Author

McKenna Horsley

McKenna Horsley

McKenna Horsley covers state politics for the Kentucky Lantern. She previously worked for newspapers in Huntington, West Virginia, and Frankfort, Kentucky. She is from northeastern Kentucky.

Kentucky Lantern is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

Improve retention and recruitment to address teacher shortage, Kentucky school leaders say

By: - January 30, 2023

Kentucky school officials say more study of the state’s public education system is needed to address the teacher shortage.? The Coalition to Sustain the Education Profession, a group established last year by the Kentucky Association of School Administrators, on Monday unveiled its recommendations, including gathering data and information, during a news conference with administrators, students, […]

Kentucky students recommend ways to prevent, respond to school shootings

By: - January 24, 2023

FRANKFORT — After a gunman killed 21 people and wounded 17 others at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, last spring, high school students on a Kentucky advisory committee “realized we needed to use our voices to change,” said Malley Taylor, a junior at the Craft Academy in Morehead. On Tuesday, the students presented their […]

Second ‘higher ground’ site for rebuilding flooded Eastern Kentucky communities is near Hazard

By: - January 24, 2023

Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday announced a second site on higher ground in flood-ravaged Eastern Kentucky —? this time near Hazard — where plans call for initially building about 150 houses.? The project would be partially funded by the Team Eastern Kentucky Flood Relief Fund in partnership with local nonprofit builders, says a release from […]

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear wearing face mask

AG’s office: Beshear’s office violated open records act when partially denying GOP request

By: - January 19, 2023

Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office ruled Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration violated the Kentucky Open Records Act when denying part of a request from the Republican Party of Kentucky.? Both the RPK and the Kentucky Democratic Party have weighed in on the opinion. According to documents provided by the RPK to news outlets, the part of […]

Beshear’s juvenile detention plans include bump in starting salary, building new facilities

By: - January 19, 2023

Gov. Andy Beshear has announced an increase in starting pay for staff in youth detention centers and unveiled a proposal to build two new facilities to house juveniles. Those and other changes outlined by Beshear on Thursday come amid criticism from Republican lawmakers about the administration’s handling of unsafe and sometimes violent conditions in the […]

Quarles to reschedule political event after being billed alongside officer in Breonna Taylor raid

By: - January 17, 2023

Following criticism that he would have been speaking alongside one of the police officers who participated in the deadly raid on Breonna Taylor’s apartment, Kentucky gubernatorial candidate Ryan Quarles has opted to reschedule an event in Bowling Green with a local Republican women’s group.? Over the weekend, the Republican Women’s Club of South Central KY […]

Charles Booker, former Kentucky Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, to lead governor’s faith-based initiatives office

By: - January 13, 2023

Charles Booker, a Louisvillian and former state representative, has been appointed to lead the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and Community Involvement.? In a press release from his office, Gov. Andy Beshear announced several leadership appointments within his administration. The office Booker will helm was created by former Gov. Ernie Fletcher.? “I am honored to […]

Kentucky executive branch employees barred from using TikTok on state devices

By: - January 13, 2023

Time’s up for TikTok on the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s technology devices.? All of Kentucky’s executive branch employees are barred from using TikTok, a social media app and website for short videos, on state-issued devices. The new rule comes as bills for a similar ban move through the state legislature.? TikTok, a platform where content creators […]

Some fear a region’s future hangs on legislature’s support for emergency affordable housing

By: - January 11, 2023

FRANKFORT — Without significant state funding for new housing, “we’re going to experience the largest out-migration in Appalachian history,” Sen. Brandon Smith of Hazard told the Kentucky Lantern in a telephone interview just before 2023 began. Yet, despite the thousands of homes lost to last summer’s flooding, no significant housing proposal emerged during the legislature’s […]

Ballot set for May 16 primary election in Kentucky

By: - January 6, 2023

FRANKFORT — Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams closed the door to the elections office at 4 p.m. Friday, signaling an end for candidates to file for Kentucky’s 2023 elections.? No big surprises emerged in the 12-candidate Republican race for governor, although former Republican Gov. Matt Bevin created some suspense by hinting on Twitter that […]

Bevin leaves media hanging without so much as a ‘pardon me’

By: - January 6, 2023

FRANKFORT — Matt Bevin returned to the Kentucky Capitol, spoke for about 30 minutes and then promptly drove away from the building Friday.? The former Kentucky Republican governor, who narrowly lost to Democrat Andy Beshear in 2019, tweeted hints at a possible 2023 gubernatorial run though he would not answer if he was running for […]

Senate unanimously approves legislative investigation of juvenile detention violence

By: - January 5, 2023

FRANKFORT —?Democrats pushed back against Republican criticism of the Beshear administration as the state Senate on Friday unanimously approved creation of a workgroup to investigate violence and dangerous working conditions in Kentucky’s juvenile detention centers. Senate President Pro Tem David Givens, sponsor of the resolution to create the 12-member workgroup, said the detention system, which […]