As a decades-long Frankfort resident, I’m voting for the 22nd time for a representative to the U.S. House from Kentucky’s 6th Congressional District.

In communities across the country, children are taught from a young age about the importance of getting out on Election Day and voting. The right to vote is the cornerstone of any democracy and an important tool for making our voices heard in the political process.

All eyes and attention are on the presidential election choice at the top of our 2020 election ballots. However, Kentucky ballots will also include two constitutional amendments. These will affect us far beyond the term of whoever becomes president. A good case can be made that these ballot …

Gov. Andy Beshear’s abundance of executive orders — more than 150 since COVID-19 surfaced — is matched only by the largeness both of his good intentions and the unintended upheaval wrought by those edicts.

The Franklin County Humane Society is 75 years old! 

There is more content available today about the upcoming election than likely in any previous cycle. While we could fill this page with media sources that have some type of information about the election, most people find their election information on social media (like Facebook and YouTube)…

While many Eastern Kentuckians have been busy balancing jobs, struggling businesses and teaching their kids at home, Kentucky Power has been quietly filing a new rate proposal case in Frankfort that would raise electric rates in 20 counties.

As a female executive, I have had to answer the same question for many years: “How are you able to balance your work and family?” Honestly, those questions have always frustrated me because they have never been asked of my husband. And I have been fortunate until recently, with a lot of help…

We put him in office 36 years ago, and he has risen to Senate Majority Leader. But Mitch McConnell is not doing his job. Remember learning in grade school that one house passes a bill and the other debates, changes, and votes on it? Not so under McConnell’s rule. He gets to choose which bill…

What are the qualities of a good Supreme Court justice? The question is relevant since Judge Amy Coney Barrett's nomination to the nation's highest court. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly caused everyone to hit the pause button on life.

October is both Domestic Violence Awareness Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. By addressing and reporting these issues, providing support and being an advocate for victims, we can all do our part to ensure Kentucky is a safer and healthier place.

Much to respect through the years, but I’ve been never prouder of my adopted hometown newspaper, The State Journal, than in its recent reports and editorials relating to substantial threats to open government by city officials.

During the Continental Convention there was much debate as there is today. The atmosphere had grown very heated with little production and one of the oldest gentlemen participating, Benjamin Franklin, suggested that they stop and pray.  

I read with great interest the statement from Judy Mattingly, Director of the Franklin County Health Department, in which she said the number of cases of COVID-19 in Franklin County is rising steadily.

How often have we heard the phrase that “it is time to turn down the temperature on the rhetoric,” rhetoric used to drive the public discussion on the issue of the day?

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to inflict suffering and create difficulties across Kentucky and the nation.

Downturns such as every state will experience due to the coronavirus pandemic often unmask the true price tag of letting the good times roll too fast and far in earlier years.

When I was a child growing up in one of the poorest counties in the nation, with one of the smallest percentages of college graduates of any county, I was lucky. I had parents who had been to college and knew something about public health and had even worked in it.

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kentuckians flattened the curve by staying home as much as possible. While that action was necessary and saved lives, it also led to a large number of people putting off important medical care.

Years from now, historians will look back in time as they write the history books, which will undoubtedly focus on the events of 2020. Of course, the number one event that will fill many of the pages of the world history books will be the virus which has spread to every corner of the world, …

Regarding The State Journal article “Resignation, retirement roil local business groups,” Sept. 4, I would have thought Linda Younkin would have reached out to me for a statement prior to drafting this article, since I was principally mentioned, but she did not. 

It’s as if the creators of Kentucky’s new social studies standards ran as fast and far away as possible from the many extraordinary individuals throughout history whose achievements provide the “exceptional” in American exceptionalism.

Congress is set to adjourn at the end of this month, yet its biggest and most urgent piece of business remains undone. With the economy unravelling further from the continuing pandemic and the end of CARES Act stimulus funds, it’s critical that Congress provide a strong additional relief package.

As a professor whose research has focused on modern Russian history, I am stunned and appalled to have to admit parallels between Donald Trump’s views of American prisoners of war and those Joseph Stalin held of Red Army troops taken captive by the Germans.

There is chilling news in Frankfort as close friend and colleague Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, was diagnosed with COVID-19. He admitted himself to the hospital after experiencing mild symptoms, and his prognosis is good.

Facing a fierce public outcry, the U.S. Postal Service is “suspending” its sudden cost-cutting moves — tossing out high-speed sorting machines, uprooting collection boxes, reducing post office hours and eliminating carrier overtime — that have slowed mail delivery and threatened the on-time …

The pandemic cursing our globe also reveals the fruit of tremendous blessings produced by the private sector’s $1.7 trillion investment in the nation’s broadband networks over the last 20 years, which US Telecom dramatically asserts has brought most Americans access to high-speed internet.

It is with personal sorrow that I read the guest column from 24 former overcomers now opposed to options for youth (“Guest columnist: 24 former 'ex-gay' leaders unite to oppose conversion therapy,” Aug. 19).

“The taxpayers paid for this report. They have a right to review it in full.”

Gov. Andy Beshear announced Monday that $15 million in Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funds will be set aside to finance a new eviction relief program to assist landlords and tenants throughout the commonwealth dealing with the COVID-19 public health crisis. The f…

Two months ago, several neighbors joined to make a seemingly difficult situation a little better.

In the midst of a global health pandemic caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19), as a Democratic governor and a Republican secretary of state we have proven that we can put partisanship aside to make our elections safer for our people.

The updated federal law governing K-12 education policy signed by President Barack Obama in 2015 included a requirement that reformers hoped would reveal how much bang taxpayers get for the $700 billion spent each year on the nation’s public schools.

Delayed haircuts, “drive-by” birthday parties, staycations – these will be common 2020 family memories.

I read with great interest Austin Horn’s tightly focused article (“FOCUS: What we know about Mayor Bill May’s use of PR firm Boxcar”) in The State Journal’s Aug. 27-29 edition.

The ever-more-popular rejoinder to the Black Lives Matter movement is the slogan “All Lives Matter.” Ignoring, for present purposes, the fact that this is an effort to soothe our collective white conscience and rebuff a centuries-old struggle with a slogan, the notion that “all lives matter”…

Despite thousands of residents making the effort to sign a petition opposing a huge property tax increase approved by the Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Board of Education during pandemic-ridden May, the district’s going to the mat to keep voters from having a say.

The transformation of America’s energy system is accelerating, with important implications for Kentucky.

Kentucky's economy is weakening in the face of a resurging pandemic and the end of stimulus aid.

In just months, the COVID-19 pandemic has destroyed a decade of progress in the fight to end hunger in Kentucky. Kentuckians are facing challenges to keep nourishing food on the table unlike anything we have seen for a generation or more.

Wednesday, Aug. 18, marked the centennial celebration of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The groundbreaking legislation granted American women the right to vote, one of the most sacred rights afforded to Americans today, yet we still have much work to do when it comes to voter access…

Conversion therapy, also known as “reparative therapy," “ex-gay therapy” or “sexual orientation change efforts” (SOCE), professes to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to change or overcome their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Many have not understood the actual “simplicity” of the 10-year gambling machine court case. Given that new technologies can confuse anyone and the fact that the two statewide newspapers have not covered the story of the case well, it’s understandable. But the bottom line is actually quite simple.

We are a community that understands how difficult public service is. We appreciate those who serve. However, we cannot overlook our city’s long-term instability in the position of city manager.  

Gov. Andy Beshear’s administration wants to make in-person reopening of schools during COVID-19 an either-or proposition — either districts delay opening back up to the end of September or Kentucky Department of Education bureaucrats in true Corleone-like fashion will make them an offer they…

In regards to the guest column “May I have a copy of the 'new' Constitution?” (Aug. 7-9), Laurie Chittenden does present a valid point, though perhaps in an unnecessarily callous and dismissive fashion. 

Due to the virus, especially to one of my age, I have continued to teleconference via video technology for meetings to avoid crowds in Frankfort that could potentially expose themselves or others to the coronavirus.

As we continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, the road to Kentucky’s economic recovery will no doubt be longer than we would prefer, but the length of the journey will ultimately be decided by how we address three key issues: unemployment insurance, legal liability and the education and car…

Cookie-cutter online learning programs offered by Kentucky school districts during the COVID-19 shutdown in the spring failed to attract thousands of students and fell short in keeping multitudes of others engaged.