By Stu Johnson, Kentucky Public Radio The Family Foundation of Kentucky says the state attorney general should move to shut down Instant Racing machines at a southern Kentucky track. Kentucky Downs began offering the gambling devices several weeks ago. Instant Racing allows participants to bet on previously run, anonymous horse races. The Family Foundation’s Kent Ostrander delivered a letter to Attorney General Jack Conway today, asking him to shut the machines down. “They’re not pari-mutuel. It’s not horse racing. But the fact that, in statute, the reel machines are strictly prohibited, that alone would be enough to scuttle this until the court has time to fully decide at the appellate level…sometime in January or February or March,” he said. Next month, an appeals court is expected to consider an injunction aimed at shutting down the slot machines until it can make a formal ruling on their legality. A spokeswoman for the state attorney general says the office doesn’t intervene in matters that are pending before the courts.
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.