Economy
Hazard, some other Kentucky towns may enact restaurant tax, judge rules
A Franklin Circuit judge has given a legal victory to Hazard and several other Kentucky cities interested in imposing a restaurant tax. The tax, created by the legislature in 1980, is levied in about 50 of Kentucky’s 418 cities on retail sales of food and beverages in all restaurants in the city. The tax rate […]
New federal rule will overhaul transmission planning as electric grid strains
A divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Monday issued a long-awaited overhaul of how regional electric transmission lines are planned and paid for, a move cheered by clean power groups but blasted by a conservative commissioner who said it was driven by “special interests” and exceeds the commission’s authority. The commission’s final rule on transmission […]
Kentucky American Water rates going up, but not by as much as company sought
FRANKFORT — Kentucky American Water customers are due a refund after the state utility regulator rejected part of a rate increase the company began charging in February and chastised it for not doing more to stem water loss from its system. Kentucky American Water, serving more than 138,000 customers in Lexington and more than a […]
Still awaiting noise relief, some rural Kentuckians point to Arkansas’ new crypto mining law
Nine months after a suspected cryptocurrency mine moved into her previously quiet part of Wolfe County, Brenda Campbell says noise canceling blankets installed by the operator are not helping and she still doesn’t know where to turn for relief from the constant, intrusive whirring. Wolfe County Judge-Executive Raymond Banks agrees the noise blankets haven’t been […]
Governor’s Derby guests?
FRANKFORT —? Unlike his predecessors, Gov. Andy Beshear has declined to identify friends and political supporters who buy prime tickets to the Kentucky Derby made available by Churchill Downs each year for the governor’s guests. The Louisville racetrack sets aside large numbers of Derby tickets for sale at face value to Kentucky elected officials, including […]
Avalanche of aid could help Kentuckians reinvent mountain economy
CORBIN — Eastern Kentucky is about to get an avalanche of federal and state money to help it transition from its largely disappeared coal economy, but some of its towns are already lifting themselves up and setting examples for the region. That was the upshot of the 36th annual East Kentucky Leadership Conference in Corbin, […]
‘Panicked rush to gas’ could hike energy costs, report warns regulators
The nation’s largest public power company, the Tennessee Valley Authority, which serves 10 million people in Tennessee and parts of six neighboring states, has put forward plans for eight new natural gas plants since 2020. In South Carolina, Dominion Energy and Santee Cooper are pushing the state legislature to pave the way for a 2,000-megawatt […]
Black voters key to electing Biden in 2020. Money woes make some question their support in 2024.
The economy is top of mind for caregiver and driver Jennifer Garner as the U.S. heads toward the November presidential election. Garner, 46, lives in Cleveland and can bring in about $800 a week working extra hours at both jobs. But between debt payments on $56,000 in student loans and $1,300 in rent — among […]
Billionaire TikTok investor, charter school advocate puts $8 million into Paul affiliated PAC
Jeff Yass, the Pennsylvania billionaire and major investor in the parent company of TikTok, contributed $8 million last month to a super PAC affiliated with U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. The super PAC is called Protect Freedom PAC, and a report it filed with the FEC on Wednesday says Yass gave the $8 million […]
Covington breaks ground on mixed-use development at former IRS site
Nearly two years ago, O’Rourke Wrecking crews busted a hole into the wall of the derelict Internal Revenue Service processing center, which had sat vacant since 2020. Today, the building’s demolition is complete. The former IRS site is now a barren 23-acre plot awaiting development. The city’s plan is to transform the site into a […]
‘We cannot hold on:’ Kentucky child care providers plead for more help from lawmakers?
More than 250 Kentucky child care providers responsible for 150,000 children across the state sent lawmakers a letter Tuesday pleading for more support, saying what’s been proposed in the state budget “is not enough” as their industry is “at risk of collapse.”? The letter asks lawmakers to pass a supplemental lifeline funding bill in the […]
Some states are cutting higher ed in rural areas. What if Kentucky tried the opposite?
HAZARD — Haley Autumn Dawn Ann Crank thinks she might like to become a teacher. There’s a shortage of teachers in this corner of Kentucky, and Crank, who has eight siblings, gets kids. “I just fit in with them,” Crank said during a shift one February day at the Big Blue Smokehouse, where she works […]