Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway says his office has fielded hundreds of complaint calls about price-gouging across the state in the wake of Sunday's severe weather.Spokesperson Shelley Catharine Johnson says an emergency declaration signed by Governor Steve Beshear Friday to prevent price gouging applies to numerous items."Which would include generators. The statute specifially mentions items such as consumer food items, goods or service used for emergency cleanup, emergency supplies, medical supplies, home heating oil, housing, transportation, freight and storage services and of course gasoline," Johnson said.Johnson says the attorney general's office has been investigating reports of gas prices as high as $6.99 per gallon.She says people who want to file a price-gouging or fraud complaint should contact the attorney general's consumer hotline at 1-888-432-9257.Homeowners who have questions about contractors who offer to do repair work should contact the Better Business Bureau.In Louisville/Western Kentucky: 1-800-388-2222In Lexington/Eastern Kentucky: 1-800-866-6668More information about disaster scams can be found here.
Rick Howlett was midday host and the host of LPM's weekly talk show, "In Conversation." He was with LPM from 2001-2023 and held many different titles, including Morning Edition host, Assignment Editor and Interim News Director. He died in August 2023. Read a remembrance of Rick here.