Latest news with #Lexington-based
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
U.S. Rep. Andy Barr makes it official. Lexington Republican seeks McConell's Senate seat.
U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, R-Lexington, announced his U.S. Senate run in a video released Tuesday. (Screenshot) Railing against the 'woke left' and embracing President Donald Trump, Kentucky Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr confirmed his run for U.S. Senate by unveiling a video Tuesday. Barr's announcement comes as no surprise after weeks of speculation following Sen. Mitch McConnell's announcement in February that he would not seek reelection. McConnell has held the seat since 1984. In the video, Barr denounces 'insane DEI initiatives,' referring to diversity, equity and inclusion programs that Trump has banned in the federal government and is moving to end elsewhere. Barr echoes also Trump's presidential campaign's emphasis on transgender issues, vowing to 'lock up the sickos who allow biological men to share locker rooms with our daughters.' Republican Daniel Cameron, a former Kentucky attorney general, announced his candidacy on social media as soon as McConnell ended his announcement that he would not run. It's Cameron's first foray back into Kentucky politics after losing the 2023 gubernatorial election to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. Cameron reported having raised $508,000 for his Senate run as of March 31. Meanwhile, Barr raised $1.8 million in the same period and has $5.3 million on hand, according to federal campaign finance reports. Barr, of Lexington, was first elected to the House in 2013. Currently, he is a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee and chairman of the Financial Institutions and Monetary Policy Subcommittee. He also serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Barr in December lost a Republican caucus vote to be chairman of the powerful Financial Services Committee, which oversees U.S. banking and monetary policy. He had earlier said a House committee chairmanship would preclude his running for the Senate, McClatchy reported. In the weeks leading up to Barr's announcement, the congressman was among Republicans facing pressure from their constituents to have an in-person town hall over growing frustrations with President Donald Trump's agenda. Last month, more than 900 people gathered for a town hall at the Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, but Barr declined to attend. He did have a telephone town hall days later. The Republican primary looks to be contentious between Barr and Cameron, particularly as they seek a coveted endorsement from Trump. Cameron had Trump's backing for his failed 2023 race. Barr has recently emphasized his support for the president's agenda and for his billionaire adviser Elon Musk. At a White House event earlier this month, Trump said while acknowledging Barr's attendance: 'Good luck with everything. I hear good things.' A possible third candidate, Lexington-based businessman Nate Morris, has also been mulling a run for Senate but has not made a formal announcement. Morris has gained the eye of Trump world allies, including the president's son, Donald Trump Jr. Morris' support for the president's tariff plans was also included in a recent White House press release. On the Democratic side, House Minority Floor Leader Rep. Pamela Stevenson, of Louisville, has announced her candidacy for the race. Like Cameron, she was a statewide candidate in 2023, losing the attorney general race to Republican Russell Coleman. Rocky Adkins, a senior adviser to Beshear and former state House Democratic floor leader, has not ruled out a Senate run himself. Barr's Senate candidacy now opens the race for Kentucky's 6th Congressional District — a seat in central Kentucky that Democrats are hoping to flip. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee previously listed Barr's current seat as one of the districts it views as in play heading into midterm elections in 2026.
Boston Globe
20-04-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Steward paid them a fraction of what it owed. Now it's suing them to get the money back.
Now, Steward is suing Brewster to get that money back. The lawsuit is one of over 170 the bankrupt health system filed since April 11, seeking to claw back millions of dollars over others before the bankruptcy, and that payments to those groups over other creditors was a preferential treatment. To those companies, it's one last kick from a former business partner. 'In my eyes, you not only took advantage of me for a number of years and I hung in to make sure the patients we care for weren't affected by your lack of payment,' said Mark Brewster, chief executive of Brewster Ambulance. 'Now you want to claw back the little bit you did give me? I'm furious.' The lawsuits against vendors stand in contrast to what the company so far hasn't done: claw back money from its top executives or others who profited handsomely while Steward failed. In just the year prior to bankruptcy, bankruptcy documents show that chief executive Dr. Ralph de la Torre collected $5.2 million, Armin Ernst, who lead Steward's international entity, received over $900,000, and the construction company CREF, in which Advertisement Meanwhile, several vendors that were sued are still owed money by Steward. Brewster in particular has yet to be paid more than $500,000 by Steward for services before the bankruptcy, and is also waiting to be paid for ambulance rides it continued to provide since the bankruptcy case began. Those services were critical, as Brewster said the ambulance company provided 70 percent of the rides shuttling patients between or home from Steward's Massachusetts hospitals. Advertisement 'When you take the footprint south of Boston, there weren't many other providers,' Brewster said. 'That's why we hung in. If I didn't transport those patients, they wouldn't have found (alternatives). I couldn't have let their poor business decisions affect a patient who needed services ... I never thought it would be in a bankruptcy and folding up shop and clawing back what you did pay me.' A Brewster Ambulance Service ambulance in 2021. Barry Chin/Globe Staff While they might feel outrageous to vendors, such lawsuits are relatively common in bankruptcy proceedings, said Jim Erving, a restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy partner at Dentons Bingham Greenebaum LLP in Louisville. The US Bankruptcy code permits debtors or trustees to recover payments made to vendors within 90 days of the filing of a case. That recovered money is usually redistributed to creditors waiting in line for the company to pay its debts, said Erving, whose firm is representing clients involved in the Steward bankruptcy. And Steward has targeted a wide range of vendors from which to pull money back. Related : In Massachusetts alone, the bankrupt health care system is trying to claw back more than $2.8 million. Targets include Lexington-based Eliot Community Human Services, which provides behavioral health services to adults and children, for nearly $300,000; and Baystate Interpreters, in Garner, for $151,000. Though the bills to Baystate were paid from February to April 2024, they were for invoices dating as far back as 2020. Advertisement Steward had wracked up hundreds of thousands of bills to Milton CAT, which provides Caterpillar machines, engines, generators, technology, parts and services. Invoices went as far back as 2021, and weren't paid until early 2024. But now, Steward is seeking to claw back $840,000. According to claims filed with the court, Milton CAT says it is still owed more than $100,000 by Steward. Over 170 of these suits have been filed so far. There will likely be more, said Ethan Jeffrey, an attorney with Murphy & King who has experience in health care insolvencies, but they are often filed piecemeal as not to overwhelm the court. Vendors can push back. Those that kept working with Steward after being paid can argue they provided even more value to the organization, and seek to reduce Steward's claims by that amount, said Jeffrey, who is representing several Steward vendors who have been sued for such clawbacks. If the payments also happened within the ordinary course of business, vendors can also argue they didn't receive preferential treatment. The theory behind such clawbacks is that certain vendors received preferential treatment because they were paid before others. By recovering those payments, the court can re-allocate the funds to all creditors, treating them all the same, Jeffrey said. But that theory is hard to swallow for the targeted firms that are still owed money from Steward and now find the health system is demanding they return some funds. The hallway to the emergency department at Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton in 2024. Good Samaritan, previously operated by Steward Health Care, was taken over by Boston Medical Center last year. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff 'It's adding insult to injury,' Jeffrey said. 'It's another nice piece of this mess we call Steward.' Advertisement The 90-day window for recoupments is generally for vendors or other groups such as banks who had been paid for an outstanding debt. But the debtor or a trustee can go back even further to recoup money According to Roe, the clawbacks are generally in cases where the company did not get enough in return for what was paid, while the company was insolvent. Alternatively, clawbacks can come when payments were to intentionally hinder, delay, or defraud the company's other creditors. Any such clawbacks would also have to go before the bankruptcy court, as they have in other major cases. 'These things were at the core of the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy,' Roe said, referring to the company that marketed and dispensed opioids that contributed to the nation's opioid crisis. 'A huge amount of money (had been paid) to the Sacklers. The fraudulent transfer action was — return all the money.' Roe said sometimes new management at a company or a trustee can file a claim against former executives. It is unclear who might bring such an action at Steward. Many executives have departed the company and Steward is now being run by its attorneys. Neither a spokesperson for Steward or its attorneys returned calls for comment. The funding delay has already impacted affected businesses. Ambulance companies work on thin margins, Brewster said, and the organization has had to cut back on staffing and other things because of Steward's unpaid bills. Another $170,000 would hurt, Brewster said. Advertisement 'The way I look at it, I've been chasing them for years for money they owe me,' Brewster said. 'If they want to claw it back, you can chase me now.' Jessica Bartlett can be reached at
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Andy Barr to launch Senate bid to succeed Mitch McConnell
Rep. Andy Barr plans to announce next week that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by former GOP leader Mitch McConnell, according to two people familiar with his plans and granted anonymity to discuss them. One of those people, a Republican in Kentucky, provided an invitation to a "special campaign announcement" on Tuesday evening in Richmond. Barr, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, had been considering a run to succeed McConnell since even before McConnell officially announced in February that he would not seek reelection next year. The Lexington Herald-Leader first reported Barr's plans. First elected in 2012 to a Lexington-based seat, Barr will enter a contested primary to succeed the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history. Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who announced his campaign in February, had been viewed by many as the heir apparent to McConnell, before a failed bid for governor dented his reputation. Barr, too, is already facing some challenges in the state. The anti-tax group Club for Growthreleased a TV ad in February attacking Barr for his vote to raise the debt ceiling and casting him as working on behalf of 'woke Wall Street' banks. Barr won a challenging campaign against former Marine Corps pilot Amy McGrath in 2018, solidifying his control over his central Kentucky seat. A Senate run will mark his first statewide campaign, testing whether his appeal stretches to some of the more conservative areas in the eastern and western parts of the state. Barrraised $1.8 million in the first three months of the year, according to financial disclosures filed this week, and ended the quarter with $5.3 million in the bank. Cameron raised $508,000. Barr's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Politico
18-04-2025
- Business
- Politico
Andy Barr to launch Senate bid to succeed Mitch McConnell
Rep. Andy Barr plans to announce next week that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by former GOP leader Mitch McConnell, according to two people familiar with his plans and granted anonymity to discuss them. One of those people, a Republican in Kentucky, provided an invitation to a 'special campaign announcement' on Tuesday evening in Richmond. Barr, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, had been considering a run to succeed McConnell since even before McConnell officially announced in February that he would not seek reelection next year. The Lexington Herald-Leader first reported Barr's plans . First elected in 2012 to a Lexington-based seat, Barr will enter a contested primary to succeed the longest-serving Senate party leader in U.S. history. Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who announced his campaign in February, had been viewed by many as the heir apparent to McConnell, before a failed bid for governor dented his reputation. Barr, too, is already facing some challenges in the state. The anti-tax group Club for Growth released a TV ad in February attacking Barr for his vote to raise the debt ceiling and casting him as working on behalf of 'woke Wall Street' banks. Barr won a challenging campaign against former Marine Corps pilot Amy McGrath in 2018, solidifying his control over his central Kentucky seat. A Senate run will mark his first statewide campaign, testing whether his appeal stretches to some of the more conservative areas in the eastern and western parts of the state. Barr raised $1.8 million in the first three months of the year , according to financial disclosures filed this week, and ended the quarter with $5.3 million in the bank. Cameron raised $508,000. Barr's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump admin yanks student visas in KY, Ohio. Why were some students targeted?
Some Kentucky and Ohio universities have reported some foreign students have had their visas revoked by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as part of what appears to be a wider, nationwide purge of international students who entered the country to study in the United States. It's not known how many students have lost their student visas in Kentucky, Ohio and across the country. The revocations appear to be part of a much broader crackdown on foreign students. It's also not known why some students visas were revoked while others were not. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in late March more than 300 student visas were yanked largely because of those students' activism, particularly those who have supported Palestine. It's not clear if any of the students who have been forced to leave Kentucky and Ohio universities are part of this crackdown. University of Cincinnati officials confirmed Monday they've has been notified that several students at the university have had their visas revoked. UC has an undergraduate and graduate population of 53,000 students. About 8.7 % of its student body— roughly 4,600 students — are international students, according to its website. A Thursday campus message from UC President Neville Pinto said the revocation affects 'a small number of international students.' 'UC representatives are in touch with each of our impacted students, and we are doing what we can to support them during this incredibly challenging time. While we are aware that this is happening at universities across the nation, we have not been contacted by authorities, nor have we been given specific reasons for these revocations,' Pinto said in the email shared with the Herald-Leader. University of Kentucky officials announced Friday that some foreign students on UK's campus had also had student visas revoked. 'The University of Kentucky has learned that the Department of Homeland Security has revoked the F-1 student visas and/or status for a small number of international graduate students at UK. University officials immediately reach out to students in these circumstances to provide information and support,' said UK President Eli Capilouto. 'We recognize the impact visa and/or status revocation has on our students. I know, too, that this news will surface many questions.' UK has not released the number of graduate students affected. UK officials said it had 1,300 international students at the Lexington-based university. It's total enrollment is 36,000 students, according to its website. Jay Blanton, a UK spokesperson, said because the number of students is so small, it does not want to release any information that would compromise student privacy. Student visas were also revoked at Campbellsville University, a small private college in Southern Kentucky. Peter Thomas, assistant vice president for global services and senior international officer at Campbellsville University, told Inside Higher Ed students enrolled there had visas revoked because of criminal infractions, 'even though they were found innocent or the case [was] dismissed.' It seems some universities' students were targeted by federal immigration officials while other universities' foreign students have not. Officials with Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond and University of Louisville said Monday they have not been notified of any student visa terminations. Northern Kentucky University officials did not immediately return emails asking for comment. Herald-Leader reporter Monica Kast contributed to this story.
