Tuesday October 7, 2025
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Following a national search, the Council on Postsecondary Education unanimously selected Dr. Aaron Thompson as its fourth president.
Thompson, who presently serves as the Council’s executive vice president and chief academic officer, will transition to his new responsibilities Nov. 1.
He is the first Kentucky native and African-American to hold the position since the Council was formed 21 years ago.
“We have greatly benefited at the state level by Aaron’s strategic leadership and statesmanship over the past decade. Time and time again, we have relied on Aaron as an essential advocate and leader across many fronts, including the critical areas of college opportunity and student success,” said Council Chair Sherrill Zimmerman.
“We are confident that he will be the innovative, dynamic and transformational leader that will benefit Kentucky higher education and our students,” added Zimmerman.
“I am humbled by the honor of being named the fourth president of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. I love Kentucky, and it has been my life’s mission to add to the Commonwealth’s prosperity through education,” said Thompson.
Thompson is passionate about sharing how education was a catalyst for his own success.
“As a native of Clay County, a son of an illiterate coal miner and a mother with only an eighth grade education, I am not only a first-generation college graduate, I am a first- generation high school graduate. Now, I am immensely fortunate to have an opportunity to represent that great opportunity to all citizens of Kentucky,” he said.
“I want to thank the Council, staff and leadership for this show of confidence,” Thompson added.
Thompson came to the Council in 2009 from Eastern Kentucky University (EKU), where he held a variety of academic leadership positions and was a tenured professor in the department of educational leadership and policy studies. In May 2016, he left the Council for more than a year to serve as interim president for Kentucky State University.
As a nationally respected leader, he has served on more than 50 state and national boards and committees. He currently is board chair for the National Council on Community and Education Partnerships and serves on the Quality Assurance Commons for Higher and Postsecondary Education Advisory Board. He also serves on the corporate board for Baptist Health Care and is the chair of the Committee of Governance Effectiveness.
At the state level, Thompson serves on the Kentucky Workforce Innovation Board (KWIB), KWIB Employer Engagement Committee and KWIB Education Attainment and Completion Committee, the Charter Schools Advisory Committee, the Kentucky Humanities Council, the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board, and the Citizens Action Committee for the Destruction of Chemical Weapons, among others.
Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science and sociology from Eastern Kentucky University, a master’s degree in sociology and a doctorate in sociology, both from the University of Kentucky.
Thompson will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Robert L. King, who served as president for nearly 10 years.
AGB Search conducted the national search.
Council will negotiate a final contract at its next meeting set Nov. 15-16.
For more information on the search process, and to view Dr. Thompson’s curriculum vitae, visit: http://cpe.ky.gov/aboutus/presidentialsearch.html.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources will conduct its fall public auction of surplus and confiscated items Oct. 29 at department headquarters in Frankfort.
Surplus auction items include Triton and Polarcraft boats, Yamaha, Johnson and Evinrude boat motors, four-wheel-drive Chevy, Ford and Dodge trucks, Yamaha and Honda ATVs, side scan sonar units, office equipment, air condition window units, GE washer and dryer, a generator and more. Bidding on surplus items is open to everyone.
Confiscated auction items include shotguns, rifles, pistols, bows, hunting equipment and more. Firearm brands being offered for sale include Browning, Remington, Benelli, Ruger, Winchester, Marlin, Rossi and more. Under state law, only qualified Kentucky residents may bid on confiscated items.
A list of all items to be offered at auction is available online at fw.ky.gov, the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife website. The list also includes the terms and conditions of the auction. All items are sold as is.
Viewing begins at 8 a.m. (Eastern), with bidding to begin at 10 a.m. The auction will be near the Salato Wildlife Education Center, which is on the headquarters campus of Kentucky Fish and Wildlife at 1 Sportsman’s Lane. Visitors may find the headquarters complex off U.S. 60 in Frankfort, approximately 1 ½ miles west of the intersection with U.S. 127. A bronze deer statue marks the entrance.
The North American International Livestock Exposition (NAILE) returns to the Kentucky Exposition Center. The annual event takes place over 17 days starting on October 30th, at 9 AM with the North American Quarter Horse Show.
The show features 10 species (and countless breeds) of livestock from all over the continent, as well as youth skills competitions and educational programs, and the North American Marketplace. The show also features many other exhibition events, including cowboy mounted shooting, where spectators can watch participants hit targets using a single action revolver while riding a horse through an obstacle course, draft horse shows, and the NAILE Wool Show. A full schedule of events can be found here.
While admission to the market place is free, admission to the rest of the event is $6 per person and does not include parking ($10) at the Kentucky Exhibition Center.
Credit: Louisville Metro Police
Little ghosts and goblins will soon be out and about and they can get an early start on trick or treating when Family Fright Night gets underway on Sunday, October 28th.
Council members Barbara Sexton Smith (D-4) and Cheri Bryant Hamilton (D-5) will join with officers of the Louisville Metro Police’s First Division for a fun night in a special Haunted House.
“This is a great event for the entire family and it’s free,” says Sexton Smith. “This is a great way to have safe Halloween fun and get to know the officers who help keep us safe year round.”
The First Division’s Family Fright Night will feature a haunted house, trick or treating, live music and is designed for children 13 and younger.
“We want to make sure everyone has a good time and stays safe during this particular holiday,” says Hamilton. “I want to encourage everyone to come out and join us.”
The event will be held at the LMPD First Division Headquarters at 416, North 29th Street from 4:00pm until 7:00pm.
Gov. Matt Bevin today announced Pounds of Plastic Inc., a supplier to the automotive and general manufacturing industries, will locate in Owenton with a more than $4.1 million investment expected to create 54 full-time jobs.
“Kentucky has a world-class automotive industry, leading the United States in vehicles produced per capita,” Gov. Bevin said. “It is exciting to see continuing growth within the auto industry at all levels, and it begins with suppliers like Pounds of Plastic. We are grateful for the strong collaboration between this company and state and local economic development leaders, resulting in 54 new jobs that will benefit families in Owen County and the surrounding region.”
Pounds of Plastic will locate in the former Itron Inc. warehouse, a 30,000-square-foot building across from the former Itron manufacturing facility. Itron closed its Owenton operations this spring, laying off about 400 employees.
At the plant, Pounds of Plastic will manufacture custom polymers and thermoplastics for automotive customers. The company’s investment will cover costs to renovate the facility and purchase new equipment. Company leaders noted proximity to existing and prospective customers as a deciding factor in selecting both Kentucky and Owenton. Work on the project is expected to begin in November, with the facility operational by December.
“We are truly excited to become part of your community and look forward to a mutually prosperous partnership in the years ahead,” said Richard Pounds, owner and president of Pounds of Plastic. “We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the fantastic representatives of the government of Owen County and the state of Kentucky who made this possible. Our decision to choose this location over other potential locales in other states is a testament to the dedication of these individuals. We look forward to calling Owen County home.”
Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, Pounds of Plastic specializes in custom polymers and thermoplastics used in automotive and a variety of other industries. As well, the company provides technical expertise for customers including assistance with recycling programs. Richard Pounds founded the company in 1997 in response to an insufficient supply of nylon compounds and other materials for use by southern Ontario’s moulding industry. Since then, the company grew to service processors throughout North America.
Sen. Julian Carroll, of Frankfort, said the local workforce is ready to serve its newest company.
“This auto supplier will strengthen our community through new jobs and improvements to the local economy,” Sen. Carroll said. “We stand ready with a skilled workforce to meet the company’s needs and look forward to a long and prosperous partnership.”
Rep. Phillip Pratt, of Georgetown, said statewide, pro-business policy changes have made projects like this possible.
“The new jobs and economic opportunity that Pounds of Plastic is bringing to Owenton is the direct result of the pro-business, pro-jobs approach I have brought to Frankfort,” Rep. Pratt said. “These new jobs will bring increased economic opportunity for our families, and are just the latest addition to Kentucky’s manufacturing comeback. I’m proud of our efforts in Frankfort to promote policies that strengthen our economy and create this kind of good news for our working families.”
Mayor David Wotier noted the team effort necessary to make the project a reality.
“I speak on behalf of the city of Owenton: We are very excited to welcome Pounds of Plastic to Owenton,” Mayor Wotier said. “Their commitment has certainly been a breath of fresh air for us and will positively affect our economy. Thanks to all the hard work and diligent efforts of everyone at the Cabinet for Economic Development. There’s been a great spirit of teamwork involved.”
Owen County Judge-Executive Casey Ellis said the arrival of Pounds of Plastic leads the way for new growth in the community.
“On behalf of the citizens of Owen County, I would like to thank Gov. Bevin for his leadership in assisting to expedite the commonwealth’s economic incentive package as well as Rich Pounds, president of Pounds of Plastic, for choosing Owen County for his first US manufacturing location,” Judge-Executive Ellis said. “The prospect of this many new jobs locating to Owen County is only the beginning in revitalizing our community with new economic growth opportunities.”
To encourage the investment and job growth in the community, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) on Thursday preliminarily approved the company for tax incentives up to $900,000 through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the agreement term through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.
In addition, Pounds of Plastic can receive resources from the Kentucky Skills Network. Through the Kentucky Skills Network, companies can receive no-cost recruitment and job placement services, reduced-cost customized training and job training incentives. In fiscal year 2017, the Kentucky Skills Network provided training for more than 120,000 Kentuckians and 5,700 companies from a variety of industry sectors.
Attorney General Andy Beshear today filed suit against Pennsylvania-based pharmaceutical manufacturer Teva for allegedly promoting its fentanyl-based cancer drugs for “off-label” use in Kentucky, which directly contributed to the state’s addiction outbreak.
The lawsuit, filed in Fayette Circuit Court, claims Teva persuaded physicians to prescribe its drugs, Actiq and Fentora, to treat chronic pain despite the drugs being approved solely for breakthrough pain in cancer patients.
The lawsuit alleges Teva’s salesforce was instructed to target doctors who were not oncologists, including general practitioners. In one instance, a sales representative alleges that 99 percent of the doctors in her territory were pain specialists not oncologists who wrote prescriptions for off-label use.
Beshear said this allowed the company to grow its market in Kentucky while contributing to the state’s drug epidemic. He said Teva had the largest amount of opioids, per gram, sold in Kentucky over a nearly 10-year period.
“The actions by Teva to deceptively push highly-powerful fentanyl-based opioids into a state like Kentucky that’s ravaged by addiction is probably one of the most egregious acts we have seen from a pharmaceutical company that’s heartlessly focused on profits over our people,” Beshear said. “While Teva is predicting $19 billion in revenues this year, we are seeking to hold them accountable under Kentucky law by making them pay for the damages caused to our state and Kentucky families.”
Fentanyl is 50-100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than many forms of heroin.
Beshear said in Kentucky and the U.S., overdose deaths related to fentanyl now surpass deaths related to heroin.
According to a July 25, 2018 report released by the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, fatal overdoses in Kentucky totaled 1,565 in 2017, which was an 11.5 percent increase over the previous year. Fentanyl was a factor in approximately 763 deaths and 52 percent of the toxicology cases, which is an increase of about 47 percent compared to 2016.
Beshear’s lawsuit claims Teva took steps to conceal its deceptive marketing and unlawful conduct by funding and working through unbranded marketing, third-party advocates and professional associations to promote opioid use.
According to the lawsuit, Teva sales representatives regularly omitted any discussion of addiction caused by long-term opioid use from their sales conversations with Kentucky prescribers, and despite having knowledge of suspicious prescribing, Teva failed to implement policies and procedures that would enable its sales representatives to report this conduct.
One of Teva’s drugs, Actiq, delivers fentanyl into the bloodstream via a lollipop lozenge. It’s other, Fentora, is an oral tablet that also dissolves in a patient’s mouth.
According to the lawsuit, the FDA expressly prohibited Teva from marketing Actiq for anything but breakthrough cancer pain, which is a sudden flare-up of pain. The FDA refused to approve Fentora for the treatment of chronic pain because of the potential harm, including the high risk of “serious and life-threatening adverse events” and abuse, which the agency said are greatest in non-cancer patients.
In 2008, the Department of Justice accused Cephalon, a Teva subsidiary, of promoting Actiq for uses the FDA had not approved. Cephalon settled the charges for $425 million. The federal government charged that Cephalon promoted Actiq to non-cancer patients for conditions such as “migraines, sickle-cell pain crises, injuries, and in anticipation of changing wound dressings or radiation therapy.”
“Teva has not changed its ways or corrected its past misconduct but instead is continuing to fuel our opioid crisis,” Beshear said.
Beshear said the opioid crisis is having a devastating effect on Kentucky’s workforce. Recent research has demonstrated that the Commonwealth’s high rate of opioid usage has reduced the workforce, created high turnover, increased employers’ costs to train new employees and caused an increase in employee thefts.
Today’s lawsuit is the eighth opioid related lawsuit Beshear has filed.
Beshear has sued three national opioid distributors, Pennsylvania-based AmerisourceBergen, Ohio-based Cardinal Health and San Francisco-based McKesson Corporation, which together are responsible for supplying 85 percent of opioids in Kentucky; distributor and retail pharmacy Walgreens; and pharmaceutical manufacturers Johnson and Johnson, Mallinckrodt, and Endo Pharmaceuticals.
A Franklin Circuit Judge ruled that he would not dismiss Beshear’s 2017 lawsuit against Endo. Beshear recently announced that his office has won fights to keep four of his current opioid lawsuits in Kentucky courts, and that Kentuckians can track the progress of each case by visiting ag.ky.gov.
Beshear is once again calling on lawmakers to create a permanent trust fund to battle addiction in Kentucky. He is working with Rep. Dennis Keene, of Wilder, on legislation that requires funds recovered by the Commonwealth from lawsuits, fines or settlements related to the drug epidemic to only be spent addressing the needs of Kentucky’s drug prevention educators, law enforcement and treatment providers.
Beshear has provided $8 million from a pharmaceutical settlement to 15 substance abuse treatment centers.
And he has launched the state’s first initiative to allow Kentuckians to safely dispose of opioid medications at home. The program has the potential to dispose of more than 2.2 million unused opioids and help to reduce the nearly 80 percent of heroin users who begin their addiction with prescription drugs.
Bert T. Combs Lake in Clay County is back open to public boating and bank access after completion of repair work to its dam.
The 31-acre lake near Manchester was closed so crews could fix leaks throughout the earthen dam. The Kentucky Division of Water oversaw repairs to the dam.
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources-owned lake is scheduled to receive a stocking of 1,000 rainbow trout this week. In 2019, rainbow trout will be stocked in January, April, May and October.
Resident and nonresident anglers who are required to have a fishing license must have a trout permit to keep trout. The permit costs $10. It also is included with the resident senior or disabled sportsman’s license and resident sportsman’s license.
The lake offers a boat ramp and parking area. Internal combustion motors are not allowed on the lake, but boaters can use electric motors. Paddling a kayak or canoe is another way to explore and fish the lake.
For more information about fishing opportunities and places to fish in Kentucky, visit Kentucky Fish and Wildlife’s website at fw.ky.gov. Anglers also may use this site to purchase fishing licenses online at any time of day.
