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In a rural Kentucky community, the roar of a suspected crypto ‘mine’ never ends
WOLFE COUNTY — She couldn’t see it through the trees on a recent late September morning, but she’s felt its presence for weeks on end.? Up the hill across from her home along the Wolfe-Lee county line, 76-year-old Brenda Campbell can hear through the leaves a constant, high-pitched whirring that rivals the cicada screeches in […]
Kentucky among the most vulnerable states to climate change impacts, according to new research
A new index measuring 184 categories of public data across more than 70,000 census tracts in the country shows Kentucky communities, particularly Eastern Kentucky, among the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.? The U.S. Climate Vulnerability Index, created in collaboration by researchers at Texas A&M University and the nonprofit advocacy group Environmental Defense […]
Wildlife officials downgrade protection status of West Kentucky fish to ‘threatened’
A small fish native to a stream system in West Kentucky is having its federal protection status under the Endangered Species Act downgraded from “endangered” to “threatened” in large part due to decades of conservation efforts.? The relict darter, native to the Bayou de Chien stream system that runs through West Kentucky into the Mississippi […]
Autoworker in Louisville was ready to strike but Kentucky didn’t get the call
LOUISVILLE — Richard Jones remembers when the United Auto Workers made concessions to Ford in 2008 as the automaker avoided a government bailout that General Motors and Chrysler, now Stellantis, took. Ford workers did without raises and cost of living adjustments, he said, to keep Ford in business during the Great Recession.? “All this time […]
Longtime Kentucky labor leader will not seek reelection as state AFL-CIO president
A longtime leader of the Kentucky State AFL-CIO, a prominent union federation, is not seeking reelection as president after serving more than two decades in the position.? Kentucky State AFL-CIO President Bill Londrigan — who also served in roles with the Greater Louisville Building and Construction Trades Council and the Greater Louisville Central Labor Council […]
Pike County crypto mining operation approved for electricity discounts with conditions
Kentucky’s utility regulator approved last week more than $2.5 million in electricity discounts over several years from utility Kentucky Power to a cryptocurrency mining operation in Pike County.? As? part of its approval, the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC) is requiring Kentucky Power follow several conditions to make sure the costs of the discounts given […]
In Kentucky’s rivers, researchers try to understand where the mussels have gone
PENDLETON COUNTY — Wendell Haag wades through the cool, moving water of the Licking River, his eyes scanning across the silty bed for the distinctive shells he’s studied for decades.? The river is seemingly paved with the shells of freshwater mussels featuring various sizes, colors and species, buried into the sediment amongst the rocks, crayfish […]
Kentucky ban on collecting some union dues by payroll deduction struck down
A Kentucky judge has struck down a new state law that prevents some public-sector unions from collecting dues through payroll deductions. Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate in an order on Aug. 30 stated that Senate Bill 7 creates “favoritism” for some public sector labor unions exempted from the law — specifically unions representing jail and […]
Kentucky Supreme Court chief justice won’t run for re-election in 2024
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance VanMeter won’t run for reelection in 2024, opening up the field for a new justice to be elected next year to fill his vacancy. VanMeter, who represents the 5th Supreme Court District covering much of central Kentucky, has served in various roles in Kentucky’s judicial branch over nearly three […]
Coal-fired power failures during winter storm come to light months later
Last December a mass of arctic air, later unofficially named Winter Storm Elliott, swept through Kentucky plunging temperatures to as low as eight degrees below zero. The frigid weather led to a power supply crunch across the Southeast as households and businesses tried to stay warm.? Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities, the state’s […]
Union leaders hear from young workers organizing in Louisville
LOUISVILLE — It wasn’t until two weeks ago that Troy Plumer joined a union, a local chapter of the United Campus Workers, after working for about a decade as an IT professional at the University of Louisville.? The union, which represents staff and faculty, recently held a rally on campus to protest a new compensation […]
Kentucky fails to meet fiscal trigger to allow for another income tax cut
Kentucky Republicans’ goal?of gradually eliminating the state income tax has met an obstacle of their own making. State tax revenues failed to meet a fiscal requirement set by the GOP-controlled legislature in order to consider further income tax cuts during next year’s legislative session, according to a letter?from the state budget director.? The General Assembly […]