Ten days of snowy roads is not a weather problem, but a leadership problem | Opinion

Snow removal

Ten days after the last snowfall, many of Lexington’s main roads remain poorly cleared or untouched altogether. This is not a matter of impatience—it is a matter of basic municipal competence.

Surrounding communities with fewer resources managed to clear their primary and secondary roads within 48 hours. Yet Lexington, a city with a larger tax base and a larger public works department, has failed to do the same. Residents who must commute, attend medical appointments, or simply leave their neighborhoods have been left to navigate hazardous conditions long after the storm passed.

Adding insult to injury, it has been widely noted that the mayor’s own street was cleared promptly. If true, this raises an unavoidable and troubling question: are city services being delivered equitably, or selectively?

Citizens deserve transparency and accountability. Why has Lexington fallen so far behind its neighbors? What decisions were made, and who made them? And most importantly, what steps will be taken to ensure this failure is not repeated?

Seven days is not a weather problem. It is a leadership problem. One that needs to be corrected this November. Lexington will remember.

Mark Gerth, Lexington

Snow on Beechmont

I am writing in response to the article in criticizing the plowing of Beechmont Road where Mayor Gorton resides. I have lived around the corner from her house for 13 years and in my memory Beechmont has ALWAYS been plowed after heavy snowstorms including, for instance, following the 17-inch snowfall we received in March 2015, several years before she was first elected Mayor.

I have no idea how our neighborhood streets are ranked, but that section of Beechmont (and Old Dobbin) is a well-known shortcut between Tates Creek and Nicholasville Road and in addition is right around the corner from Crestwood Christian Church’s childcare and from Glendover Elementary. Thus, every weekday morning, that section of Beechmont is heavily traveled with school and daycare traffic. I don’t even like to walk my dog in front of the Mayor’s house in the morning due to the number of cars coming and going.

In short, while the response to this particular snowstorm may not have been ideal (which Mayor Gorton has already admitted), the criticism of plowing of Beechmont is a non-issue and way off base.

Thomas M Todd, Lexington

Blizzard of snowflakes

I’m tired.

I am tired of being angry. I am tired of being scared. I am tired of being embarrassed by my country. I am tired of wondering if there is a future for this country. I am tired of waking up every morning wondering what kind of corrupt, evil, heartless things have been done by this administration. I am tired of wondering what kind of corruption is being done behind the scenes that we do not even know about. I am tired of being lied to by my congressman and everyone in the Trump administration. I am tired of being told I have Trump Derangement Syndrome.

I have considered hiding my head in the sand and pretending it doesn’t matter; that it does not affect me. But it does.

So, I will continue to harbor my righteous anger. I will continue to be loud and to let my voice be heard. Please continue to let your voice be heard. Don’t be silent. Don’t be complicit.

They can call us snowflakes but be aware. A blizzard is coming.

Catherine Lee Ferguson, Lexington

McConnell’s money legacy

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has hamstrung the Kentucky Democratic Party with his cynical scheme to equate free speech with money. Big Money mostly supports Republican candidates. I think everyone sees that.

Sometimes, Big Money hedges its bets by giving some of its money to Democratic candidates too. Big Money always wants to get something, even when the prospects of electing beholden candidates are not optimal.

What McConnell has done by manipulating judicial appointments and by litigation against campaign finance laws is to hardwire Big Money to his party. Meanwhile, that has left the Kentucky Democratic Party stuck with a couple of problematic fundraising options.

For one, Kentucky Democrats might raise money from those Big Money contributors willing to hedge their bets. That usually means taking money from contributors who don’t much care about the lives of working families.

Another option is to raise money from social advocacy groups who are unpopular in ex-urban and rural Kentucky. Note that Democrats are losing elections out here by big margins.

The bottom line is pretty obvious. Big Money political tactics robotically boost Republicans and handicap Democrats in Kentucky especially. That’s why McConnell has worked so hard for so long to get free speech equated with money.

Tom Louderback, Louisville

THC-beverages disappearing

If your favorite 5-milligram THC drink disappears from Lexington shelves this fall, you can thank U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

Across Kentucky, adults are choosing low-dose hemp beverages instead of another bourbon, especially during Dry January. These products are legal, independently tested, and sold only to adults 21 and over. For many people, they are a lower-alcohol option that does not leave you groggy the next morning.

Yet in November, McConnell quietly inserted language into a massive federal funding bill that will ban these products nationwide starting November 13. There were no hearings, no public debate, and no consideration of consumers or small businesses.

Fortunately, other Kentucky leaders are pushing back. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Reps. Jamie Comer and Thomas Massie, all R-Ky., support legislation to delay the ban until 2028. That extension would give Congress time to pass real regulations that protect consumers while keeping legal products available for adults.

We did not get here because these products are unsafe. We got here because of backroom politics. Call your members of Congress and tell them to support the hemp extension before it is too late.

Kerry Hinkle, Lexington

Meeting McConnell

Almost two years ago I met U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., at the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. and asked for assistance in obtaining a grant for a drone to assist with our neighborhood watch. Our neighborhood has had two tornadoes and three 100-year floods in eight years.

The drone would be utilized to assist those in need.

He said his staff would take care of it. Phone calls, texts, emails and faxes have all been ignored.

Republicans will forget you unless you can help THEM.

Corby Lambert, Bowling Green

Charlie Kirk Day?

Kentucy state Sen. Steve Rawlings, R-Burlington, and state Rep. T.J. Roberts, R-Burlington, have announced their intent to file legislation to honor the “life and legacy of Charlie Kirk” and designate October 14 as “Charlie Kirk Day” in Kentucky. That’s deplorable, as is Kirk’s ‘legacy.’ Kirk sold bigotry as patriotism.

Some of his quotes — “If I see a black pilot, I’m going to be like, boy, I hope he’s qualified.” And, “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.”

Clean up in Aisle Kirk.

Charlie Kirk was a toxic racist who wrapped his hate in a flag while he was carrying a Bible. He consistently made racist, bigoted assertions and no ‘context’ can clean that up, despite claims made by others. No more than ‘context’ could clean up George C. Wallace’s pledge, “Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!” Kentucky is better than that.

Want to honor someone? Alex Pretti in Minneapolis was doing the right thing when he was executed by federal agents. Honor him. File legislation to honor Pretti’s much more worthy legacy. Let Kentucky have an ‘Alex Pretti Day’ to remember someone who demonstrated what Charlie Kirk only gave lip service to.

Bill Adkins, Williamstown

Medicare Advantage

As a blind Kentuckian, I know how critical reliable, coordinated healthcare is. Medicare Advantage has been a lifeline for me — not as a caregiver, but as someone managing my own health every day. People rarely consider what it takes to navigate healthcare with limited or no vision: prescriptions, specialists, follow-ups, transportation, and making sure nothing slips through the cracks. Medicare Advantage helps make this manageable.

When I hear lawmakers talk about cutting or “adjusting” Medicare Advantage, I worry. For people like me, this isn’t abstract — it’s essential to remaining independent. As a member of the National Federation of the Blind of Kentucky, I understand self-advocacy, and I know these supports matter.

A recent survey found most caregivers say Medicare Advantage makes their lives easier. Predictable costs and coordinated care lift real burdens. And it covers services traditional Medicare often doesn’t like in-home check-ins, post-hospital follow-ups, and preventive supports. For people with vision loss, these benefits can prevent setbacks.

Cuts mean fewer choices and more barriers for Kentuckians with disabilities. Let’s be clear: voters are paying attention. Medicare Advantage should be strengthened and protected so every Kentuckian can access dependable, coordinated care.

Todd Stephens, Lexington

Comer speaks!

In his recent Herald-Leader Op-Ed, U.S. Rep. James Comer needed far fewer than 536 words to reveal his ignorance of the US monetary system. The fewer would have left doubt; the 536 is final.

Comer promotes the state level campaign to amend the U.S. Constitution to balance the federal budget. In his reasoning, he warns of a debt spiral but provides no evidence or analysis. He compares an accumulated debt with an annual deficit but gives not one reason why the amounts of either, alone or in comparison, prevent the government from making an interest payment. The US does, as Comer says, spend more on interest payments than on national defense. What we don’t learn is that this is a most regressive fiscal policy; interest payments go to those in proportion to the amount of money that they already have.

Comer recalls the banking system of 1798, but neglects to say why Jefferson’s debt fears will visit us today.

Comer’s essential flaw is not that he equates the fiscal nature of the federal government with that of a household, it is that, after multiple terms in Congress, he still does it.

Todd Kelly, Lexington

Mid-term elections

Pay attention. There is going to be an insurrection this year. It will begin on Tuesday, Nov. 3 – the mid-term elections. It will not resemble the insurrection that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021, in that we won’t see thousands of deluded Trump supporters descend on our nation’s Capital to wreak havoc and interrupt a Constitutionally mandated process. Nope. It will resemble what occurred recently in Fulton Co. Georgia, with government agencies descending on state election offices, confiscating everything except bathroom tissue.

This scenario will be repeated in crucial districts that elect Democrats. The purpose? To delay the results so the losers can figure out how to finagle a win. We all saw the efforts of President Donald Trump and his cronies to hijack the 2020 election. Now that guy is the President with immunity and every government agency is bending the knee and doing his bidding.

Do not listen to the lies coming from the Trump administration and the GOP. America has been holding free and fair elections since its founding. One of the reasons? Keeping the Federal nose out of the state business of electing our federal representatives.

It works.

Ross DeAeth, Lexington

Edited by Liz Carey

This story was originally published February 5, 2026 at 6:00 AM.