Thursday, September 25, 2008

47% raise?

Yesterday the director of the Legislative Research Commission was given a 47% raise. Mr. Sherman is a great person who does an excellent job in a demanding position. Apparently this was done in order to keep Mr. Sherman from retiring.

I appreciate Mr. Sherman and the work he does. However, it is difficult to justify a 47% raise for anyone at anytime. It is even more difficult when every state employee is getting a 1% raise. According to media reports (which is where I learned this, just like everyone else), this was done because Mr. Sherman is "indispensable". I don't believe there is anyone who is indispensable. I disagree with this decision and I hope it is revisited.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Kentucky in the spotlight

The past week Kentucky had the chance to be in the international sporting spotlight last week with the Ryder Cup. For those of you who are uninitiated, the Ryder Cup is a golf exhibition pitting the best players from the united States versus the best players from Europe. It is played every 2 years and moves from continent to continent. This year it was played at Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville.



The tournament went great. The US team had 2 Kentucky players on it, and they were integral to the big US win. Kentucky received a lot of the attention in the international telecasts. The fans were great, everyone commented on the graciousness of the Kentuckians. I had the opportunity to go to the event on Saturday and talked to a French television reporter and he said how well he had been treated here.



Why is this important to Northern Kentucky? Because the more positively Kentucky is viewed by the world, the more people will want to visit the state and spend some money. Tourism is an important part of the Kentucky economy, and whatever can be done to increase it benefits everyone.

Everyone should be proud of their state after last week.

I've been a bad blogger

Or more accuratly a non-blogger. But I am going to try to get back in the swing of things. Fact of the matter is that there is limited news to post from the Legislative branch, and it is campaign time and that takes up all my free time. However, the postings will begin again!