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McGarvey, coal miner advocates renew push to ease burden of proof for black lung benefits
Kentucky’s lone Democrat in Congress is joining a renewed push to expand benefits for coal miners suffering from black lung and their families and to ease the burden of seeking such benefits.? Rep. Morgan McGarvey of Louisville during a Wednesday afternoon press conference with coal miner advocates from several states said he’s introducing the Relief […]
‘Today, everybody’s just a Kentuckian’
FRANKFORT — Jason Johnson was pleasantly surprised a couple of weeks ago when he got a call from his high school principal. The governor’s office wanted Johnson, 41, the band director at Pike Central High School in Eastern Kentucky, and his dozens of band students to march in the inauguration parade down Capital Avenue and […]
Oh deer. Kentucky to create statewide plan to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions.
Kentucky transportation and wildlife management officials plan to use a federal grant to fund a first-ever statewide plan identifying roadways prone to vehicle collisions with wildlife and possible ways to reduce such crashes.? The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Wildlife Crossings Pilot Program, funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, awarded the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet $1.2 million […]
First case of chronic wasting disease confirmed in Kentucky
Kentucky wildlife management officials say a deer in West Kentucky has tested positive for chronic wasting disease (CWD) — a fatal neurological disease that impacts elk, deer and other species in the deer family — marking the first such case in the state.? A Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources release Thursday states two […]
State senator wants Frankfort utility to sell its internet service; utility questions why
FRANKFORT — Walking to his office in the state capitol annex last month, state Sen. Gex Williams pulled out his phone to show a photo of a billboard that appeared in Frankfort weeks earlier. The billboard along a well-traveled street displays in bold, white font the words, “OUR COMMUNITY IS NOT FOR SALE,” along with […]
State-run disaster relief funds had error rates below 1%, two reports find
Nearly all relief payments to Kentucky disaster survivors from state-run relief funds were made without error, according to reports released Tuesday, one by the Kentucky auditor and another by an inspector general in the Beshear administration. Republican Auditor Mike Harmon and the Office of the Inspector General of the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet launched […]
Kentucky Power lowers proposed rate hike after pushback. Some ratepayers say it’s still too much.
Letcher County Judge-Executive Terry Adams walked up to a microphone inside a hearing room in Frankfort Tuesday morning, one of numerous people who had given public comments over the past few weeks to the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC).? The utility regulator over the upcoming days will be questioning Kentucky Power executives and other witnesses […]
Kentucky could win ‘massive’ solar investment in federal competition. Here’s what’s possible.
An unlikely collaboration between a Kentucky coalfield county and Kentucky’s largest city began when a former high school English teacher, Megan Downey, walked into the Lawrence County courthouse in Louisa in August.?? Inspired by a personal desire to find ways to tackle the impacts of climate change, Downey had launched a nonprofit called The Solar […]
Kentucky’s next agriculture commissioner names transition team
Kentucky’s next agriculture commissioner has appointed more than two dozen people including farmers and Republican elected officials to a transition team that plans to begin its work at the end of the week.? Republican Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture-Elect Jonathan Shell named Steve Kelly of Anderson County and Jon Copley of Oldham County as co-chairs of […]
Lawsuit alleges federal agencies failing to protect ‘imperiled’ crayfish, darter from coal mining impacts
Two environmental advocacy groups are suing federal agencies for allegedly failing to implement conservation protections for hundreds of coal mines, including those in Eastern Kentucky, whose discharges into waterways could harm endangered and threatened aquatic life.?? Appalachian Voices and the Center for Biological Diversity, in a lawsuit filed in federal district court Wednesday, alleged hundreds […]
Beshear declares state of emergency to help combat Eastern Kentucky wildfires
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency Thursday in an effort to provide more resources for combating wildfires across the state, particularly in Eastern Kentucky.? A Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet release Thursday afternoon said that state Division of Forestry officials are responding to dozens of wildfires across the state and are working […]
Kentucky’s largest utility will retire some coal-fired power, boost renewable energy
Kentucky’s utility regulator has given a green light to plans by the state’s largest utility to retire some of its coal-fired generation, build? a natural gas-fired plant in Jefferson County and add renewable energy to its power generation portfolio.? Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities (LG&E and KU) had asked the Kentucky Public Service […]