Commentary
The kids aren’t alright: Don’t throw that catch-up plan in the dustbin just yet
Kentucky inaugurates a governor next week. He’s the same guy who has served in that office for the last four years, so it might seem silly to indulge in pomp and circumstance when nothing is changing. But as Americans learned the hard way after 2020, having an election end peacefully — having voters who supported […]
Improving efficiency would lower Kentucky Power bills and demand, say negotiators
Kentucky Power, a utility serving 20 of Kentucky’s poorest counties, has asked for an increase in electricity rates for homeowners, renters and small businesses — the fourth in eight years. The increase, currently in a settlement agreement under review by the Kentucky Public Service Commission (PSC), could bring in $74 million more a year to […]
Kentucky counties hit hardest by disasters swing toward Beshear
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, was reelected last month with 52.5% of the vote, a significant improvement on his razor thin margin of victory in 2019. Many of the largest shifts toward Beshear occurred in counties hardest hit by recent natural disasters, including the 2022 flooding in southeast Kentucky and the 2021 tornado across […]
Five things we can do for kinship families
As we approach a new year, let’s not forget kids in kinship care. Kinship care is when a child is living with relatives or close family friends other than their parents. These children may be victims of abuse and neglect and/or formally in the child welfare system, while many for myriad reasons are informally left […]
Remember learning ‘how a bill becomes law’? Well, forget it in the Kentucky legislature.
A million thanks to the League of Women Voters of Kentucky for running the numbers on the opaque and, oh, so arrogant way the General Assembly conducts what we still quaintly call the “people’s business.” “None of the people’s business” is more like it, considering how frequently the legislature chooses to shut out the public. […]
It’s time to restore citizen participation in Kentucky lawmaking process
Our representative democracy rests on a basic principle: The people have a right to participate in decisions that affect them. The League of Women Voters of Kentucky is concerned by any weakening of that principle. In our new “How Can They Do That?” report, we show that Kentucky’s General Assembly has increasingly fast-tracked legislation in […]
Kentucky lawmakers should heed lesson from Louisville mass shooting
The day before he killed five people and injured several others, the Old National Bank shooter wrote, “OH MY GOD THIS IS SO EASY. Seriously, I knew it would be doable but this is ridiculous. Walked in and bought a gun, 4 mags, and 120 rounds for $700. Got some glasses and earplugs…” On April […]
Climate grief and the stark choice that confronts us
If the five stages of grief are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance, Americans can be found at all points along the continuum when it comes to global climate change and the environmental crisis that accompanies it. Like many who’ve contemplated a grim health-care diagnosis that seems to belie of how they feel in the […]
The only way to end abuse in children’s institutions is to end the institutions
Recent news stories illustrate both the terrible harm Kentucky’s “child welfare” system inflicts upon its most vulnerable children and the root cause. Until the findings in these stories are examined together the harm will never stop. The ultimate harm can be seen in the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting’s expose of how the state systematically […]
Remembering Rosalynn Carter and the challenges she overcame as first lady
As I write this, the airwaves, online news sites and print media are filled with tributes to Rosalynn Carter, the former first lady who passed away Sunday at the age of 96. It is likely that many are learning of her groundbreaking years as first lady and her post-presidential work — beyond building houses for […]
What a difference an Election Day makes
“People like me have no say in government. They don’t care what we think.” Such skepticism has long been a popular excuse citizens give for not voting. But if you doubt elections matter, pay close attention to the abortion debate in Kentucky — because Republican leaders have been singing a different tune since it became […]
The cost of free land and either-or history
Some white South Dakotans love to talk about their generational connection to the land. I’m one of them: a proud, fifth-generation descendant of Dakota Territory homesteaders. The federal government awarded nearly 100,000 parcels of free land to South Dakota settlers via the 1862 Homestead Act and successive rounds of related legislation. Modern South Dakotans celebrate […]