Government
Auditor says juvenile justice review shows ‘lack of leadership’ from Beshear administration
FRANKFORT — A review of Kentucky’s Department of Juvenile Justice found “??disorganization across facilities” and a “lack of leadership from the Beshear Administration,” Republican Auditor Allison Ball said Wednesday. However, an administration spokesperson said neither the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) nor the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet was given the opportunity to review the […]
Cameron’s office agreed to $99,750 settlement in lawsuit over ‘ballot integrity’ task force records
Former Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s office agreed to pay $99,750 to settle a long-running open records dispute in December just days before Cameron left to become CEO of an organization devoted to combatting “woke capitalism,” among other objectives. American Oversight, an open records advocacy group based in Washington D.C., had sued Cameron’s office in […]
Pilot program to add speed cameras to roadway work zones heads to Kentucky House
FRANKFORT — Adding speed cameras to highway construction zones received a House committee’s approval with bipartisan support Tuesday.? Under House Bill 192, sponsored by Rep. John Blanton, R-Salyersville,? the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet would create a three-year pilot program starting in 2025 to add speed cameras to work zones in an effort to discourage speeding and […]
Kentucky Senate votes to bar college ID as a primary form of voter identification
FRANKFORT — Kentuckians could no longer use university-issued identification cards as their primary voter ID under a bill that cleared the Republican-controlled Senate Tuesday along party lines.? Republican Secretary of State Michael Adams decried the legislation, Senate Bill 80, in a Tuesday interview with the Kentucky Lantern ahead of the Senate vote. Looking to the […]
House-approved bill asks voters to make clear: Noncitizens can’t vote in Kentucky
FRANKFORT — A Republican-backed bill passed Tuesday by the Kentucky House of Representatives would ask voters to approve a constitutional amendment barring people who aren’t U.S. citizens from voting in state and local elections, something that Kentucky’s chief elections official says doesn’t happen.? House Bill 341 sponsor, Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, described the bill as […]
Decrying ‘pick-a-side politics,’ Beshear responds to GOP calls for him to support Texas governor’s border stand
FRANKFORT — Responding to Republican calls for him to support Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s immigration crackdown, Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday praised the 850 Kentucky National Guard members who have served at the southern border, saying they?“answered the call of our country, not the clamor of the latest political outrage.”? Declaring Kentuckians “exhausted with this […]
Kentucky legislators introducing ‘sexually explicit’ ban bills again?
A Kentucky senator and representative will file mirror legislation Tuesday aimed at regulating “adult oriented businesses” and how close they can be to minors: no closer than a city block.? Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, and Rep. Nancy Tate, R-Brandenburg, want their respective bills to move simultaneously, they said at a Tuesday press conference.? Should the […]
Man convicted of rape and murder loses shot at parole made possible by former Gov. Matt Bevin
Gregory Wilson, who was sentenced to death after being convicted in 1988 of kidnapping, raping and killing Deborah Pooley of Covington but had his sentence reduced by former Gov. Matt Bevin to make him eligible for parole, has to spend the rest of his life in prison. The Kentucky Parole Board decided Monday that Wilson, […]
Before and after Dobbs, questions of ‘when and where’ affect abortion access
DakotaRei Frausto was 17 years old and 12 weeks pregnant when they had to travel 11 hours by car from San Antonio, Texas, to New Mexico to terminate a pregnancy after contraception failed them. The appointment was April 1, 2022, about six months after Senate Bill 8 initially took effect in Texas, banning abortions after […]
Kentucky has tens of millions of dollars of backlogged requests to repair local roads
Kentucky is?unable to fulfill nearly $40 million of requests from cities and counties to help repair local roads because of a lack of funding, a Kentucky Transportation Cabinet official told state lawmakers Monday.? Bobbi Jo Lewis, commissioner of the Department of Rural and Municipal Aid in the Transportation Cabinet, urged the House Budget Review Subcommittee […]
Kentucky Republicans lining up with Texas governor in border fight with Biden
FRANKFORT — The controversy over control of the U.S. border has invaded the Kentucky Capitol as Attorney General Russell Coleman and other Republicans voice solidarity with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in his showdown with the Biden administration.? Coleman joined 25 other Republican attorneys general on Monday in sending a letter to President Joe Biden similar […]
Kentucky Senate, again: Reopen Capital Avenue
FRANKFORT — A Republican senator is once again pushing to reopen Capital Avenue near the Kentucky Capitol to traffic. The stretch of road, which passes by the Governor’s Mansion, was closed to vehicles in 2021 for security reasons.? Senate Bill 75 from Sen. John Schickel, R-Union, easily passed the Senate Monday in a vote of […]