Government

Commentary
Louisville Metro Department of Corrections

Citizens group demands new medical provider, end of overcrowding at Louisville jail where 12 died

BY: , , , and - December 5, 2022

For the past year, Louisville has been in the throes of one of the most devastating humanitarian?crises in the city’s history. Twelve people died in the nightmarish conditions at Louisville Metro?Department of Corrections (LMDC): Last December, as Mayor Greg Fischer and community leaders shrugged their shoulders and?remained silent when three people died at the jail […]

Lack of bidders increasing costs to plug abandoned oil and gas wells in Kentucky

BY: - December 5, 2022

Contractors? have started plugging some of the thousands of oil and gas wells abandoned by the fossil fuel industry across Kentucky, using new federal funding. But a lack of companies able or willing to bid on the work is increasing costs, a Kentucky official said recently.? Kentucky received an initial $25 million grant through the […]

Eltuan Dawson, who is a member of the True Up Peer Network; Shontelle Davis (researcher for the report); Cynthia Schepers, peer coach coordinator with Kentucky Youth Advocates and True Up Kentucky; and Tamara Vest (participant of the report and a social work intern with KYA).

Residential foster care in Kentucky is physically, mentally unsafe, say some who have been there

BY: - December 2, 2022

One young adult remembers taking a daily allergy pill upon entering a Kentucky residential foster care facility and leaving “on 13 medications within six months.” Another lost the privilege of calling their mother after a riot at their location.? These were among the experiences 46 young adults shared with Kentucky Youth Advocates’ researchers, who examined […]

Commentary

Look for more attacks on Kentucky’s open government laws

BY: - December 2, 2022

Kentucky lawmakers faced a dilemma in 1975. One year earlier, they enthusiastically enacted an open meetings and an open records law aimed at restoring the public’s trust in government. Years of deception associated with the Vietnam Conflict and clandestine and illegal activities by the Nixon administration — collectively referred to as the Watergate scandal — […]

Stivers says Senate GOP will decide soon whether to change abortion ban

BY: - December 1, 2022

This article is published with permission from the Northern?Kentucky?Tribune, a nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism. “It’s hard to tell” if Kentucky voters’ decision last month against a constitutional amendment to eliminate abortion rights from the state Constitution means the people want abortion allowed in cases involving rape and incest, the […]

Commentary

Mitch McConnell diagnosed GOP problem with voters but didn’t follow his own prescription

BY: - December 1, 2022

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, after beating back a challenge to his leadership position, offered a reasonable analysis on why his party fell short of midterm election hopes. “We underperformed among indepen--dents and moderates because their impression of many of the people in our party, and leadership roles, is that they’re dogged in chaos, negativity, […]

Jobs were hard to find in Dawson Springs. Then a tornado struck.

BY: - December 1, 2022

DAWSON SPRINGS — A long line of cars and trucks trails out of downtown, waiting to pick up bags carried by volunteers, cartons of eggs and more from a food pantry giveaway on a cold November morning.? The need is there, said Lisa Barnes, one of the volunteers loading food into each passing vehicle. As […]

Elementary school students sitting at desks wearing masks

Republicans poised to cut Kentucky income tax again based on revenue boom that could be fleeting

BY: - November 30, 2022

FRANKFORT – Kentucky House Majority Leader Steven Rudy recently told a receptive audience at a Kentucky Chamber of Commerce forum that the first bill the House will consider when it convenes in January will be a measure to cut the Kentucky income tax rate from 4.5% to 4%. “I think it is very cool for […]

Same-sex marriage protected under bill passed by U.S. Senate with GOP support

BY: - November 30, 2022

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate approved legislation Tuesday that would enshrine protections for same-sex and interracial marriages, codifying many of the rights that would disappear if the U.S. Supreme Court were to overturn those landmark decisions the way it overturned the nationwide right to an abortion this summer. The 61-36 bipartisan vote sends the bill […]

State should not withdraw safety net as disasters compound childhood trauma, advocates say

BY: - November 30, 2022

In 2020, more than 1,000 Kentucky children were physically abused, more than 15,000 were neglected and almost 800 were sexually abused.? Experts say these numbers, which come from a new Kentucky Youth Advocates report on adverse childhood experiences, are only what’s reported. They’re likely worse.? Adverse childhood experiences, more commonly known as ACEs, refer to […]

Commentary
abortion

Wait a minute, the abortion-rights vote does too matter

BY: - November 30, 2022

If Kentucky voters had approved the ballot measure denying any constitutional support for abortion rights, the results certainly would have been used to argue for retaining restrictive bans. So why shouldn’t the rejection of that measure be a key factor in the Kentucky Supreme Court’s various decisions about the constitutionality of abortion laws?? The legislature […]

Kentucky is sacrificing its workforce to lack of affordable child care, lawmakers say

BY: - November 30, 2022

What happens when a promotion and small pay-raise effectively impose an $18,000 penalty on a working parent? It’s not only a hardship on the affected family but also makes it hard for employers — not to mention the state of Kentucky — to build a workforce, according to findings by Kentucky lawmakers who have been […]