Commentary

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…

This is not advocacy. This is stigma dressed in scrubs. Let’s be honest about what happened Monday in the Council Chambers. More than 260 residents of one of Lexington’s wealthiest, most comfortable neighborhoods showed up to fight tooth and nail against a mental health facility moving in down the street. They brought attorneys. They…

A Lexington bank’s request to disqualify a Fayette Circuit judge has pulled back the curtain on a pattern of overlapping roles that has placed one man — and one law firm — at an unusual intersection of judicial, civic, and legal power in Lexington. James H. Frazier III is the CEO of McBrayer PLLC,…

Dottie Bean, who spent 25 years as a reporter and editor at the Lexington Herald-Leader and 20 more working for city government, died Saturday at 77. In her final years, she covered local government one more time — not from the press table, but from the public comment podium. Dottie Bean died on Saturday.…

A heartfelt endorsement from the parents and taxpayers of Lexington, Kentucky Dear Hazelwood School District, Congratulations! Word has reached us here in the Bluegrass State that Dr. Demetrus Liggins, our beloved Superintendent of Fayette County Public Schools, is a finalist for your open superintendent position. We could not be more excited for you —…

By House Democratic Caucus Chair Lindsey Burke The Kentucky House Democratic Caucus stands united in opposition to House Bill 2 — the “One Big Bad Medicaid Bill” — that would make it even harder for Kentuckians to access and keep the health care they depend on. At a time when families are facing rising…

The word is everywhere — hurled as an insult, invoked as a warning, debated by scholars who can’t agree on its meaning. But tracing fascism to its roots reveals patterns that are harder to dismiss than any definition. You hear it everywhere now. On cable news, in congressional speeches, in arguments at Thanksgiving dinner.…

The LexArts audit tells us everything about the value of art in Lexington — and nothing about its meaning. At Tuesday’s Budget, Finance and Economic Development Committee meeting, Council heard a slick presentation from Sound Diplomacy on their audit of Lexington’s “arts and cultural economy.” The slides were gorgeous. The charts were clean. The…

VisitLex wants more of your money. The publicly funded tourism bureau is asking the Urban County Council to approve a new Tourism Improvement District — a 2% assessment on hotel rooms that would funnel an estimated $2.1 million per year into marketing, consultants, and destination branding. Before the Council votes, it should ask a…