Q: What prevents officials from firing the county clerk in Kentucky who refuses to issue marriage licenses? She is not performing her legally mandated job, while earning $80,000 a year of taxpayer money. Why is this an issue for the Supreme Court?
—Ken Celmer, Alpharetta
A: Kim Davis, the clerk of Kentucky's Rowan County, can't be fired. As an elected official, she can only be removed through impeachment by the state Legislature.
The Kentucky Equality Federation has asked Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear to convene a session of the General Assembly to consider impeaching Davis.
An impeachment likely won’t happen because “many state lawmakers share her beliefs,” the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal reported.
Davis has been described as an Apostolic Christian.
Her appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court for a “stay of an order that she issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples” was denied Monday.
Davis had asked U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to stay enforcement of the federal “ruling requiring Rowan to issue marriage licenses to gay couples,” the paper reported.
Q: Shell recently won its fight to start drilling in the Arctic Ocean. Can you tell me who owns Shell and where it’s based?
—Lorraine Vinson, Rome
A: Shell is a "global group of energy and petrochemical companies," it states on its website, that is based in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The parent company is Royal Dutch Shell, and Ben van Beurden is its CEO.
Shell received permission from the U.S. government earlier this month to begin exploratory drilling for oil and natural gas in the Arctic Ocean.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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