Opinion

The 133rd running of the Preakness is set for Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course May 17. The Belmont will be Saturday, June 7 at Elmont, N.Y. The Preakness and Belmont represent the middle and third jewels of thoroughbred racing's Triple...  Read Story.

Viewed from any angle, Home Depot's closing here last week is bleak news and bound to cause concern. It comes on the heels of a report in The State Journal that the sale of single-family homes took a nosedive in the first three months of this year compared to last year. They are down about $4...  Read Story.

Residents of Frankfort felt a 5.4-magnitude earthquake centered six miles from West Salem, Ill., April 18. The 5:36 a.m. quake awoke citizens as shockwaves reached the Bluegrass. State Journal Reporter John Zambenini spoke with James Cobb, director of the Kentucky Geological Survey, about the likelihood of an earthquake in...  Read Story.

Landscaping is no casual matter at the Governor's Mansion, as became apparent in the 1980s when trees were chopped down to convert the shady front lawn into a sunny formal garden. That sudden transformation generated no small amount of criticism locally, even though the redesign probably was pretty much in keeping with the neo-classical architecture based on Queen Marie Antoinette's...  Read Story.

The State Journal encourages readers to submit letters to the editor for publication by noon Wednesday for the following Sunday's paper. All letters must contain the writer's full name, mailing address and telephone number for purposes of verification. The State Journal will not withhold the name of a...  Read Story.

Better not count on local Democrats to call a halt to the fierce campaign battle between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The lines are drawn and neither camp seems inclined to back down before the May 20 presidential primary. The ongoing struggle raises anxiety among party leaders around the nation such as Joe Andrew, a former Democratic National Committee chairman...  Read Story.

For some people, this weekend rivals Christmas as a time to feast with friends and family and celebrate some of Kentucky's favorite things. Then, too, Derby Day is a little like St. Patrick's Day, said to bring out the Irish in everyone each March 17, regardless of ethnic...  Read Story.

Maybe the absurdity of people standing in the middle of a busy highway to solicit motorists for charitable donations was inevitable in an age when many are unwilling to get out of their cars even to buy a hamburger. But that doesn't make it any less inane. Now the City Commission, by a 3-2 vote, has given this dubious practice...  Read Story.

With its propensity to pinch pennies for basic services while simultaneously flinging dollars at pet projects, the state legislature should not have been surprised by Gov. Steve Beshear's veto of the $3.8 billion transportation bill. The governor said he took the action because the road fund is over-obligated and the Transportation Cabinet needs more flexibility to decide whether projects should...  Read Story.

Hopes for a truly regional solution to central Kentucky's long-term water-supply challenge faded with last week's decision approving the option offered by Kentucky American Water of Lexington. As early as June, the investor-owned utility could start building a new treatment plant on the Kentucky River in Owen County and a 31-mile pipeline across Franklin and Scott counties to deliver water...  Read Story.

Last month Charles Riggs and several other members of Kentucky Coalition to Carry Concealed attended a City Commission meeting while openly carrying firearms and wearing T-shirts that read "Gun Nut for Public Safety." Earlier the commission had discussed installing a metal detector to prevent concealed firearms at public meetings. It was prompted by the deadly shooting in Kirkwood, Mo., on...  Read Story. (40 comments)

Frankfort is not an island. Any presumption that the capital city is somehow above the economic turmoil afflicting other communities around the nation should be dispelled by news that sales of single-family homes in the local market hit their lowest volume in 10 years during the first three months of 2008. Over the past three years, transactions for the first...  Read Story.

The State Journal encourages readers to submit letters to the editor for publication by noon Wednesday for the following Sunday's paper. All letters must contain the writer's full name, mailing address and telephone number for purposes of verification. The State Journal will not withhold the name of a...  Read Story.

The time has come for Kentuckians to take back their legislature. Our state Constitution does not permit a citizens' referendum of any kind like other states have.Our legislators will never let it happen because they know we would ride them out on a proverbial rail. So we are left with only one option to get legislators to act responsibly for...  Read Story. (1 comment)

Frankfort is not an island. Any presumption that the capital city is somehow above the economic turmoil afflicting other communities around the nation should be dispelled by news that sales of single-family homes in the local market hit their lowest volume in 10 years during the first three months of 2008. Over the past three years, transactions for the first...  Read Story.

The $500,000 settlement of a whistleblower's lawsuit should serve as a lesson in humility for politicians who try to "clean up" Frankfort by bludgeoning state workers into submission. Sarah Missy McCray, whose 2005 suit claimed former Transportation Secretary William Nighbert retaliated against her for cooperating with the attorney general's investigation of hiring practices in the Republican administration of Gov. Ernie...  Read Story.

It seems an improbable time for strife within the Republican Party. John McCain, all but nominated to run for president, has been able to watch the two Democratic contenders grind each other down from a distance, perhaps weakening the survivor for the final struggle this fall. Hillary Clinton's victory over Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary on Tuesday ensures the...  Read Story.

Life goes on in local school systems despite the state legislature's failure to meet its budgetary responsibility. On Monday, the city school board appointed a new superintendent and the county school board accepted a recommendation to drop three teachers in the 2008-09 school year. Both districts previously announced they would be cutting contract staff in supplemental programs such as the...  Read Story.

On this date in 1970, the topic of discussion temporarily shifted from ending the Vietnam war to saving the only planet known to support human life. Earth Day was born. Locally, the Frankfort Audubon Society was about to undertake a trash cleanup on Elkhorn Creek, a long-neglected treasure of the central Kentucky...  Read Story.

Paul Blanchard, founding director of the Center for Kentucky History and Politics at Eastern Kentucky University, has been an observer of state politics for more than 30 years. He sat down with Staff Writer Paul Glasser to discuss his assessment of the 2008 legislative session. What was at stake for the voters and taxpayers of Kentucky in the 2008 General...  Read Story.