Regional

Courthouses will be closed statewide and all court services will be unavailable Monday, Aug. 6, as the Kentucky Judicial Branch shuts down for the first of three furlough days in 2012. This will be the first time since Kentucky’s modern court system was formed in 1976 that the Judicial Branch must close courthouse doors to balance its budget.

The furloughs will affect only non-elected court personnel, who will be off work without pay as part of the Judicial Branch’s Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Reduction Plan.

The Kentucky State Police Academy presented diplomas to 40 new troopers at ceremonies held July 6 in Frankfort. Their addition to the force brings the agency’s strength to a total of 948 troopers serving the citizens of the Commonwealth.

Post 5 in Campbellsburg, which serves Carroll, Trimble Gallatin, Henry, Oldham, and Owen counties, added two new troopers: Patrick Stucker of Bardstown, Ky., and Matthew Whalen of LaGrange, Ky.

 From the Lexington Herald-Leader

Each election season, responsible citizens loudly bemoan — as they should — low voter turnout.

In the Kentucky primary this May, only 14 percent of registered voters exercised their privilege.

Equally discouraging — but more easily remedied — is that a huge number of Kentuckians did not even have that privilege.

 From the Lexington Herald-Leader

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a not-so-nice king condemned to spend eternity rolling a boulder up a hill only to have it roll back down again before he could reach the top.

In recent years, members of Kentucky’s Legislative Ethics Commission may have gained a little empathy for poor Sisyphus and his perpetual exercise in futility.

Each year lately, the commission has submitted a well-reasoned set of recommended changes in the ethics law to the General Assembly.