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Kentucky House GOP plans to pass income tax cut this week
FRANKFORT — Republican House Speaker David Osborne says his GOP supermajority in the House of Representatives plans to pass a bill this week that would continue to cut the state’s income tax, a big priority that GOP leadership telegraphed well ahead of this year’s legislative session. Osborne on the first day of the legislative session […]
Some Kentuckians push their power supplier to prioritize greener energy over coal
Bill Conn was thinking of his two children when he wrote an email in December to the Kentucky Public Service Commission, the state agency that regulates more than 1,000 utilities. The Whitley County teacher counts Eastern Kentucky coal miners among his ancestors, a history that’s near and dear to his heart. As recently as 1988, […]
Kentuckians encouraged to challenge accuracy of new broadband map
Gov. Andy Beshear is encouraging Kentuckians to challenge the accuracy of a new federal broadband availability map that will help determine how billions of federal dollars for broadband deployment will be allocated among states. The Federal Communications Commission in November released a proposed online interactive map that lists available internet providers and the maximum advertised […]
‘Practice tolerance and grace’: Kentucky senator says her transgender son has died
This article mentions suicide. The number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 988. A Kentucky state senator announced Tuesday her transgender son, who fought for LGBTQ rights, has died by suicide. Sen. Karen Berg, D-Louisville, in a statement shared on social media by Kentucky Senate Democrats, said 24-year-old Henry Berg-Bousseau was “a beloved son, brother, […]
Criticism greets LG&E/KU plan to replace coal-fired power plants with natural gas, solar
Kentucky’s largest utility, providing power to more than 1.3 million customers, is proposing to build two natural gas plants along with new solar installations to help make up for an energy supply shortfall created by the retirement of coal-fired power plants. It’s a plan that advocates of both coal and renewable energy in Kentucky strongly […]
Kentuckians will gather this weekend to mark first anniversary of tornado outbreak
Western Kentucky communities that were devastated by a violent tornado outbreak last year are marking the one-year anniversary of the natural disaster this weekend with gatherings in churches, candlelight vigils and more. For elected officials and other community members organizing the events, it’s a chance to remember what was lost — lives, entire streets of […]
Fewer than a third of low-income Kentuckians eligible for home energy assistance get it
Hundreds of thousands of low-income Kentuckians are eligible for a federal program to help with their heating bills as energy prices are expected to be higher this winter. Yet those on the frontlines of signing up Kentuckians for the program say there are barriers to reaching all who need such assistance. The Low-Income Home Energy […]
Lack of bidders increasing costs to plug abandoned oil and gas wells in Kentucky
Contractors have started plugging some of the thousands of oil and gas wells abandoned by the fossil fuel industry across Kentucky, using new federal funding. But a lack of companies able or willing to bid on the work is increasing costs, a Kentucky official said recently. Kentucky received an initial $25 million grant through the […]
Jobs were hard to find in Dawson Springs. Then a tornado struck.
DAWSON SPRINGS — A long line of cars and trucks trails out of downtown, waiting to pick up bags carried by volunteers, cartons of eggs and more from a food pantry giveaway on a cold November morning. The need is there, said Lisa Barnes, one of the volunteers loading food into each passing vehicle. As […]
Kentucky tornado survivors living in limbo
MAYFIELD — Makayla Puckett didn’t feel comfortable with talking about what happened until recently. She would speak about that December 2021 night and have to sometimes stop herself, the trauma too much to recollect. The 25-year-old mother of two kids remembers squeezing into a small closet of their Mayfield home with her partner, the train-like roar […]
Kentucky lags on farm-to-school purchases
The food-service director at Bowling Green Independent Schools will often get texts from a farmer in a neighboring county asking her if she wants the latest produce, like a fresh batch of purple cauliflower. “We’re not ever going to say no. We can always add something fresh,” said Dalla Emerson. “We try to bake them […]