STATE NEWS

FRANKFORT — A bill paving the way for freestanding birth centers in Kentucky was approved by a committee Wednesday despite concerns — but the sponsor says he won’t take it to the House floor without amendments addressing some of those worries.  House Bill 199 would, among other things, remove the certificate of need requirement for
The post Prospects for freestanding birth centers clouded despite committee advancing bill appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.

It was a case out of Northern Kentucky that led to Senate passage Wednesday of a bill to outlaw child “sex dolls” and make computer-generated child sexual abuse material a felony in Kentucky.   Rep. Stephanie Dietz (R-Edgewood) is the sponsor of the legislation in House Bill 207, passed unanimously in the Senate one month after…

By Liam Niemeyer Kentucky Lantern The GOP-dominated Kentucky legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto of a bill targeting local source-of-income discrimination bans just a day after the governor had issued the veto. House Bill 18, sponsored by Rep. Ryan Dotson, R-Winchester, immediately became law Wednesday because of an emergency clause in the bill. Robert…

By Robbie Sequeira Stateline Kentucky state Rep. Mark Hart has been drinking fluoridated water his entire life. In 1954, five years before Hart was born, his home state mandated adding or adjusting levels of the mineral, which occurs naturally in water, in drinking water systems of populations larger than 3,000. But after hearing from a…

St. Patrick’s Day is one of our nation’s most popular holidays, celebrated with festivals, parades and parties. The amount of alcohol consumed is higher than average, which is why Kentuckians are reminded to designate a sober driver before the festivities begin. “If your St. Patrick’s Day celebration involves alcohol, make the responsible choice to designate…

A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter who exposed corruption and the impact of strip mining, a leading Black journalist, a former religion reporter who now preaches and writes a column, the former leader of one of Kentucky’s largest media outlets, and two longtime journalism educators, one a broadcaster and the other an editor-publisher, make up the 2024…

FRANKFORT — A dispute involving six insurance companies over a share of Kentucky’s $15 billion a year Medicaid business moved to the state Supreme Court Thursday where justices tried to sort out a long running battle over the lucrative contracts. Litigation has stretched on several years, largely over Anthem Kentucky’s claim it was unfairly shut
The post Kentucky Supreme Court hears from insurers fighting over share of state’s Medicaid business appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.

FRANKFORT — In 2017, Central Kentuckian Heather Hyden faced an “upsetting, awful” and “horrific experience.” The baby she carried — a “very wanted pregnancy” — had a lethal fetal anomaly.  She was induced in February of that year, medical care she would be unable to receive in Kentucky today because of the state’s near-total ban
The post Democrats walk out to protest ‘alternatives to pregnancy termination’ bill appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.

A bill placing new restrictions on “adult-oriented” businesses, which opponents have blasted as “anti-drag,” passed the Kentucky Senate Wednesday 32-6.  It can now go to the House for consideration.  Senate Bill 147 prohibits “adult-oriented” businesses from being located within 933 feet of a child care facility, children’s amusement establishment, school, park, recreation  facility or place of…

A dispute involving six insurance companies over a share of Kentucky’s $15 billion a year Medicaid business moved to the state Supreme Court Thursday where justices tried to sort out a long running battle over the lucrative contracts. Litigation has stretched on several years, largely over Anthem Kentucky’s claim it was unfairly shut out of…