By Todd Hatton
Murray, KY – The candidates for Kentucky lieutenant governor took sharply different stands on mountaintop removal coal mining at Monday's Kentucky Educational Television debate. They did agree creating jobs is the top priority in a state where the unemployment rate is nearly 10 percent. Former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, Democratic Governor Steve Beshear's running mate, said mountaintop removal should be done only in "very rare situations." Republican Richie Farmer, running with David Williams, promised to push back against what he sees as federal overregulation of an industry that employs some 18,000 Kentuckians. Marketing strategist Dea Riley, who's on the ticket with independent Gatewood Galbraith, said she doesn't oppose the coal industry, but she is adamantly opposed to mountaintop removal. The debate was televised by KET in Lexington.