Richie Farmer

Richie Farmer wasn’t in Winchester Thursday morning,but had he been, he would have had some questions to answer about his spending. Instead, David Williams had to answer them. Williams, who is the state Senate president and a Republican candidate for governor, was at the Dairy Queen on Main Street as part of the Williams-Farmer bus tour that began this week. The candidate praised Farmer for his work as the state’s agriculture commissioner and apologized for him not being there to meet the voters.

FRANKFORT - Richie Farmer is plowing new ground these days, but he's using his experience in a different field to apply to his new one. Farmer is the new commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture, a post the Republican from Manchester won easily in November in a landslide that included a sweep of all area counties. He took office in January with a short but impressive resume, especially in the area of extracurricular activities. Under education, he lists a diploma from Clay County High School and a degree in agriculture from the University of Kentucky.

When you think of Richie Farmer, it's almost impossible not to think of his splendid basketball career at the University of Kentucky rather than what he has done recently as Kentucky's commissioner of agriculture. Maybe it shouldn't be that way since Farmer seems poised to be re-elected for a second term, but Farmer was a sports icon during his playing days, first at Clay County High School and then UK. He was one of "The Unforgettables" that lost the heart-breaking game to Duke and remains one of Kentucky's most popular players from any era. So is it hard for him to also believe at times that he has become one of the state's political leaders?

 Clark County results from Tuesday's primary election.   REPUBLICANS Governor-Lt. Governor David Williams and Richie Farmer 442 Phil Moffett and Mike Harmon, 562 Barbara "Bobbie" Holsclaw and Bill Vermillion Jr., 70 Secretary of State Hilda Legg 529 Bill Johnson 477 Auditor Addia Wuchner 388 John Kemper III 564 Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer 550 Rob Rothenberger 429...

Indiana coach Tom Crean has a depleted roster because of NCAA sanctions and is trying to urge his team to compete harder than its talent level during his first season much like Rick Pitino did his first year at Kentucky. "If people ever say we competed as hard as Rick Pitino's teams did those first few years, I don't think our program could get a better compliment," Crean said Thursday. "He did have Reggie Hanson, Derrick Miller, Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, Sean Woods and John Pelphrey.

Vote for Williams, Farmer on May 17 Dear Editor: Over the last three years, I have been involved with the American Small Business Partnership (ASBP) and Louisville Tea Party. Both groups have combined efforts to support conservative candidates and fight the unions and tax and spend liberals who have let Kentucky fall behind. In the May 17th primary, I endorse David Williams and Richie Farmer for governor and lieutenant governor. David Williams understands the importance of improving education and creating a reasonable tax structure to attract new businesses and grow existing business.

A tip of the cap to our Republican Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and former Democratic State Treasurer Jonathan Miller for their inter-party field trip to Washington, D.C., this week. The duo, joined by Republican State Senator Paul Hornback of Shelbyville, visited Washington to drum up support among lawmakers  for lifting federal barriers to legal hemp in Kentucky. While it is too soon to tell whether the trip will pay dividends, the follow-through from Comer, and the bipartisan joining of forces with Miller, should make the state proud.

It's been almost since a week since John Calipari was introduced as the men's basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. It's still a hot topic. Even though he's not coached his first game as coach of the Wildcats and isn't an official resident of the Bluegrass State just yet, he's one of the most popular figures in the entire Commonwealth from Pikeville to Paducah. Everywhere I go, people ask my opinion on the new coach. My answer is simple: Kentucky couldn't have found a better fit to meet the requirements of the job - even the unwritten ones that former coach Billy Gillispie failed to understand in his two seasons as the team's top authority in the round ball sport.

I suffered two big disappointments during Tuesday’s primary elections in Kentucky. First was the voter turnout, which in this country as a whole, is extremely disappointing. According to the news channels I’ve watched overnight, Kentucky’s turnout rate was slightly over 9 percent of all registered voters in the state. That is a sad, sad figure. It is a mystery to me why people would even register to vote in the first place and then not exercise that right. Whether in the primary elections or the general elections, those non-voters are letting someone else decide for them who the best candidates are. Then they have the gall to be the first ones heard complaining when things don’t go their way. If the non-voters feel that politics is too dirty, and politicians will just do what they want anyway regardless of the voting public’s opinion, there is a tool to change that each election, and it’s called VOTING.

A tip of the cap to our Republican Agriculture Commissioner James Comer and former Democratic State Treasurer Jonathan Miller for their inter-party field trip to Washington, D.C., this week. The duo, joined by Republican State Senator Paul Hornback of Shelbyville, visited Washington to drum up support among lawmakers  for lifting federal barriers to legal hemp in Kentucky. While it is too soon to tell whether the trip will pay dividends, the follow-through from Comer, and the bipartisan joining of forces with Miller, should make the state proud.

Actor Ed Norton warned: “Fame is very corrosive and you have to guard very strictly against it.” Unfortunately for Richie Farmer, star guard for the 1992 University of Kentucky Wildcats, a new report by state auditor Adam Edelen indicates he did not guard very well against fame's corrosive nature - at least not during his eight-year stint as the commonwealth's agriculture commissioner. Edelen's audit of the Department of Agriculture under Farmer reeks of the hubris of someone who allowed his celebrity status and retired jersey number to lure him into thinking he was exempted from accountability to the employees and taxpayers he was there to serve.

If you don't think money is important to a relationship, you've probably never been married. Disagreements over finances and the strain put on a couple struggling to support a family because of a lack of money, or money management, are among the most common causes of divorce. The struggle to stay together fails all too often, and the effects of that failure compound when children are involved. Society suffers, too, when families split. The impact can be felt by educators, social workers, law enforcement and even the economy.

So, what's with this flurry of hiring friends by outgoing Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer? Multiple news sources have reported that Farmer hired his girlfriend for a $5,000 per month job, just eight days before the gubernatorial election that Williams/Farmer would lose in a landslide. Farmer is term limited, and wouldn't have been able to serve another term as agriculture commissioner even if he had wanted to, so he had to know this wouldn't pass the smell test. Farmer also has hired a couple of other friends in the last month or two for positions within his department.

Clark County voters followed the majority of voters statewide Tuesday in re-electing Democrat Gov. Steve Beshear to a second term as he handily defeated Republican challenger David Williams.   Clark County's voter turnout surpassed expectations, with about 30 percent of registered voters heading to the polls, Clark County Clerk Anita Jones said. Prior to the election, Jones predicted about 22 percent of voters would cast ballots, but Jones said unseasonably warm weather and increased interest in the state elections in the past few days both led to the higher than expected participation.

After months of campaign trips, ads and debates, the polls opened at 6 a.m. and will close 6 p.m. today to decide the outcome of the 2011 statewide elections. Six races are on the ballot: governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, auditor of public accounts, state treasurer and commissioner of agriculture. Both the Republican David Williams and Richie Farmer gubernatorial ticket and the independent ticket of Gatewood Galbraith and Dea Riley challenged incumbent Gov. Steve Beshear on claims that he wasn't doing enough to add jobs, amid an overall unemployment rate of almost 10 percent.

I suffered two big disappointments during Tuesday’s primary elections in Kentucky. First was the voter turnout, which in this country as a whole, is extremely disappointing. According to the news channels I’ve watched overnight, Kentucky’s turnout rate was slightly over 9 percent of all registered voters in the state. That is a sad, sad figure. It is a mystery to me why people would even register to vote in the first place and then not exercise that right. Whether in the primary elections or the general elections, those non-voters are letting someone else decide for them who the best candidates are. Then they have the gall to be the first ones heard complaining when things don’t go their way. If the non-voters feel that politics is too dirty, and politicians will just do what they want anyway regardless of the voting public’s opinion, there is a tool to change that each election, and it’s called VOTING.

 Clark County results from Tuesday's primary election.   REPUBLICANS Governor-Lt. Governor David Williams and Richie Farmer 442 Phil Moffett and Mike Harmon, 562 Barbara "Bobbie" Holsclaw and Bill Vermillion Jr., 70 Secretary of State Hilda Legg 529 Bill Johnson 477 Auditor Addia Wuchner 388 John Kemper III 564 Commissioner of Agriculture James Comer 550 Rob Rothenberger 429...

 HARRODSBURG- Republican gubernatorial candidate Phil Moffett has never run for office - but he feels this is something that could work to his advantage. During the Tea Party member’s campaign stop Thursday at a local car dealership with running mate Mike Harmon, he touched on the economy, state sovereignty, over-spending and voter apathy. “I believe people want real change in government and would appreciate someone that has a business perspective over a life long government career,” said Moffett, a University of Kentucky graduate who lives with his wife Christi and their four adopted children in Louisville.

Richie Farmer wasn’t in Winchester Thursday morning,but had he been, he would have had some questions to answer about his spending. Instead, David Williams had to answer them. Williams, who is the state Senate president and a Republican candidate for governor, was at the Dairy Queen on Main Street as part of the Williams-Farmer bus tour that began this week. The candidate praised Farmer for his work as the state’s agriculture commissioner and apologized for him not being there to meet the voters.