FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY (BNO NEWS) – A national report on Wednesday showed significant improvements, ranking Kentucky’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act transparency Web site number two in the country in terms of fiscal openness and accountability.

The report, Show Us the Stimulus (Again), was released by Good Jobs First, a nonprofit research center in Washington, D.C. It compares all 50 states on how well they track federal recovery spending and promote government accountability.

Kentucky’s new ranking is a remarkable improvement to a similar study that was published in July 2009 in which Kentucky ranked 47th.

“It is an honor to have Kentucky at Work recognized for the great effort we’ve put into creating a site that shows the public where these tax dollars are being spent,” said Governor Steve Beshear. “More importantly, we were able to improve our ranking over 48 other states using only existing staff and no additional resources.“

Based on a scale of 0 to 100, the average state score is 44 and the median is 42. Kentucky scored 85, second only to Maryland, which scored an 87.

Kentucky was recognized as one of only three states to show the geographic distribution of spending compared to distress or need. Kentucky at Work’s interactive map can display icons showing overall stimulus spending by county against a backdrop of color-coded county rates of unemployment or poverty.

The Commonwealth received a perfect score for disclosure on individual grants and contracts derived through American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus dollars.

Sites were judged by the inclusion of the description of contract/grant projects, the dollar amount of the contract or grant, the name of the recipient entity (whether government agency, for-profit contractor or other), the text of the contract or grant document, and the status of the project.

FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY (BNO NEWS) — A miner was killed in an accident at the Abner Branch mine in Leslie County, Kentucky on Friday, officials said.

The Bledsoe Coal Company worker, who worked as a continuous miner operator, was struck and killed by a rib roll early this morning, a spokeswoman for the state’s Energy and Environment Cabinet said. A rib roll occurs when the coal pillar block, which supports the mine roof, has layers of coal that is divided by a rock seam. When the coal pillar gives way it releases portions of the pillar of coal and rock. The miner died after being hit by this debris.

Officials from the Kentucky Office of Mine Safety and Licensing are investigating the incident. The mine will remain closed until a site investigation and interviews are complete.

Friday’s accident is the first mine-related fatality in Kentucky in 2010. In 2009, there were four mine-related fatalities.

FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY (BNO NEWS) – The Kentucky Department of Charitable Gaming on Thursday announced that it will give priority to license applications from qualified charities that wish to raise funds to support relief efforts in Haiti.

“Urgent need requires urgent action. We stand ready to assist existing charities to assure that they are able to hold fundraising gaming activities to benefit victims of the Haitian earthquake as quickly as possible,” said Henry Lackey, commissioner of the Department of Charitable Gaming. “Most license applications can be approved within 10 working days.”

The Department of Charitable Gaming provides a regulatory framework allowing charitable gaming to thrive as a viable fundraising mechanism. In 2008, licensed Kentucky charities raised more than $53 million in net receipts from gaming activities including raffles, bingos and pull tab sales as well as other charitable games.

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (BNO NEWS) – Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels on Wednesday joined Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky and Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson in calling a meeting of the Bi-State Bridges Authority.

The organizational meeting of the Indiana-Kentucky Bi-State Authority is tasked with coordinating the efforts to finance and construct two new bridges connecting southeast Indiana with the Louisville metropolitan area.

The purpose of the organizational meeting will be to take various actions associated with the formal establishment of the Authority, including the adoption of by-laws, the appointment of officers, and other administrative matters.

The Authority’s meeting will take place at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky on February 2.