Hello, and welcome back to On Kentucky Politics! We are Rebecca Grapevine and Hannah Pinski, part of The Courier Journal's politics team.
Anyone who thought there might be a mid-summer political lull was mistaken. The past week has kept us hopping, from covering the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump to following what's going on in Frankfort.
As a reminder, Rebecca will be at our Mobile Newsroom today (Thursday, July 18) from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. She would love to meet you — so please come say "hi" to her at the California Community Center (1600 W. Saint Catherine St.).
The biggest political news this week came from the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, soon followed by the announcement that Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance would be his running mate. Here's how Kentucky leaders reacted to the shooting and a look at Vance's Kentucky ties.
Democrats have not resolved whether President Joe Biden will continue as the party's nominee but Louisville mega-donor Christy Brown wants Democrats to hold a "blitz primary." This would allow Democratic National Convention delegates to choose among "six dynamic young leaders" after weekly forums hosted by celebs like Oprah and Taylor Swift. But Kentucky's rank-and-file Dems appear to be standing by Biden.
It's also been a busy week out in Frankfort, starting with a Monday meeting of a task force on Jefferson County Public Schools. Though he earlier opposed the idea of the task force, Superintendent Marty Pollio gave state lawmakers an overview of the district's strengths and weaknesses.
State lawmakers are making a renewed push to curtail diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in Kentucky's schools and colleges after two bills limiting DEI failed earlier this year. Hannah's got the scoop on a committee meeting where legislators heard from leaders from some of the state's universities and others.
A whole host of new laws passed during the legislative session earlier this year took effect Monday: Here's a rundown. Rebecca and metro government reporter Eleanor McCrary took a deep dive into the power struggles between the state legislature and cities like Louisville.
Meanwhile, Gov. Andy Beshear sent a letter to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency expressing his support for a federal proposal to loosen marijuana restrictions.
We'd say that's enough for one newsletter. But stay tuned for more next week. And, as always, please write to us with your suggestions about Kentucky parks or Kentucky politics, story ideas, and questions: rgrapevine@courier-journal.com and hpinski@courier-journal.com.
We hope you have a wonderful week!
Best,
Rebecca Grapevine & Hannah Pinski
Most Popular
Comments / 0