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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 […]
Kentucky legislature should have AHEART, put pandemic windfall to work building affordable housing
FRANKFORT — A proposal by nonprofits working to keep Kentuckians housed is almost touching for its modesty: $150 million as a downpayment on affordable housing seems like the least the legislature could do this session, considering both the enormity of the need and the state’s pandemic windfall. In Eastern Kentucky, flooded homes that were salvageable […]
A plea to Kentucky’s teachers
I get why teachers in Kentucky are suspicious of almost anything coming out of the GOP-controlled legislature. Republicans earned that distrust through words and deeds, most notoriously the surprise attack on teachers’ pensions in 2018. I’m begging educators to see beyond the poisonous political atmosphere and seize ownership of a push to change reading instruction.? […]
Politicians owe Kentuckians a serious conversation about climate change
How many times have we seen it? Disaster strikes. The media descend. For a few days, the world is mesmerized. Until something new beckons; the media move on. And the victims recede in our ever-shortening attention spans and are forgotten. I’m proud the Kentucky Lantern’s debut brought you journalism that does not move on and […]
Meet the Kentucky Lantern, independent journalism that’s free for all to read
FRANKFORT?— Welcome to the Kentucky Lantern. I’m thrilled you’re reading us. Please, come back and invite your friends. As a nonprofit we can make our news and commentary free to read without paywalls and also free to republish.? While this economic model is relatively new, our mission is so deeply rooted in American democracy that […]