The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied some assistance for Kentucky counties affected by severe storms and tornadoes earlier this year, but the Beshear administration plans to appeal the decisions.  The federal agency denied individual assistance for Christian and Todd counties and public assistance for Leslie County. FEMA also denied requests for the Hazard Mitigation […]

Lawyers for the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services and Gov. Andy Beshear on Wednesday questioned Auditor Allison Ball’s right to sue over an unfunded law that would have helped kinship care families.  During a Wednesday morning court hearing, held over Zoom, Beshear attorney Taylor Payne said the auditor has “zero standing” to push […]

Embattled Democratic state Rep. Daniel Grossberg wants to take his case against the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission to federal court.  Attorneys for Grossberg of Louisville filed a motion to dismiss his case in Franklin County Circuit Court earlier this month. The commission found “probable cause” that Grossberg, who has been accused of inappropriate behavior toward […]

This weekend, Kentucky politicians hoping to make an impression with voters will travel to far West Kentucky for the annual Fancy Farm Picnic.  However, Kentucky’s top Democrats will skip the event this year, meaning Republicans will largely dominate the stage at the political speaking event. But with a few Republicans also skipping this year’s event, […]

LOUISVILLE — Louisville organizations plan to use $4.5 million in grant funding over the next four years to help families experiencing homelessness by reducing the waitlist for shelter space and providing transitional housing and rental assistance. Natalie Harris, the executive director of Coalition for the Homeless, which represents 40 agencies in the Louisville area serving […]

Louisville has confirmed a second case of the highly contagious measles, bringing the total cases in Kentucky to 14.  Dr. Kris Bryant, the associate medical director at the Louisville health department and a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Norton Children’s Hospital, said the latest patient is “a known contact” with the city’s first case of […]

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. It looked for a while like the coal mining era was over in the Clearfork Valley of East Tennessee, a pocket of mountainous land on the Kentucky border. A permit for a new mine hasn’t been issued since 2020, and the […]

Last week’s energy auction by multistate power grid operator PJM will cause monthly electric bills to go up $2 to $5 next summer — but that’s on top of other costs, for transmission, fuel and more, that one advocate calls “death by a thousand cuts.” It’s also the latest evidence, say ratepayer advocates and policymakers, […]

More than 63 million Americans are caregivers for a family member with complex medical needs, a 20 million increase over the past decade, according to a new report. But state policies, workplaces and the American health system haven’t kept up with this surge in family caregiving responsibilities, said Dr. Myechia Minter-Jordan, a physician and the CEO […]

The groundbreaking Wednesday for a new neighborhood in the Floyd County seat of Prestonsburg wasn’t just a ceremony for Tom Manning-Beavin. The crews working for his nonprofit had already started digging trenches to pour concrete foundations of future homes.  “My crew leaders were talking to the city building inspector as we were leaving, coordinating the […]

Two key Republican lawmakers in the Kentucky legislature are voicing support for a federal program helping tens of thousands of Kentucky households with heating and cooling costs as the Trump administration proposes to eliminate the funding. Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, and Rep. Jim Gooch, R-Providence, co-chairs of the Interim Joint Natural Resources and Energy Committee, […]

Gov. Andy Beshear said one reason he went to South Carolina last week was to see his 16-year-old son Will play baseball. But he spent the first two days there entering the big leagues of politics, in the state where Democrats are scheduled to cast their first votes for president in 2028. His trip gave the […]

More than a few Kentuckians can probably relate to the experience Ted Wathen had many years ago driving home to Louisville from Frankfort. The sun broke through the clouds — “what photographers call a God-ray,” Wathen says.  “I’m looking at the landscape and I thought this state is really beautiful.” It was 1975. Wathen, fresh […]

Nearly 600,000 Kentuckians got help buying food through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program in June 2025, according to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.  But the program, better known as SNAP, faces an uncertain future after Congress passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, a sweeping and controversial tax and spending package.  The Trump […]

LINCOLN — Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is coming to Nebraska to speak to Democrats for the state party’s top annual fundraising event in November. Beshear is a Democratic governor in a deeply red Republican state. He and other 2028 potential presidential hopefuls visited South Carolina in recent weeks, to test the water for their campaign […]

Communities hit by tornadoes in May and flooding in April will have access to around $56 million total in federal funding to repair damaged infrastructure and help with debris removal costs. President Donald Trump’s approval this week of public assistance funding through the Federal Emergency Management Agency will open up grants to state and local […]

The University of Louisville is one of five universities the U.S. Department of Education says it’s investigating for discrimination over scholarships for undocumented and underrepresented students.  The Department of Education specifically named UofL’s Sagar Patagundi Scholarship that is intended to “subsidize the cost of higher education…for undergraduate DACA and undocumented students.”  The department’s Office for […]

FRANKFORT — Kentucky elects 138 people to serve in the state legislature, and 98 of them get their health insurance through the state-sponsored plan for public employees. Kentucky lawmakers also enroll 138 dependents in the state employees’ health plan. I bring this up not because I begrudge lawmakers and their families health insurance. Everyone should […]

KET is reviving its plans to cover the 2025 Fancy Farm Picnic in West Kentucky following a donation from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.  KET, the state’s public television network, had initially canceled its coverage of the political event last week after Congress voted to eliminate funding to public media nationwide, including PBS and NPR.  […]

Kentucky’s largest city is changing a detention policy for immigrants following pressure from the Trump administration.  During a Tuesday press conference, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg said the city will reinstate a 48-hour hold for “inmates who are arrested for crimes, are booked in our jail and are subject to deportation notices” to allow federal officers […]