From Kentucky Public Radio's Tony McVeighJay Blanton, spokesman for Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, is leaving the administration at the end of October to take a job in the private sector.Jay Blanton is Gov. Beshear’s second communications director, after Dick Brown, who now works for Environmental and Public Protection. Blanton, who began work for the governor last August, is taking a job with the Keeneland Association in Lexington.“The professional and personal opportunity to work for an institution that means as much to central Kentucky as Keeneland does was just too much to pass up,” Blanton said.Katie Allison Dailinger will replace Blanton as communications director. Kerri Richardson, who currently works for Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, will be a deputy communications director. Jill Midkiff will also continue to serve as a spokesperson for the administration.
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.