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Two Eastern Kentucky federal cases now eligible for the death penalty as Justice Department signals expansion
A bank-robbery double homicide in Berea and a 2023 hit on a federal witness in Lexington both carry potential capital charges. The decision rests with a Justice Department that, just last week, published a roadmap for using the death penalty more often. LEXINGTON, Ky. — Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of Kentucky now…
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18-year-old charged in Berea bank killings; FBI says he posted ‘I pledge allegiance to da bag’ hours after shootings
Brailen Weaver shot two inside a U.S. Bank branch, then crashed a silver BMW at 130 mph on Newtown Pike during a federal pursuit, according to an FBI affidavit. The Facebook listing for the getaway car helped identify him. LEXINGTON, Ky. — An 18-year-old man walked into a U.S. Bank branch in Berea on…
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Activist Says Lexington Ethics Commission Has Too Many Democrats, Asks Mayor to Remove Newest Member
A Lexington resident has formally asked Mayor Linda Gorton to correct what he says is an illegal partisan imbalance on the city’s Ethics Commission, where voter registration records show six of the body’s eight current members are registered Democrats — one more than the city’s own ordinance allows. In a letter sent to the…
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Follow the Money: A Donor-Network Look at Lexington’s 2026 Primary
Follow the money in Lexington’s 2026 primary Our analysis of 2,080 campaign contributions shows three donor factions, an unannounced slate, and a mayor’s race that looks less like a blowout than the headline totals suggest. By The Lexington Times · April 22, 2026 · Data analysis Raquel Carter’s campaign reports $162,744 raised — more…
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Seven Council Seats Are Open. Here’s Who’s Funding the Race to Fill Them
Published for the 2026 primary news cycle. Based on KREF 30-day pre-primary filings, data through April 19, 2026. Every couple years, Lexington holds a municipal election. Most years, the council you wake up with on November 4 looks a lot like the one you had on November 3. Not this time. Seven sitting councilmembers…
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Where was this Dan Wu three years Ago?
Commentary — the vice mayor finally showed some progressive grit at Tuesday’s opioid spending debate. The bar for what counts as grit says more about the last three years than it does about him. On April 21, 2026, at a routine council work session, something unusual happened. Vice Mayor Dan Wu picked a fight…
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Council Commits $5.2M in Opioid Settlement Funds — But Withdraws Vote on Endowment
Three years after the first settlement check arrived, the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council finally started allocating the money. $5.2 million was assigned. The biggest question — how much to save, how much to spend — was withdrawn before it came to a vote. On April 21, 2026, at 3 p.m., Commissioner Kacy Allen-Bryant stood…
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In Lexington, it really is anal beads all the way down
Lexingtonians have a beautiful way of processing our collective trauma. For the uninitiated: “anal beads” is what the internet has affectionately dubbed “A Common Thread” — the $900,000 mirror-polished sphere sculpture the city commissioned for Lexington’s 250th anniversary, now parked on the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza. The piece was funded out of 2023…
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Chevy Chase Opposition Turns to Harassment After Roaring Brook Vote, Board Member Says
A member of the Lexington Board of Adjustment says he has been followed, spit on, and inundated with hateful voicemails in the week since he voted to approve a residential mental health clinic in Chevy Chase, according to reporting Sunday in the Lexington Herald-Leader. Ross Boggess, a local developer and co-host of the DevelopLex…
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Gorton Proposes $546 Million Lexington Budget With No Tax Increases, Eyes Ice Storm Overhaul and New Police Tech
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mayor Linda Gorton unveiled a $546 million General Fund budget Tuesday that she says holds the line on taxes and spending while pumping $5.1 million into a top-to-bottom overhaul of the city’s storm-response operations — an acknowledgment that last winter’s ice debacles demanded more than a new snow plan. The proposal,…