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11 perspectives on Kentucky, from Elon, to secrecy, to canceling Costco | Opinion

Stories by Lexington Herald-Leader journalists, with AI summarization

Linda Blackford offers sharp, varied perspectives on issues affecting Kentucky, holding lawmakers accountable for their choices.

She examines how Kentucky's public school funding, especially teacher pay and base SEEK allocations, trails national standards, reflecting voter support for public over private schools after the defeat of Amendment 2.

Blackford explores the General Assembly's trend toward secrecy, pointing out tactics like quickly scheduled committee meetings and shell bills as seen with changes to Medicaid. She calls attention to controversial moves such as Attorney General Russell Coleman targeting companies like Costco over DEI, and debates over abortion laws where both medical exemptions and women's experiences drive the conversation.

Finally, she underscores how federal funding pauses and state-level decisions affect basic needs and transparency, as shown by worries over programs like SNAP and Medicaid and the debate about Kentucky's reliance on secrecy and rapid lawmaking.

Voices of Hope staff in front of their building on North Broadway in Lexington. The group just received $2 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.

NO. 1: ‘DEVASTATING FOR KENTUCKY.’ FEDERAL FUNDING PAUSE SOWS CHAOS, CONFUSION IN THE STATE

Linda Blackford: From small drug treatment centers to huge programs to feed children, Kentucky is dependent on federal funding for sustenance of every kind. | Published January 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

Stephen Montgomery and Genevieve Postlethwait hold a card with the footprints of their child in Murray, Ky., on Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2025. in July, Postlethwaite had a severe complication in her pregnancy that made it nonviable. But because of Kentucky’s abortion laws, they had to hastily go to Illinois to get an abortion.

NO. 2: WOMEN ARE SUFFERING. KY MUST CHANGE ABORTION LAWS SO THEY GET THE HEALTH CARE THEY NEED | OPINION

Linda Blackford: Doctors should not be scared to offer routine reproductive heath care when a pregnancy goes wrong. | Published January 16, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

The Kentucky Student Voice Team gathers in Frankfort Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2024, to announce a lawsuit against the state for inadequate education. By Tashandra Poullard, Lexington Herald-Leader

NO. 3: ‘WORTH FIGHTING FOR.’ STUDENTS ARE SHOWING ADULTS THE WAY ON HOW TO IMPROVE OUR SCHOOLS. | OPINION

Linda Blackford: KY Student Voice Team lawsuit shows how much we gained with KERA and how much we’ve lost today. | Published January 15, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

NO. 4: KY VOTERS WANT TO IMPROVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. HERE’S ONE GREAT WAY LAWMAKERS COULD DO SO | OPINION

OpEd: As Kentucky’s general assembly kicks off today, lawmakers need to consider that the commonwealth has fallen to 41st in the country for teacher pay. | Published January 7, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

52nd Attorney General of Kentucky Russell Coleman holding a press conference addressing new state guidelines for legally classifying and prosecuting strangulation in the Karpf Auditorium of the Albert B. Chandler Hospital on January 15, 2025, Lexington, Ky. By Tasha Poullard

NO. 5: KY AG RUSSELL COLEMAN IS DUTIFULLY KEEPING US SAFE FROM DEI BY CANCELING COSTCO | OPINION

Linda Blackford: Here in Kentucky, as folks worried if Meals on Wheels is a communist plot, while Attorney General Russell Coleman follows ‘Daddy’ Trump down the DEI rabbit hole. | Published January 30, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

President Donald Trump was joined on stage by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during a rally for U.S. Rep. Andy Bar in Richmond in October. By Marcus Dorsey

NO. 6: AGREE TO DISAGREE: IN HIS LAST TERM, MITCH MCCONNELL WILL NOT JOIN THE TRUMP RESISTANCE | OPINION

Linda Blackford: Republican Tres Watson and I disagree civilly about whether Mitch has joined the resistance, and what he needs to do to help Kentucky and the nation in what looks like his last term. | Published February 14, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

Princess Falls in McCreary County, Ky., is photographed Tuesday, July 9, 2024. By Ryan C. Hermens

NO. 7: WANT TO MAKE KENTUCKY HEALTHY AGAIN? TRY NOT POISONING OUR DRINKING WATER | OPINION

Linda Blackford: The KY legislature wants to improve our health, but it won’t get far with SB 89, one of the most significant environmental rollbacks in years. | Published February 20, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

A House of Representatives vote on a bill to make fluoridating Kentucky’s drinking water systems optional, rather than mandated.

NO. 8: ELON MUSK MAY MAKE KY LAWMAKERS LOOK LIKE STATESMEN, BUT THEY’VE STILL GOT BAD IDEAS | OPINION

Linda Blackford: Whether it’s putting Ten Commandments in schools or taking fluoride out of our water, there’s still plenty of nonsense in Frankfort. | Published March 6, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

A group of Kentucky health care providers, representing more than 430 providers statewide, including many OBGYNs, gathered in Frankfort Wednesday to call on lawmakers to repeal the state’s strict abortion bans. By Alex Acquisto

NO. 9: KENTUCKY GOP TAKES A STEP BACK FROM ABORTION MADNESS TO SAVE WOMEN’S LIVES | OPINION

Linda Blackford: Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good when it comes to clarifications in Kentucky’s abortion laws that will help women and doctors navigate miscarriage and pregnancy loss. | Published March 13, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

In 2016, UK redacted all billing details from 14 pages of a November 2015 invoice from Sheppard Mullin, a Washington, D.C. law firm that has helped UK with federal billing problems at a Hazard cardiology firm it acquired in 2013.

NO. 10: FROM MEDICAID CHANGES TO SEXUAL PREDATORS, KY’S PUBLIC SERVANTS ARE ADDICTED TO SECRECY | OPINION

Linda Blackford: In the General Assembly and our public universities, leaders are highly invested in keeping the government dealings for and by the people far away from the people themselves. | Published March 18, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

The Senate chamber was empty before gaveling in on the first day of the 2024 Kentucky General Assembly in Frankfort, Ky. Jan. 2, 2024 By Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal

NO. 11: THANKS TO GOP LAWMAKERS, KENTUCKY IS NOW LESS SAFE, LESS HEALTHY AND LESS HUMANE | OPINION

Linda Blackford: What would it take to have the General Assembly listen to the voices of people other than lobbyists, corporations and national right-wing think tanks? Why don’t legislators want to hear?  | Published March 28, 2025 | Read Full Story by Linda Blackford

The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories listed were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.