Free Republic

FRANKFORT - For the first time in the state hiring inquiry, investigators moved into Lt. Gov. Steve Pence's office as they served a search warrant on his chief of staff. Attorney general's office investigators removed a computer from Stephen Huffman's office this morning. At the same time, Transportation Cabinet personnel employee Missy McCray went before the special grand jury investigating the hiring practices of Gov. Ernie Fletcher's administration. McCray also testified last summer, just before several transportation officials were indicted for violating state merit laws, which say rank-and-file state workers must be hired based on qualifications, not politics. McCray later...

Fletcher is sworn into office in midnight ceremony CHARLES WOLFE Associated Press Associated Press Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher addresses people gathered in the Capitol Rotunda after being sworn-in just after midnight, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2003, in Frankfort. Fletcher is the first Republican to hold the office in 32 years. FRANKFORT, Ky. - Gov. Ernie Fletcher was sworn into office in a private, midnight ceremony to complete Kentucky's transition to a Republican administration for the first time in a generation. Fletcher simultaneously resigned his seat in the U.S. House - an act formalized Monday night in letters delivered to House Speaker...