Today's project: Kentuckians call the Herald-Leader for light on a story

[sailingaway]

If we can get a good summary with hard hitting questions I'll send an email blast out.

Jake, want to help out?

Working on it but first I want to at least collect the easy info.

The Appalachian News Express article seems available by subscription which I will do in a moment, however, just to collect the info, after searching their database the article was June 12, 2010, by Russ Cassady , the summary and lead in to the subscription requirement are here: http://news-expressky.com/news/article_4d42f727-d5b8-5c0e-8130-f89c567d8e3e.html

This before the subscription reqt:

"By Russ Cassady Staff Writer | 0 comments

As the Kentucky Public Service Commission continues to mull a proposed settlement agreement in Kentucky Power’s rate increase request, questions remain about the process involved in the rate increase, as well as Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway’s involvement in the case.

Kentucky Power’s request for a rate increase was filed in November of last year with the Kentucky Public Service Commission, and the company was requesting an overall rate hike, which could have cost residential customers as much as a 35 percent increase on their monthly power bills."

OK, now I feel the need to subscribe to an Appalachian newspaper. I'll be back.

 

[JoshLowry]

Here's a good summary and more meaty questions that should be included when talking to reporters.

http://pageonekentucky.com/2010/10/15/karl-roves-anti-conway-ad-is-not-dishonest/
​

 

[sailingaway]

The Appalachian News Express account has interesting info including one person's statement (Steve Sanders director of the Appalachian Citizen's Law Center, who was representing the Pike County Senior Citizens Programs Inc. with a brief filed in the rate case) that the negotiated rate ended up shafting small business and residential users in favor of larger corporate users. However, it doesn't link to the disclosures I remember, so I'll go into a database for that. He had to file two for two different purposes for overlapping times when he purchased the energy co stock and that is what I need to get. Still, this says Conway didn't hire an expert witness to counter at least one of the rate increase cases, citing budgetary reasons. So he did seem to have clear involvement according to this article.

 

[sailingaway]

Here is a blog with a rundown of the Dr. Dan complaint.

The disclosures I am going for go to this part:

"3) While Attorney General Conway and or his office staff was negotiating the $5.9 million rate increase for Atmos Energy that the Attorney General subsequently approved and recommended to the PSC, Conway intentionally/unintentionally failed to disclose that Atmos Energy - with whom he/his office was negotiating - has a business partnership with a Texas-based energy company called Kinder-Morgan (see attachments 6, 7 &8). According to Attorney General Conway's Personal Financial Disclosure statements filed with this Commission and with the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Attorney General has up to $5 million dollars invested in Kinder-Morgan - 90% of his entire stock investment portfolio (see attachment 9).

Does the fact that a business in which the Attorney General has invested millions of dollars directly or indirectly benefits as a result of the actions taken by the Attorney General constitute a violation of KRS 11A. Does it represent a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest?

Does the fact that Attorney General Conway failed to recuse himself from having any direct or indirect involvement in the negotiations with Atmos Energy, a business partner with a company in which Conway has invested millions constitute a violation of KRS 11A? Does it represent a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest?

4) Earlier this year, LG&E and KU formally applied for rate increases with the PSC totaling $262 million (see attachment 10). It is unclear at the time of this complaint whether or not the Attorney General or his staff has entered into settlement negotiations with either KU or LG&E. What is clear is that there are on-going public hearings being held across this Commonwealth to solicit public comment regarding their $262 million rate increase request (see attachment 11). It is also clear that registered lobbyists for LG&E and KU hosted a fundraiser - while LG&E's and KU's rate increase request IS PENDING (see attachment 12)"

http://www.hillbillyreport.org/diar...do-files-ethics-complaint-against-jack-conway

 

[sailingaway]

Here is a WHAS discussion of it saying Conway initially did not report his investment but amended his financial form to disclose it later: http://www.whas11.com/community/blo...-spar-over-personal-investments-70387147.html

From Mongiardo's campaign news release reprinted in that article:

"FRANKFORT---According to federal and state financial disclosure reports, Attorney General Jack Conway failed to disclose on his 2008 Kentucky Financial Disclosure report that he purchased $1 million-$5 million of Kinder-Morgan Energy (LP) stock, a Texas energy company that favors developing natural gas over developing clean Kentucky coal.
As reported in last Monday's Courier-Journal, according to his U.S. Senate Personal Financial Disclosure Report filed with the Senate Clerk on August 13, 2009, Conway reported investing between $1 million and $5 million dollars in Kinder-Morgan in 2008.
However, a review of his 2008 State Financial Disclosure Report filed with the Kentucky Executive Branch Ethics Commission on April 8, 2009 shows that nowhere does Conway list the Kinder-Morgan stock purchase....."

 

[fatjohn]

(off topic, where are the list of rep stages?)

oh, crap I thought you meant the rankings. Anyway if you want the rankings its just the members list and then you can rank users by rep. The rep list looks like it's ripped though. Natalie has quite a lead. She has much to be proud of, other then her only AF will soon be famous and everyone else is on some distinguished road or something.

oh and bump

 

[sailingaway]

As I see it the main points are, according to the authorities cited below:

http://pageonekentucky.com/2010/10/15/karl-roves-anti-conway-ad-is-not-dishonest/
http://pageonekentucky.com/2010/10/18/another-look-at-the-conway-ethics-scandal/
http://news-expressky.com/news/article_4d42f727-d5b8-5c0e-8130-f89c567d8e3e.html


1. The issues raised by the ethics complaint Dr. Dan Mongiardo filed against Jack Conway on the utilities rate setting scandal are still an open ethics issue (complaint filed by Dr. Dan Mongiardo discussed here http://www.hillbillyreport.org/diar...do-files-ethics-complaint-against-jack-conway ); the ethics commission in dismissing the complaint only found they didn't have jurisdiction because it was campaign contributions, rather than outright gifts involved. Jack's having what is alleged to be 90% of his investments in energy stocks, and his getting campaign contributions from utility companies while managing responses to utility rate increases remain unexamined. There was an additional question about whether disclosure was proper: http://www.whas11.com/community/blo...-spar-over-personal-investments-70387147.html Interestingly, Conway obtained an extension until late in August to file his subsequent disclosure, taking the reporting of hundreds of thousands of dollars he received as an investor in utilities further from the currency of the ethics complaint dispute. http://www.kentucky.com/2010/08/25/1405946/jack-conway-discloses-payments.html

2. Jack Conway nominated at least one of the members of the Commission who ruled to dismiss the complaint for lack of jurisdiction. http://ethics.ky.gov/membersandstaff.html

3. Another Commission member was a campaign supporter who had donated to Conway. http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?29020321449

4. Did these two Commission members make up 2 of 3 of the votes to dismiss the complaint?

These and other underlying issue regarding Dan Mongiardo's ethics complaint against Jack Conway remain unresolved.

 

[sailingaway]

I think the summary above works.