“We're in Kentucky to stay. Planned Parenthood is not going anywhere.”

A land conservation nonprofit in Kentucky is using grant funding to add signs near birding “hotspots” in Eastern Kentucky that people can use to document birds through an app supported by an ornithology lab at Cornell University.  The Kentucky Natural Lands Trust is using part of a $10,000 grant from the Cornell Lab of Ornithonology […]

If there are one or two of you out there who still have doubts that Gov. Andy Beshear will run for president in 2028, doubt no more. This week, he officially released “Go and Do Likewise: How We Heal a Broken County,” joining the Presidential Hopeful section of your local bookstore already stocked with choices […]

Gov. Andy Beshear chairs the Democratic Governors Association this year and in that role his job is to help elect as many Democratic governors as possible in November.  In working toward that goal, Beshear’s super PAC, In This Together, made a $100,000 contribution in August to Project Battleground Georgia, a political committee supporting the election […]

Nearly two years ago, I wrote in this publication that the Kentucky General Assembly’s faith in income tax rate cuts as a vehicle for generating revenue was a mirage. At the time, the state was preparing to cut the individual income-tax rate from 4% to 3.5% even as revenue was expected to decline. I argued […]

A group of economists in charge of forecasting how much revenue Kentucky will bring in the next two fiscal years predicted a more pessimistic financial outlook in the coming years, citing a number of uncertainties in the economy.  During a Tuesday meeting, the Consensus Forecasting Group, made up of economists from around the state, chose […]

This story first appeared on Louisville Public Media. It’s republished here as part of the Appalachian News Exchange reporting partnership to strength Kentucky journalism. For the first time, Kentuckians will be able to direct some of their tax dollars toward private or homeschool education. Starting Jan. 1, Kentuckians can get a one-for-one tax credit on up to $1,700 […]

Kentucky will receive $17 million in federal funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday.  The money will be used to support the 988 suicide prevention lifeline, youth mental health, addiction recovery, doula services and more. “Mental health is just as important as physical health, and devoting more […]

This commentary is about suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 to connect with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, available 24/7 for confidential support. Other resources include the Veterans Crisis Line for Military Veterans (call 988, press 1) and the Trevor Lifeline, the only national 24/7 lifeline for LGBTQ […]

PAINT LICK — Kevin Brown, an attorney whose family has owned a subsistence farm in Garrard County for several generations, says cost of living is a big issue in Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District race.  Brown’s farm was the site of a meet-and-greet for the Democratic candidate, Zach Dembo, in the election in mid-September. A few dozen […]

The mayor of Russell learned in June that a Barcelona company wanted to build a two-gigawatt data center on the old AK Steel site in his town. He learned it from a consultant’s email, and the consultant’s first concern was that the moratorium Russell had just passed might get in the way. That is how […]

Republican Louisville Metro Council member Anthony Piagentini interrupted a committee meeting last week because he wanted someone to stop the blaring noise he heard from the gallery.  That blaring noise was the recorded sound of a data center coming from the phone from a member of the group No Data Center 502, according to group […]

Late last week, I woke in the middle of the night with vertigo. The floating ear-crystals kind where the room spins and spins, floor-to-ceiling, and for which the cure is to do something called the Epley maneuver which, for seconds that feel like hours, intensifies the spinning, making you feel like you have slipped gravity […]

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Gov. Andy Beshear this week appointed Lexington businessman Joseph Palumbo and retired Circuit Judge Phillip Patton to fill vacancies on the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees. The appointments come at a critical time for Kentucky’s flagship state university in the wake of Beshear’ social media post last spring saying he was […]

Federal authorities have charged five people in Kentucky in connection with cockfighting in cases that show the state remains a key player in the illegal activity, according to animal-welfare groups. Those groups have argued that a relatively weak state law is one reason Kentucky has been a key player in the bloody activity, not just […]

Kenneth Anderson’s father taught him what to look for in high-quality tobacco, cured for weeks in the rafters of a Clark County barn. How to “grade” or rate the quality of the different parts of the plant, looking for slight variations of the deep brown color of the dried leaves.  “Tobacco’s always been a crop […]

What happens when politicians dislike what a professor teaches, an employee says, or a university prints? Across 829 pages I obtained from the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, and thousands more from Kentucky universities, I found courses altered and words, missions, programs, and philanthropic initiatives erased or renamed because of perceived ties to diversity, equity, and […]

Tenants at several properties in Shelbyville owned by a Lexington-based property management company are launching a tenant union to make demands on a range of concerns they have on unresolved maintenance issues and more.  A press release announcing the launch of the Shelbyville Tenant Union states that more than 75 residents at seven properties in […]

Former Gov. Matt Bevin will be immediately released from a 60-day jail sentence while the Kentucky Court of Appeals decides whether his incarceration was the proper punishment for his contempt of court charges, the Appeals Court ruled late Wednesday. Bevin, 59, was arrested Sept. 3 and lodged in the Jefferson County jail to serve a 60-day sentence […]

This story first appeared on WEKU. It’s republished here as part of the Appalachian News Exchange reporting partnership to strength Kentucky journalism. The Trump administration has taken steps to boost coal’s fortunes in recent years, but the government still forecasts an industry decline this year and next. Coal generation is expected to decline 8% in 2026 and […]