LEXINGTON, KY — The Fayette County Board of Education has approved a $4 million contract to extend its collaboration with the Lexington-Fayette County Health Department for school health services through the 2024-25 academic year. This decision, announced in the latest “Board Meeting Buzz” newsletter, marks a significant development in the ongoing discussion about the…
by McKenna Horsley, Kentucky Lantern Kentucky’s recently redrawn congressional and legislative districts will stand for future elections. In an opinion published Thursday morning, the Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate’s previous decision that the maps were a result of “partisan gerrymanders” but did not find them unconstitutional. “Regardless of how unusual or…
By Lindsay Travis, University of Kentucky/Kentucky Health News A team of researchers at the University of Kentucky is working to better understand the impact of opioid-use disorder on mothers and babies. Every 24 minutes in the United States, a baby is born with neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) after being exposed via a mother with opioid-use…
Kentucky Health News The Cigna Group has pulled the plug on its planned merger with Louisville-based Humana Inc., which would have created a huge health-insurance company. “The companies couldn’t come to agreement on price and other financial terms, according to people familiar with the matter,” reports Lauren Thomas of The Wall Street Journal. “Cigna would have been acquiring Humana…
by McKenna Horsley, Kentucky Lantern A Franklin Circuit Court judge on Monday struck down a law allowing charter schools in Kentucky, ahead of an expected effort in next year’s legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would allow public money to be spent on private schools. Judge Phillip Shepherd declared 2022’s House Bill 9 unconstitutional…
by Jillian Riseman, CivicLex Weekly 🥇 Big Topics we’re following 🚰 EPA Consent Decree: UpdateLast week, the Environmental Quality & Public Works Committee heard an update on Lexington’s Consent Decree obligations. What is the EPA Consent Decree? In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Commonwealth of Kentucky filed a lawsuit against Lexington…
by Paul Oliva, The Lexington Times LEXINGTON, Ky.–Tuesday marked a deadline for annual campaign finance reports in Kentucky, with five Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council candidates having submitted disclosures. A total of 12 council seats, all with two-year terms, will be up for grabs next year with primary elections that will occur in May 2024.…
Former Lexington mayor gave $100,000 by Tom Loftus, Kentucky Lantern FRANKFORT — Ahead of last month’s governor’s race, London Mayor Randall Weddle and other Kentuckians gave big to a type of political committee that allows wealthy donors to make massive legal contributions. Weddle, whose earlier excess contributions to Gov. Andy Beshear’s reelection effort had drawn…
by Paul Oliva, The Lexington Times LEXINGTON, KY — Fayette County Public Schools (FCPS), in a crucial pivot, is now negotiating to extend its longstanding contract with the Lexington-Fayette Health Department for school nursing services. This move marks a significant shift from Superintendent Demetrius Liggins’ initial proposal to privatize these services and cut costs.…
by Jacalyn Carfagno, Kentucky Lantern Lexington Times editor’s note: There is currently a project underway to remove a low head dam in Lexington. The dam in West Hickman Creek, in Veterans Park near the walking bridge, will be removed as part of the West Hickman Creek Veterans Park Water Quality Improvement Project. Learn more…