Rae Hodge is senior political journalism major at the University of Louisville, graduating in May 2013. She is the Editor-in-Chief of The Louisville Cardinal, and is an intern for Kentucky Public Radio in the state Capitol.
The Kentucky State Senate approved legislation Tuesday that would remove the prohibition of alcohol sales on election days while polls are open.
The bill wouldn't supersede the authority of dry counties in determining alcohol availability—but areas that wanted to continue the prohibition of election day alcohol sales could vote to do so.
One aim of the bill: Business that rely on alcohol sales—and also tourist destinations along Kentucky's Bourbon Trail—would be allowed to remain open on election days.
Seeking to curb child fatalities on Kentucky roads, a state House committee approved a bill increasing children's height requirement for booster seats.
House Bill 282 would require children to use a booster seat while riding in a motor vehicle until they reach 57 inches or the age 9. Currently, children must use booster seats until they reach 53 inches or age 7.
Cost of living adjustments would be suspended under the bill. The bill would also create a hybrid plan similar to a 401K whose rate of return would be guaranteed by the state.
FRANKFORT — Saying the push for industrial help may help their cause in the future, supporters of a bill establishing a comprehensive system for medical marijuana in Kentucky rallied Wednesday in the Capitol Annex.
FRANKFORT— Kentucky legislators and community leaders on Wednesday honored an athlete and an academic during the 10th annual Black History Month Celebration at the Capitol.
The 2013 Black History Month celebration honoree was Wilbur Louis Hackett Jr., a groundbreaking football player. He was also the 2011 Kentucky Black Sports Hall of Fame inductee who state Sen. Gerald Neal, of Louisville, said "epitomizes all that is good about sports."
FRANKFORT — Advocates of legalizing marijuana for medical uses in Kentucky are rallying Wednesday afternoon in the Capitol Annex.
Sen. Perry Clark, a Democrat of Louisville, has introduced Senate Bill 11 into the state Senate. If passed the bill, known as the Gatewood Galbraith Medical Marijuana Memorial Act would "establish a comprehensive system for medical marijuana in Kentucky."
Clark said he expects that, in a conservative estimate, several hundred people could participate in the 1 p.m. rally.
Women who produce children as a result of rape would not be obligated to share parental rights with their rapist under legislation filed Tuesday in the Kentucky House.
Kentucky, along with 34 other states, allows rapists to take their victims to court and seek these rights.
Rep. Dennis Keene, who is sponsoring the bill, called the allowance a "loophole in Kentucky law."
"I've got two daughters," said Keene, a Democrat from Wilder. "I wouldn't want any human being to go through that."
What a miserable shank in the ribs it is to have to ask to borrow money from friends. It forces you to choose between pride and survival. It instills an immediate sense of gratitude and obligation towards those who lend. The borrower has to consider whether they’ve been spending wisely in the first place.
Education Week, a national publication dedicated to education issues, has ranked Kentucky in the top ten on its annual Quality Counts report measuring education policy and achievement indicators.
The improvement in ranking was praised Thursday by Gov. Steve Beshear and Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday who credits the ranking in part to Senate Bill 1 and the state’s new accountability system.
