Gambling
No dice for ‘risk-free’ gaming machines in Kentucky, advises AG Coleman
The manufacturer of a so-called “risk-free” gaming machine is hitting the pause button in Kentucky after Attorney General Russell Coleman said the machines are illegal under a ban passed by lawmakers last year.? Bob Heleringer, an attorney for Prominent Technologies, told the Lantern the company strongly disagrees with Coleman’s advisory but is directing businesses with […]
Judge upholds Kentucky’s ban on ‘gray machine’ gambling devices
A Kentucky judge has upheld the legislature’s 2023 ban of so-called “gray machines,” agreeing with the attorney general that the law does not violate free speech or equal protection guarantees and isn’t unconstitutional special legislation.? Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd in his ruling Friday sided with arguments made by Attorney General Russell Coleman defending […]
Beshear names Kerry Harvey, former justice secretary, to Kentucky Horse Racing Commission
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has appointed the former secretary of the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet to the commission that oversees horse racing and sports gambling in the state.? Kerry Harvey, of Lexington, will succeed Naveed Chowhan, a Louisville-area doctor, whose term expired on the 15-member Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. Beshear announced Friday the […]
Governor’s Derby guests?
FRANKFORT —? Unlike his predecessors, Gov. Andy Beshear has declined to identify friends and political supporters who buy prime tickets to the Kentucky Derby made available by Churchill Downs each year for the governor’s guests. The Louisville racetrack sets aside large numbers of Derby tickets for sale at face value to Kentucky elected officials, including […]
Kentucky Republicans override Beshear vetoes
FRANKFORT —?The GOP-dominated Kentucky legislature easily overrode nearly all of Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s vetoes Friday on the next to last day of this year’s legislative session, cementing a number of Republican priorities into state law.? In total, Republican supermajorities in both legislative chambers overrode two dozen vetoes of bills and a resolution, including […]
Government transparency decisions await Kentucky lawmakers when they reconvene Friday
FRANKFORT — A bill that open government advocates warn would introduce loopholes into Kentucky’s open records law could make its way to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk when lawmakers return to Frankfort later this week.? The final two days of the 60-day regular session — Friday and Monday — are set aside to consider gubernatorial […]
Sweeping surprise overhaul of horse racing, gambling regulation sails out of Senate
FRANKFORT —?Senate Republican Floor Leader Damon Thayer’s late-breaking plan to form a new government corporation to oversee horse racing and charitable gaming is on the move in the Kentucky General Assembly.? With only a handful of days left to pass bills, Senate Bill 299, which began as a “shell” bill, was heard in a joint […]
Gambling interests put big money on Kentucky governor’s race via party governors associations
FRANKFORT? – Gambling interests ponied up big to outside groups that spent more than $30 million on last year’s race for Kentucky governor. Kentucky’s horse race tracks that have expanded into new forms of legalized gambling gave big to the Democratic Governors Association in 2023 which spent $19.2 million backing Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection. […]
Spending to lobby Kentucky legislature hit all-time high in 2023, spurred by gambling bills
FRANKFORT — Gambling interests drove lobbying spending in Frankfort to a record level in 2023. More than 800 corporations, associations and other groups reported spending $24.7 million to influence the Kentucky General Assembly last year, according to data posted Thursday on the Legislative Ethics Commission‘s website. That breaks the prior record of $22.4 million spent […]
Hoping to clear the air in casinos, workers seek to ban tobacco smoke
The instant Tammy Brady felt the lump in her breast in February 2022, she knew it was cancer. With no known genetic predisposition for breast cancer, she suspects 38 years of working in smoky Atlantic City casinos played a role. “I was just trying to make a living,” said Brady, 56, a dealer and supervisor […]
Richmond, Va., voters decisively reject casino in second referendum
The second time was not the charm for developers’ dreams of building a casino in Richmond, Virginia. City voters appeared to have decisively rejected the idea in a referendum Tuesday, with more than 60% of votes cast opposing the measure at the time the Richmond Grand Resort & Casino’s backers declared defeat. Two hours after […]
Richmond, Va., casino promoters make racially inflammatory remarks on local radio?
Radio entrepreneur Cathy Hughes may have upended her push to build a casino in Richmond by letting her opinions fly on the radio. Just days before Richmonders head to the polls to vote a second time on a proposed casino partly owned by Urban One, the media company Hughes founded, casino opponents published a series […]