This story mentions suicide. If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, call or text the suicide prevention lifeline at 988. Proposed legislation that cleared a legislative committee Wednesday would limit how Kentucky mental health practitioners use artificial intelligence. Rep. Kim Banta, R-Fort Mitchell, said she wants Kentucky to have a law in place […]
Category: Politics
Posted inPolitics
KY Senate committee backs bill to restore voting rights to some with felony convictions
A bipartisan bill that would pave the way for Kentucky to restore voting rights to some people who have served sentences for felony convictions passed out of a Senate committee Wednesday morning. Kentucky voters would have the final say at the ballot box in November if the General Assembly approves Senate Bill 80, sponsored by Sens. […]
Posted inPolitics
First bill to hit governor’s desk seeks to dilute power bill pain from gas price spike
The first bill to reach Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear’s desk in this legislative session is aimed at giving Kentuckians more time to pay utility bills expected to rise because of a spike in natural gas prices during the recent extreme cold. Sen. Phillip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, told lawmakers this week he filed Senate Bill 172 after hearing from […]
Posted inNews
Kentuckians who have served time for felonies should have right to vote, advocates say
The Rev. Rich Gianzero told a small crowd in the Capitol Annex that he’s a “second-class citizen” under current Kentucky’s voting laws. Gianzero, a Lutheran pastor and executive director of the Kentucky Council of Churches, said that because of an out-of-state felony conviction he got at 16, he cannot vote in Kentucky. “I was a […]
Posted inPolitics
Kentucky child care reform bill on the move in legislature
Comprehensive legislation aimed at reforming Kentucky’s child care industry passed the House Tuesday 84-11 with one abstention. House Bill 6 would codify free child care for child care providers, base child care assistance subsidies on the community-level cost of child care rather than the market rate, launch data collection on the industry, require training for providers caring for […]
Posted inPolitics
KY House passes education bills. School officials support one. A union opposes the other.
The Kentucky House passed a pair of Republican education bills Tuesday that would impose a new accountability and assessment system for public school students and allow state colleges and universities to fire faculty for financial reasons. One has the backing of the Kentucky Department of Education, while the other is opposed by university union workers. […]
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Fort Thomas approves forensic audit to trace $322K discrepancy
Fort Thomas approved a forensic audit of the past three fiscal years in an effort to trace $322,000 it previously wrote off. The Fort Thomas City Council on Tuesday approved hiring public accounting firm Dean Dorton for just under $35,000 to conduct a forensic audit. The city sparked controversy last September when LINK nky reported that Fort […]
Posted inElections
Kentucky’s closed primaries exclude fastest-growing voter group. Should that change?
On May 19, about 1 in 10 registered Kentucky voters will not be eligible to cast a ballot in the state’s partisan primaries because they are not Republicans or Democrats. Kentucky is one of eight states in the nation that have closed primaries, or primaries that allow only registered members of the Republican and Democratic parties to cast ballots […]
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Fort Thomas hires HR consultant amid ongoing workplace questions
Fort Thomas is bringing in an outside consulting firm, advancing plans first raised last fall to hire an HR consultant amid ongoing workplace and procedural questions. The Fort Thomas City Council approved an $18,000 contract with consultants One Digital at its meeting on Feb. 17. The discussion continues a conversation from last October, when the […]
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Fort Wright opposes state control of short-term rental regulations
Fort Wright joined several other NKY cities last week opposing a bill that would move regulation of short-term rentals to the state level. Cities across Northern Kentucky have been enacting local regulations over the last few years, and Fort Wright isn’t the first city to express opposition Senate Bill 112. In Fort Wright, city council […]