Government
Former Gov. Julian Carroll will lie in state at Kentucky Capitol Friday
Former Kentucky Gov. Julian Carroll, who died Sunday at 92, will lie in state at the state Capitol on Friday, Dec. 15. Carroll, who also served as speaker of the Kentucky House and as a state senator, will lie in state in the Rotunda from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. until […]
Judge rules Kentucky’s charter school law unconstitutional
A Franklin Circuit Court judge on Monday struck down a law allowing charter schools in Kentucky, ahead of an expected effort in next year’s legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would allow public money to be spent on private schools. Judge Phillip Shepherd declared 2022’s House Bill 9 unconstitutional in a […]
Former Kentucky Gov. Julian Carroll dies at 92
Former Kentucky Gov. Julian Morton Carroll, who focused as the state’s 54th governor from 1974 to 1979 on providing more money to education, initiating judicial reforms and promoting the coal industry, died at 4:46 a.m Sunday at the Frankfort Regional Medical Center.? He was 92. Carroll, a Democrat, died at the center after falling at […]
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 […]
Frankfort Democrat Derrick Graham to not seek reelection
Kentucky House Democratic Caucus Leader Derrick Graham will not run for reelection in 2024, he announced Friday.? Graham, a Frankfort Democrat, said in a statement that, “I feel strongly that now is the time to give someone else the chance to be our next state representative, a job I have loved since first being elected […]
Beshear’s inauguration is next week. Here’s the schedule.
Last month, voters gave Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman a second term. Next week, they’ll be inaugurated again at the State Capitol in Frankfort.? The 62nd inauguration on Tuesday, Dec. 12, will feature Kentuckians to celebrate a theme of “Forward, Together.” The festivities include an inaugural ball, a parade, performances and […]
Kentucky lawmakers are pre-filing bills ahead of the 2024 session, but they’re not easy to find
Typically by this time of the year, less than a month from the start of the January legislative session, drafts of dozens of bills that lawmakers planned to introduce would be readily available on the legislature’s website for the public to read. Not so this year. Legislation passed in 2022, which became law without Gov. […]
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 […]
Harvey to retire as Justice and Public Safety Cabinet secretary
Kerry Harvey, the secretary of the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, will retire at the end of January.? Gov. Andy Beshear, who was recently reelected, made the announcement during his weekly press conference Thursday. The governor thanked Harvey for his service and added that Harvey’s decision was “his choice and his choice alone.”? “He has […]
Kentucky Board of Education names firm for education commissioner search
The Kentucky Board of Education has selected McPherson & Jacobson, LLC, as the firm to conduct the search for the Commonwealth’s next commissioner of education.? The board met with representatives of the search firm during its Thursday meeting. However, the selection was made during a Nov. 28 meeting, though the vendor’s name was not public […]
Kentucky’s worsening teacher shortage requires an ‘across the pipeline’ approach, officials say
As more new teachers leave the profession, Kentucky’s teacher shortage is worsening, according to a report to the General Assembly which convenes Jan. 2.?? The Office of Education Accountability (OEA) recently reported that ramifications of personnel shortages in Kentucky schools are growing. State officials and educators say addressing the shortage means supporting teachers “across the […]
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 […]