access to data from the state voter registration system in the State Board of Elections.

The commission had alleged that Grimes violated the ethics code by sharing voter information without requiring a request under the Open Records Act or other “established process of government.”

Grimes responded that all the voter data at issue was information in the public domain and that she had full legal authority and discretion as secretary of state to access and share such information. She claimed no statute or regulation was violated by the sharing of such public information. She claimed the commission’s charges were barred by the five-year statute of limitations and that the record did not support a finding of any violations of the state executive branch’s code of ethics.

The commission argued that it was not bound by any statute of limitations and claimed that a limitation could hamper its work on other cases.

The only allegations pursued by the Ethics Commission were that Grimes allegedly acted unethically in accessing public information in the voter registration system by downloading voter information onto a thumb drive when she was a candidate for reelection.

The commission also looked at whether Grimes improperly shared information on new voter registrations for certain Kentucky House of Representative districts in response to a request made informally through the office of the House speaker without requiring a formal open records request or charging a fee.

Grimes fought the charges in Franklin Circuit Court and Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled in her favor.

Then the three-member appellate court said last month that the Executive Branch Ethics Commission missed its statutory deadline to charge Grimes with improperly ordering the downloading and distribution of voter registration data from her public office while she was Kentucky’s secretary of state.

“The Franklin Circuit Court reversed the commission’s decision, finding it was arbitrary, not supported by substantial evidence and time barred. Due to the statute of limitations alone, we affirm,” said the appellate court decision. The three appellate judges were Susanne M. Cetrulo, James H. Lambert and Jeff S. Taylor.

Salomon, Grimes’ attorney, noted that the final order contained a “To Be Published” provision, meaning that the case sets precedent in law.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com.

The post Former Kentucky secretary of state wins ethics case appeared first on kentuckylantern.com

Note: The following A.I. based commentary is not part of the original article, reproduced above, but is offered in the hopes that it will promote greater media literacy and critical thinking, by making any potential bias more visible to the reader –Staff Editor.

Political Bias Rating: Center-Left

This article presents the facts about Alison Lundergan Grimes’ legal case and political future in a mostly neutral to slightly favorable light. It highlights her legal victory and potential political prospects without using charged or partisan language. The article leans slightly center-left due to the positive framing of a Democratic figure and the mention of her ties to prominent Democratic leaders while maintaining an informative and balanced tone overall.