Politics

U.S. Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., will travel to Israel next month to meet with leaders in the Middle East on all sides of the ongoing conflict.

The trip will be privately funded and marks Paul’s first visit to the region, where he will be joined by  evangelical and Republican leaders on a tour of cultural and historical sites.

The delegation has requested meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah.

Jewish Community of Louisville spokesman Matt Goldberg says the trip will give Paul a chance to understand the unique challenges Israel faces and possibly change his views.

"We're hopeful that after Sen. Paul sees Israel and what kind of small country it is, and how it’s surrounded by its enemies," says Goldberg. "And we’re hopeful that Sen. Paul will come to see that and revisit his position on foreign aid to Israel."

Jefferson County Clerk Bobbie Holsclaw is citing a letter from the county attorney that found no wrongdoing by her office in the wake of a scolding state audit two months ago.

Earlier this year, State Auditor Adam Edelen's office released a report that found poor record-keeping of charitable funds for groups such as the WHAS Crusade for Children and Metro United Way. It also cited other questionable practices that were against state law, such as Holsclaw paying out $99,200 in Christmas bonuses to employees last year and as well as shortchanging the Crusade by $1,300.

But an Oct. 31 letter from the Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell says his office found no need for action and defended the clerk’s activities. 

(Read O'Connell's letter and Edelen's response.)

Holsclaw has personally hired public relations professional Larry Bisig as her spokesman. He says the clerk has been a model of good government and was cleared of any wrongdoing and suggested that Edelen’s report is motivated by politics.

"In some ways I have to indicate the audit seems a bit mean-spirited, and possibly politically motivated in some areas," Bisig said.

"This is not political warfare. The governor’s race doesn’t start for 36 months. And I certainly hope that’s not the intention of the auditor."

Services members would be counted differently in future U.S. Censuses under a successful amendment to a major defense bill that's to be debated in the U.S. Congress -- an amendment sponsored by Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Currently, family members living on a military base are counted there as residents, but if a soldier is deployed away from the base, he is not counted as a base resident.

Kentuckian Matthew Barzun is being considered for the U.S. ambassadorship to the United Kingdom, but to get the job he may have to step up his fashion game, Bloomberg.com is reporting. 

His competition: Vogue editor Anna Wintour.