From Kentucky Public Radio’s Tony McVeigh
Kentucky is starting a new program to help low-income citizens obtain free or reduced-cost prescription drugs.
For good will, promotion and advertising, some drug companies offer free or low-cost prescription drugs to those who can’t afford them. But it’s often difficult for consumers to figure out how to get the drugs. Governor Steve Beshear says that won’t be the case under the Kentucky Prescription Assistance Program.
“We’re going to buy computer software that will allow the user to locate, link and enroll in these assistance programs,” Beshear said Friday.
The General Assembly appropriated $1 million for the program, which should be fully operational by next March. Each county will have a specific site where individuals, with physician referrals, will be able to access the program.
With election day nearing, the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office says rumors about voting procedure have been running rampant.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Les Fugate says many rumors about voters being ineligible have been circulated via e-mail. He says many of them come from poorly-informed, out of state or partisan sources.
“There are always political accusations on both sides of the aisle that one side is spreading information trying to increase turnout and then on the other side saying they’re trying to decrease turnout,” he says. “But at this point, our main focus is to try to tell voters what the truth is – to get the facts out.”
One of the most common rumors involves electioneering, or campaigning too close to a polling place. It’s illegal to actively campaign within 300 feet of a polling place, but Fugate says it’s not against the law to wear campaign attire to the polls, as long as it doesn’t create a diversion.
“Even if you are electioneering, the punishment for electioneering is not that you will lose your vote, it’s that you could be prosecuted for misdemeanor,” says Fugate. “We will not turn anyone away for electioneering, specifically if it’s a button, t-shirt or cap.”
The Secretary of State’s office has set up a website to address the rumors.
The Kentucky Youth Advocates organization is asking Governor Steve Beshear and state lawmakers to find new sources of revenue instead of cutting budgets to offset a projected revenue shortfall.
When he announced the $294 million projected deficit Thursday, Governor Beshear said budget cuts and tax increases may be required to bring the budget into balance. State programs already saw budget cuts earlier this year, when the commonwealth faced a more than $400 million deficit.
Kentucky Youth Advocates Executive Director Terry Brooks says health and human services programs can’t endure more cuts, and it’s time to find new revenue streams for the state.
“I just think it’s incumbent upon leadership within the state to make sure that what is clearly a budget crisis doesn’t become a human crisis,” he says.
Brooks also wants the Governor to tap into Kentucky’s rainy day fund to help offset the deficit
“If we’re really going to avoid hurting families and children in this state, we really can’t go the route of tightening belts and pulling bootstraps up any more than we have,” says Brooks.
A state budget report says a large chunk of the rainy day fund was committed to balance the previous budget. Beshear plans to make a specific budget proposal in early December.
A conference at the University of Louisville this weekend focuses on one of Africa’s principal philosophers. WFPL’s Elizabeth Kramer has more.
Kwasi Wiredu is a 67-year old philosopher from Ghana who is speaking at the conference along with other philosophers. They will talk about Wiredu’s ideas, which developed from his experiences as an African.
U of L philosophy professor D.A. Masolo organized the conference on Wiredu.
“He is one person whose reflections and work are becoming the centerpiece of a lot of philosophical discussions among African philosophers as well as philosophers in the West as a whole,”Masolo says.
Masolo says attendees are coming from universities throughout the country as well as Africa, Europe and the Caribbean.
Wiredu, who now teaches at the University of South Florida, has infused African perspectives into philosophical debates worldwide.
Masolo says Wiredu’s ideas about knowledge and morality come from much of Africa’s community-based culture.
“Moral experience is not based on some innate ability to understand moral principals, but they are shaped by our communal living and our relations with others,” he says. “Wiredu espouses the view that could easily be called a communitarian perspective.”
This is the second U of L conference to focus on African philosophy. The last one was in 1998.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Investing in a Volatile Market
Wall Street is continuing to take investors on a wild ride. Up one day, down the next, what’s an investor to do? With many stocks at an all time low, could this be a good time to put money into the market? But just because a stock is low doesn’t mean it’s a good investment. And many people are wondering about their 401(k)’s and if they should stop contributing until the market levels out. And what about bonds, or… So whether you are a seasoned investor or just thinking of getting your feet wet, join us this Friday with your questions about investing in a volatile market.
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