The battle over Benghazi has come to Iowa, colliding head-on with the earliest phase of the 2016 presidential race. [Politico] I’m (Ronnie) subject to temporary bouts of disillusionment with politics, and it’s dangerous to attempt columns in such a mood. So indulge me as I make some random observations without final political judgments. [Ronnie Ellis] [...]

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Domestic violence takes place all over the Lexington area but Stan Lee continues to support it by voting against protections. [H-L] President Barack Obama met behind closed doors with energy executives Wednesday in a session the White House said was arranged to discuss the industry’s response to Hurricane Sandy last year and preparations for this [...]

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A judge has been appointed to Kentucky’s longest-running death row case after an Associated Press inquiry into why it had been pending for 16 months without a judge. [H-L] Hillary Clinton clears the field as the Democratic candidate of choice in a new 2016 presidential poll. [Politico] Attorney General Jack Conway said he’s had a [...]

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The University of Kentucky violated the state Open Records Act by refusing to release documents about surgeries at Kentucky Children’s Hospital, the state attorney general’s office has ruled. [John Cheves] Eleven House Democrats are on record as opposing gay marriage, even as support within their party for the issue builds. [The Hill] A Louisville woman [...]

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When fortunes rise in the housing industry — as they currently are — it tends to lift sales for other businesses, too. Home construction, sales and prices are all improving. And according to many analysts, the market is gaining steam. [NPR] A central Kentucky city is expecting its first legal distillery to begin operating later [...]

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It is a theme that has become increasingly familiar during the rapid evolution of American political attitudes toward same-sex marriage: People who learn that a friend or loved one is gay are far more likely to support same-sex marriage, even if they were once adamantly opposed. [NPR] Criticizing UK’s attitude toward the arts, its museum [...]

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Feature articles about locally owned businesses are often feel-good pieces — a creative cupcake maker, a charming vintage-radio repairman — that exist in a world far from the stories that are making front-page news and dividing the nation. But this one, about Lexingtonian Keith Pitts’ small but growing business, is a little different. [H-L] Okay, [...]

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More than 100 big-name Republicans have signed a new brief urging the Supreme Court to codify the right to gay marriage in one of the biggest shifts toward embracing gay marriage in the recent history of the GOP. But while significant, the shift is less than meets the eye. [WaPo] Surely this isn’t the way [...]

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An independent panel tasked with reviewing case files of children who have been killed or nearly killed from abuse or neglect agreed Monday that they needed complete case files and that the panel’s meetings should be closed to the public. [Bluegrass Politics] Republicans have a problem. For years they could shout down any attempt to [...]

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At a time when the state is scrambling for revenue and wrestling with Medicaid costs and managed care, it might have to repay $60 million in federally disallowed supplemental payments to primary care centers. [Ronnie Ellis] Some education experts say the opportunity to take advanced classes is critical to helping low-income students succeed later in [...]

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