With just one working day before breaking for the veto period, the Kentucky legislature still has to approve a two-year state budget. Senate President Robert Stivers told reporters Tuesday night that a final version of House Bill 500, the $31 billion executive branch budget, could be published online later in the evening. “Documents are being drafted […]
Author Archives: Kentucky Lantern
Posted inNews
A Frankfort boy’s seven-year quest to make rescue animals Kentucky’s official pet
When Ethan Branscum was 6 years old, he saw on the news that Ohio had just declared rescue animals to be the official state pet. Even at that young age, he and his mom, Miche, regularly went to visit his local shelter, the Franklin County Humane Society, to take photos of adoptable animals and post them online. In […]
Posted inNews
Judge sentences ex-Gov. Bevin to jail that he can avoid by disclosing financial info
A judge sentenced former Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin to 60 days in jail after finding him in contempt of court for failing to disclose his financial details in a year-long legal battle with his estranged son, Jonah Bevin. It is an extraordinary development for the one-term Republican governor who the judge said has resisted repeated […]
Posted inNews
Veteran suicide is preventable. $5 million grant aims to save lives in Kentucky and beyond.
This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, please call or text the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. For the Veteran Crisis Line, press 1, text 838255 or chat online. For information on resources available to Kentucky veterans, visit this site. Donnie Distler, a 21-year Navy veteran who lives in […]
Posted inNews
Kentucky women sue to end ‘arbitrary, irrational’ sales tax on tampons, period products
For about half of every month, Alex Baldon and Skylar Davis are either actively bleeding or working through the symptoms of painful medical conditions related to their menstrual periods. Unlike most states, Kentucky levies a 6% sales tax on the tampons, pads and other products they need to get through the day. For Baldon, who […]
Posted inNews
House panel changes controversial provisions in bills affecting Kentucky energy planning
A Kentucky House committee advanced two bills expanding the membership of the state’s longstanding utility regulator and reshaping a relatively new energy planning agency, changing or removing language that had received strong pushback. The two bills, Senate Bill 8 and Senate Bill 100, unanimously approved by the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee Thursday morning, […]
Posted inNews
House passes bill raising sports gambling age in Kentucky to 21
The GOP-controlled Kentucky House voted Thursday to raise the age to gamble on sports to 21 and ban proposition bets, or “prop” bets, on Kentucky college athletes. Rep. Michael Meredith, R-Oakland, the primary sponsor of House Bill 904, told a legislative committee earlier this month that the provisions had been worked on for months and […]
Posted inElections
Horse trainer plays ‘outsider’ role in Democratic debate for U.S. Senate in Kentucky
Four Kentucky Democrats — hoping to show their electability in a state that has sent no Democrat to the U.S. Senate this century — disagreed on a few points during a televised debate Tuesday night, while vowing to help steer the country from its current course. Kentuckians in November will elect a successor to Republican […]
Posted inPolitics
Bill blocking Kentuckians from suing pesticide makers splits House GOP but still advances
A bill that critics say would block Kentuckians from suing pesticide companies for failing to warn of their products’ hazards narrowly passed the Republican-controlled House Tuesday over significant Republican opposition. Senate Bill 199, sponsored by Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, would designate that the warning required under a federal law “shall be deemed a sufficient warning label” and […]
Posted inPolitics
Senate Republicans restore funds to KY public universities in their budget proposal
Senate Republicans reversed House cuts to higher education and slightly increased funding for Kentucky’s public universities and colleges in their version of the state budget proposal, but some lawmakers still have questions about universities’ spending habits. The change is part of budget bills that came out of the Senate Appropriations and Revenue committee Wednesday morning […]
