Anti-smoking advocates say the proposed smoking ban in Jessamine County doesn’t go far enough. The findings of a study conducted by the University of Kentucky College of Nursing were revealed today. In Jessamine County, the study found the air pollution at businesses where people are allowed to smoke is four times the outdoor air standard [...]

National Association of Social Workers Kentucky Chapter honors Rep. Jim Wayne and Rep. Susan Westrom in Capitol rotunda For more information contact, Kip Bowmar, (859) 230-2360 Frankfort, KY”The National Association of Social Workers Kentucky Chapter (NASW-KY) honored State Representatives Jim Wayne of Louisville and Representative Susan Westrom of Lexington in a rally at the Capitol [...]

Kentucky Chapter www.naswky.org Press Release Frankfort, KY—The National Association of Social Workers Kentucky Chapter (NASW-KY) honored State Representatives Jim Wayne of Louisville and Representative Susan Westrom of Lexington in a rally at the Capitol Rotunda in Frankfort today as part of an event kicking off Social Work month in Kentucky in front of several hundred [...]

A bill to create an interstate compact that could allow horse racing jurisdictions to have the same rules in areas like medication usage passed the House Licensing and Occupations Committee Wednesday. House Bill 465, sponsored by Rep. Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, now goes to the full House for a vote. At least six states would have [...]

Two legislative acts The Good: Thank you to Rep. Susan Westrom, who resisted a reminder of a campaign contribution to get her vote. She has my vote any time. The Bad: Sen. Brandon Smith who apparently has been living on a different planet for an extended period of time and is cited in the Herald-Leader [...]

The General Assembly could reach a new low today, if the House joins the Senate in trading Kentuckians’ eyes for campaign contributions. Should Senate Bill 110 become law, unsuspecting patients will submit to laser surgery by practitioners who are unqualified by the standards of every state except Oklahoma. Other states have considered similar measures and [...]

Money talks, and rarely more so than Wednesday in Frankfort. Kentucky optometrists contributed more than $300,000 to legislative candidates during the last two years, according to The Courier-Journal. Wednesday morning, they got the third installment of their repayment when a House committee voted 14-2 to approve a bill that would allow them to perform procedures, [...]

By Beth Musgrave bmusgrave@herald-leader.com FRANKFORT — A measure that would expand the kinds of procedures optometrists can perform in Kentucky continued moving through the state legislature at lightning speed Wednesday. Senate Bill 110, which would allow optometrists to perform some laser surgeries, cleared the House Licensing and Occupation Committee in a 14-2 vote. The measure [...]

By Woodford S. Van Meter Senate Bill 110, a bill that would allow an optometrist to perform dozens of surgical procedures on the eye and eyelids, is dangerous legislation. Ophthalmologists who routinely perform these procedures have attended four years of medical or osteopathic school and a one-year hospital internship and a three-year surgical residency program [...]

Written by Tom Loftus tloftus@courier-journal.com FRANKFORT, Ky. — Ophthalmologists charged Thursday that House and Senate leaders violated their rules in expediting passage of a bill to expand the practice of optometry, and they want the measure reconsidered. The ophthalmologists contend that Senate Bill 110 should not have been heard by the House and Senate Licensing [...]