Beshear's state highway engineer under investigation for links to Lawson

An investigation is underway into current state highway engineer O. Gilbert Newman's ties to controversial Kentucky road contractor Leonard Lawson.

Sounds ominous, doesn't it?

Well, it's the truth, even if there's only a slight exaggeration.

Earlier this week, Herald-Leader reporter Ryan Alessi was asking about Newman's former employment with one of Lawson's companies. Turns out that Newman briefly worked for a Lawson venture a few years ago.

The moral of the story? Journalists and headline writers can take any set of facts and twist them to achieve a desired message.

Keep that in mind as you read the past, present and upcoming stories about the FBI probe into alleged bid-rigging at the Transportation Cabinet, especially as those stories relate to Bill Nighbert. Remember that the press has an agenda and is manipulating the facts at hand into a pronouncement of Nighbert's guilt before there are even any indictments issued.