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Senate gives green light to homestead exemption measure
A measure that would amend the state constitution to expand the homestead exemption for older Kentuckians received Senate approval on Monday. Under the proposed amendment, resident homeowners who are older than 65 would continue to pay property taxes, but they would not face tax increases based on rising property valuations.
Committee unanimously approves anti-vaping bill
Vaping among teens is a serious public health concern for many in Kentucky, but House Bill 142 is seeking to combat the trend. Rep. Mark Hart (R-Falmouth) is the primary sponsor of the bill. The House Education Committee unanimously approved the legislation Tuesday. HB 142 would ban all tobacco, alternative...
KY Youth Advocates on the Horizons Act
Statement by Dr. Terry Brooks, executive director of KY Youth Advocates. In today's bold move by Senator Danny Carroll, he is guaranteeing a quality future for kids, meeting the core needs of working families, and lifting local economies by bolstering Kentucky’s workforce. The Horizons Act puts into motion the state budget investments and policy changes necessary to stabilize Kentucky’s struggling child care sector and ensure parents can go to work knowing their child is safe and learning.
Tucker Carlson: today’s Walter Duranty
Journalists sometimes short-shrift historical context in their haste to report breaking news. So this journalist-historian was happy to see stories comparing Tucker Carlson's toadying TV interview with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin to Anglo-American New York Times reporter Walter Duranty. Duranty famously covered up Soviet strongman Joseph Stalin's atrocities, notably his brutal policies that led to a famine in Ukraine that killed millions.
Are Republicans collapsing in anger and chaos?
Given recent events in the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives, it is hard to know what image to use to describe GOP behavior. Is the Republican Party melting down, or are members of the House GOP arranging themselves in a circular firing squad?. Just last week, for example, House Speaker...
Why is the KY GOP afraid of diversity, equity, & inclusion?
This week, Aaron and Doug mark the start of black history month by connecting with Murray State professor of history, Dr. Brian Clardy to discuss anti-DEI efforts in Frankfort and why the GOP is so opposed to diversity, equity, & inclusion. We’ve also got Doug digging in on the constitutional amendments filed so far. Then we close with our call to action.
Why the latest ‘But her emails’ won’t work this time
In 2016, frequently bankrupt businessman Donald Trump triumphed because the news media has a pack mentality that would put jackals to shame. From The New York Times to local TV affiliates, they would not stray from their narrative that Hillary Clinton was somehow shady — and that Exhibit A was that Secretary Clinton had used a private email server.
Sneak attacks on Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden
The special counsel’s report on Pres. Biden’s handling of classified information raised unwarranted, and frankly disgusting, references to his age and memory. It was a sneak attack that may have lethal effect on Biden’s campaign. And it reminds me of another sneak attack that may have caused...
A Republican senator without a party
Late last year, there was a meeting in Louisville featuring the Whitney Strong Foundation leader, Whitney Austin, and State Senators Whitney Westerfield ( R) and David Yates (D). They gave a compelling presentation about a new version of a Crisis Aversion and Rights Retention (CARR) bill. Such a bill is focused on people in crisis who may be reported to law enforcement. If that happens, it puts in motion a series of steps that could result in the removal of firearms from the person in crisis, as well as treatment for that person and possible eventual return of the firearms. There are also built in safeguards that allow the “accused” to have due process.
‘War is hell. Football is a game.’
Some fans are calling the Super Bowl a war. Indeed, football, especially at the NFL level, has long been a metaphor for war. In a 1988 American Heritage magazine essay, James Weeks said likening football to war “found its quintessential application in an astonishing sentence the University of California president Benjamin Ide Wheeler wrote in a 1906 article.”
Four stupid KYGA bills, including one on the move
In 1976, Italian economist Carlo Cipolla write a light-hearted essay entitled “The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity.” One of the features of the essay is a matrix he created showing four types of people:. The Intelligent or Hero – provides benefit both to others (society) and to themselves...
God, athletes, and the Super Bowl
It won’t surprise me if a player on the winning Super Bowl team chalked up victory to The Almighty. “For every player who credits God for the win, a player from the opposing team can logically blame God for the loss,” proposes a Facebook meme from astrophysicist, author, and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson.
Are Black men leaving Biden?
“Frustrated by Biden, Black men ponder their options,” says the headline on a Washington Post story by Michael Brice-Saddler. The story starts with the reporter writing about a Black man driving a truck into the heart of Pontiac, Michigan, “which has rapidly declined during years of economic turmoil, leaving streets once lined with vibrant homes and businesses now riddled with empty lots.” Brice-Saddler adds, “Without fail, he said, ... Democratic canvassers show up around election time vowing to improve conditions for him and his neighbors, but it never happens.”
Hal Rogers is getting challenged ... from the right
The FEC campaign finance reports were due earlier this month, so I decided to scan them to see if any of the challengers to our six Congress-folk had raised any money to speak of. For five of the six districts, the results were pretty much what I expected. But, in...
Why HB 5 is such a god-awful bill
It seems that in every session of the General Assembly, there is at least one bill that is so amazingly bad that the only reason for it to even be introduced is to give politicians something to run on in the fall. This year’s House Bill 5, the so-called “Safer...
Kentucky legislature could call itself into session under amendment proposed by House speaker
The Kentucky legislature could call itself into session for an additional 12 days a year and extend regular sessions beyond the constitutionally-required end dates under a constitutional amendment filed Tuesday by House Speaker David Osborne. Osborne (R-Prospect) told reporters Tuesday afternoon the amendment proposed by House Bill 4, if approved...
Trump ‘did not engage in insurrection’ on Jan. 6, new U.S. House resolution claims
N a meandering press conference Tuesday that repeated false 2020 election fraud claims, downplayed well-documented violence and name-called journalists, far-right U.S. House members defended former President Donald Trump against any role he may have played in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida...
Bill advances to let pharmacists give vaccines to children 5 years and older
A bill to allow Kentucky pharmacists to order and administer vaccinations to children down to the age of 5 advanced out of committee unanimously. “This bill is for those counties without pediatricians,” said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Danny Bentley (R-Russell). “And we know that most people are within five miles of the pharmacy.”
Kentucky panel OKs bill to ban most cell phone use in classrooms
The use of smartphones and other cell phone technology, in most instances, would be banned from public school classrooms under a bill the House Education Committee approved Tuesday. Only cell phone use during emergencies or “if directed … by a teacher for an instructional purpose” would be allowed under the...
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