A nonprofit publication of the Kentucky Center for Public Service Journalism

Opinion — Jamie Ruehl: We hold these truths to be self-evident. . .

Part of my morning routine is checking the headlines and delving into the news. In my adult life I’ve always found it important to know when/how the world is changing around me. Sometimes I chalk it up to my military training: Always maintain “situational awareness!” (or maybe I’m just nosy). Before the sun rises, I log onto a couple local/national/international news websites and see what is...

Joe Heller: A cartoonist’s view of week’s news — Eclipse Glasses, baseball season, Bibles, Gaza

Joe Heller was the editorial cartoonist for the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Green Bay, Wis., from 1985 until being laid off in July 2013. He still draws several cartoons a week and distributes them through his own syndicate. Through Heller Syndication, his cartoons regularly appear in more than 400 newspapers, making him the most successful self-syndicated editorial cartoonist in the nation. His cartoons...

Opinion – Alicia Dawson: HB 274 prioritizes care of Kentucky children, promotes overall public wellbeing

At a time when childhood vaccination rates are historically low, it’s important to ensure that all parents have access and choice to health care providers that can administer lifesaving immunizations in their communities. With a local, trusted pharmacy in nearly every Kentucky community, it only makes sense to have pharmacists step up and fill in care gaps when it comes to important childhood vaccinations. Fortunately,...

Opinion – Bill Straub: Immigration emerges as GOP’s ‘Rosetta Stone’ to reclaiming White House

The road to the November elections is growing shorter and MAGA Republicans are confidant they have uncovered the Rosetta Stone that will guide them toward victory. The answer is simple – brown people. Immigration has emerged as perhaps the only sure-fire issue at the GOP’s disposal and they’re riding it like Calvin Borel along the rail at Churchill Downs. They’re making no secret of using that...

Opinion – Al Cross: A trial balance on the legislature — Political agendas prevail

When the legendary Allan Trout was chief of The Courier-Journal’s Frankfort Bureau, he liked to work up “trial balances” on governors and legislatures, evaluating their performances in progress. With two days left in the 2024 General Assembly, largely to reconsider bills Gov. Andy Beshear vetoes, here’s a ledger on the current General Assembly. Economic conservatives will be pleased that the...

Opinion — Brian Miller: BIA of NKY applauds new legislation on dual credits for trade students

The Building Industry Association of Northern Kentucky (BIA) proudly applauds the approval of Senate Bill 164 during the 2024 session of the Kentucky General Assembly. This groundbreaking legislation opens doors to enhanced educational pathways for construction trade students, particularly those studying the licensed trades of electric, plumbing, and HVAC. Senate Bill 164 introduces a transformative...

Opinion – Tom Fitzgerald: The fault lies not in their stars — most likely, it’s in their laws

To the average person, “venue” is the place where some organized event happens — a concert, a conference, or (particularly in March) a basketball game. To a person who suffers a legal wrong or injury, it is the court where the law says a criminal or civil case must be filed. The general rule on venue for civil lawsuits claiming personal injury or property damage is that a lawsuit is filed where...

Opinion – Moe Lundrigan: School Choice helps all students; parents leading KY to an educational boom

It’s always nice to see individuals cherry-pick information to fit the narrative they wish to push. The recent opinion pieces and news articles I have read have done an amazing job at this. I have watched for far too long individuals essentially mock and belittle parents and grandparents who want to send their kids to a school outside their zip code or beyond their financial means. We often hear...

Joe Heller: A cartoonist’s look at news of week: Easter, Baltimore’s Key Bridge, growing nest egg

Joe Heller was the editorial cartoonist for the Green Bay Press-Gazette in Green Bay, Wis., from 1985 until being laid off in July 2013. He still draws several cartoons a week and distributes them through his own syndicate. Through Heller Syndication, his cartoons regularly appear in more than 400 newspapers, making him the most successful self-syndicated editorial cartoonist in the nation. His cartoons...

Opinion – Amye Bensenhaver: House Bill 509 did not emerge from the legislative session; will it be back?

Reporters frantically recapped the last day of the 2024 Regular Session — before the ten day veto period and final two day veto override period — as lawmakers scrambled out of legislative chambers just before midnight Thursday. It was business as usual for a General Assembly which has, as one reporter noted, a serious time management problem. Amye Bensenhaver Absent from their reporting...

Opinion – Bill Straub: What’s “anti-American” about a surge in energy options and a focus on environment?

Rep. Brett Guthrie, who to this point has proven as exciting as a bowl of day-old oatmeal, has apparently decided to stir things up a bit, joining the MAGA crowd to declare that President Biden is being downright “anti-American.” The issue drawing the consternation of the Bowling Green Republican is energy, maintaining the administration’s policies have “crippled American energy independence...

Opinion – Tom Fitzgerald: The rise of the “Frankfort Knows Best’ legislature

It is said that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of a small mind. That is nowhere more apparent than with the Kentucky General Assembly and its occasional respect for local governance. Lawmakers purport to respect “local control” and to value home rule — the idea that, within limits, communities and their local elected officials are in the best position and should have the flexibility...

Opinion — John Schaaf: High-dollar lobbyists are moving some of Frankfort’s most controversial bills

As the last days of the Kentucky General Assembly unfold, big-dollar lobbyists in Frankfort are pushing their most controversial bills toward passage. Lobbyists recently shoved their private school voucher amendment across the finish line to set up a massive fight this fall between Kentucky taxpayers and a handful of multi-billionaires who probably couldn’t find this state on a map. The school voucher...

Opinion – James Klotter: Legislature plods on, falling victim to competing interests, narrow partisanship

During the current legislative session, the budget that finally emerges will be the result of some compromise and a good deal more behind-the-scenes action. The Republican majority paid scant attention to the Democratic governor’s recommendations. Some observers have argued that having a Republican governor at this time would have better served the state given that party’s overwhelming supremacy...

Opinion — Richard Nelson: Legislation mandating age verification to access adult content long overdue

A bill proposing age verification limits on websites where children can access adult content is currently making its way through the Kentucky legislature. Children are frequently exposed to pornography but not without consequence to their innocence and developing brains. In a 2021 interview, Grammy-winning singer Billie Eilish told Howard Stern that she began watching pornography at age 11. She said...