Economy
‘Free market health care:’ Boon or bane for rural Kentucky?
Experts and lawmakers continue to split over whether Kentucky should reform its controversial certificate of need process.? Two Republican lawmakers on different sides of the issue — Sen. Stephen Meredith of Leitchfield and Rep. Marianne Proctor of Union — spoke Thursday during a meeting of the Interim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, & Administrative Regulations. […]
Feds OK Kentucky plans to roll out $1 billion for broadband. Here’s what happens next.
Federal officials have approved Kentucky’s plan to deploy almost $1.1 billion?to expand broadband, a key step toward connecting homes and businesses throughout the state.? The funding was given to the state last year. Earlier this month the National Telecommunications and Information Administration approved the second volume of Kentucky’s proposed plans for using the money through […]
Stuck in idle: Kentucky Speedway falls short of once high hopes 4 years after last NASCAR race
SPARTA — By the end of the year, the owners of Kentucky Speedway will have paid Gallatin County more than $900,000 for tickets never sold to races never run. NASCAR abandoned the racetrack following the 2020 Quaker State 400, but a 20-year PILOT agreement (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes) obligates Speedway Motorsports Inc. to two […]
Trauma, poverty, COVID-19 causing high rates of chronic absenteeism in Kentucky?
The number of Kentucky youth who are chronically absent from school skyrocketed during the 2022-2023 school year.? The reasons for chronic absenteeism are interconnected and complicated — and the negative fallout potential is widespread, from mental health to the economy.? Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) staff and child welfare advocates point to the COVID-19 pandemic, […]
States beg insurers not to drop climate-threatened homes
In the coming years, climate change could force Americans from their homes, not just by raising sea levels, worsening wildfires and causing floods — but also by putting insurance coverage out of reach. In places including California, Florida and Louisiana, some homeowners are finding it nearly impossible to find an insurance company that will cover […]
New rules protect pregnant workers, but red states sue over abortion provisions
Natasha Jackson was four months pregnant when she told her supervisor she was expecting. It was 2008, and Jackson was an account executive at a rental furniture store in Charleston, South Carolina — the only female employee there. “I actually hid my pregnancy as long as I could because I was scared about what could […]
Celebrating new UK lab, McConnell calls for building up US industrial base, defense spending
LEXINGTON — U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell spoke about the need to “improve the country’s industrial base” during a ribbon-cutting at the University of Kentucky for a new research laboratory that will work with the U.S. Army.? McConnell, who graduated from the university’s law school in 1967, spoke on Wednesday about his support for […]
Kentuckians’ access to mental health care lags. Paying providers more would help, says report.
Kentuckians are far more likely to pay out of pocket for mental and behavioral health services than for surgical or other medical care.? This insight comes from a recent American Psychological Association report, which examined health insurance claims made by millions of Americans who sought care.? The report showed that as COVID-19 peaked in the […]
Beshear makes Juneteenth a Kentucky holiday, protects natural hair in state workplaces
Gov. Andy Beshear on Thursday signed executive orders making Juneteenth an executive branch holiday and protecting natural hairstyles like braids, locs and twists from discrimination.? Both Democratic and Republican lawmakers have tried and failed to pass bills on both of these issues.? CROWN Act stalls in legislature Sen. Whitney Westerfield, R-Fruit Hill, is among those […]
Rail yard is $5 million closer to again serving as an economic engine
For Chris Campbell, Estill County is where almost everyone has a connection to the rail lines that run by the “twin cities” of Irvine and Ravenna, the latter founded by a railroad in the early 20th century.? Campbell, while not an Estill County native, is a train enthusiast and president of the Irvine-based nonprofit Kentucky […]
Workers at Mercedes-Benz plant in Alabama reject union after months-long campaign
Workers at a Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, voted Friday to reject a union after a months-long campaign to organize the plant. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which oversaw the election, said 2,045 workers (44%) voted for the union, while 2,642 workers (56%) voted against it. The results, the first setback for organized labor […]
Biden administration proposes ending future federal coal leasing in Powder River Basin
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Thursday released plans to end future leasing of its managed coal resources in the Powder River Basin in eastern Montana and northeastern Wyoming in a move that has angered Montana’s Republican political leaders but is being cheered by environmental groups who fought for changes to leasing plans over […]