As communities around Kentucky protest planned data centers, a new state energy group says data centers can be part of the state’s future, thanks to its cheap power and available land. The state can bring in hyperscale data centers while also ensuring electricity ratepayers are protected, the executive director of the Energy Planning and Inventory […]
Author Archives: Kentucky Lantern
Posted inPolitics
KY gov announces foster care, Medicaid reimbursement, other program cuts
Several social service programs in Kentucky are about to see cuts and reductions, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Thursday. Beshear, a Democrat, blamed the cuts on the two-year state budget passed by the Republican-controlled General Assembly this year. “I repeatedly warned the General Assembly about the painful impacts that would be felt from their budget cuts […]
Posted inNews
KY governor moves to add qualifying conditions to medical cannabis
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed an executive order Tuesday directing the Office of Medical Cannabis to issue an emergency regulation clarifying qualifying conditions for medical cannabis. In 2023, the legislature legalized medical marijuana for Kentuckians suffering from chronic illnesses including any type or form of cancer, chronic or severe pain, epilepsy or other intractable seizure disorder; multiple sclerosis, muscle […]
Posted inNews
State board allows optometry graduates to practice without passing national exam
The state board that oversees Kentucky’s optometrists is standing by its decision to allow optometry graduates who haven’t passed all parts of a required national licensure exam to provide eye care – even as the number of people it improperly granted licenses to has increased from 21 to 30. Despite mounting criticism, the state board […]
Posted inPolitics
With legislature on board at last, Kentuckians will vote on pardon limits amid elections
Like many Kentuckians, state Sen. Chris McDaniel was horrified when he found out that Gov. Matt Bevin had pardoned a group of hardened criminals just as he was leaving Frankfort. The Ryland Heights Republican was so horrified that he embarked on a seven-year journey to make sure it couldn’t happen again. “There were lots of […]
Posted inNews
Utilities report as many as 30 data centers under discussion in Kentucky
Kentucky communities are grappling with the prospect of hyperscale data center projects — massive, sprawling warehouses of power-intensive computer clusters — potentially moving in. A lot more of them could be on the way. Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities, the state’s largest utility, told the Kentucky Public Service Commission in March that 11 […]
Posted inElections
Massie files to fundraise for 2028 House run but he hasn’t yet decided to run for office again
U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie has filed to run for his current House seat in 2028 after losing to a Republican challenger endorsed by President Donald Trump last week. However, the congressman says he still hasn’t made a decision to seek another office yet. In a Monday post on X, Massie posted a copy of paperwork that he […]
Posted inElections
Unusually high number of county judges-executive lost primary elections across Kentucky
A swath of incumbent county judges-executive lost their primary elections, some by wide margins, failing to secure their political party’s nomination Tuesday in counties both large and small stretching across Kentucky. In all, 18 incumbent judges-executive lost in primary elections in both Democratic and Republican primaries: Adair, Bell, Boone, Breathitt, Breckinridge, Calloway, Campbell, Estill, Fulton, Green, […]
Posted inElections
Elected office or not, a host of possibilities await Kentucky’s Thomas Massie
Even though he lost his reelection bid to Congress Tuesday night, U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie’s supporters signaled they’re ready for his next campaign. Shortly after the Associated Press called the race for Massie’s opponent, President Donald Trump’s candidate Ed Gallrein, Massie took to the stage in a packed ballroom at the Marriott Hotel near the Cincinnati airport […]
Posted inNews
A nuclear power future has bipartisan backing in Kentucky. But not everyone is sold.
State Sen. Danny Carroll peppered a panel of nuclear energy experts with questions on Tuesday during a conference at the Kentucky Historical Society. He said he could ask questions “all day long.” “Every day there’s something new that’s coming down the pipeline,” Carroll told the audience on Tuesday. “We’re in the middle — not the […]
