history
How we owned a mine, or a brief history of Kentucky’s coal mining cooperative
For over 100 years, Himler House stood on a hill overlooking Beauty, formerly Himlerville, in Martin County. Once the site of grand Christmas parties and banquets, the house was eventually abandoned and fell to ruins. But few of the teens, vandals, and ghost hunters who frequented the abandoned mansion knew that it had been the […]
Bettye Lee Mastin, journalist who championed historic preservation, dies at 97
Bettye Lee Mastin, a member of the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame and champion of historic preservation in the Bluegrass, died May 8. She was 97. Mastin said her mother encouraged her to write every day and that when she graduated from high school in Jessamine County she wanted to be a poet. A professor […]
With bill sponsor absent, House committee expands Senate curbs on diversity in higher education
FRANKFORT —The House Education Committee on Thursday overhauled and expanded Senate-approved restrictions on diversity programs without hearing from the bill’s Senate sponsor. Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy, presented a substitute for Senate Bill 6 that goes much further than the version approved by the Senate and sponsored by Senate Republican Whip Mike Wilson. Decker’s substitute would […]
10,000 Kentuckians marched to demand racial equality. My grandmother was one of them.
I never got a chance to ask my grandmother about what March 5, 1964 was like for her. What she heard from speakers on the steps of the Kentucky Capitol. If she saw Martin Luther King Jr. or Jackie Robinson. What she felt standing with thousands of others from across Kentucky. She didn’t speak much […]
Partisan games or power to the people? Kentucky’s GOP legislature clips governor’s wings
FRANKFORT — Republican lawmakers say a flurry of bills to limit the governor’s authority would give more power to Kentuckians. However, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear chalks up the trend to partisan “games.” While the power struggle between Kentucky’s legislative and executive branches is nothing new, it’s become a recurring theme since voters elected a Democratic […]
Charlotte Henson, producer and president of Pioneer Playhouse, dies at 93
Charlotte Hutchison Henson, the matriarch of the historic Pioneer Playhouse in Danville, has died. She was 93. Charlotte Henson, with her late husband, Col. Eben Henson, brought Broadway to the Bluegrass by establishing what is now Kentucky’s oldest outdoor theater. It has attracted hundreds of young actors over the years, including John Travolta, Lee Majors, […]
Bill would save Kentucky consumers money, help independent pharmacies survive, says sponsor
Four years after leading the effort to cut corporate middlemen out of the prescription drug business for Kentucky’s Medicaid program, Sen. Max Wise now is taking aim at those same companies’ role in private health insurance. Noting his Senate Bill 50, enacted in 2020, resulted in millions of dollars in savings to Kentucky Medicaid, Wise, […]
Lexington seeking public artwork to commemorate its 250th birthday next year
In honor of the 250th anniversary of its founding next year, Lexington is seeking proposals for an outdoor work of art to be placed in the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza. “Lexington has a long history with the arts, and a new work of art in the heart of downtown for our city’s 250th anniversary […]
Unafraid of death, former Kentucky Gov. Julian Carroll reflects on his long political life
FRANKFORT — At age 92, former Kentucky Gov. Julian Carroll sits in a recliner at his Franklin County home, talking about his glory years in politics and the six-page program-in-progress on a nearby stand. The program is entitled “Julian Morton Carroll: A Lifetime of Public Service.” It contains a portrait of him, his bio and […]
Author, historian Jill Lepore will deliver Clements lecture at UK library Tuesday
University of Kentucky Libraries will welcome essayist, author?and professor of history Jill Lepore for the 2023 Earle C. Clements Lecture-Symposium on Tuesday, Sept.?12. Drawing from her book, “The Deadline: Essays,” Lepore will reflect on the relationship between America’s past and its fractious present, exploring such difficult questions as “Why does impeachment no longer work?” and […]
Segregated Lexington: Then and what now?
LEXINGTON — On Friday, May 17, 1907, the Lexington Leader ran an ad promoting a new subdivision. “Mentelle Park is the only perfectly appointed and finished residence park ever attempted in Lexington,” it proclaimed.? The joys of the park were extolled: ?“model macadam roads … streets curbed with Bedford stone … splendid forest and shade […]
Navy Seaman 1st Class Elmer P. Lawrence comes home from Pearl Harbor
For decades, Elmer P. Lawrence was unaccounted for after dying at Pearl Harbor. Now, he’ll be buried this weekend 13 minutes from his hometown.? The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which works to identify soldiers lost, announced in June that its scientists had identified Lawrence in 2021 and would send him home for burial.? Navy Seaman […]