Author
As Kentucky’s first smoke-free law turns 20, there’s lots to celebrate, lots more to do
LEXINGTON — Hard to believe: Almost a generation of Kentuckians has never had to come home from a night out with their throats stinging and hair stinking from tobacco smoke. I’m thinking of people who grow up or go to college in Lexington, which is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Kentucky’s first-smoke free law on […]
Would locking up an extra 400 kids make Kentucky safer?
FRANKFORT — In a surprising move, Kentucky’s legislature earlier this year mandated up to 48 hours of detention for juveniles accused of certain serious crimes. Surprising because the decision flies in the face of decades of research. It also conflicts with efforts by many states, including Kentucky, to steer juveniles away from detention into community-based […]
Lexington Democrat kicks off campaign to become Kentucky’s first transgender lawmaker
LEXINGTON — Democrat Emma Curtis on Thursday kicked off her campaign to succeed the late Rep. Lamin Swann as state representative from a south Lexington district. Curtis, who would be Kentucky’s first transgender legislator, said she wants to be a voice for transgender youth but is equally committed to working for the 93rd District to […]
University of Kentucky safety researchers urge more training for delivery truck drivers
LEXINGTON — A University of Kentucky researcher is recommending more training for drivers of medium- and light-weight trucks based on a study of injury reports. Terry Bunn, director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, said drivers of smaller trucks who were injured in crashes lost more work time than drivers of heavy trucks […]
‘Rise up. And build!’ rings out in Lexington at annual Nehemiah Action Assembly
LEXINGTON — It had nothing to do with horses or basketball, but Kentucky’s second-largest city had what I consider to be one of its best nights of the year as 1,500 people came together Monday to make some demands. The demands had been researched and discussed and were issued only after negotiations and the laying […]
Black Legislative Caucus calls on Kentucky Republicans to tackle ‘epidemic of gun violence’
Members of Kentucky’s Black Legislative Caucus on Monday implored their colleagues in the General Assembly to address what Rep. George Brown called “an epidemic of gun violence.”? On the heels of mass shootings in Louisville and Nashville, caucus chair Brown, D-Lexington, said, “We call on our colleagues on the other side of the aisle to […]
Searching for hope in a cruel political season
FRANKFORT — I was sitting at my desk a stone’s throw from the Kentucky Capitol googling Galileo. Was the father of modern science really shown the instruments of torture to make him renounce his belief that the Earth circles the sun?? The authorities had divined that it was the other way around, that God had […]
Legislature approves $20 million for housing in disaster zones
FRANKFORT — Although it was much less than they had hoped, affordable-housing advocates in Kentucky are applauding the legislature’s decision to put $20 million into a new Rural Housing Trust Fund. The money is not a new appropriation but comes from more than $400 million the legislature had set aside last year for disaster relief […]
Senate approves bill to preserve coal-fired power generation in Kentucky
FRANKFORT —The Senate on Thursday approved a bill to keep coal-fired power plants operating in Kentucky, as supporters of the measure railed against federal overreach and the few opponents warned the bill could result in costly state overregulation of utilities. Senate Bill 4 is opposed by the state’s investor-owned utilities, who say it would prevent […]
Republican lawmakers are taking Kentucky back to education’s bad old days
FRANKFORT — Generations of Kentuckians suffered because education was treated as a political spoil.?Schools run for the benefit of adults chained the state to poverty.? In 1990, the legislature shielded public education from political interference as part of a sweeping reform. Schools improved, Kentuckians became better educated and Kentucky was held up as a model. […]
“Furry” fears far from reality, so why do some Republicans fan them?
FRANKFORT — I researched “furry” so you wouldn’t have to. I had been only peripherally aware of the hoax that schools are equipping restrooms with litter boxes to accommodate students who identify as animals. Then the Kelly Craft-Max Wise campaign dumped an allusion to this tall tale onto the Kentucky Senate floor and into the […]
Kentucky politicians of both parties patting themselves on the back for state surplus
FRANKFORT — I’ll say this for the pleasant delusion that has settled over the Capitol like Kentucky River fog: It’s bipartisan.? Politicians on both sides of the aisle appear convinced that their virtuous policies and economic acumen account for state government’s record-high revenue surplus. No one gives credit where credit is due — to the […]